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April 29, 2019

A Message from Lehman College President José Luis Cruz
Welcome back! I hope all of you had at least some time to recharge during spring break. I was fortunate to be able to spend time with family in Puerto Rico. Now, with the end of the semester in sight, the next few weeks will be very busy—and go by quickly. Many events fill the College calendar up until Commencement, when we will be graduating the largest class in Lehman’s history. But before more time elapses, here is an update of some of my recent activities and a number of institutional accomplishments.

Institutional Accreditation

A great deal of hard work from so many of our staff, faculty, and students went into ensuring that the College’s Middles States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) site visit was smooth and successful. I am entirely thankful and grateful for everyone’s efforts in this regard. Just prior to the MSCHE site team’s visit, I met with staff over bagels and coffee on April 5 for the last of a series of general information sessions about what to expect while the Middle States evaluation team was on campus.

On April 7, we gave a campus tour and then held a reception for the seven-member MSCHE site visit team, which was chaired by Dr. Sue Henderson, president of New Jersey City University. The reception included the college’s MSCHE Steering Committee members, administrators, faculty, and staff. Our students treated us to outstanding dance and spoken word performances. In addition, we were joined by several elected officials, distinguished alumni, and members of The City University of New York’s Board of Trustees. U.S. Congressman Eliot Engel, a double Lehman alumnus (both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees were earned here) and one of the College’s most enthusiastic supporters, offered remarks at the gathering. It was an excellent start to the site visit.

As I indicated in a previous message — and repeat here for convenience — the site-visitors were very impressed with the level of commitment our campus community has to advancing the College’s mission, the strength of our shared governance, and the quality of our faculty, staff and students. In communicating their preliminary findings via an oral report, they highlighted several impactful campus practices and congratulated us on our service to the Bronx, increasing retention and graduation rates, being nationally recognized as a vehicle of upward mobility, and the successful employment outcomes and prestigious awards earned by our students.

The site visitors also provided helpful feedback on our continuous improvement efforts. As we anticipated in our self-study report, one area in need of special attention is Lehman’s assessment of educational effectiveness (Standard 5) — our recently established Academic Assessment Council will be instrumental in addressing this need.

Since my last update about the process, Lehman received a draft report from the chair of the site-visit team for which I have asked Provost Peter O. Nwosu and the executive committee of the MSCHE steering committee to review for factual errors. In the next few days, we will submit the results of our review to the site-visit chair who will then have until May 6 to upload the final report to the MSCHE portal. Once she does this, Lehman will have until May 13 to prepare its formal institutional response, while the site-visit chair — after reviewing our response — will have until May 18 to submit her own confidential report to the Commission. All reports and corresponding evidence will then be evaluated by an MSCHE technical team before the final findings are presented for action to MSCHE commissioners during their annual summer meeting (June 2019). Once we receive the final evaluation report and Statement of Accreditation status, we will share it with the entire campus community.

Shared Governance

The President’s Advisory Board, comprised of the cabinet members and deans, met on April 2. I also attended a meeting with the Lehman chapter of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC CUNY) Labor Management team on April 17, and later that day presided over the Lehman College Senate. The Council of Presidents (COPs) met at CUNY Central on April 3, which was followed by a luncheon for the presidents and deans hosted by Interim Chancellor Vita C. Rabinowitz. On April 11, the COPs Fiscal Committee, which I chair, met; and the following week I attended meetings of the CUNY Board of Trustees Fiscal Affairs and Investment Committees as a representative of COPs.

Fundraising and Friendraising

The third and fourth installments of Conversations at 50 took place on April 15 and April 17, respectively: first, with the School of Natural and Social Sciences, and then with the School of Health Sciences, Human Services and Nursing. Part of year-long commemoration of the the College’s 50th anniversary, Conversations at 50 have brought together key leaders in business, government, and the not-for-profit sector for discussions about future program offerings at Lehman and possible collaborations. The final gathering of the series, centered on the School of Education, will take place on May 16.

The National Postsecondary Value Commission, on which I serve as a commissioner, met on April 16. I met with Jonathan Fanton, the immediate past president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and former president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, on April 18, and later the same day met with executives from HERE to HERE about Lehman’s leadership role in helping them develop a city-wide youth apprenticeship program.

Elevating Our Voice and Raising Our Profile

I attended the Presidential Subgroup meeting of the Anchor Institute Task Force when it convened in Washington, D.C. on March 26-27; and on March 28, while still in our Nation’s Capital, I also attended a board meeting (as a member) of the Data Quality Campaign. On April 1, I served on a panel during a meeting of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, also in Washington, D.C. Closer to home, I attended a meeting of the board of trustees of the New York Botanical Garden, of which I am a member, on April 18.

Celebrating Excellence

Thanks to the hard work of Michelle Augustine, director of the Office of Prestigious Awards, and the support of many faculty members, a good number of Lehman students compete for some of the top academic honors and scholarships in the country—and succeed, this year especially so. Sana Batool won a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans award and will be heading to Harvard Medical School this fall. She is only the second winner of this fellowship from Lehman.

This year, Lehman College had five students awarded grants from the U.S. Fulbright Student Program—Sharon Lee, Konrad Wysocki, Amna Azeem, Edith Carrasco, and Stefanie Nolli Gaspar. Also, three undergraduates—Beauty Kolade, Emeka Mbazor, and Rene Clever—were awarded scholarship funding through the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduate program. Additionally, Rene Clever was awarded a Jeanette K. Watson Fellowship, as was Sumana Ali. Two undergraduates, Abanoub Hanna and Lorenso Rios, were admitted into the Summer Health Professions Program, and Previta Persaud will participate in KPMG’s Streetwise Partners program. Congratulations!

Lehman faculty members regularly gain recognitions and competitive grants, but recently one of our professors won a top award. Megan Owen, an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics, was awarded through the National Science Foundation a $412,038 grant over four years from the NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program. This grant commends early-career faculty for academic and institutional leadership, for which Dr. Owen has been a shining example here at Lehman.

A retirement party on April 4 for Ray Pegollo, Lehman’s chief superintendent of Campus Buildings and Grounds, served as a suitable celebration of one of the College’s longest serving employees; I was honored to attend and offer remarks. There was another send-off of a different kind on April 11 for a group of Lehman L.I.F.E. students heading to Puerto Rico for community service projects. Again, I was honored to be among those present offering support to our students. The compassion and concern Lehman students have for those in need around the world impresses me greatly.

Organizational Updates

As we all know, Vice President José Magdaleno has announced his retirement at the end of the semester. While his experienced and passionate leadership will be missed, we all wish him well as he moves into this new stage of life. And to celebrate his 25-plus years of service to Lehman, we are inviting faculty and staff to a reception in his honor to be held on Monday, May 13 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. in the Faculty Dining Room. Please consider attending this event — RSVP by emailing brenia.delacruz@lehman.cuny.edu.

The search committee for our next vice president of Administration and Finance/CFO reviewed dozens of applicants and interviewed several candidates for the position. After careful consideration, the committee recommended that the search be extended. I have accepted their recommendation and will soon inform the campus community about next steps.

Looking Ahead

As I mentioned earlier, there are many upcoming events on the College calendar. Some important dates to keep in mind:

May 3: The 50th Herbert H. Lehman Memorial Lecture with New York State Senator Alessandra Biaggi; her talk is titled “Courage, Disruption, and Resilience: Transformational Politics in the State of New York.” It will be held at 1:30 p.m. in the Faculty Dining Room. To RSVP, email events.rsvp@lehman.cuny.edu.

May 6: A campus-wide conversation about the assessment of educational effectiveness titled “Assessment Unpacked — Why? How? Now What?” will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Faculty Dining Room. The conversation will be facilitated by Dr. Su Swarat, assistant vice president for Institutional Effectiveness at Cal State Fullerton. To RSVP, email provost.office@lehman.cuny.edu.

May 14: Lehman College’s Springfest, from 3 to 8pm on the South Field, will include numerous performances from local and world-renowned artists. Featured performances by celebrity DJ Self of Power 105.1, one of NY’s leading hip hop and R&B stations, international recording artist Lyrikal, La Orquesta Jeryco, the steppers of Sigma Phi Rho, the Statik Vision rock band, the student jazz and dance ensembles at Lehman College, and many more. On the food front, there will be free samples and a concession stand. Bring your love of culture (and don’t forget your blanket/chair!). Reserve your tickets.

May 30: Lehman College’s 51st Commencement. 10 a.m., rain or shine. This year the College will be awarding honorary degrees to Dr. Mildred García, president of AASCU; visual artist Whitfield Lovell; and Ivan G. Seidenberg, retired CEO of Verizon Communications, Inc. and a Lehman alumnus. The recipient of the 2019 Alumni Achievement Award will be Michael W. Yackira, former CEO of NV Energy and a member of Lehman’s Class of 1980. Associate Professor David Hyman from the Department of English will be recognized as Teacher of the Year; and Associate Professor Richard Birrittella from the Department of Physics and Astronomy will be recognized as Adjunct of the Year.

Thank you again for your purposeful work in advancing the College’s mission. Best wishes for the rest of the semester—and I’ll see you around campus.

José Luis Cruz
@LehmanPresident

Previous messages from President Cruz can be found here.