This meeting was attended by representatives of HEO and faculty at SPS and Graduate Center Chapter leaders on the labor side.

CUNY management has designated SPS as one of nine “colleges of concern”, forcing the school to make additional cuts in the 2024 budget, on top of the cuts already imposed. Not surprisingly, the first issue labor brought up at this meeting had to do with budget cuts. SPS management focused on their response on two main areas. First, they expressed concern about the optics of being placed on this list of nine. York and Queens Colleges both had their budget cuts written up in the local media. Of the possibility of media coverage of SPS cuts, management said: “We don’t want to end up having a story about us like other presidents. How will faculty and staff feel?” Second, they stressed that they have already come up with creative ways to stabilize the school. Examples that were used of these creative ways and “cohesive synergies” were things like using student association fees to fund counselors instead of tax levy funds. There was an emphasis on continuing to push for increased enrolment. Apparently SPS is one of three out of these nine colleges to have had their new budget plan approved by CUNY administration.

Labor expressed the need to have budget information shared with SPS employees, especially how the new budget plan might affect our jobs. Management planned a report to faculty when the semester begins, including in meetings full-time faculty and adjunct faculty meetings. They did not feel it was appropriate to have such a meeting in January. They also said that there are hiring restrictions that stipulate that SPS has to hold open and not search for two vacant positions. Management declined to share the details of the budget plan, citing the possibility of changes in the budget (“what if a half a million comes down in two weeks?”).

Labor then brought up a special concern about cut sections for adjuncts, who can lose their health coverage. Management said that under-enrolled sections were cut as usual, not tied to the budget situation. Academic Directors are supposed to be looking at who has three-year appointments. Management also said not many SPS adjuncts “avail” themselves of health insurance. Regarding jobs themselves, management stated that they would consider reviewing part-time positions to avoid impact on full-timer jobs.

Following the budget discussion, we moved to an item from the last meeting: hiring information. Labor had asked for detailed information on programs in which hiring happened. Management said that last year there were the following hires made on lecturer lines: information systems, psychology, gen ed, youth studies, and disabilities studies (one each), and that all but one was previously an adjunct.

A serious concern at SPS is the increase in course caps for capstone courses. It was mentioned in the last labor management meeting as a future plan. Management said they were looking at undergraduate capstones and found that there was “no rhyme or reason” to the caps and that it was a workload equity issue. Taking effect in the Fall of 2024, capstones would be capped at 17 (excluding nursing clinical instructors). From an instructor perspective, it makes total sense that different programs with different requirements and subject matter would have different capstone caps. Labor used the example of another professional school – School of Labor and Urban Studies – where capstone caps are 8 to express shock at the workload 17 students would represents for a capstone instructor. Management stepped back from the workload equity framing and admitted that this was coming from the central CUNY administration, not as a mandate but as a communication to improve the budgetary situation.

A positive development in this meeting was news about commencement: Apparently management is planning just one ceremony, to conserve expensive. It will take place in late May so as not to infringe on faculty annual leave. Information will be shared soon.

The last issue was staff retention. Labor also expressed concern about the dean leaving. The dean said she was not leaving. Regarding the staff, management mentioned personal circumstances and people moving around the CUNY system, which they said was normal. They spoke of people leaving as an opportunity to “build back better” and “take us to 2.0”. However, they also cited their data analysis that apparently showed historically low attrition rates. Prior to the pandemic, SPS attrition rate was 8.5%, lower than the national average of 10%. 2019-2021, rates were very low and there were retirements. Afterwards, rates went up to 13%, as they did nationality. Management basically said it feels like a lot, but SPS is doing great: “We are a great place to work.” They expressed a goal of communicating about hiring and retention “so people can feel that it’s a great place to stay, work – a destination.” This included getting SPS on a list of great places to work.