Office of the President Blog

Virginia Meléndez Introduction Announcement

Vincent Boudreau — Tue, 06 May 2025 16:08:37 -0400

Dear City College Community,

I’m pleased to announce a new addition to my office staff. Virginia Meléndez has joined us as my Confidential Executive Officer and will be responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the office.

Virginia brings with her 25 years of experience supporting college presidents, most recently serving as Interim Chief of Staff to the President at Rockland Community College. Her depth of knowledge and expertise in higher education administration will be a tremendous asset to our team.

Please begin copying Virginia on any messages sent to my office. Her email is vmelendez@ccny.cuny.edu , and you will begin to see her included more frequently in correspondence.

I’m excited for the contributions she will make, and I know you’ll join me in giving her a warm welcome to our campus community.

Vince Boudreau
President

Standing Together

Félix V. Matos Rodríguez — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 15:43:23 -0400

Dear CUNY Community,

At the start of the Spring semester, I emphasized the importance of standing together and upholding the values of our University in uncertain times. We have since seen a series of federal actions that have affected CUNY and higher education significantly.

When facing challenging moments, I like to turn to our foundational documents for guidance and reassurance. The 1979 CUNY Financing and Governing Act lays out a vision for our mission and goals, justifying the “legislature’s support of an independent and unique structure for the university” based on its “vital importance as a vehicle for the upward mobility of the disadvantaged.” It also states that “activities at the City University campuses must be undertaken in a spirit which recognizes” the imperative need for diversity “and the positive desire to have City University personnel reflect the diverse communities which comprise the people of the city and state of New York.”

As we return from Spring Recess, I want to assure you that our principles have not changed and that evolving federal developments have our full attention. We remain committed to a CUNY that has lifted generations of New Yorkers of all means and backgrounds and that is at the vanguard of the production and dissemination of knowledge, discovery and creativity for the public good.

We are in regular consultation with state and local officials to assess the impacts of policy and funding changes for the many members of our community including our researchers. We are also leveraging our ties with national organizations, like the American Council of Education (ACE) and we have joined other universities in writing letters to agencies and elected officials, warning them of the potential consequences of some of the pauses or funding cuts to campus grants. The University's Office of Legal Affairs is monitoring nationwide lawsuits against executive orders impacting higher education to protect CUNY from federal overreach and we have provided information and support to the Attorney General’s Office in litigation brought on behalf of New York State.

Funding Challenges

We are evaluating how changes to funding from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Energy and other federal agencies will impact our research and programming. Cuts in NIH reimbursements, for example, for operational costs of research and training are being challenged in court, but should they be carried out we estimate that CUNY would receive only about 35% of our expected $12.7 million payment on currently active grants. In addition, 61 CUNY research projects have been subject to stop-work orders from federal agencies. The proposed cuts and stop-work orders are already having an impact on our colleges and create an uncertain future for our faculty and staff who are involved in research, innovation and discovery, a core part of our mission as a great public university. In partnership with the Research Foundation of CUNY, we are assessing and managing the unfolding situation daily. We are grateful to the campus grants officers, principal investigators and RFCUNY staff for their ongoing work to manage the impacts of this changing landscape.

CUNY is also being impacted by cuts to federally funded programs and workforce development grants that have diversity, equity and inclusion objectives. Funding cuts to programs that guide our students to fulfilling careers in fields with public impact will have serious consequences for them and the city. For instance, the U.S. Department of Education’s recent cancellation of $600 million for teacher-training programs included an $8.4 million grant to Lehman College to train bilingual teachers. The Lehman program serves students, some with disabilities, in high-need schools in the Bronx. Canceling the program would be a tremendous loss for CUNY and the city, leaving thousands of public-school students without the accessible education they deserve. This action is being challenged in court by eight states, including New York.

A University for Immigrants

We are also closely watching policies that could threaten the essential transformative role higher education plays in civil society. We fear the consequences of the dismantling of the federal Department of Education and the effect it could have on vital student programs. We are troubled by reports of foreign-born students and scholars who attend or teach in American universities being detained by federal officials despite having maintained lawful status and with the authorities providing no indication of the charges raised against them. We are equally troubled by the recent changes in the visa status of some of our international students with F1 visas. We have written to all of them to make sure they know who to contact for up-to-date guidance and support. And we remain concerned in these uncertain times about the thousands of CUNY students who are undocumented or whose status could be terminated or revoked, as with the announced plans to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for certain groups.

As a university that has always welcomed students from everywhere in the world, we are committed to protecting the rights of our students, faculty and staff to the fullest extent of the law and regardless of immigration status. We will continue to adhere to CUNY policy that requires a judicial warrant for any federal or local law enforcement official who comes to a campus seeking to make an arrest and we take seriously the need to safeguard the privacy of student and personnel records.

The University is seeking private and alternative resources to assist our community during this time and continues to provide the best up-to-date guidance about shifting U.S. immigration policies and actions. Our University has a long history of providing a range of supports to our immigrant students, employees and other New Yorkers, including through the services of CUNY Citizenship Now!, the nation’s oldest, largest university-based legal assistance program. Please visit this page for the most current resources and this page for the latest immigration law updates. CUNY students and employees can request a consultation with Citizenship Now! by completing this form.

Protecting All Students

As one of the most racially and ethnically diverse universities in the country – with a student body that is 23% Asian, 26% Black, 28% Latino and 23% White – CUNY proudly represents the city we serve and the communities we live in. We achieve this diversity with adherence to all federal laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexuality and other categories of personal identity. These laws provide equal access to education and opportunity, and we remain committed to ensuring that all our campuses and programs continue to protect everyone in our community.

Our obligation to safeguard civil rights extends to members of our LGBTQ+ community. In addition to enforcing CUNY policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity, sex and sexual orientation, we adhere to New York State Human Rights Law, a broad and comprehensive anti-discrimination statute that can exceed the protections of federal regulations.

To maintain campuses that are welcoming, safe and free of discrimination, the University has taken concrete steps over the past few years to combat antisemitism and all forms of hate including creating a Center for Inclusivity and Equal Opportunity, which expands, strengthens and centralizes our efforts to combat discrimination and foster dialogue. Other measures include launching a systemwide campus climate survey, conducting constructive dialogue training for University and campus leaders and providing workshops on navigating difficult conversations to faculty and students, and distributing $1.3 million to our colleges in the past two years to support programs that confront religious, racial and ethnic discrimination.

Academic Freedom

We are mindful of the threat that these and other challenges pose to academic freedom at our University and at institutions across the country. Academic freedom is central to the life of this university, and we are firm in our conviction that funding for our critical research and discovery must be free of ideological and political conditions and should not be granted with strings attached. At the same time, academic freedom comes with responsibilities. As educators, we strive to be exemplars and role models, and our freedom of expression must be exercised with care, and in that light, especially in the classroom.

We are moving forward with the Freedom of Expression Working Group tasked with developing a University-wide policy that reflects the purpose and nature of higher education and considers the appropriate balance of interests recognized by the First Amendment and the principles of academic freedom. I have charged the group, composed of administrators, representatives from the University Faculty Senate and the University Student Senate, college presidents and deans, and members of the faculty, to have a draft policy for Board consideration in the Fall semester. I have also asked the Working Group to consult with and seek input from the broader CUNY community in their work.

I know how hard it is for many of us to cope with so much uncertainty, on so many fronts. But one thing I have learned over my two decades at CUNY – and especially during my six years as your chancellor – is how determined we are as a community, and how resourceful and resilient we can be in the face of even the most daunting challenges.

Be assured that CUNY and campus leadership are mobilized to support everyone in our community in every way we can. Know that you are not alone in these turbulent times and that we will stand together – students, faculty and staff – in our commitment to our ideals, to our city and to each other.

Sincerely,

Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, Ph.D.
Chancellor

City College Update: Visa Revocation Concerns

Vincent Boudreau — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 16:06:16 -0400

Dear Members of the City College Community,

As many of you will be aware, several students on our campus—including graduate students working on the CCNY campus—have had their visas revoked. This is part of an escalation of similar visa revocations taking place nationwide. At this writing, it seems that most revocations have involved students on F-1 visas, although the media has reported some cases in which green card holders also have had their status challenged or changed. The situation is very fluid and we will all need to keep up to date on the latest trends.

CCNY is committed to making every effort to help students complete their studies and graduate, and to offer what support we can when they encounter difficulty of any kind, including on matter that involve their visa status.

I’m writing to urge students who receive similar notices to get in touch with student affairs, with the leaders of their academic programs, or with a faculty or staff member. Our Immigrant Student Center for Research and Resources (NAC 6/204) is another place to find help, support and information, and can be a good place for international students and allies alike to visit, so you may have the most up to date information.

CUNY has also developed a webpage that provides up to the minute information on the state of immigration law, enforcement trends and supports. The address is:

https://www.cuny.edu/about/administration/offices/communications-marketing/citizenship-now/services/immigration_updates/

I would like to further urge faculty and staff to familiarize yourselves with the resources we have to help students and others who encounter visa difficulty. If you do not know the identity of the liaison officer in your school or division, please ask your chair, your program or office director or your dean. These liaisons will have up to date information on the resources we have to help students, and can connect students in need with those resources.

Most importantly: if you have been informed that your visa status is in jeopardy or has been, please seek out help on this campus. Know that we are committed to keeping the CCNY community whole and helping in every way that we can. We hold fast to the idea that students from around the world are an integral part of our campus, and our core values extend to promoting and defending your membership, status and respect in our community.

Sincerely,

Vincent Boudreau
President

�� 2025 Commencement Week Activities

Vincent Boudreau — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 22:15:10 -0400

Dear Campus Community,

We are on the brink of the academic year’s busiest days. The spring semester always seems barely to have begun when the rush of final ceremonies, celebrations, and exams are upon us—all leading inexorably to graduation and our commencement exercises.

I understand that there is some consternation on campus about changes we are making to the commencement programming this year. After some careful consideration, I have determined that in view of the college’s financial constraints and the limited human resources we have to mount 10 graduation ceremonies, we can no longer do so. Instead, we will revert to a commencement celebration consisting of one graduate student exercise and then a main commencement recognizing every graduating student at one time.

However, even as we move forward with these plans, we will hold fast to a second principle: that every graduating student will have their name called as they cross the graduation stage. At main commencement, students will enter the graduation arena and cross the stage while their name is announced. There, they will be congratulated by appropriate academic officials, and then proceed across the stage to take their seat in the audience. The ceremony will proceed from there until, in its culminating moments, I will confer degrees upon the class of 2025.

I know that many of you will be upset that we are not able to hold divisional ceremonies, which have been a source and a site of considerable pride over these past years. We simply do not have the resources to continue this aspect of our tradition. But I also want to remind us all that we instituted divisional commencements precisely because, at that time, we could not figure out how to allow each student to cross a singular graduation stage. Our new schedule allows for that aspect of commencement to take place in front of the college’s entire graduation assembly–and links that moment directly to the conferral of degrees, and so to the true moment when a student graduates.

With these principles in mind, we have developed the following commencement schedule, to take place on May 28th and May 30th. While these changes may seem like a break with long held tradition, I promise that this year’s commencement will be a joyful and celebratory affair, equal to our pride in recognizing your individual and collective achievements.

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

1:00 PM
The Great Hall of Shepard Hall
Graduation Event for All Master’s and PhD Candidates, including hooding for our PhD students
Each student will receive two (2) tickets for your guests to attend
Full Graduation Regalia to be worn
All names to be read out loud as each student crosses the main stage
This event will be livestreamed

Friday, May 30, 2025

10:00AM
South Campus Great Lawn
Graduation Event for All City College Graduates
Full Graduation Regalia to be worn
All names to be read out loud as each student crosses the main stage
Each student will receive three (3) tickets for your guests to attend
This event will be livestreamed

We look forward to seeing everyone at commencement but until then, wishing you a successful semester.

Sincerely,

Vince Boudreau
President

In Memory of Professor Andreas Acrivos

Vincent Boudreau & Alexander Couzis — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 12:47:17 -0400

The Levich Institute in the Grove School of Engineering at City College of New York is sad to announce the passing of Professor Andreas Acrivos, former Director of the Levich Institute and one of the foremost scientists in the field of rheology, chemical engineering and fluid dynamics. Professor Acrivos passed away peacefully in the early morning of February 17, 2025 in Stanford, CA. He was 96 years old. Professor Acrivos arrived at City College in 1988, when he accepted the position of Albert Einstein Professor of Science and Engineering at the City College of New York and where he became Director of the Benjamin Levich Institute for Physico-Chemical Hydrodynamics until his retirement in 2001.

Born in Athens on June 13, 1928, Professor Acrivos emigrated to the United States to pursue studies in chemical engineering. He earned his bachelor's degree from Syracuse University in 1950 and continued his graduate studies at the University of Minnesota, where he received his master’s degree in 1951 and his Ph.D. in 1954. His academic career began at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1954, where he was appointed Assistant Professor and promoted to Professor in 1959. In 1962, he moved to Stanford University, where he played a pivotal role in the development of the chemical engineering program and served as department chair from 1972 to 1975. His research contributions focused on studying the properties of suspensions, emulsions, and fiber-filled materials, significantly influencing the understanding of their microstructure and microrheology. His work, in collaboration with Frankel and Leighton, on concentrated suspensions and shear diffusion, remains a cornerstone of modern rheology. Furthermore, his mentorship was crucial to the development of many distinguished scientists, such as J.D. Goddard, L.G. Leal, D. Barthes-Biesel, W.B. Russel, J.F. Brady, D. Leighton, and E.S.G. Shaqfeh. Professor Acrivos was also advisor to the then graduate student, Andrew Grove, in his early years at University of California at Berkeley. Andrew Grove, founder and former chairman of Intel Corporation made a stunning donation to City College in the amount of $26 million in 2005. The City College School of Engineering was then re-named the Grove School of Engineering.

Professor Acrivos was honored with numerous prestigious awards and distinctions, including the National Medal of Science (2001), recognizing his contributions to fluid mechanics and chemical engineering, the Fluid Dynamics Prize from the American Physical Society (1991), the Bingham Medal from the Society of Rheology (1994) and the G.I. Taylor Medal from the Society of Engineering Science (1988). In addition to these prestigious accolades, two significant awards have been established in his honor that include the Andreas Acrivos Award for Professional Progress in Chemical Engineering by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), recognizing outstanding professional achievements in the field of chemical engineering and the Andreas Acrivos Dissertation Award, presented by the American Physical Society, to recognize outstanding dissertations in fluid dynamics. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2001, the Hellenic Society of Rheology recognized him as an honorary member, honoring his long-standing and significant contribution to the field of rheology.

Professor Acrivos is survived by his wife Juana, his sister, Acrivy Stavropoulos, niece Maria and nephew Andreas in Athens, sister-in-law Lily Crespo Vivó and family Armando and Antonieta Crespo their children, grandchildren and godchildren. He is also remembered by a host of graduate students, postdocs, fellow faculty and co-workers that benefited over so many years from his wisdom and mentorship.

We extend our deepest condolences to Professor Acrivos' family and to all who knew and loved him.

Sincerely,

Vince Boudreau, President

Alex Couzis, Dean

Update: Spring 2025 Town Hall

Vincent Boudreau — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 16:19:55 -0500

Dear Members of the Campus Community,

Thank you to everyone who attended the Faculty Town Hall yesterday. We will be changing the venue of the Student Town Hall meeting to NAC 0/201, a bigger space, in response to the high level of interest from our students. Please make sure you register using the Eventbrite link.

I look forward to speaking with you.

Sincerely,

Vince Boudreau
President

Update: Spring 2025 Town Hall

Vincent Boudreau — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 15:19:00 -0500

Dear Members of the Campus Community,

I have been informed that Thursday, March 6 will be operating on a Wednesday schedule, which means no club hours for students. In order to hear as many voices as possible, we will be moving the Student Town Hall to Tuesday, March 11 at 12:30pm in NAC 1/203.

The Faculty/Staff town hall is still scheduled for Tuesday, March 4 at 12:30pm in NAC 0/201. Both meetings will be in-person only, and we will require registration of all attendees using Eventbrite for these and future Town Halls. Please use this link to register for the Faculty/Staff Town Hall and this link for the Student Town Hall.

I look forward to speaking with you.

Sincerely,

Vince Boudreau
President

City College 2025 Faculty Awards

Vincent Boudreau and Tony Liss — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 16:39:55 -0500

Dear College Community:

The Provost and I are pleased to announce the nomination process for the 2025 Faculty Awards. The awards are one of the most important ways that we honor the accomplishments and contributions of faculty to students and to our campus life.

Please review the detailed descriptions of the award nomination guidelines available here and posted on the Academic Affairs website.

The due date for nominations for the awards is April 4, 2025.

The awards recipients will be honored at a reception at the end of the semester.

Sincerely,

Division of Science Dean Susan Perkins

Vincent Boudreau and Tony Liss — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 15:04:29 -0500

Dear Faculty and Staff,

We write to let you know that our Dean of Science, Susan Perkins, will be leaving City College after the spring semester to become the Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at SUNY Potsdam, her alma mater. We are of course always happy for our colleagues when their talents provide them with new opportunities, but we will miss Dean Perkins at City College, where she has led the Division of Science with vision in supporting the vibrant research effort and has been a tireless advocate for our students.

Dean Perkins joined City College on January 6, 2020 as the Martin & Michele Cohen Dean of Science. Her previous position had been in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the Institute for Comparative Genomics at the American Museum of Natural History. Dean Perkins had only been with us a few months when the pandemic hit and the College went remote. It was, by any definition of the phrase, a trial by fire, and she proved to be a steady hand leading the Division of Science through an exceptionally difficult period.

Dean Perkins’ tenure has been marked by her keen focus on student success, in particular in the introductory math and science classes that are a significant hurdle for many of our students. In particular, she has championed new pedagogical models in Math 190, 195 and 201, along with the use of Navigate in these classes that have resulted in significant improvements in pass rates.

Dean Perkins has been a driving force behind making our Gaming Pathways Program a reality and our College and our students will benefit from a new major and career path that would not have happened without her enthusiasm. We are also indebted to Dean Perkins for bringing the Post Bac Health Professions program to fruition, for recognizing that the way a certain previous Dean of Science had set it up was sub-optimal and fixing it. Thanks to her, we now have a flourishing post bac program for students who want to go into the health professions but spent their undergraduate careers with other goals.

In tandem with all the administrative work that Dean Perkins accomplished, she continued doing her own research and she taught a class in her specialty, parasitology, every year. Despite attempts to cap the class at 20 students, Dean Perkins proved too popular of a professor and the class typically filled to more than 30 students.

Finally, along with all of these accomplishments, funded research in the Division of Science grew on Dean Perkins’ watch, and the Division was a major contributor to the College, reaching $100M in research funding this past year.

We wish Dean Perkins the very best at SUNY Potsdam. We will miss her at City College.

Please join us in congratulating Dean Perkins on her new role.

Sincerely,

Spring 2025 Town Hall

Vincent Boudreau — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:38:00 -0500

Dear Members of the Campus Community,

I hope this note finds you well and you are settling in for our spring semester.

I want to set aside some time this semester to speak with you all about the recent federal and state updates, and the impact that they will have on our campus community.

The Faculty/Staff town hall is scheduled for Tuesday, March 4 at 12:30pm in NAC 0/201. The Student Town Hall meeting will be on Thursday, March 6 at 12:30pm in Marshak Lecture Hall 3. Both meetings will be in-person only.

I look forward to speaking with you.

Sincerely,

Vince Boudreau
President

Office of the President Blog

Virginia Meléndez Introduction Announcement

Standing Together

City College Update: Visa Revocation Concerns

�������� 2025 Commencement Week Activities

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Friday, May 30, 2025

In Memory of Professor Andreas Acrivos

Update: Spring 2025 Town Hall

Update: Spring 2025 Town Hall

City College 2025 Faculty Awards

Division of Science Dean Susan Perkins

Spring 2025 Town Hall

�� 2025 Commencement Week Activities