Faculty Handbook: CUNY Governance
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The City University of New York was officially created by New York State legislation in 1961. It includes 11 senior colleges, 7 community colleges, six graduate and professional schools, and the Macaulay Honors College. There are two levels of governance in this system: University and college.
John Jay operates under the provisions of the bylaws and policies of the CUNY Board of Trustees. The board includes 17 members: ten appointed by the New York governor, five by the New York City mayor and two ex officio members (Chairpersons of the University Student Senate and University Faculty Senate (non-voting)). The Board sets policy and approves actions of the University; it determines University bylaws from which the Colleges derive or adopt governance structures; it appoints the chancellor and college presidents; and it approves plans and programs for the colleges.
The Board is comprised of several standing committees that deal with policies and practices before they are presented to the full board (e.g., approval of faculty personnel actions). The full board meets approximately six times per year with at least one public hearing in each NYC borough each year to hear from community members on University issues.
The chancellor is the chief educational and administrative officer of CUNY, assisted by vice-chancellors, University deans and Administrators and their staffs. The chancellor is responsible for preparing the operating and capital budgets of the University for board, city and state consideration, with the advice of the Council of Presidents. The Council of Presidents, established by the CUNY bylaws, advises the chancellor on budgets, the Master Plan, and the development of the University. Each president is responsible for administration of their own institution, reporting directly to the chancellor.
The University Faculty Senate (UFS) is a faculty body comprised of representatives from each college. The UFS represents the entire CUNY faculty in governance and academic affairs matters. They address matters of academic freedom, status of the faculty, and faculty rights and interests. JJ senators are elected to serve three-year terms with alternates serving one-year terms. Service on the UFS involves monthly meetings with faculty colleagues from across the University system, which the chancellor, vice-chancellors, University deans or member(s) of the board of trustees may attend. It can be an informative service opportunity and means of networking with colleagues across the University.
The Professional Staff Congress (PSC) is the union that represents instructional staff at CUNY. Each campus has a chapter. The PSC and CUNY Board of Trustees negotiate multi-year collective bargaining agreements that cover salary schedules and terms and conditions of employment for full-time and part-time faculty, college laboratory technicians (CLTs), higher education officers (HEOs), graduate assistants, and research associates and assistants. Please refer to the PSC Teaching Adjunct Handbook for contractual rights specific to part-time faculty members.
Under the PSC-CUNY contract, faculty members can pursue informal complaints and formal grievances relating to their terms and conditions of employment, including aspects of the personnel process (Article 20 of the contract). The PSC-CUNY website includes a “Rights” section with information about the grievance process and your rights as a faculty member. One of the programs negotiated by the PSC-CUNY contract is the annual PSC-CUNY Grants program through which faculty members can apply for modest internal grants, ideally as seed funding for external grants.
For questions or if any concerns arise, the Labor Designee and College Ethics Officer at John Jay is Don Gray, 622H, 212-237-8614, dgray@jjay.cuny.edu.