BMCC President Anthony E. Munroe Shares Priorities for College at In-Person State of the College

Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) President Anthony E. Munroe welcomed faculty, staff and students to the annual state of the college, held March 9 in Theatre 1 at 199 Chambers Street. The event—which opened with a video featuring BMCC community members expressing joy about being back in person on campus— was also live-streamed and is viewable HERE.

This was the first in-person state of the college event in more than two years, when BMCC was forced to transition to remote instruction and the Covid-19 pandemic began its destructive stampede across New York City.

“We continue to experience the seismic impacts of the pandemic within CUNY, across the community college sector and throughout higher education,” said President Munroe. “The changes we have experienced, personally and within our institution have been both traumatic and transformative, but with challenge there is opportunity.”

Although demand for some academic degree and certification programs has been growing, BMCC cannot go back to the way it operated before the pandemic, President Munroe said. He pointed out that nationwide, community colleges, including BMCC, have seen declines in enrollment.

“The college is in the process of developing a Strategic Enrollment Plan (SEM) as part of a larger set of strategic and operational plans,” said President Munroe. “The BMCC SEM plan will include broad goals and strategic initiatives that can provide guidance on how initiatives, collaboration and concepts are designed and executed.”

Specifically, the college will increase its offering of relevant courses and programs that meet market demand as well as a suitable mix of on campus and online course section offerings.

“The BMCC community will have an opportunity to engage in further discussion about enrollment during a town hall scheduled for March 29 at 11 a.m.,” President Munroe announced.

The president also said BMCC would seek to eliminate transfer barriers and reinforce articulation agreements, bridge equity gaps and improve retention by strengthening services that address health and wellness including food insecurity, emergency financial aid and counseling.

President Munroe pointed out that community colleges were established to play a critical role in workforce development and historically, maintained a tri-mission to provide academic programming workforce and skills training and community outreach and development.

“There is a need for better career preparation, and this is where BMCC can step up and lead the effort through innovative partnerships and programs that are accessible to all New York City residents,” said President Munroe. “An example of this is the DC 37 Education Fund which provides IT contract training in computer network support and computer security for incumbent workers.”

BMCC recently renovated its CUNY in The Heights campus located in Upper Manhattan where it is creating multiple educational pathways to degrees and careers, offering credit-bearing courses along with several other programs.

The president also took a moment to discuss the ongoing efforts of BMCC’s Race Equity and Inclusion steering committee, or REI. This group works to dismantle systemic racism and structural inequality across the BMCC community.

“BMCC is also restarting its Sustainability committee under the guidance of Vice President for Campus Planning and Facilities Jorge Yafar,” said President Munroe. “BMCC is aware of the critical role it plays in the region’s ecology and is committed to integrating sustainability into the design and management of its physical campus operations.”

After announcing the college’s in-person commencement ceremony, scheduled for June 9 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and an in person “Invest in a Future” fundraising gala scheduled for October 27 at Tribeca 360, President Munroe started a new State of the College tradition.

“I am sharing my institutional priorities for the year,” said President Munroe.  “These are based on conversations with faculty, staff, students, BMCC and CUNY administrators and external stakeholders.”

They are as follows:

• Increase Enrollment by enhancing admissions and advising and addressing retention and transfer barriers.
• Improve alignment between academic programing, student demand, and workforce needs, through program review, enhancement of online offering and expansion of short-term programs.
• Reduce equity gaps through greater support for culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy and expansion of comprehensive academic basic needs assistance.
• Expand access to comprehensive and academic and student supports that are associated with greater student populations.
• Engage and partner with corporate and philanthropic partners to support academic programming, strengthen career development and grow financial resources.