Dear Members and Friends of The City University of New York Community:
The proposed 2009 budget for New York City is currently under review by the New York City Council. The budget calls for almost $26 million less in direct operating support than is needed for CUNY’s six community colleges. We urgently ask you to contact City Council members to urge their support to restore the reductions and provide critically needed funding.
CUNY’s community colleges currently serve enrollments annually of nearly 79,000 degree-credit students and almost 118,000 students in adult and continuing education. The shortfall in operating support will directly affect our colleges’ ability to provide the full-time faculty, additional counselors, and student services this growing student body needs.
The budget also proposes cuts of more than $15 million to the Peter F. Vallone and Safety Net Scholarship programs. Scholarship support is crucial to CUNY students, most of whom work part-time or full-time while they pursue a degree.
Please visit www.supportcuny.org today and e-mail your council members. Draft letters are provided, and we encourage you to personalize them to reflect your individual circumstance or opinion. Please encourage relatives, friends, alumni, and others to express their views. Especially in these difficult economic times, community colleges provide a crucial pathway to careers-helping to strengthen the workforce and the tax base of productive New Yorkers.
We really need your help now. CUNY’s e-mail campaigns have been very successful in communicating the University’s urgent needs to public officials.
Thank you for your continued support.
Jay Hershenson
Senior Vice Chancellor for
University Relations and
Secretary, Board of Trustees
