As CUNY department chairs and heads of academic units, we are committed to the continued success of our colleges and the university as a whole to better serve our students, city, and society generally.  That commitment is what brought us to CUNY and what made us take on the added responsibility of leadership.  We are aware of financial constraints on our missions of teaching and research.  In particular, we understand the need for fiscal prudence; CUNY cannot spend funds we do not have, and at times there are needs for painful cuts.  This may or may not be one of those times as we lobby for full funding and increased enrollments.

Nevertheless, what we find unacceptable is the manner in which the CUNY Central Administration is carrying out economizing measures.  Instead of planning in time for fiscal exigencies that were visible for months if not years, CUNY is imposing cuts immediately.  Instead of honoring searches that had already gone through stringent budget considerations and were closely linked to college strategic plans, CUNY Central is now blocking hires at their final stages, undermining the search process and the hard work of search committees.  Instead of providing a budget to the colleges and allowing the respective administrations to find ways of meeting those budgets, Central is micromanaging the hiring process as if administrators at a distance from campuses somehow knew better what the colleges need than the colleges themselves.  Instead of providing an example of shared sacrifice, CUNY Central has provided raises to administrators that were so scandalous as to attract the attention of the news media. 

The CUNY Central office should be a resource that provides coordination and support, and in some cases it has delivered wonderfully in that role.  Increasingly, however, we are experiencing the opposite effect on our campuses.  To an increasing extent, we feel disrespected and discounted by people whose role should be inspirational and visionary. 

This university needs and deserves an immediate course correct.  We need and deserve an administration that works collaboratively and shares in the sacrifices it imposes on others.  We need and deserve an administration that shows respect for us and our efforts to serve our students and community.

Academic hiring decisions are the purview of the colleges, not of CUNY Central.  We demand an immediate end to the interference of CUNY Central in college hiring decisions.

Signed,