Call to Action – Sign the Letter in Response to Governor Cuomo

Dear Colleagues,

Please sign the letter petitioning Governor Cuomo to maintain access to a high quality liberal arts education to students through our community college.

tinyurl.com/letter-to-cuomo-2015
Above is the link to the letter (also to the right in our sidebar), please sign it using your ncc email account. There will be both a confirmation screen and an email indicating that you have signed.

In the 2015 State of the State Address, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposes sweeping reforms for community colleges in particular, and the SUNY system in general, that threaten to transform NCC as we know it. The governor views community colleges as job training facilities that not only charge “exorbitant tuition,” but also train students for “jobs that don’t exist.” Governor Cuomo wants SUNY to drive economic renewal in New York State, much as Stanford University did in Silicon Valley. Regrettably, our governor’s view of higher education as an engine of “commercialization and job generators” ignores Stanford’s stated goal of transmitting a “broad set of intellectual and social competencies of enduring value.”

Let us remind Governor Cuomo that our community college students, who cannot afford Stanford, have a right to an education grounded in the same liberal arts tradition. Although the governor is motivated by the laudable economic goal of “growing jobs” in New York State, “job training” for employment in local industry without teaching students to think critically will not “make the community college system more rewarding.” It will also not prepare our students to grapple with the rapidly changing technologies of tomorrow.

Please join us in this effort to maintain the quality of a community college education, and sign the linked letter that will be forwarded to Governor Cuomo, our state and local elected officials, the NCC BoT, and the SUNY BoT.

Best wishes from the NAAC,