As New York City College of Technology approaches its second decennial review by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education following the arrival of President Russell K. Hotzler in August 2004, the college can report that the critical projects envisioned in the last self-study, especially those related to faculty, curriculum, and facilities, have come to pass. Meanwhile, the pace of institutional change is accelerating—City Tech is demonstrably more baccalaureate-focused, research active, interdisciplinary, and connected to industry. Looking ahead, we are in a much stronger position to fulfill our mission of preparing a diverse urban population, currently under-represented in STEM fields, for the careers of the future, and thus addressing both their own goals and the city’s needs. At the same time, we continue to focus on extending critical efforts supporting completion and student success.

History and Identity

From its founding in 1946 to address the need to educate veterans and others for careers in the postwar economy, New York City College of Technology (“City Tech”)1 of the City University of New York (CUNY) has provided workforce-relevant, career-oriented degrees grounded in a strong liberal arts foundation to a diverse urban student population. City Tech is a Hispanic Serving Institution and a commuter campus located in the heart of a global city, with all but a tiny fraction of its 17,282 students coming from the five boroughs of New York City and graduates of a New York City Department of Education. high school. However, students’ countries of origin include 152 nations and truly represent the world. City Tech students in large measure qualify for full or partial financial aid, with 80% of first year students qualifying for need-based financial aid. City Tech’s historic mission has been to open doors of educational opportunity to students regardless of financial means or prior academic achievement.

City Tech is one of 24 constituent units of the City University of New York, the nation’s largest urban university system, enrolling well over 250,000 degree-seeking students and another 250,000 in non-degree programs. A Board of Trustees appointed by the governor and the mayor governs CUNY, and the policies under which the CUNY colleges operate are largely determined centrally. As part of CUNY, City Tech benefits from the advantages of a much larger university—including articulation and shared cultural, research, and collaborative opportunities, as well as business systems. Since 2009 City Tech has participated in the incremental implementation of CUNY’s enterprise resource planning system, CUNYfirst. In fall 2013, to further facilitate articulation and transfer across the university, CUNY mandated participation in Pathways, a coordinated general education structure built around learning outcomes. At the most fundamental level, City Tech’s budgetary fortunes—resting mainly on the State of New York and to some extent on the City of New York—are tied to those of the larger entity.

City Tech’s more than 50 degree programs at the associate and baccalaureate levels span a wide range of professional and career-focused areas offered by three constituent schools, complementing programs offered through the Division of Continuing Education, each led by an academic dean. Most programs hold separate accreditations and several, such as those in Professional and Technical Writing, Construction Management Technology, Entertainment Technology, and Applied Computational Physics, are unique within CUNY or even in the region. The full-time faculty, ethnically diverse, represents both advanced academic perspectives and industry experience, enabling the college to deliver an education that effectively combines theory and hands-on practice. More than half of the full-time faculty has been hired in the past ten years and are research-active scholars who contribute to the college’s growing research ethos.

The School of Technology and Design enrolls 50% of the student body. Bachelor of Technology (BTech) degree offerings include Architectural Technology, Communications Design, Computer Engineering Technology, Computer Systems Technology, Construction Engineering Technology, Electrical Technology, Emerging Media Technology, Entertainment Technology, Facilities Management, Mechanical Engineering Technology, and Telecommunications Technology. Since City Tech was founded as a community college and has been a two-year institution was for much of its history, the School of Technology and Design also offers Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degrees in almost all of these fields. A faculty with broad experience beyond the classroom is able to blend theory and practice, anticipate emerging labor market trends, and prepare students for professional certifications and licensures that lead to good jobs in critical sectors of New York’s tech economy.

The School of Professional Studies enrolls 32% of the student body. Its baccalaureate offerings include Business and Technology of Fashion, Career and Technical Teacher Education, Health Services Administration, Hospitality Management, Human Services, Legal Assistant Studies, Nursing, Radiological Science, and Technology Teacher Education. AAS degrees are offered in most of these fields as well as in Accounting, Dental Hygiene, Dental Lab Technician, and Ophthalmic Dispensing. A “two-plus-two” program structure enables students to begin working in professional fields after earning an associate degree while continuing their studies toward the baccalaureate. Students graduating from health-related programs have high pass rates on licensure exams; they are in demand in the health sector in Brooklyn (Kings County), one of New York State’s most acutely medically underserved counties. The technology teacher education program is one of only three in New York State that prepares teachers in the fields of career and technology education.

Programs in the School of Arts and Sciences enroll 18% of the student body. However, as the locus of most General Education offerings, the school serves virtually every degree-seeking student in the college. A growing number of baccalaureate offerings include Applied Chemistry, Applied Mathematics with a Finance, Information Science, or Science emphasis, Applied Computational Physics, Biomedical Informatics, Mathematics Education, and Professional and Technical Writing. Associate in Arts (AA) degrees in either Liberal Arts or Liberal Arts and Sciences provide students with a strong foundation in General Education that prepares them for transfer to baccalaureate programs or for the workplace. Instruction in the liberal arts and sciences focuses on oral and written communication, the human experience in global and historical contexts, introduction to scientific observation and measurement, and ethical and aesthetic awareness.

The Division of Continuing Education offers a wide range of programs that serve more than 11,000 students each year. More than seventy-five instructors with industry expertise provide didactic and hands-on instruction in such diverse fields as Photovoltaic Design and Installation (NABCEP), HVAC, Medical Billing and Coding Specialist AHIMA CCS Exam Prep, Dental Assisting, Welding, Microsoft Technology Jobs Academy and more. Continuing Education also offers customized credit programs addressing the assessed needs of companies, CBOs, and unions, e.g., Local 3, SEIU 1199, and Local 100. Contract training for NYC Departments (New York City’s Housing Authority, Department of Buildings, Small Business Services and others) brings a wide spectrum of programming to Mayoral agencies. Its client base is diverse and includes those in need of a high school credential and/or career changers, incumbent workers seeking skills upgrades to keep up with emerging technologies, practicing professionals in need of CEUs for license renewal, and community members interested in skills enhancement. Revenue is generated by tuition, grants and business contracts.

Significant Recent Developments

I. Institutional Growth

In 2006, as we prepared the last self-study, the enrollment was 13,368, which grew to 16,208 by the 2013 Periodic Review Report. The most recent figure from Fall 2017 of 17,279 represents a 29% increase since 2006. An equal balance between female and male students, which had characterized student enrollment for some time, has shifted. Males now account for 56%, as enrollment in technology programs continues to increase while enrollment in licensed health professions, where there had been a preponderance of women students, has either remained stable or declined slightly.

Baccalaureates now account for more than 50% of degrees awarded and baccalaureate enrollment has nearly doubled. While 3,708 baccalaureate degree-seeking students were enrolled in 2006, 8,396 were enrolled in Fall 2017 and has reached 52% the degree-seeking students in the 2017-2018 academic year. Contributing to this growth, the college has added several baccalaureate degree programs since the last Middle States team visit: Construction Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology, Electrical Engineering Technology, Emerging Media Technology, Biomedical Informatics, Applied Chemistry, Mathematics Education, Professional and Technical Writing, Radiologic Science, Business and Technology of Fashion, and Applied Computational Physics. New bachelor’s degrees are in development in Biomedical Engineering Technology, Environmental Health and Safety, and Health Management.

The full-time faculty has also grown to support the expansion of the college’s degree programs, from 304 full-time faculty in 2006 to 404 in Fall 2017 for a net increase of 33%. Of particular importance, as of the 2014-2015 academic year the faculty teaching load was reduced to 21 workload hours, thus achieving parity with the other senior colleges of CUNY. A new collective bargaining agreement was recently ratified after six years without a contract. Although fiscal constraints have slowed hiring since 2015-2016, we have continued to fill the most critical lines, and faculty hiring remains an absolute institutional priority.

A New Academic Building, the cornerstone of City Tech’s physical expansion and a high-profile symbol of institutional growth, will be completed in Fall 2017. Representing a $420 million investment in high-tech infrastructure, the building comprises dedicated teaching and research space for lab science and health programs, as well as a 1000 seat theater, a gymnasium, and other public spaces. Adding 360,000 sq. feet to the physical plant, the new building will free up space in the Pearl Building for critically needed classrooms, student activities, faculty offices, and administrative services, thus enabling further growth. During the past five years, investment in new technology infrastructure and instrumentation has exceeded ten million dollars, including over two million dollars in new medical imaging and dental equipment.

II. Academic Transformation

General Education has been redesigned and Assessment for Learning is being implemented. The 2008 team visit resulted in two imperatives: To engage the faculty in determining the set of knowledge, skills, and values or habits of mind expected of all students and, a parallel expectation, to assess these learning outcomes. The 2010 Monitoring Report described in detail the structures and processes devised to achieve these imperative goals, engaging faculty from all departments. The 2013 PRR, for which the college was commended by MSCHE, reported advances in both areas. Approved by college governance and aligned with CUNY’s Pathways Initiative described above, the new City Tech signature Gen Ed was inaugurated for Fall 2013 entrants. Moreover, the City Tech Assessment Committee (CTAC) has fully implemented its plan to assess the fundamental Gen Ed outcomes, adapted from the AAC&U Value Rubrics, as well as supporting academic departments in assessing the outcomes for their majors.

The college has taken advantage of interdisciplinary opportunities. City Tech’s degree programs are directed largely toward fields where disciplinary boundaries have softened, and interdisciplinary thinking and collaboration are essential—technology, building science, and health among others. City Tech’s faculty has been engaged in cross-disciplinary professional development for more than fifteen years, leveraging a series of grants from the USED, NSF, and NEH. A faculty-driven Interdisciplinary Committee launched in 2009 inspired the inclusion of an interdisciplinary (ID) requirement for all baccalaureate degrees as part of the new Gen Ed. Twenty-two team-taught new and retooled ID courses are now offered. Interdisciplinary thinking has led to further collaborations, such as the bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering technology under development.

Grants and research have expanded to support key goals. Federal grants have played a major role in the evolution of City Tech into the institution it is today: nationally connected, locally attuned, and a significant contributor to CUNY’s and the nation’s intellectual capital. Grants have had a positive impact on faculty career trajectories by extending research horizons, building ladders for leadership, and creating new bonds of intellectual community nationally and internationally. For the institution as a whole grants have provided the means for wide-ranging transformation that has had particular impact on General Education: ten National Endowment for the Humanities grants to support faculty development on interdisciplinary humanities themes have centered the institution in its liberal core. STEM education too has been transformed. A total of 33 grants awarded by the National Science Foundation over the past decade have enabled City Tech to position the laboratory at the heart of STEM education, support faculty research, provide scholarships for promising students, prepare STEM teachers, and generally raise the quality of curriculum and instruction.

III. Student Success

New cohort models of comprehensive student support linked to program completion goals show dramatic results in stemming attrition and accelerating time-to-degree. A CUNY program called Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) assists students in earning an associate degree in three years by providing a matrix of financial, academic, and personal support. City Tech is expanding the number of ASAP students based upon significant improvement in time-to-degree over comparison groups. Two dual-enrollment early college partnerships with career-focused high schools are redefining norms for time enrolled and time elapsed for degree completion.

High impact practices further the achievement of the mission. Over the past ten years, both City Tech’s academic and student affairs staffs have individually greatly expanded the implementation of demonstrated high impact practices, while also strengthening collaborative efforts¹. Learning Communities, Writing Intensive Courses, undergraduate research, service learning, and capstone courses have all continued to grow. Supported by a USED Title V grant (2011), faculty, joined by staff from Academic Affairs and Student Affairs, have created a collaborative First Year Experience.

IV. The Value of a City Tech Education for Our Graduates

City Tech is a dynamic engine of economic mobility for its graduates. According to the 2017 Stanford University Equality of Opportunity Project, City Tech ranked fifth among 369 selective public colleges and ninth among the entire sample of more than 2,300 US colleges in the achievement of overall intergenerational economic mobility. This means that graduates are jumping several income quintiles above their parents’ economic status.² This demonstrated potential for professional and economic success by our graduates lends urgency to the mission to retain and graduate more students.

City Tech is ranked by National Science Foundation as a top producer of associate degrees in STEM for underrepresented students. The college is ranked sixth nationally in the number of Black STEM associate degree recipients, 18^th nationally in the number of Asian recipients, and 21st nationally in STEM degrees awarded to males. This finding suggests that City Tech is effectively addressing the NSF Broadening Participation in STEM challenge and has demonstrated success in preparing underrepresented students for STEM careers, an area of critical national need. These graduates enter the STEM workforce.

Downtown Brooklyn has become the Brooklyn Tech Triangle. As noted in the Periodic Review Report, as City Tech has advanced and grown in the past ten years, its surroundings in Downtown Brooklyn have been transformed into a major technology hub. Financial services, media, medical technology, robotics, architecture and design, and e-commerce firms have made City Tech’s neighborhood a thriving start-up laboratory. Dumbo and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Complex, as well as Industry City in nearby Sunset Park, house tech start-ups, established firms, and advanced manufacturing, fields closely aligned with the college’s programs. The demand for interns, as well as for graduates with technology skills, has expanded rapidly. To take advantage of the opportunity, in 2015 the college launched a Professional Development Center, which connects current students and City Tech alumni with local employers who represent the advanced technology marketplace. The center provides career coaching, interview preparation, and graduate school exploration while also sponsoring job fairs and recruiting events.

Recent Results of Planning and Assessment Processes

Following the 2013 Periodic Review Report, City Tech adopted a strategic plan for 2014-2019 that identified four major goals in light of the challenges and opportunities noted in the report, as well as the college’s regular assessment processes (Strategic Plan 2014-19):

I. Pursue Changing Opportunities in City Tech’s Areas of Expertise

Updates: In 2015 City Tech obtained a USED Title V Collaborative grant to develop digital tools and pedagogical strategies for mathematics, foundational to the technology programs and a major factor in student persistence/ completion. A USDOE MSEIP grant to the Math Department furthers this effort. In addition to new degree programs noted above, departments are pursuing accreditation and exploring degrees beyond the AAS and BTech to enhance credentials and better position students with an interest in continuing their studies. e.g., Communication Design, for example, is augmenting the BTech with a BFA and seeking NASAD accreditation; Architectural Technology is developing a five-year Bachelor of Architecture degree and is now a candidate for NAAB accreditation.

II. Increase Student Success and Enhance Students’ Academic and Co-Curricular Experience

Updates: Improving student retention and success is a priority, both for those who enter bachelor’s programs and for associate degree entrants with developmental needs. Bachelor’s students benefit from expanded opportunities for international travel and study, as well as coordinated advisement for graduate and professional school. City Tech is increasingly attracting transfer students, as indicated by enrollment data. To facilitate transfer, departments are reviewing and updating existing articulation agreements, identifying areas for new agreements, and initiating procedures for regular update. A new Transfer Center, augmented by a CSTEP grant, receives transfer students and expedites the review of their credits. Two early college career and technical high schools, City Poly and P-TECH, both with industry partners, prepare students to enter programs in technology with no remedial needs. In response to growing student interest in STEM programs, which continue to be demanding, City Tech inaugurated a CUNY Accelerated Success in Associate Programs (ASAP) program in Fall 2015, which is expected to serve over 900 students by 2018-2019, a large percentage in STEM. This CUNY program has demonstrated impressive gains in three-year graduation rates in associate degree programs.

III. Strengthen Coordination and Collaboration to Advance both Personnel and Programs

Updates: The college rolled out a new website and email platform in Fall 2016. To clarify requirements for tenure and promotion and facilitate the review process, a new format for organizing faculty dossiers was introduced in 2010; the college is now developing a completely electronic process, which will greatly streamline both submission and review. In Fall 2017, a college committee will be convened to make recommendations for optimal usage of existing space made available by the move of several departments to the new academic building.

IV. Continue to Evolve a Strong, Shared Institutional Identity to Guide Decision Making Internally and Present A Distinctive, Readily Identifiable Face to the World Outside the College

Updates: City Tech began to offer continuing education programming at Industry City in 2017. A fund-raising campaign linked to the new building, now in the quiet phase, will have its kick-off this year, supported by an expanded City Tech Foundation Board.

An emerging partnership between CUNY/City Tech and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory will establish a DNA Learning Laboratory in the City Tech campus. This entity will serve the college, the university, the K-12 schools, and the larger community.