Dear SLU Community:Happy Labor Day Weekend! On this cherished national holiday, we honor workers and pay tribute to the labor movement’s impact on our lives, our communities, and society more broadly.As I do at this time every year, I want to take the opportunity to reflect on the contributions made by the CUNY School of Labor & Urban Studies to improving the lives of working people – and to share with you the aspirations we have for the future.First, a little context. These are difficult times, filled with both despair and hope. Faced with attacks on democracy at home, wars abroad, and existential environmental threats to our planet, voices are rising and people are organizing to form new social movements. For starters, look no further than SLU’s just-released State of the Unions 2024 (hyperlink) which spotlights the surge of successful union organizing activity across the county.SLU, too, has faced adversity – budget cuts, the pandemic, and national declines in college enrollments. Yet we have not only survived, we have thrived.
As we all know, it takes a village to make good things happen and SLU is very fortunate to have a strong supportive community. I want to express my gratitude to the many people and organizations that make our school strong and vibrant – from faculty, staff, students and alumni, to members of our advisory and foundation boards, CUNY leadership, and the elected officials who have propelled us forward. The school flourishes because of you.
LOOKING BACK: A Banner Year
Here are just some highlights from the past 12 months:
- Student enrollment has grown by 10% in our Labor Studies and Urban Studies programs, and 17% in our Worker Education program. In total, SLU now serves more than 1,600 students.
- 115 SLU students graduated in May, with deserved pomp and circumstance, at a ceremony held in the New York Public Library. (Click here to see a short, inspiring video featuring one of our graduates.)
- We received increased funding from the State Legislature that allowed us to create and fill two new full-time faculty positions, add three leadership positions, as well as a number of new support positions.
- Construction has begun on our new street level storefront Welcome Center and on four new classrooms.
- SLU held 18 public forums, drawing more than 2,100 attendees.
- Subscriptions to SLU’s journal New Labor Forum surpassed 10,500 for the first time.
- Two investigatory reports from our City Works television show – one on child labor, the other on the perils immigrant laborers face on construction jobs – were re-broadcast on the Public Television network
LOOKING FORWARD: The Future is Bright
The next twelve months also promise to be exciting:
- We are currently conducting searches to hire four faculty members – two new positions and two replacements. (For more information, click here for Assist/Associate Professor positions and click here for Distinguished Lecturer positions.) This is part of our plan to double the number of full-time faculty – both scholars and practitioners – over the next six years. We also anticipate hiring a Director of Institutional Development. If you or someone you know is interested in applying for this position please contact HR@slu.cun.edu.
- We expect to cut the ribbon on “City of Workers, City of Struggle,” an exhibit that is being re-curated by the Museum of the City of New York at SLU and which we hope will eventually grow into NYC’s first Labor Museum.
- We anticipate Federal funding for an ambitious pilot program, The Public Service Training Corps, which will provide high school students with a path to SLU and careers in public service and social justice advocacy.
This past spring, City University established a Strategic Roadmap for 2030 and asked its 25 constituent colleges to set goals and targets for the next six years. In this context, SLU emphasized its dedication to public service and social justice and reaffirmed our commitment to a three-pronged mission:
- Preparing the next generation of labor and community leaders
- Increasing educational and career opportunities for working people
- Serving the community through research and public engagement
Here is a glimpse of what SLU is planning:
1. Preparing the Next Generation of Labor and Community Leaders
By 2030, we will double our student enrollment to 1,000 students in our Labor Studies and Urban Studies programs. To meet this aggressive goal, SLU will:
- Deepen existing – and develop new – partnerships with unions, community groups, government agencies, and non-profits;
- Expand our collaborations with high schools, community colleges, CUNY senior colleges and professional schools as well has schools outside the CUNY system (especially Historically Black and Hispanic Serving Colleges and Universities) and higher education institutions from other parts of the country – and the world;
- Expand our work with public housing residents and the formerly incarcerated and to create opportunities for populations that have been under-represented in higher education;
- Develop a wider selection of on-line courses and create new academic offerings, including a new certificate program in Power, Politics, and Policy, and a Spanish-language version of our Labor Relations certificate program;
- Raise the funding necessary to increase the percentage of our student body that receives full-tuition support. Currently 86% of our undergraduate and 58% of our graduate students in Labor Studies and Urban Studies pay no tuition at all. We hope to raise that percentage to 100%, effectively making SLU tuition free by 2030.
2. Increasing Higher Educational Opportunities for Working People
To provide working adults with access to courses and areas of study not offered by SLU’s academic programs, our Worker Education Program facilitates and supports the enrollment of more than 1,100 students at seven CUNY schools throughout the five boroughs. These students receive tuition support from their unions and are attending college in pursuit of job advancement.
By 2030, SLU plans to double both enrollment and the number of unions and colleges participating in these programs. We will do this by increasing participation in established outreach efforts such as “CUNY Days” in union and community settings, partnering with the successful CUNY Re-Connect program, expanding eligibility, broadening outreach services to more unions – and a host of other strategies and tactics.
3. Serving Labor and the Broader Community
In addition to establishing NYC’s first Labor Museum, SLU will continue to offer timely and thoughtful public programming, including a series of forums focusing on new leaders and new ideas and syndication of our “City Works” television show. Over the years, SLU has brought together world-renowned scholars, best-selling authors, international labor leaders, elected officials and other policy makers, as well as Nobel laureates, heads of state, journalists and artists. We will work to continue and enhance this rich tradition.
We will also work with our SLU Foundation Board to identify and pursue philanthropic opportunities to expand existing programs (such as our Diversity in Labor Scholarships) and support new initiatives, including.
- a world-class research institute to examine such topics as low-wage labor, job segregation, migrant child labor, artificial intelligence and the future of work;
- a new media center to advance investigative reporting and labor journalism;
- a fund to subsidize internships with community and labor organizations that cannot afford the cost of paid internships; and
- expanding our International Labor and the Environment project, which recently received a $500k grant to study organized labor’s role in the effort to stop global warming.
As you see, our achievements have been many and our aspirations remain high. I want to thank you all for your trust in SLU and your support of our work. I wish you a happy holiday and hope you can join us for the Labor Day Parade (see below).
Best wishes and in solidarity,
Gregory Mantsios, Ph.D.
Founding Dean
CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies