City University of New York Spending $3 Million on Consultants for Campus Reopening Plan
“CUNY has been mostly on remote instruction since the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020.”
This is an extraordinary amount of money. You have to wonder why this is even necessary.
The New York Post reports:
CUNY set to spend $3M to hire consultants for campus reopening plans
The City University of New York is about to plunk down $3 million to hire consulting powerhouse McKinsey & Co. to draft a reopening plan for the fall.
The board of the public university system is set to vote Monday on the $2,974,800 agreement for McKinsey to work with its colleges to come up with blueprints to bring students back. CUNY has been mostly on remote instruction since the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020.
But the system’s schools had already formulated reopening plans in anticipation of returning last fall, according to CUNY’s web site.
“CUNY campuses have individual reopening and operating plans to cover a range of scenarios that reflect engagement with campus stakeholders, administrators, faculty, staff, students, unions, alumni and community-based groups,” a notice posted in September 2020 read.
It’s unclear how the new $3 million plans would differ.
The proposed hiring agreement noted McKinsey was providing a 33 percent discount for the project.
CUNY was in such dire financial condition last year that Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez in November ordered furloughs for hundreds of top staffers.
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Comments
As I understand it, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has required each college in NYS to write a reopening plan and file it with the state. https://www.wivb.com/news/gov-cuomo-on-college-reopening-specific-procedures-for-reopening-will-come-from-the-colleges/ Perhaps McKinsey & Co. would have more credibility than a plan drafted by CUNY administrators. Given that NYC has been a COVID hot spot, and the many varied CUNY programs and campuses (including the CUNY School of Medicine in Harlem) reopening will be complicated and controversial. CUNY has only one chance to get this right.
Why do you say CUNY has only one chance to get it right? If their reopening plan lacks credibility and generates complaints, then they can amend it. It doesn’t seem like it should be a crisis atmosphere, but the beginning of a conversation or negotiation.