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4 COLLEGES & GRADuate Schools ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ NOV/DEC 2010Pres. Lisa Staiano-Coico,The City College of New YorkBy Joan Baum, Ph.D.Introducing Dr. Lisa Staiano-Coico, the newlyappointed president of The City College of NewYork, the first-ever CUNY alumna to assumethis office at the 163-year-old college, MatthewGoldstein, the CUNY chancellor, reiterated the“crucial” importance in having “visionary, energetic”people in top positions at CUNY. Hisadjectives were underscored by Charles Shorter,a trustee, who chaired the search committee thatselected Dr. Staiano-Coico, a Brooklyn Collegegraduate, to be City College’s 12th president.In Dr. Staiano-Coico, he said, the college getsa “superstar,” not only a scientist with finecredentials, but a passionate leader. Indeed,in a recent interview with Education Update,President Staiano-Coico’s passion and purposewere on articulate and energetic display.She reiterated remarks made in her acceptancespeech, reaffirming her dedication to “leadership,discovery and impact.” Expanding briefly oneach of these, she noted that by “leadership” shemeant “collective leadership,” with all membersof the academic community working to promotepartnerships on campus and between campus andcommunity to ensure that City College studentshave a “collective impact” on the world. In hertalk with Education Update she acknowledgedthat the biggest challenge facing all CUNY collegesis “the shrinking budget,” which meansdoing more with less, but she sees the problem asa prompt “to be strategic, to prioritize.”Her top goal, she says, is to increase graduationand retention rates, and she is pursuing variousenrollment and tracking tactics to this end. Hersecond goal, to support the faculty, is alreadyunder way in the form of RFPs for ten grants toencourage collaboration among faculty from differentdisciplines. Her third goal is to strengthenpartnerships with the community, both localand citywide, an initiative that includes offeringscholarships to high school students in the areaand continuing an impressive internship programwhere students not only serve in communityagencies but incorporate what they’ve learnedback into their academic lives. A fourth goal is toenergize the alumni, role models of working menand women who have made it. She mentions howsurprised students are to learn that her own earlywork in science was as a lowly lab technician andgofer. “That’s how you start making your dreamscome true.”Although President Staiano-Coico spoke abouther interest in the sciences, social sciences,humanities and arts, she reinforced ChancellorGoldstein’s theme that “this is the decade ofscience.” Psychology is the most popular majoron campus, but it is the forthcoming AdvancedScience Research Center at City College thathas the president’s major attention and that, inthe spirit of interdisciplinary study, will incorporatethe other disciplines as it moves to become“the jewel in the CUNY decade of the sciencescrown,” a research center for both undergraduatesand graduate students. She believes it is a lifechangingmoment when a student gets excitedCOLLEGE PRESIDENTS SERIESabout science — it certainly was for her whena dynamic biology teacher confirmed for herwhat her early reading of a book about rocks andminerals sparked — that she loved science. It wasunusual, she recalled, for a girl from Brooklynto have been so motivated, but she credits hermother and father for being supportive. Theearlier students become exposed to science andfirst-class scientists, the better. Her most rewardingmoments have been — and will continue tobe — seeing students who began in a lab move onto major careers in medicine and science, “pursuingtheir dreams.”To the goal of promoting science, Dr. Staiano-Coico couldn’t have come more prepared as bothresearcher and administrator. Her recent work onalcohol and drug abuse prevention for first-yearcollege students is continuing. Though immersedin her new administrative life, she regularlyattends meetings with colleagues from Cornelland Temple and now CUNY to discuss findingsabout prevention programs in urban settings.And she speaks whenever she can to high schoolstudents about how “drugs and alcohol can derailtheir lives.” City College has residence halls,where some youngsters will be on their own forthe first time and will perhaps be vulnerable,especially to alcohol. She wants to add moreresidence hall counselors and develop more programsthat will “de-stigmatize” the problems ofdrugs and alcohol and integrate research data andoutreach activities.She is, and will continue to be, a hands-onCEO. She meets with students every secondTuesday of the month at an open table in thecafeteria (“what, only two microwaves?”), holdingtown hall meetings and inviting students toher house for dinner. For sure, she will be ableto talk to them about more than science. A StiegLarsson fan and a lover of Thomas Hardy, sheexhibits the broad and deep learning she wouldinspire in others. Respice, Adspice, Prospice, asthe City College motto has it: Look back, lookat, look ahead. #Benno Schmidt HonoredBenno Schmidt, chairperson of the Board ofTrustees of The City University of New York,will receive the sixth annual Philip Merrill Awardof the American Council of Trustees and Alumni(ACTA) for Outstanding Contributions to LiberalArts Education. The presentation took place ata gala dinner at the University of PennsylvaniaMuseum of Archaeology and Anthropologyin Philadelphia.The Merrill Award honors those who havemade an extraordinary contribution to theadvancement of liberal arts education, core curricula,and the teaching of Western civilizationand American history.“At a time when the liberal arts are under siegeand many educators are paralyzed by the face ofa changing world, Benno Schmidt has emerged achampion for the arts and letters and a forwardthinkinginnovator committed to delivering qualityinstruction to all college students,” said AnneNeal, president of ACTA. “Whether protectingacademic freedom or building a model communitycollege with strong general educationrequirements, Benno has been at the epicenterPres. Mitchel B. Wallerstein,Baruch CollegeBy Joan Baum, Ph.D.In office for only four months, Dr. MitchelB. Wallerstein, the seventh president of BaruchCollege of the City University of New York, talksconfidently and with humor about the pleasuresand challenges (“surprises I call them”) of hisnew position. Of the delights, he cites walking thehalls and meeting the students, marveling at the“veritable United Nations” that Baruch Collegerepresents due to its diversity, with more than160 nationalities represented in its undergraduateand graduate student body, and the enviableacademic ratings that it receives. Of the surprises,the main one, he says, was learning “the extent ofthe state’s fiscal crisis,” a reality he knows that heshares with colleagues at CUNY and nation wide,but one that he is striving not to allow to affectadversely student services, academic programs, orhis vision for the college for the next five years.Though the paint is barely dry in his office onEast 22nd Street, one of seven Baruch Collegebuildings in the area, President Wallerstein says hewants to be more visible and “engage more activelywith students”; and to that end he has instituted amonthly “Pizza With The President” discussiongroup, open to all students, approximately 30 at atime, that includes student government leaders aswell as first year students and graduate students.“If you feed them, they will come,” he says witha knowing smile. And then he adds that he alsoattends the college’s sports events — basketball,of course, but also so-called “minor” sports suchas ping pong. He’s amazed at the fierce skills studentsbring to the game. The president is, in short,impressively informed about the college, its uniquehistory, its prestigious current reputation, and itscurrent events.Students admitted to Baruch, PresidentWallerstein points out, score well on the SAT exam.In fact, the Fall 2010 incoming freshmen classhas an average score of 1220, leading the chargefor academic excellence at CUNY colleges. Healso cites the recent “bests” Baruch has collected,badges colorfully displayed on the college’s Website that show that Baruch has become competitivewith some of the “elite” colleges across the countryin academic achievement, value and diversity.The current fiscal constraints, moreover, have notdampened the president’s pursuit of wishes anddreams. A current campaign to raise $150 millionhas already brought in close to $110 million.It’s onward and upward, given the college’s continuedenhancement of undergraduate programsand of those leading to its masters’ in BusinessAdministration and in Public Affairs. And maybe,the president says, there could be down the linea fourth school at Baruch that focuses on communicationsand information sciences and creativecurricular arrangements with the graduate school.In any case, the momentum at Baruch, is clearlyinterdisciplinary and international.Named after its philanthropic founder, BernardM. Baruch, and started as a men-only school ofbusiness and civic administration that traces its historyto the founding of the first free public institutionof higher education in the U.S. in 1847, BaruchCollege has become a “mecca” for women, whonow constitute 57 percent of an approximate totalenrollment of slightly more than 17,000 students.A senior college of CUNY known not only for itsZicklin School of Business, the largest of its kindin the country, but also for the Weissman Schoolof Arts and Sciences and the School of PublicAffairs, this is a natural place for the new president,considering his extraordinary career and variedprofessional background across disciplines. Beforecoming to CUNY, Dr. Wallerstein served as deanof the Maxwell School of Citizenship and PublicAffairs at Syracuse University (2003-2010), whichhas been ranked as the leading school of public andinternational affairs in the country for the past sixteenyears. Before that, he was vice president of theJohn D. and Catherine T, MacArthur Foundationin Chicago (1998-2003), where he directed theProgram on Global Security and Sustainability;and previous to that, confessedly smitten withWashington politics, he accepted PresidentClinton’s offer to be Deputy Assistant Secretaryof Defense for Counterproliferation Policy, andSenior Defense Representative for Trade Security.An elected member of the Council on ForeignRelations, the International Institute for StrategicStudies and an elected Fellow of the NationalAcademy of Public Administration, PresidentWallerstein, a native New Yorker, holds a Ph.D.and M.S. degree in Political Science from MITand an A.B. from Dartmouth College. His selectionas president of the prestigious college speaksmultitudes about him, Baruch, the mission of theCity University, and the nature of higher educationin an increasingly complex world. For surePresident Wallerstein’s latest book, “CombatingTerrorism: Strategies and Approaches” (2007), afive-star entry on Amazon, co-written with WilliamC. Banks and Renée de Nevers, is sure to continueto make him a much-sought out expert on a timelyand significant subject, as he brings to his newrole as the college’s CEO ideas for strategies andapproaches to make Baruch an even more significantplayer in academe and on the world stage. #of higher education reform efforts for more thantwo decades. We are very proud to recognize himfor this award,” Neal continued.CUNY has undergone an academic renaissanceunder Benno Schmidt’s leadership as chairperson.Before joining the CUNY Board, he ledMayor Rudolph Giuliani’s task force on revitalizingthe CUNY system. As president of YaleUniversity from 1986 to 1992 he was known forhis outspoken defense of freedom of expressionand liberal education. Before joining Yale, he wasdean of Columbia University Law School where,in 1973, he became, at age 29, one of the youngesttenured professors in Columbia’s history. #