The faculty and professional staff of John Jay College have worked tirelessly to ensure student success and continuity of instruction as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused illness and death in our families and those of the students we teach, mentor and serve.

When adjunct and full-time faculty were asked to transform our classes for distance learning at breakneck speed, we did so. When HEOs, library staff, and CLTs were called upon to spend stress-filled days transitioning student services and programs to online formats, we did so.

Our commitment and hard work has been repaid by the mass firing of 437 of our most vulnerable colleagues (semester-to-semester adjuncts) because of anticipated budget cuts.

We recognize the severity of the pending budget crisis, but call on you to demonstrate your educational leadership and commitment to student success by resisting cuts to faculty and staff. John Jay students, faculty and staff deserve better. We deserve a response to this crisis that is worthy of our college’s nation-leading record of success in fostering students’ social mobility.

We stand on the principle, consistent with the federal CARES Act stimulus legislation, that all employees should be maintained on payroll and health insurance during the pandemic. The CARES Act allocates $8.8 million in institutional support for John Jay College, in addition to the $7.6 million it earmarks for students.

Section 18006 of the CARES Act requires that a college that receives funds “shall to the greatest extent practicable, continue to pay its employees and contractors during the period of any disruptions or closures related to coronavirus.” [1]

In addition to the direct allocation to John Jay, there is another $164.6 million in funding awarded to New York as part of the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEERF), which should be used to offset State cuts to CUNY.

Section 18002 of the CARES Act states that the GEERF funds can be used to “provide emergency support through grants to institutions of higher education serving students within the State that the Governor determines have been most significantly impacted by coronavirus to support the ability of such institutions to continue to provide educational services and support the on-going functionality of the institution.”[2]

New York State is also likely to receive additional funding in the next federal stimulus bill.

We reject any attempt to anticipate or resolve budget difficulties based on speculation, diminishing the education we offer students by dismissing or non-reappointing employees, including contingent, part-time and student employees. Our students deserve better given our focus on social justice and equity.
We call on you and your administration to oppose cuts in State and City funding for CUNY resulting from the COVID-19 emergency and demand that you remain accountable to the job protection stipulations of CARES Act.

You should stand with us in advocating for higher taxes on billionaires and the ultra-wealthy instead of cuts to CUNY. The rich received more than $90 billion in unnecessary subsidies from the CARES Act. [3] They can afford to pay more.
Join our fight for new investment in CUNY as a lifeline for the economic recovery of New York City and the communities that have borne the greatest loss of life and employment during the pandemic.

We support the PSC’s demands, including the principle that all employees’ on-site work “will not resume until there is a consensus of scientific evidence and public health guidance that such work is safe and that travel in New York City to work locations is safe, and until agreement on the resumption of on-site work is reached with the PSC.”

New York will be forever changed by COVID-19. Your leadership will help determine whether John Jay College will be part of a just economic recovery. We know you can chart a course to keep our college and its workers strong and fully employed because the pandemic has shown us now more than ever that we are all in this together.

[1] https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hr748/BILLS-116hr748enr.xml
[2] Ibid
[3] Jeff Stein, “Tax change in coronavirus package overwhelmingly benefits millionaires, congressional body finds,” The Washington Post (April 14, 2020). Available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/14/coronavirus-law-congress-tax-change/