CUNY Announces New Policies Aimed at Increasing Engagement with Minority-Owned Businesses

The City University of New York has recently unveiled plans for increasing the university’s engagement with minority- and women-owned businesses (MWBEs) and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses (SDVOBs).

A recent conference offered insight to prospective MWBE and SDVOB partners on how to conduct business with CUNY and to provide a forum for networking with CUNY decision-makers. This year, the conference attracted 1,100 attendees, an increase over last year’s 900.

In his keynote address, CUNY Chancellor Matos Rodríguez, laid out new policies to bolster CUNY’s MWBE and SDVOB program. These include expanding the university’s mentorship program, conducting annual assessments of the university’s efforts to engage with MWBEs and SDVOBs, and increasing student internship and employment opportunities with these businesses, among others.

“When I was appointed chancellor earlier this year, I began discussions with many members of the CUNY board of trustees and my senior team to create a concrete plan regarding the University’s MWBE and SDVOB efforts,” said Chancellor Rodríguez. “We all agreed that as the country’s most diverse public higher education institution, CUNY needed to accelerate participation. These efforts will help inspire more people of color, women and service-disabled veterans to directly participate in our vibrant university community and help make CUNY a more inclusive institution. We thank Governor Andrew Cuomo for his support and for helping us create a MWBE and SDVOB program at CUNY that will become a national model of excellence.”

Related Articles

1 COMMENT

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

University of Maryland Reports on Its Historic Ties to Slavery

"This new research report is an important first step in confronting and disrupting the narrative of our shared history. It challenges us to see through the privileged half-truths we’ve long held as a university and to create a more inclusive and truthful documented history," said Lae’l Hughes-Watkins, co-chair of The 1856 Project.

Yale University Commits $10 million Toward HBCU Partnerships

Yale University issued a formal apology three weeks ago regarding its historical ties to slavery. In response, the university has pledged $10 million towards an initiative that aims to expand collaboration with historically Black colleges and universities.

Gallup Survey Finds Black Students More Likely Than Their White Peers to Withdraw From College

A 2023 survey conducted by Gallup in partnership with the Lumina Foundation has found that 40 percent of currently enrolled Black students have considered stopping their coursework in the past six months, compared to 31 percent of White students.

Recent Books of Interest to African American Scholars

The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education regularly publishes a list of new books that may be of interest to our readers. The books included are on a wide variety of subjects and present many different points of view.

Featured Jobs