Brooklyn College to Receive $1.5 Million from the City of New York to Prepare More Students for Tech Industry as Part of its CUNY 2x Tech Initiative

Brooklyn College will receive $1.5 million over the next three years as part of a five-year initiative by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the city’s Department of Small Business Services that aims to double the number of graduates from the City University of New York (CUNY) with bachelor’s degrees ready to compete for tech jobs in New York City. Designed in partnership with academic and industry leaders, the CUNY 2x Tech initiative includes investments in instruction, advising, and internships across a total of at least six CUNY senior colleges.

“All of us at Brooklyn College are delighted that our computer science students will be the beneficiaries of the CUNY 2x grant from the New York City Economic Development Corporation and NYC Department of Small Business Services,” said Brooklyn College President Michelle J. Anderson. “This partnership strengthens our ties to the tech industry, increases our course offerings in computer science, and expands advisement and career services, ensuring that our students are optimally prepared for a broad range of careers in tech fields.”

The initiative’s approach to double the number of tech bachelor’s degrees awarded and increase students’ ability to secure and succeed in tech jobs focuses on building the capacity of CUNY computer science departments. It is not expected that campuses will double overall enrollment, but rather will work together with the city and industry partners to decrease time to graduation and increase alignment of education with the preparation needed to succeed in tech jobs today and in the future.

“This additional investment in NYC public colleges expands the pipelines of opportunities for New Yorkers to enter quality, well-paying careers in the tech sector,” said Gregg Bishop, commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services. “Local employers can now reach into a larger pool of home-grown talent to help their business and New York City’s economy grow.”

In addition to the goal of doubling the number of New Yorkers graduating from CUNY with bachelor’s degrees in tech with the skills needed to land full-time tech jobs in NYC at market-rate salaries, the initiative also seeks alignment between NYC’s public university system and industry by establishing collaboration between NYC tech employers and CUNY colleges. This coordination is intended to ensure students are equipped with the technical and professional skills they need to land entry-level tech jobs at market-rate salaries upon graduation, and that employers look to CUNY as a dependable source of top-tier entry-level talent.

To achieve these goals, Brooklyn College will hire two full-time lecturers with expertise in an in-demand tech field to meet the demand for the number of students aspiring to major in tech fields and provide CUNY students with tech education aligned with the evolving needs of NYC tech employers. The college will support at least two industry practitioners through the Tech-in-Residence Corps in the 2019–2020 academic year and provide students in tech majors with relevant work experience by placing them as tutors in courses in their major.

The college also will hire an academic adviser dedicated exclusively to computer science majors to support students’ ability to stay in tech majors and complete their degrees in a reasonable amount of time, expand student exposure to tech careers and the courses needed to prepare for them, and help students plan for internships and other opportunities to build their experience in and exposure to tech workplaces.

In addition, the college will design and implement a system for collecting data on employment and salary status of majors and graduates; build an industry feedback loop within campus to synthesize feedback and develop recommendations for—and pursue—upgrades to curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular avenues for student preparation aligned with industry needs; and identify students to participate in professional skills workshops for tech majors delivered by an entity other than the college. A campus manager also will be hired to oversee the initiative and to ensure its successful execution, reporting, and coordination among partners.