Contents
CUF in the News
Center for an Urban Future
is a New York City-based think tank that fuses journalistic reporting techniques with traditional policy analysis to produce in-depth reports and workable policy solutions on the critical issues facing our cities.
is a New York City-based think tank that fuses journalistic reporting techniques with traditional policy analysis to produce in-depth reports and workable policy solutions on the critical issues facing our cities.
Follow the Center
New York by the Numbers
Economic snapshots of the 5 boroughs
Search:
Higher Education
REPORT
Closing the Skills Gapby David Fischer and Jeremy Reiss
This report, jointly published by CUF and the Community Service Society, finds that New York City faces a human capital crisis that could threaten the city's long-term economic competitiveness while relegating countless residents to low-wage jobs. It shows that an alarming number of New Yorkers now lack the skills and educational credentials to compete in today's economy and warns that the problem will only get worse in the years ahead. The report calls for a comprehensive campaign to develop the skills of New York's population.
TESTIMONY
Testimony: Translating New York's Science and Technology Assets Into Economic ActivityBy Jonathan Bowles
At an October 9th hearing held by the Governors Task Force on Diversifying the New York State Economy through Industry-Higher Education Partnerships, CUFs Jonathan Bowles testified about how to make New Yorks pre-eminent scientific research institutions engines of entrepreneurship and economic growth.
REPORT
Building New York City's Innovation Economyby Jim O'Grady and Jonathan Bowles
This report finds that New York City's leading universities and scientific research centers have not become catalysts for entrepreneurship and local economic development the way similar institutions have in other regions. It argues that this is a huge missed opportunity for New York, given the need to diversify the economy and create new engines of job growth. The study details why New York is falling short, showing that university leaders have not done enough to support start-up ventures.
The report is accompanied by the city's first-ever "Innovation Index," a package of 49 charts and graphs that show where New York stands compared to other cities and regions on a broad range of indicators measuring both existing science and technology assets and the city's level of success at commercializing these assets.
September 2009
REPORT
Six Months Later: What Has President Obama Done for New York City?By David Giles, David Jason Fischer and Marc Shavitz
A week before President Obama took office, the Center for an Urban Future published a report that laid out 51 specific recommendations for what the Obama administration and the 111th Congress could do to help New York City and other cities. Now, at the six month anniversary of President Obamas inauguration, we are taking a close look at which of these 51 recommendations have been achieved. Our conclusion: While the administration still has a long way to go to create a comprehensive national urban policy, it has already made an extraordinary amount of progress on issues that matter to New York and other cities.
Q&A
Q&A with Anthony Carnevale, Director, Georgetown University Center on Education and the WorkforceBy David Jason Fischer
As part of our series of Q&A's with innovators, entrepreneurs and policy experts, the Center's David Jason Fischer interviews Anthony Carnevale, former chair of the National Commission on Employment Policy, about the changing labor market, the future of vocational education and the impact of the recession on New York City.
May 2009
COMMENTARY
Paying Attention to CitiesBy Jonathan Bowles
After years of federal policies neglecting urban areas, Barack Obama has sent some encouraging signals that he understands their importance. Certainly, New York could use a helping hand. In this commentary for Gotham Gazette, CUF director Jonathan Bowles lays out some ideas for what the president could do to aid New York. Bowles and CUF deputy director Tara Colton also appeared on WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show to discuss these ideas.
January 2009
REPORT
51 Things the Obama Administration Should do for New York CityBy Jonathan Bowles, Tara Colton, David Jason Fischer, David Giles and Jim O'Grady
The advent of the Obama administration offers great hope that the period of years, if not decades, when the federal government all but turned its back on the needs of urban communities is finally over. But what exactly should the new president do for New York City? Our new report, 50+1: A Federal Agenda for New York City, lays out 51 specific recommendations for what the Obama administration and the 111th Congress could do to help New York City. The ideas range from taking immediate steps to ensure that the 2010 Census does not undercount New York and providing anti-terror funds to localities based on risk to accelerating the rollout of new air traffic control technology to reduce flight delays.
Q & A
Q&A with Matthew Goldstein, chancellor of CUNYBy Jonathan Bowles
As part of our series of Q&As with New York City innovators, entrepreneurs and policy experts, the Centers Jonathan Bowles interviews Matthew Goldstein about CUNYs recent accomplishments, the universitys role in the citys changing economy and Governor Spitzers new higher education initiatives.
February 2008
COMMENTARY
Engineering A Tech SectorBy David Hochman
This Off the CUF essay argues that NYU's proposed merger with Polytechnic University could provide a critical spark to the city's long-frustrated efforts to establish a more robust high-tech sector.
REPORT
Working To Learn, Learning to Work: Unlocking the Potential of New York's Adult College StudentsBy Tom Hilliard
This new report by the Center and the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy documents the critical importance to New York's economy of expanding college attendance among working adults, and finds that the rate at which adults attend college has fallen sharply.
REPORT
Ready or NotBy Tara Colton
This new report focuses on the alarming number of young people who graduate from New York City public high schools unprepared to succeed in college, and provides a detailed examination of three college readiness programs run by CUNY and the city's public school system. The report concludes that a lack of institutional support from the city's top education officials may make it difficult to expand or improve upon these programs in the years ahead.
REPORT
More Hard Times for New York's Working FamiliesBy David Fischer with Tara Colton, Tom Hilliard and Karen Schimke
This new report by the Center for an Urban Future and the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy reveals that the number of working poor families in the state has continued to rise in recent years.
TESTIMONY
A Workforce Vision for Continuing EducationBy David Jason Fischer
CUF project director David Fischer recently spoke to the Continuing Education Association of New York about the increasing convergence of continuing ed programs within colleges and universities, and publicly funded and run workforce development systems.
October 2005
REPORT
Framing the 2005 Mayoral Debate: Issues & Proposals for the CandidatesThis report, which the Center for an Urban Future produced in partnership with the Regional Plan Association and the Center for New York City Affairs, is designed to inform candidates and educate voters about nine key issues that New York's next mayor will face over the next four years, from education and economic development to child welfare and homelessness.
REPORT
Between Hope and Hard Times: New York's Working Families in Economic DistressBy David J. Fischer, Tara Colton, Neil S. Kleiman and Karen Schimke
In this first-of-its-kind report, the Center and the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy explore the conditions and policy responses to low-income working families in the Empire State.
REPORT
CUNY on the JobBy Neil Scott Kleiman
This new report--an update to CUF's 1999 study, "Putting CUNY to Work"--finds that workforce development has become a priority at CUNY, with sharp increases in enrollment for employer contract training, adult education and other training programs.
REPORT
Ditching ClassBy David Jason Fischer
Half of all New York City schoolteachers leave the classroom within five years--presenting a huge obstacle to Mayor Bloomberg's ambitious school reform agenda.
TESTIMONY
Testimony Supporting the Creation of a CUNY School of Professional StudiesBy Neil Scott Kleiman
Center director Neil Kleiman speaks to the CUNY Board of Trustees about the proposal to create a school of professional studies at CUNY
June 2003
REPORT
Rebuilding Job Training from the Ground Up: Workforce System Reform After 9/11By David Jason Fischer and Neil Scott Kleiman with Julian Alssid
Nearly a year after the disaster of September 11, New York City has begun a long-overdue reform of its workforce development system. In this report, the Center finds the early returns encouraging-but warns that heavy lifting lies ahead.
REPORT
Building a Highway to Higher Ed: How Collaborative Efforts are Changing Education in AmericaBy Neil Scott Kleiman
After decades of miscommunication between high schools and colleges, education advocates nationwide are taking heart in signs that collaboration and coordination are beginning to ease the transition to higher ed. Nowhere is this positive trend more pronounced than in New York City.
©2008 Center for an Urban Future. All Rights Reserved.
120 Wall Street, 20th Floor, NY, NY 10005 Phone (212) 479-3341 Fax (212) 479-3338 E-mail cuf@nycfuture.org