Queensborough Community College – Self-Study – Institutional Overview
INSTITUTIONAL OVERVIEW
THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
Queensborough Community College (QCC) is a unit of the City University of New York (CUNY).
According to New York State Education Law, CUNY is
Supported as an independent and integrated system of higher education on the
assumption that the University will continue to maintain and expand its commitment
to academic excellence and to the provision of equal access and opportunity for
students, faculty, and staff from all ethnic and racial groups and from both sexes.
The law requires CUNY to “remain responsive to the needs of its urban setting and maintain its close
articulation between senior and community college units.” CUNY is the nation’s largest urban
university: 11 senior colleges, 6 community colleges, an honors college, a graduate center, a law
school, a school of biomedical education, a journalism school, a school of professional studies, the
CUNY Baccalaureate (and Online Baccalaureate) Program, and The Teacher Academy. More than
208,000 students are enrolled in degree credit courses, and another 200,000 are enrolled in adult and
continuing education courses at campuses located in all New York City boroughs. CUNY offers
1,400 academic programs, more than 200 majors leading to associate and baccalaureate degrees, and
more than 100 graduate degree majors. CUNY provides post-secondary learning opportunities at
every level from certificate courses to the PhD, in a single integrated system. Transfer to a CUNY
senior college is guaranteed for students who graduate from a CUNY community college. A 17member Board of Trustees oversees the University. Ten members are appointed by the governor of
New York State, and five members by the mayor of New York City. Additionally, the president of the
University Student Senate is a voting member of the Board, and the president of the University
Faculty Senate serves as an ex officio (non-voting) member. As part of CUNY, QCC adheres to set
academic policies affecting admissions, testing, program development, and graduation requirements.
CUNY negotiates the collective bargaining agreements, establishes the overall enrollment and
revenue targets, and allocates the tax-levy funds for individual campus operating budgets.
CUNY graduates include 12 Nobel laureates—10 scientists and two economists—among the highest
numbers from any public university in the country. A U.S. Secretary of State, a Supreme Court
Justice, mayors, members of Congress, state legislators, an astronaut, actors, singers, composers,
writers, and inventors are among the outstanding alumni. More top U.S. corporate executives earned
their bachelor’s degree at CUNY than at any other university in the country, according to the most
recent national survey conducted at Standard & Poor’s. Since 1967, CUNY has bestowed over one
million (1,111,565) associate, baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral degrees. CUNY is one of the
nation’s leading producers of African-American and Hispanic engineers and physicians. CUNY
colleges are among the top sources of doctoral, master’s, and baccalaureate degrees earned by
minority students in all disciplines.
CUNY is currently undertaking a major initiative, CUNYfirst, which is CUNY’s Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) Project, meant to be implemented on all the CUNY campuses. A product of
Oracle/PeopleSoft, ERP will play a key role in the systemic transformation of the university and the
promotion of an integrated CUNY. The system will replace aging computer systems overseeing
student administration, finance, and human resources that have served CUNY for over a
generation. The overall implementation will be conducted in multiple phases over the duration of
approximately five years. Two colleges have been chosen as vanguard schools to pilot the suite of
software: QCC is the community college vanguard, and Queens College is the baccalaureate
vanguard. The vanguard schools will pilot and demonstrate the systems in advance of the rest of the
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Queensborough Community College – Self-Study – Institutional Overview
university and will be particularly instrumental in their design. Many administrative staff from offices
like Information Technology, Academic Computing, Registrar, Financial Services, Records and
Planning, and Finance and Administration have been recruited to work with Oracle/PeopleSoft and
the CUNY central office to develop and implement this system. In addition, during 2007-2009, QCC
will convert from its previous online degree audit program and registration system to Degree Works.
QUEENSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE
College Profile
QCC was established in 1958. Since the first class graduated in 1962, almost 50,000 students have
graduated from the College. Over 12,000 students are currently enrolled in degree programs. Close to
88 percent are residents of Queens County, and 70 percent of the current students are employed. The
percentage of GED students enrolled at the college is 10.5. Approximately 9,000 additional students,
spanning elementary school age through senior citizen, are enrolled annually in one or more of the
course offerings available through the Office of Continuing Education and Workforce Development.
Currently, there are 304 full-time faculty and 635 adjunct instructors: 58 percent of the full-time
faculty have doctoral degrees (including PhDs, EdDs, DAs, JDs, DMAs, and HSDs). The workload
for full-time faculty is 27 hours a year. The ratio of part-time to full-time faculty is 2.03:1. The
average class size is 24 students.
QCC functions as a community resource serving the educational, professional, and cultural needs of
the general community. It offers a broad base of community-oriented activities, including continuing
education, on-and off-campus learning centers, and cultural and recreational events. The College
engages in an active outreach policy that invites members of the business, labor, and industrial
communities to participate in special programs and activities. In response to evolving community
needs, student needs, and employment trends, QCC also offers non-credit courses and certificate
programs and other activities. These programs and activities provide community residents with
accessible and affordable educational, recreational, and job training opportunities and help individuals
and businesses and other institutions respond to changes in technology and the economy. The College
plays a leadership role in providing access to the arts and culture to enrich the quality of life for the
community at large. QCC has a new state-of-the-art Art Gallery, and the new Kupferberg Holocaust
Resource Center and Archives is under construction. In 2008, the Professional Performing Arts Series
celebrated its 40th anniversary of serving the community.
Student Profile
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In fall 2008, there are 11,915 degree students enrolled, of whom 7,343 (61.6 percent) are fulltime students; curricula with the highest enrollment are Liberal Arts and Sciences, Business
Administration, and Nursing-pre Clinical.
An additional 1,076 students are non-degree; the majority of this group is high school
students who are part of the College Now program, which enrolls high school students in
college courses.
QCC is a very diverse campus with students from over 130 countries represented.
QCC is an open admissions campus; more than half of the incoming freshmen require at least
one remedial course.
In 2006-2007, 5,525 students received Pell grants.
The six-year graduation rate for the fall 2002 cohort is 26.5 percent; students usually go on to
other CUNY senior colleges like Queens College and Baruch College, but also enroll in nonCUNY colleges like SUNY Albany, Stony Brook, and Binghamton and private colleges like
NYU, Columbia, St. John’s, and Cooper Union.
Queensborough Community College – Self-Study – Institutional Overview
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In 2007-2008, there were 1,262 graduates; curricula with the most degrees were Liberal Arts
and Sciences, Business Administration, and Nursing Science.
53 percent of the classes are taught by full-time faculty; the student-faculty ratio was 17.5 in
fall 2007.
Student learning is supported by learning communities, honors classes, student research
programs, and required writing-intensive classes.
Pedagogy is enhanced by e-portfolio, Blackboard, and the Center for Excellence in Teaching
and Learning, which promotes understanding and research of teaching methodology.
Enrollment
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Queensborough Community College – Self-Study – Institutional Overview
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Queensborough Community College – Self-Study – Institutional Overview
Six Year Graduation Rate
First Time Full Time Freshmen
1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002
Total
First Time
Freshmen
QCC
Degree
Grad.
Other
CUNY
Still
Enroll.
QCC
Enroll.
Other
CUNY
Earned
Certificate
Not
Enrolled
at CUNY
Six
Year
Grad.
Rate
from
QCC
1999
1,748
386
74
51
62
10
1,165
22.08%
4.23%
2000
1,736
471
79
67
58
5
1,056
27.13%
4.55%
2001
1,731
420
79
53
73
5
1,100
24.26%
4.56%
2002
1,742
456
81
61
86
6
1,052
26.18%
4.65%
Grad.
Rate
from
Other
CUNY
Source: Institutional Research Data Base
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