The City University of New York

CUNY is not only the largest public university in the world, it is also the most racially and ethnically diverse university system in the country. Racial and social justice is central to our educational and research mission. CUNY is well placed to be a leading voice in building a national PIT ecosystem centered on racial and social justice and all of our Challenge Grant funded projects are excellent examples of CUNY’s commitment to these principles and to the broader aims of the PIT University Network.

Effie MacLachlan, Director of Grants & Research Programs – CUNY Office of Research

Educational Offerings

Pipelines and Pop-ups: Generating Pathways into Careers in Public Interest Technology

Building on CUNY’s ongoing partnership with the nonprofit BetaNYC, this project will lay the groundwork for establishing publicly accessible tech credentials in PIT within the CUNY system and will position the CUNY Public Interest Tech Lab as a central innovation hub. It will also launch the NYC PIT Pop-Up to showcase exemplary cross-sector PIT practices and garner commitments from civic and workforce partners interested in building public interest careers.

Principal Investigators

Rev. Kathleen (Katie) M. Cumiskey, Associate Professor in the Psychology Department.

Effie MacLachlan, Director of Grants & Research Programs.

Educational Offerings

Establishing the ASRC IlluminationSpace as a Hub for Public Interest Technology, STEM Pathways, and Science Communication and Outreach at CUNY

Over the past two years, the Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC) at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York has piloted several STEM outreach, education, and communications programs. To better serve NYC’s underrepresented communities, CUNY will bring the programs under the ASRC IlluminationSpace (IS) umbrella to create the IS Hub, focused on using PIT in four areas: K-16+ STEM education, science communication, community-based science, and STEM workforce development.

Principal Investigator

Annette Gray, Ph.D

Building the CUNY PIT Lab

The CUNY PIT Lab will build on the field-building goals outlined by PIT-UN and help to define PIT across CUNY’s academic programming.

Principal Investigator

Dr. Kathleen M. Cumiskey, Associate Professor

Career Pipeline/Placement

Supporting public interest technologists in earning their associate degree through intentional learning communities: The importance of marketable tech skills, peer support and mentorship in Year 2

Year 1 provided start-up costs for an intentional learning community in collaboration with faculty, tech and community stakeholders at CSI. Public interest tech is defined by how students interrogate an understanding of technology that focuses on media literacy and powerful tech tools for self-determination and effective representation of community needs. In Year 2, students will complete their associate degree, develop peer support networks, learn marketable tech skills and forge college/career pipelines. A baccalaureate degree in PIT will be designed. An advisory board and student club will be established. Support from CSI Tech Incubator will lead to credentialed training opportunities. A second cohort of students will begin the program.

Principal Investigator

Dr. Kathleen M. Cumiskey, Associate Professor

Educational Offerings

Building Public Interest Technologists Through Pre-college Support Networks and Community-based Service Learning Opportunities

This project will create a repository of materials focused on Public Interest Tech (PIT) by awarding university wide faculty mini-grants to create and share, in local and global venues, PIT curricula as open educational resources (OER).

Principal Investigator

Susan Imberman, Ph.D

Curricula Design in Public Interest Tech Using OER

Producing public interest technologists requires pre-college support networks, academic paths toward skill building and a focus on social justice. This project partners with secondary educators, community and industry leaders to design a rigorous new academic program for a pool of diverse talent.

Principal Investigator

Dr. Kathleen M. Cumiskey, Associate Professor