About the Book
“John Mogulescu is affectionately regarded as the founding father of many of CUNY’s most innovative and consequential programs of this century. He’s been an unstoppable force and a guiding spirit bent on breaking down educational and career barriers for New Yorkers of all backgrounds. This spring, after a prodigious career spanning nearly 50 years, he announced his retirement. To many, CUNY won’t be the same without him.”
Rick Firstman, “Imagine That: How John Mogulescu Became the Dean of New Things,” CUNY podcast
In The Dean of New Things: Bringing Change to CUNY and New York City, John Mogulescu uses the story of his unusual career to consider how change—difficult but necessary—can happen in higher education. This story takes place at the City University of New York, the nation’s largest urban, public university, but the work described is applicable to many types of higher ed institutions.
Mogulescu never imagined a career in education and lacked some traditional academic credentials. But in nearly a half century at CUNY, he and his team created two successful, innovative colleges, the acclaimed student success program ASAP, and dozens of programs that dramatically increased student success and offered educational and career opportunities to hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. In the turbulent years that form the backdrop for this story, clear vision, dogged persistence, flexibility, and carefully nurtured relationships often helped sustain the work even when budgets dwindled or policy was opposed.
This book candidly attributes success and analyzes failures, and it offers useful object lessons. John Mogulescu examines on-the-ground leadership, making the case that effective leaders not only advance ideas but also attend scrupulously to implementation. They hire talented staff, build committed teams, and give them the freedom to work creatively and the support to navigate obstacles.
The Dean of New Things illustrates how institutions of higher education, especially urban colleges and universities, can define their mission far more broadly and argues that they should. First, by expanding the institution’s constituency well beyond traditional degree-seeking students and increasing educational offerings well beyond degree programs. Second, by forging partnerships with government, non-profits, and industry to address the pressing issues of urban life.
Many universities do some of these things, few integrate a comprehensive, coordinated expansion into their mission. Both directions demand of university leaders something they often advocate but find themselves hard-pressed to achieve—innovation and change. The Dean of New Things attempts to contribute to that effort.