News & Events
Bonne August Named Acting Provost at New York City College of Technology/CUNY
Literacy scholar headed up committee that designed, developed and piloted CUNY Proficiency Exam (CPE)
New York City College of Technology (City Tech) President Russell K. Hotzler has appointed Dr. Bonne August to the position of acting provost and vice president for academic affairs, effective February 1. She replaces Dr. Joann La Perla, who left to assume the presidency of Middlesex County College in New Jersey.
A member of the faculty of Kingsborough Community College of The City University of New York since 1982, most recently Dr. August was chair of the English department and held the rank of full professor. Over the years, she has been involved with City University of New York (CUNY) initiatives that have honed her skills in curriculum development and implementation. Chief among them was her role, from 1997 to 2002, heading up the CUNY faculty committee that designed, developed and piloted the CUNY Proficiency Examination (CPE).
The CPE tests students’ ability to understand and think critically about ideas and information, and to write at a level associated with success in upper-division courses. All students must pass the exam to complete associate degree program requirements or before beginning junior-level work at a CUNY four-year college.
Other CUNY-wide committees and projects in which Dr. August has participated include the English Discipline Council (2000-04); Looking Both Ways (founding co-director of this professional development program for high school and college teachers focusing on literacy, 1998-2004); the Advisory Committee for Basic Skills, General Education, Assessment Review (co-chair of Placement and Progress and member of the Steering Committee, 1993-95); and Writing Across the Curriculum (1999-2001).
“Bonne brings a wealth of academic planning experience to the position of provost -- the College’s chief academic officer,” President Hotzler said. “In addition to demonstrating an ability to work effectively and collegially with faculty and administrators, her own personal level of scholarship is outstanding. I’m sure she will provide meaningful guidance and support for our efforts to enhance curriculum and faculty development.”
Nearly 40 percent of City Tech’s 285 full-time faculty members have been hired since 2000. Dr. Hotzler said the search for a permanent provost would begin in the fall.
For Dr. August, her new position has a “déjà vu all over again” quality. “It’s a homecoming of sorts for me,” she says. “I directed a literacy program for adults in City Tech’s Division of Continuing Education from 1976 to 1982, and finished writing my dissertation and received my PhD while working at the College.”
Dr. August received her MA and doctoral degrees in English and American Literature from New York University. She also holds a bachelor of arts degree in English from D’Youville College, which is located in Buffalo, her hometown.
Her areas of scholarly interest are poetry, women writers, and rhetoric and composition. Her most recent publication is a co-edited collection, Facilitating Collaboration: Issues in High School/College Professional Development, the second volume in the series, “Looking Both Ways Studies in Cross-Institutional Professional Development,” (2004).
Other professional activities include co-editing the Journal of Basic Writing and serving on the board of the National Council of Teachers of English Standing Committee on Testing and Assessment, Conference on Basic Writing.
At Kingsborough, Dr. August was chair of the College Self-Study Team for the upcoming Middles States visit. In addition to serving on the College Council and the College Personnel and Budget Committee, she has chaired the Committee on Promotion to Full Professor and was a member of the College Council Curriculum Committee, the College Assessment Committee and the KCC Committee on the CUNY Proficiency Examination (CPE), among others.
She resides in Park Slope, Brooklyn with her husband, John Mogulescu, CUNY senior dean for academic affairs and dean of the School of Professional Studies, and two daughters.
2/9/05
