News & Events
Dr. Bonne August Named Provost & VP for Academic Affairs
Dr. Bonne August has been appointed provost and vice president for academic affairs at New York City College of Technology/CUNY (City Tech) following a nationwide search. She reports directly to City Tech President Russell K. Hotzler.
As the chief academic officer of the College, she oversees 915 full- and part-time faculty members in 30 academic departments, providing guidance for the curricular and instructional development of City Tech's schools of Arts & Science, Professional Studies and Technology & Design, as well as the Division of Continuing Education. The college currently serves more than 27,000 students per year in degree and non-degree programs.
Dr. August had served as acting provost and vice president for academic affairs at City Tech since February 2005. Previously, she was chair of the English department and a full professor at Kingsborough Community College/CUNY, where she had been on the faculty since 1982. Her role as the head of the faculty committee that created the CUNY Proficiency Examination (CPE), plus her involvement with other CUNY initiatives, helped hone the curriculum development and implementation skills she brings to her new position.
"In her tenure as acting provost, Bonne meaningfully guided and supported our efforts to enhance curriculum and faculty development," says President Hotzler. "I know she will build upon these accomplishments and provide strong academic and administrative leadership in the years to come."
Dr. August is currently supervising the development of new bachelor's degree programs in industrial design and technical writing as well as new certificate programs in video production technology and civil engineering technology, and an interdisciplinary advanced certificate in interactive media.
"The real strength of this college has been its faculty," August says. "I have been impressed by the quality and commitment of City Tech's longtime faculty and also by the caliber of those hired in the past ten years. I plan to support our faculty in a deep and essential way, including offering enhanced services for obtaining grants and improving research facilities for the sciences on campus."
According to Dr. August, the college will also establish a Faculty Center to support faculty development in teaching, research and service in order to mentor faculty members in all aspects of their career at City Tech. "We hired 15 new full-time faculty for Fall 2006 and expect to double or triple that number next year," she says. "As a college of technology, we depend on our faculty to keep our curricula current with industry developments."
Dr. August is also working on several initiatives to encourage more underrepresented populations of students to take advantage of City Tech's stellar technology and career programs. These efforts are supported by the recent acquisition of $1.9 million in grants from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education.
"We know that nationally, African Americans and Hispanics are statistically underrepresented in the science, technology and mathematics fields, as are women in general, and we want to create career pathways for them. This means enhancing mentoring and support for undergraduate research and creating new scholarship opportunities," she says. “Ultimately, all of our students will benefit from these efforts.”
For Dr. August, her new position has a “déjà vu” quality. “It’s a homecoming of sorts for me,” she says. “I started my academic career at City Tech in the early seventies as a part-time continuing education instructor, and finished writing my dissertation and received my PhD while working here." She then went on to direct a literacy program for adults at the College, from 1976 to 1982.
"Working with President Hotzler is a tremendous opportunity for me," Dr. August says. "His administrative and academic expertise is enhancing the College's reputation of being on the cutting edge of technological education. Just as important, he is dedicated to our students and their experiences here."
Dr. August brings to her appointment an awareness of the broad issues in higher education today, a collaborative style and a hands-on sense of how to get things done at CUNY. She has been actively involved in several CUNY-wide committees and projects, including the English Discipline Council; Looking Both Ways (as founding co-director of this professional development program for high school and college teachers that focuses on literacy); the Advisory Committee for Basic Skills, General Education, Assessment Review (as co-chair of Placement and Progress and a member of the Steering Committee) and Writing Across the Curriculum.
An active scholar, her most recent publication is a co-edited 2004 collection, titled Facilitating Collaboration: Issues in High School/College Professional Development, which is the second volume in the series, “Looking Both Ways Studies in Cross-Institutional Professional Development." Other professional activities include co-editing the Journal of Basic Writing and serving on the National Council of Teachers of English Standing Committee on Testing and Assessment, the board of the Conference on Basic Writing and the advisory committee of the Association of Departments of English.
Dr. August received her MA and PhD 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.
She resides in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with her husband, John Mogulescu, senior university dean for academic affairs and dean of the School of Professional Studies at CUNY. They have two grown daughters.
10/11/06
