On July 25, 2014, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that Hostos Community College would receive two grants—$2.2 million for an “Allied Health Training for Employment” initiative and part of $4.6 million for a new multi-campus media program— as part of Governor Cuomo’s CUNY 2020 initiative.

The Governor’s initiative awarded eight highly competitive grants totaling $55 million to CUNY campuses that demonstrated how their programs would successfully connect academic excellence to economic development to create more jobs by the year 2020.
Hostos Community College, Macaulay Honors College and Lehman College were awarded the $4.6 million to create a New Media Jobs Incubator and Innovation Lab.  The inter-campus project will lead to the creation of new businesses and a diverse employee candidate pool, ready to work in New York City media companies.

The Jobs Incubator will offer professionally focused, project-oriented workshops and business development training to promising student entrepreneurs, helping them build projects and start businesses that serve local and regional communities.  The Innovation Lab will provide access to expertise and opportunities required to launch the best ideas on a much larger scale.  The rigorous academic program, which will offer an honors track and will specifically recruit a more diverse student body, is expected to graduate 200 candidates per year by the fifth year of the program. 

“The CUNY 2020 program is designed to connect the innovative, academic programs offered by New York City’s public universities to local economic development,” Governor Cuomo said. “In today’s economy, universities are not just classrooms and research facilities; they support thousands of local jobs and are often the top economic driver in local communities. With these awards, the State is pleased to provide funding that will help CUNY continue to offer a world-class education to hundreds of thousands of students, while also supporting new jobs and investment in the surrounding communities.”

The job incubator at Hostos will be housed at 610 Exterior Street in the Bronx, annexed to the historical Bronx Terminal Market. Hostos President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez said the new programs will allow Hostos students to remain competitive in the rapidly changing media job market.

“We are thrilled to receive this grant to support the talented Hostos media design students.  This program will allow them to get the experience and skills needed to distinguish themselves and succeed in a field with great demand for jobs. This is a win-win program for everyone, for the colleges, the students and New York City,” said President Matos Rodríguez. 

The intercampus, integrated educational experience also provides students from all three campuses the ability to co-create and learn from one another’s diverse backgrounds and perspectives.  The opportunity for increased interaction and collaboration among students will help develop useful skills that further success in the workplace.  The partner colleges plan to create a new joint undergraduate major in user interface/user experience, with coursework in a variety of digital media.  Together, the three institutions will create a pathway from associate’s to master’s degrees.

The New Media Jobs Incubator and Innovation Lab are strengthened by the resources of the three colleges and the sharing of resources creates more efficiencies and opportunities for students and industries.  The program will capitalize on the strengths of the campuses’ existing digital media programs to offer coordinated coursework in “transmedia” creative development, game design, music production, animation, digital design and graphics, and studies surrounding the cultural context of media production. Students will have opportunities to develop skills in digital studio technologies, production and postproduction, entrepreneurship, marketplace analysis, social media marketing and distribution.

The other $2.2 million grant awarded to Hostos will fund an “Allied Health Training for Employment” initiative. This project will update equipment and resources to expand degree and non-degree programs in the Allied Health Field. Through state-of-the-art equipment and facilities that train students based on the specific needs of regional healthcare employers, graduates will be effectively prepared for New York’s changing healthcare field.

Through this investment, over 500 graduates in a five year period directly enter a high priority workforce that is projected to grow close to 20 percent in some fields.

The areas of healthcare and social assistance are one of the two largest sectors of private employment in New York City. Through updated programs and equipment, Hostos Community College can expand access to stable employment for New York residents. This project will increase enrollment in Hostos’ highly competitive Allied Health programs and modernize instruction with the latest equipment available for students and faculty.

President Matos Rodríguez thanked the Governor for his support. “We are thrilled to receive this grant that will enable us to help train more students who are looking to enter the healthcare field. This award not only helps our students, it helps to improve the health of the entire city by creating jobs and improving community health.”

CUNY Chancellor James B. Milliken said these grants will help build not only colleges and universities but New York as a whole.
“We commend Governor Cuomo and the State of New York for investing in The City University of New York with CUNY 2020. CUNY has developed and implemented many public/private partnerships and this vitally important initiative will continue to grow the economy, create employment opportunities, and expand our research and development in all five boroughs. This is a great day for the University and all New Yorkers," Chancellor Milliken said.

Governor Cuomo appropriated the $55 million from the 2013-14 State Budget for NY CUNY 2020. The program offers grants for 2- and 4-year colleges within the CUNY system for projects that connect economic development and academic excellence. Projects are selected in a competitive manner based on economic impact, advancement of academic goals, innovation, and collaboration.
Projects were selected through a competitive process utilizing staff from CUNY and Empire State Development and will support the creation of more than 3,800 jobs over six years.

About Eugenio María de Hostos Community College
Eugenio María de Hostos Community College is an educational agent for change that has been transforming and improving the quality of life in the South Bronx and neighboring communities since 1968. It serves as a gateway to intellectual growth and socioeconomic mobility, as well as a point of departure for lifelong learning, success in professional careers, and transfer to advanced higher education programs. The College’s unique "Student Success Coaching Unit" provides students with individualized guidance and exemplifies its emphasis on student support services.

Hostos offers 29 associate degree programs and five certificate programs that facilitate easy transfer to CUNY's four-year colleges or baccalaureate studies at other institutions. The College has an award-winning Division of Continuing Education & Workforce Development that offers professional development courses and certificate-bearing workforce training programs. Hostos is part of The City University of New York (CUNY), the nation's leading urban public university, which serves more than 480,000 students at 24 colleges.