CUE is a CUNY-wide initiative that consolidates several efforts into a coordinated program to help students succeed.   Overseen by CUNY's University Dean for Undergraduate Education, CUE is featured prominently in CUNY's Master Plan.   Bringing together the Coordinated Freshman Programs, the Summer Immersion Programs, the Academic Support Programs, Writing Across the Curriculum and the General Education Project, CUE is closely linked to CUNY's Campaign for Success, a companion program designed to focus all of CUNY's colleges on student success.

At Hunter College, CUE is overseen by the Office of the Provost. In the spring, CUNY distributed a request for proposals, and the Provost's Office also reached out to programs, departments and faculty to increase participation in CUE. CUE goals are emphasized in Hunter's PMP [local hyperlink] and also figure prominently in our planning efforts. Our objectives and programs for CUE build on many of last year's efforts but also contain new thinking and new participation. Central to our planning this year are five central aims:

• Ease the transition of students, both freshmen and transfer, into Hunter College

• Increase student engagement per the National Survey of Student Engagement

• Integrate teaching, learning and support services

• Build a culture of assessment

• Support the Campaign for Success

For the 2006-2007 academic year, Hunter will renew and review most of the programs developed and supported in last year's CUE proposal. Key items highlighted in last year's program include:

• Summer Programs, whose importance is increasing, to meet the needs of specific populations of continuing and entering students. Hunter offers two ESL sessions, a short, intensive program for continuing students and a longer, eight-week program for new students. Coursework is also offered to provide students with key mathematical skills, and programs are also in place for SEEK students. In addition, orientation and advising for entering freshmen and transfer students, CPE advising and workshops, and other advising as well as special curricular offerings for entering students are all part of CUE.

• WAC at Hunter operates parallel to the college's writing intensive program. Successes in individual course and sections have been achieved through WAC, but these advances have not reached the full programmatic or institutional level. Broader impact will take time, particularly as general education moves to the fore of college discussions. The creation of a WAC advisory board will help to provide direction and integration.

• Hunter's students receive outstanding assistance from an array of academic support centers (the Mary P. Dolciani Mathematics Learning Center, the Reading/Writing Center , the Physical Sciences Learning Center, the Social Sciences Computing Lab, and the Channin Language Center). Only partially funded through CUE, the centers tend to operate individually as independent entities. One of the key goals of CUE in the coming year is the coordination and development of academic support centers.

• Recitation sections continue to be essential to improve success rates in certain gatekeeper courses.

• Faculty development efforts need to be expanded to embrace teaching.

• Advising initiatives are critical, particularly as transfer students become more of a focus.

Assessment is essential and will be developed systematically at the college level and at local levels.