SPS - The CUNY School of Professional Studies at the Graduate Center

Mission Statement
Drawing its sense of purpose from its receptiveness to new challenges, the CUNY School of Professional Studies (SPS) of The City University of New York (CUNY) also draws great strength and pride from its vanguard role in the world's largest public urban university, serving and reflecting New York's diverse needs and constituencies. SPS is committed to CUNY's core mission of access with excellence, with programs and services that add new dimensions to this mission. Dedicated to being responsive and innovative - responsive to emerging needs, innovative in addressing them - SPS gives students high-quality instruction and extraordinary academic support in programs offered online, in traditional classroom settings, and in the workplace. The School's undergraduate and graduate degree programs, advanced and undergraduate certificates, and professional development courses provide opportunities for personal growth, job mobility, greater participation in social institutions, and new ways to meet the constant need to upgrade knowledge.

Vision Statement
In just over half a decade since its inception, SPS has grown dramatically, and not just in enrollments, launching six new degree programs in the past three years. Home of CUNY’s first fully online degrees, it has found new ways of fulfilling CUNY’s mission of access with excellence, reaching students with new modes of instruction, new courses and curricula, new kinds of learning tailored for diverse requirements and constituencies. Its programs are genuinely groundbreaking, providing instruction and perspectives simply not offered elsewhere, as exemplified by its Master’s degree programs in applied theater, disability studies, labor studies, and business management and leadership – that last CUNY’s first graduate degree offered online.

Distinguished above all by its responsiveness, its quickness to address new needs and opportunities, SPS plans to cultivate that distinction. It will continue to show leadership in developing new ways of meeting new or unmet needs. It will consolidate and expand on its proven capacity for using technology to reach students and enhance their learning. It will strengthen and extend the partnerships formed with agencies, unions, and business partners, partnerships that make it a magnet for innovative educational possibilities.

The worth and distinction of the CUNY School of Professional Studies, as for any school, must lie in its academic offerings. As it develops, SPS will continue to offer courses and whole programs distinguished by the special emphasis placed on

active and experiential learning: instruction that is challenging to students, not just in rigor, but in demands to adapt, to synthesize and to act upon a rapidly changing flow of information, to become researchers and not just receivers
civic learning and engagement: instruction that is urban in orientation, using New York City as a resource, building a sense of local and global citizenship and social responsibility, inviting students to participate in changing society for the better
institutional partnerships and service learning: instruction that is responsive to the changing demands of the workplace and the knowledge needs of institutions that are key strategic partners, so students develop capacities sure to be valued
innovative pedagogy and technology-enhanced learning: instruction that is as up to date as possible, not just in what is taught, but in how it is taught, with the use of new technologies a hallmark
collaborative learning and outreach: instruction that is constantly supportive of diverse student needs, making diversity a resource, creating new possibilities for community and collaboration

SPS commits itself to aligning the education it offers with the current needs of its students and their world(s), always intent on making that education timely, relevant, powerfully useful, horizon-expanding – not just for the students but for a global city and a global culture that is ever more changeful and interdependent.