Crains New York - August 20, 2012 - (Page 11)

MATTHEW GOLDSTEIN E Colleges must adapt to evolving workforce mployment trends in New York City are always evolving. Job patterns predicted in finance, media and technology a decade ago—sometimes even a year ago—may defy expectations today. Tracking those changes is important to anyone interested in the city’s future. It’s of particular importance to universities educating students eager to join the city’s workforce. Preparing college graduates to be industry leaders and innomary-care providers are anticipated, as are shortages of laboratory technologists; respiratory, occupational and physical therapists; and pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. In higher education (outside of faculty positions), professionals are needed in development, information technology, human resources and registrars’ offices. In information technology,there’s a growing need for programmers and developers and,given the explosion of what the industry calls “big data,” for those who can effectively analyze large data sets. In media and advertising, publishing has experienced employment declines,but the rise of digital media has created a need for employees skilled in postproduction visual effects and vators requires a thorough understanding of the fields they enter. To effectively meet their educational mission, universities must monitor changes in key industries, job trends and evolving practices and expectations in the workplace. That’s why the City University of New York recently issued “Jobs for New York’s Future,” the report of the CUNY Jobs Task Force that I assembled last year.The report (available at www.cuny.edu/jobstaskforce) focuses on jobs and skills in demand in five key city sectors. Its findings include: The finance, insurance and accounting sector reports openings in sales and private banking, and growing demand for workers in risk management and those who are bilingual. In health care, shortages of pri- data analysis. In addition to specific industry findings, “Jobs for New York’s Future” also outlines more broadly the skills employers look for in new graduates. This includes what are known as “T-shaped” skills—a deep understanding of a specific area and broad knowledge across a range of areas— as well as strong written and oral communication and analytical skills. The task force’s report is tremendously valuable as CUNY faculty and staff review and refine academic programs, counsel students and develop student internships and other work experiences. As the city increasingly looks to higher-education and industry partnerships to maximize New York’s economic growth and job creation—most notably through its inspired Applied Sciences NYC initiative—universities must take a leading role in understanding local and global marketplaces and preparing students who have the skills and capacity to drive discovery. Today, CUNY serves the majority of undergraduates who enroll in college in New York City. Eighty percent of our bachelor’s graduates remain in the city after commencement. Our students are New York City’s future. Ensuring that they are ready to build a vibrant future for all New Yorkers is our No. 1 priority. Matthew Goldstein is chancellor of the City University of New York. I Olympics excess: Enough already! admit it. I spent hours watching the Olympics. I got caught up in the women’s gymnastics drama, the triumphant returns of Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, the dazzling Chinese divers, women’s beach volleyball and the decathlon, among other sports. And I cheered the huge number of women competing at the highest levels of sport. I thanked Rep. Edith Green and Sen. Birch Bayh for getting Title IX passed 40 years ago, bringing girls and women onto the elementary, secondary and college sports fields as athletes, not just cheerleaders. My high school offered no competitive sports for women;my all-women’s college,only fencing. Today these institutions offer female students a wonderful array of opportunities to test their mettle. As much as I was engrossed, the voice in my head that began with the 2008 Beijing Olympics grew louder and louder. I’m finally ready to say out loud what’s been bothering me: The Olympics are out of control. I could not watch the Beijing closing ceremony to the end.The excesses grew offensive.There are still starving children in China, especially in the rural areas.How could this display be tolerated? How could the huge expenditure be thought worthwhile? The opening and closing cere- ALAIR TOWNSEND monies in London were charming and not quite as over the top, but they were more extravagant than necessary. These ceremonies—indeed the Games themselves—are turning into exaltations of national pride rather than athlete-focused events. It’s time to stop the era of “Top this!” All those new facilities in and around London are nice—and compose a significant part of the estimated $17 billion to $19 billion cost of the Games. One issue is whether they will be actively used in the future,generating more bang for the buck.That hasn’t happened in Athens or Beijing, where many of the facilities lie moldering and deteriorating. Or maybe the cost of the Games will be recouped from increased tourism, foreign investment and other economic activity. Most studies conclude this hasn’t happened in the recent past,however,even taking into account such infrastructure upgrades as housing and transit that go along with hosting the Games. The International Olympic Committee encourages wasteful spending by vastly preferring newly built sporting facilities to existing ones.The IOC needs to start considering the facts of economic life today. Perhaps it’s time to limit the hosting competition to the handful of cities that already have all the needed venues, or to have the Games in the same location for two Olympics in a row to give the winners a better chance to recoup their enormous investments. As much as the IOC needs to change its outlook, local boosters of Olympic bids must be held more closely to account by their taxpaying citizens. These bids take on a life of their own and become the vehicle for promoting new facilities and promising benefits that don’t seem to materialize in the end. C O L L E C T I O N L I T I G AT I O N & J U D G M E N T E N F O R C E M E N T All types of debt collection matters and general commercial litigation, trials, and appeals. AGGRESSIVE - RESOURCEFUL - EXPERIENCED - RESPONSIVE 10 0 L A FAY E T T E S T R E E T - S U I T E 6 01 | N E W YO R K , N Y 10 013 212- 6 0 8 - 5 3 0 0 | W W W. D O R A Z I O - L A W.C O M August 20, 2012 | Crain’s New York Business | 11 http://www.cuny.edu/jobstaskforce http://www.crainsnewyork.com http://www.dorazio-law.com http://www.dorazio-law.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - August 20, 2012

Crains New York - August 20, 2012
Contents
In the Boroughs
In the Markets
The Insider
Opinion
Alair Townsend
From Around the City
Report: Real Estate
Real Estate Deals
The List: Top Airlines
Classifieds
New York, New York
Source Lunch
Out and About
Snaps

Crains New York - August 20, 2012