Lehman College’s CUNY on the Concourse announced Jul 28 that $149,000 capital funding secured by Assembly Member Yudelka Tapia will expand its Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training program.
The funds will help modernize the equipment students use for hands-on learning, plus bring other upgrades to the campus at 2501 Grand Concourse, in Tapia’s district. The CNA program within the CUNY School of Continuing and Professional Studies provides an entry point or career change opportunity for a field experiencing major nationwide labor shortages.
At the check presentation, Lehman College President Dr. Fernando Delgado said he was proud that the school fosters upward mobility for all kinds of learners, under the mantra “of the Bronx, by the Bronx and for the Bronx.”
Delgado said the capital funds will be used to upgrade CNA training rooms with new hospital beds and equipment, improve the Bronx Business Tech Incubator space used by entrepreneurs, whom he called “the lifeblood of this borough,” and add new security cameras and monitoring equipment to the campus.
He said he’s fortunate to have critical support from Bronx and New York local elected officials, which has not always been the case during his leadership at institutions in other states. Those kinds of partnerships create “the catalyst and engine of advancement, socioeconomically and culturally, here in the Bronx,” Delgado said.
Tapia has her own history with CUNY, having attended Bronx Community College shortly after immigrating from the Dominican Republic at age 19 and later earning a master’s degree from Hunter College.
She said her mother had only attended school through sixth grade and was determined that her four children must go further. Her family believed education was “the only equalizer that we have,” Tapia said.
As the only four-year CUNY school in the borough, she said Lehman “has always been a bridge for education and opportunity for our community,” and a total of $6.7 billion in state funding was secured for the CUNY system this year, she said. “We know that when we invest in our students, we invest in the future of the Bronx.”
With the desperate need for healthcare workers at every level, Tapia said the funding she secured for Lehman will be a “game-changer” for CNA students and the patients they will care for in the Bronx.
She praised the program for helping people of all ages enter careers that offer upward mobility, starting with high schoolers who joined the funding announcement. “Every investment we make in education is an investment in dignity,” Tapia said.
Kimberly Kendall, associate dean of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, told the Bronx Times that the Lehman program serves about 400 CNA students each year and requires a time commitment of just three months.
Thanks to partnerships with the borough’s nonprofits, hospitals and nursing homes, many job pathways are available for those in the CNA program, she said.
After completing coursework and 30 hours of supervised clinical experience, students take an exam and leave with a New York State certification that can land them a stable job, which is especially helpful if they plan to pursue a higher degree.
While the Lehman catalog notes that average starting pay for CNAs is approximately $21.87 per hour, the certification provides an entry point for more lucrative healthcare careers and gives students real experience in the industry —a leg up that not every career changer will have, according to Kendall. Lehman’s CNA graduates are “immediately marketable,” she said.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
