After 26 years, Lehman College has a new president. NY1's Erin Clarke filed the following report.

He's only been at Lehman College for three weeks but Jose Cruz already has a favorite spot on campus - the quad.

"It's a beautiful campus. Not only in terms of its grounds, but also its architecture," Cruz said.

Lehman's new president didn't set out to lead a college. Cruz says he got his PhD in electrical engineering so he could teach at his alma mater the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez.

He eventually moved into administrative positions there before moving on to California State University, Fullerton, as provost and vice president for academic affairs.

"I'm an electrical engineer by training, but I always say I'm an educator by vocation," Cruz said.

Now, after being selected in a nationwide search he's ready to make his mark on Lehman.

"It's a great challenge for someone who's passionate about equity, educational equity," Cruz said.

Cruz hopes to increase graduation rates by getting to potential students before they enter the college.

"It's about how do we strengthen our connections to our K through 12 partners and our community college to ensure that our students are not only prepared for admission into a four-year university or college, but also that they really aspire to that," Cruz said.

And he wants to help them succeed once they're enrolled by improving academic and financial advising.

Another goal finding creative ways to make the administration more efficient, despite the budgetary constraints of the CUNY system.

"We need to make sure that our sparse resources are being leveraged or allocated to those areas that further our mission," Cruz said.

Cruz says if Lehman can successfully accomplish these goals, the college can be a national model. He's hoping to do that and still have time to catch a couple of baseball games.

 

Cruz is an avid fan.

"I made sure that I went to the Yankee Stadium. I will soon enough get to a Mets game," Cruz added.

At his convocation on September 21, President Cruz will give his first major address to the campus community, laying out his vision for Lehman College.