This report, commissioned by the MayorUs Advisory Task Force on the City University of New York (CUNY), examines CUNYs system of governance and concludes that it is dysfunctional from the ip to the bottom. Battles for leadership among CUNYs stakeholders have become increasingly rancorous. Lines of responsibilty are tangled and poorly defined. CUNY colleges often act mor like independent institutions than like complementary members of a system. Despite this independence, competition fails to lead to improvement, because incentives from institutional and individual performance are weak.