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College Council Meeting Minutes: November 30, 2022

Present

  • Martin Abraham, Provost and VP for Academic Affairs
  • Felicia Amoafo Kumi, Brockport Student Government President
  • Mike Andriatch, VP for Advancement
  • Damita Davis, Chief Diversity Officer
  • Andrea Guzzetta, College Council
  • Heidi Macpherson, President
  • Roosevelt Mareus, Dean and Executive Director, REOC
  • Jason Morris, College Senate President
  • Lesli Myers-Small, College Council
  • Ken Pink, College Council
  • Carla Sansalone, Alumni Association President
  • Scott Turner, College Council Chair
  • Jim Wall, VP for Administration and Finance
  • Chris Wiest, College Council
  • Katy Wilson, VP for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs

ABSENT

  • Lauren Kelly, College Council
  • Bridgette Wiefling, College Council

I. Chair’s Report [Mr. Turner]

  1. The meeting convened at 4:37pm.
  2. Mr. Turner provided information on the ACT conference held at Turning Stone on 10/14-16.
  3. Mr. Turner discussed the makeup of the Council, and he said there are a few vacancies, as well as a few nominations that are pending. He asked Council to provide names of potential Council members, via email. The names will be circulated and discussed.

II. President’s Report [President Macpherson]

  1. President Macpherson said that SUNY, NYSED have approved University status, and Middle States has processed the change. She said, to the best of her knowledge, Brockport is the first of the Comprehensives to be granted this change, and she explained how this will benefit the University.
  2. President Macpherson provided information on her visits with donors in New York and California in October and November. She said the Brockport Foundation meeting will be held in NYC on 3/10/23, and she affirmed that the Foundation Board Chair has great plans in relation to fundraising to support the University.
  3. The search for a new Vice President, Administration and Finance is in process, and candidates may be on campus as soon as December.
  4. President Macpherson discussed the closing of Delta College, and she shared that recruitment of students and faculty to Delta was becoming more difficult. In addition, Delta’s general education program did not align with the new SUNY General Education mandates, and in recent years, only 30 students had graduated. All current students may continue the program they have started. Based on the best interest of the overall student body, the difficult decision was made to cease new enrollment in the program.
  5. President Macpherson provided a brief enrollment update, highlighting the increase in applications. Dr. Myers-Small asked what attributed to the uptick in applications, and President Macpherson said one major factor was the increase in the marketing budget and the free application weeks. She said the number of transfer applications has doubled, and she said decision letters are going out much earlier than in the past, along with Financial Aid packaging. The University has been using the SUNY Global space in NYC for events, which has been successful in getting downstate students to one local location instead of having them travel to Brockport. Mr. Wiest asked if these numbers are higher because we are past COVID, and President Macpherson said the comprehensive recruitment efforts have contributed to the enrollments. Mr. Wiest asked if being a University would be helpful, and President Macpherson said it keeps the University equal with other smaller, private schools within New York State, but where it is really significant is in out of state and overseas applications. Ms. Guzzetta asked how many students are admitted in a regular year. President Macpherson said an incoming class would be between 1,000-1300, and the transfer students previously would be around 1,000, although those numbers have been dropping. She said they are looking to 1,200 first year students, and 600 transfer students for next year. Dr. Abraham provided information on the increase in graduate student enrollment, and he said they have exceeded the numbers from a year ago. Mr. Turner asked what is driving the increase in graduate enrollment, and Dr. Abraham said many of the same activities being done by UG admissions. Mr. Wiest asked which program is seeing the highest numbers, and Dr. Abraham said many of the health areas, education, and business are doing well. Dr. Myers-Small said St. John Fisher University is closing their Education Administration program.
  6. President Macpherson shared good news from the campus. She said the Care and Celebration Committee provided free polo shirts to faculty and staff. A faculty and staff night is being hosted at the upcoming play, and all green and gold award recipients are being honored at an upcoming basketball game. Michael Doyle, School of Business and Management Dean was featured in the RBJ, and students were hosted at a Friendsgiving before Thanksgiving. She said it is good to see the students back on campus and engaged in activities. Dr. Abraham said there are a number of faculty who are doing good work with students, publishing papers, and earning grants. President Macpherson said she met with the Interim Chancellor on 11/28 for her annual review.
  7. Mr. Turner asked President Macpherson for more information on SUNY Global, and she said it is mostly a conference space at present, and it is good because it is easier to get students to one place in NYS as opposed to traveling to Brockport.
  8. Mr. Pink asked if a lot of space was being dedicated to Delta College, and President Macpherson said that the space they had was not space that was created for Delta and that it wasn’t necessarily the most appropriate space. The building where it is housed needs more attention.

III. College Senate Report [Dr. Morris]

Dr. Morris provided a mid-year report on College Senate. He discussed a sampling of selected activities that Senate is involved with, such as recommendations for the General Education Program, and recommendations for a new Instructional Assessment Survey. Mr. Turner asked about student responses to surveys, and Dr. Morris said changing modalities has made it more difficult to get student responses. He said Senate is looking at ways that they along with faculty can encourage higher response rates. Regarding new programs, Mr. Pink asked what the feedback is regarding jobs in certain areas, such as the new Climate Change major. Dr. Abraham said he has been involved with this professionally and it is a growing area. Mr. Pink asked where other universities are in developing this major, and Dr. Abraham said we are not first, but not last. Mr. Pink said it would seem that there would be a growing interest in this major. Dr. Morris said once approved locally, it would still have to go through SUNY, and ideally by fall 2024 it might be in place.

IV. Budget Update [Mr. Wall]

Mr. Wall provided a budget update, discussed the Facilities Master Plan, and shared enrollment trends. He provided a breakdown of the budget by Division and identified spend reduction measures and said this is being achieved primarily through labor costs. He said regarding the Facilities Master Plan, Tuttle remains the priority, along with increased space for programs, and he said there are a significant number of projects being reviewed by the State University Construction Fund. He shared the Five-Year Financial Model and identified enrollment strategies and initiatives that the Strategic Enrollment Committee and Cabinet agreed to for an increase in enrollment. Mr. Wall said based on all the assumptions from the Five-Year Model, he shared where the reserves could be and said they are taking steps to keeping the reserves in a positive balance. He said the JPBC Working Group is generating ideas and will provide a report to JPBC and Cabinet in December or January. Dr. Myers-Small said increasing revenue is an interesting topic, and she asked if there are other opportunities for revenue generation. Mr. Wall said events management is now under the Division of Advancement and Communication, which is Mr. Andriatch’s division. Mr. Andriatch said there are more opportunities, such as high school graduations and life-long learning, and that he and his team are looking into these. Mr. Turner said he is concerned about the demographics, and he asked if there are really enough students out there. President Macpherson said there are students out there, but they may be different than what we currently have. Dr. Abraham said there are different marketing opportunities, such as degree completion and online programs. He said if we can hit our targets on the undergraduate side, then it will help overall. Mr. Wiest thanked Mr. Wall for his time at the University. He asked where the conversation is at the state level regarding inflation and the state support. Mr. Wall said, based on current forecasts, the State is going to be operating at a deficit in a number of years. Mr. Wiest said it seems sometimes that investment on physical infrastructure has a better opportunity of being funded, and he thinks that State support really should be addressed, especially based on inflation. President Macpherson said the advocacy will continue, and she and Mr. Andriatch will be doing the rounds to meet with legislators. Mr. Pink said he is thrilled to see the aggressive approach to enrollment efforts. He asked if Cabinet has looked at faculty retention. President Macpherson said she received turnover data from HR, and the rate for the University is well below the norm, though higher than in previous years. She said as of June 2022, the turnover was 12%, which is below the industry average of 18%. She said the younger professionals are turning over more quickly as part of the great resignation. She said as this is a residential campus, they are looking at ways to encourage people to stay.

V. Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Initiatives [Ms. Davis]

Ms. Davis presented on some key areas in the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. She discussed the approach the EDI Strategic Plan Committee is taking to create a new strategic plan, and she discussed the framework they are using to develop this. She identified the four goals they drafted that align with the University’s goals, and they hope to have finalized goals by the end of the semester. Ms. Davis provided a brief overview of the Campus Climate Survey that was conducted from November 1-22, 2022. She said the Campus Climate Committee is waiting for the final report from the survey distributor, and they are looking at ways to draft recommendations for action steps based on the survey results. They are looking at conducting the survey every three years. Ms. Davis shared the 2022-23 programming schedule and partnerships with campus constituents for programs and activities. Mr. Turner asked about the response rate for the Campus Climate Survey, and Ms. Davis said the plans that were put in place over two years ago had to be put in place very quickly, based on SUNY’s directives. She said it is hard to compare against other institutions, but they do know from the 2014 survey that they can get a better response rate. She said this is a baseline since the 2014 data, and they will look to see where they need to augment the data collection process for future years.

VI. Next Meeting

The next College Council meeting is scheduled for February 22, 2023.

VII. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 6:11 pm.