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College Council Meeting Minutes: September 30, 2025

Present

  • Lorraine Acker, VP for Student Affairs
  • Mike Andriatch, VP for Advancement and Communications
  • Monica Brasted, Interim Provost and VP for Academic Affairs
  • Annie Crane, College Council
  • Damita Davis, Chief Diversity Officer
  • Andrea Guzzetta, College Council
  • Ian Harper, VP for Administration and Finance
  • Lauren Kelly, College Council
  • Sara Kelly, VP for Enrollment Management
  • Heidi Macpherson, President
  • Roosevelt Mareus, Dean and Executive Director, REOC
  • Lesli Myers-Small, College Council
  • Ken Pink, College Council
  • Logan Rath, Brockport University Senate President
  • Sharvani Regmi, BSG President
  • Jamie Romeo, College Council
  • Scott Turner, College Council Chair
  • Chris Wiest, College Council
  • Antwan Williams, College Council

Excused

  • Ed Suriano, Alumni Association President

I. Chair’s Report [Mr. Turner]

    1. The meeting convened at 4:32 pm.
    2. Mr. Turner introduced the newest Council member, Ms. Annie Crane. He also introduced Dr. Monica Brasted, Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs; Dr. Logan Rath, President, University Senate; and Ms. Sharvani Regmi, BSG President. He said Mr. Ed Suriano has returned as President, Brockport Alumni Association.
    3. Mr. Turner discussed the presidential search and the makeup of the search committee. He said the first order of business will be to select a search firm, and upon selection of a firm, he expects the interviews to commence after the beginning of the year. Mr. Harper shared information on the funding for the search firm, and he said the RFP will close on 10/2. The funding will take place through the Brockport Auxiliary Service Corporation, to expedite the search process.
    4. College Council reviewed the April 22, 2025 meeting minutes; they were approved with no revisions.
    5. Mr. Turner asked Mr. Andriatch to provide an update on members, and Mr. Andriatch said the Council is currently fully staffed, though a number of people are serving in expired or soon-to-be-expired terms.
    6. Mr. Turner discussed the annual ACT conference, scheduled for October 17-18, in Albany. Mr. Williams will be attending.

II. President’s Report [President Macpherson]

    1. President Macpherson shared a video that was created by the Communications team, which highlights the opportunities and experiences available for Brockport students.
    2. President Macpherson introduced Dr. Brasted, and she thanked her for becoming a part of the University’s leadership team.
    3. President Macpherson provided an enrollment update, and she shared information on the activities that are funded through the First Six Weeks program. She said the Saturday of Service is back and exemplifies how Brockport is a university engaged with its community. President Macpherson discussed other opening-of-school events, including Brockport Night Out; the Naturalization Ceremony that occurs annually on Constitution Day; and Club Craze for the students which helps them find a student club or organization to join. She provided an update on the Ask Ellsworth chat bot and said it is going very well, with 95% of undergraduate students opting in to the text messaging. She provided an update on on-campus housing occupancy for students, along with the Living Learning Communities. She reflected on Homecoming and Family Weekend was held last weekend, which was a keynote event. President Macpherson said enrollment is up and she identified the increases in many levels of enrollment, including undergraduate first year, transfer, graduate, and international. She said there are students from 12 states, and students from 23 countries represented on campus. She said the University is maintaining and strengthening links with the local community colleges. She said Brockport has started a second doctoral program with 30 students recruited to the EdD program this fall.
    4. President Macpherson provided an update on the campus budget, and she said there has been good revenue growth. Cabinet has agreed to a number of strategic investments, and she identified where the funding will be going for these investments. She said the SUNY presidents have been advised that it may be a tough budget year, so the University will continue to be prudent with budgeting. CSTEP-McNair funding was under threat, but fortunately was reinstated for this year, and she said only one federally funded grant has been lost so far.
    5. There is an in-person SUNY Presidents’ meeting in October, and she shared information about SUNY priorities.
    6. President Macpherson shared information on upcoming events, including the Courage Bowl this Saturday.
    7. President Macpherson shared good news, including the RBJ Elevating Women award given to the University. The REOC has received funding to support their Building Trades program. She said that overall, things are going well on campus.
    8. Mr. Pink said kudos are due for the enrollment numbers, and he asked if Brockport is still the shining star in the System. He also asked about the occupancy rates in the residence halls. President Macpherson said there are 2700 students in the residence halls, and she said SUNY won’t share the 25-26 figures for each campus for a few weeks, and Dr. Kelly said there is an expectation that Brockport will be at the higher end of enrollment. Mr. Pink asked how the other SUNYs are doing overall, and Dr. Kelly identified trends from other schools. She said Brockport is getting a larger part of the market share, and she believes that from an overall System standpoint, there should be good news. Dr. Myers-Small asked about schools restricting race and gender-based scholarships, and President Macpherson said this relates to the SFFA Supreme Court decision to make sure that admissions and therefore by extension, scholarships, are open to all students. Mr. Andriatch said his office started working on this in November 2024, and he said there were about 20 scholarships where they had to make some modifications. Following conversations with their donors, they have incorporated all changes. Dr. Myers-Small asked about the impact of these changes, and President Macpherson said the important thing is that the University has opened scholarships up, rather than taking them away. Dr. Myers-Small said she is worried about the livelihood of students who might be impacted by these changes, and she will have a separate conversation with Mr. Andriatch. Ms. Crane asked about some of the adjustments that were made, and Mr. Andriatch said the biggest change related to the former language, that preference would be given to certain genders, races, or ethnicities, which is no longer allowed.
    9. Mr. Turner said the video was fantastic, and he asked how it is being used. President Macpherson said it will be condensed and made into a commercial, and Dr. Kelly said they use it at all open houses. Ms. Romeo said the enrollment numbers are fantastic, and she asked about the one grant that was lost. President Macpherson said it was a history grant. She said so far SUNY Brockport has been very fortunate. Mr. Williams asked if the video is on YouTube. Dr. Kelly has provided a link to the video in her PowerPoint presentation which will be distributed to Council members.

III. Strategic Plan, 2022-27 [Dr. Sara Kelly and Mr. Ian Harper]

    1. Dr. Kelly shared an update on the Strategic Plan, and she shared highlights from each of the four goal groups, which included videos and news stories.
    2. Dr. Kelly shared the KPI highlights and the metrics for goals one and two, which focus on being a great university at which to learn, and a university engaged with its community.
    3. Mr. Harper shared the KPI highlights and the metrics for goals three and four, which focus on being a sustainable and thriving university for the 21st century, and being a great university at which to work. He said what is satisfying is that there has been so much hard work going on in the background that has helped achieve such success in meeting the KPIs. Mr. Wiest asked about any themes that are rising to the surface that are keeping the University from being in the great category over being placed in the good category. Mr. Harper said there are some concerns about communication and collaboration; conversely, there are a number of categories where the University did incredibly well. President Macpherson said the commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, along with departmental relationships, were ranked very high.
    4. Dr. Kelly identified next steps. This includes incorporating revisions and suggested changes, and then they will monitor the progress of each goal.
    5. Ms. Crane asked if the students who take five or six years to graduate are tracked, along with the students who take four years to complete, and Dr. Kelly said those students are tracked. She said they will develop even more metrics as they continue to monitor trends. Mr. Williams said the marketing for the videos was very well done, and he agreed that there is importance in telling the stories. He said thinking outside the box, having the students giving testimony to their experiences would be helpful. He said what goes viral are the authentic videos, and it would be a great way to engage the students and also offer a view into college life. Dr. Kelly agreed that the students are the best ambassadors, and she said the students make videos about A Day in the Life of a Brockport student. Mr. Andriatch shared information on what is available on Instagram and Instagram Take-Over Days.

IV. Campaign Launch (Mr. Mike Andriatch)

    1. Mr. Andriatch provided a campaign report and identified divisional priorities. He said last year was the largest fundraising year in the history of the institution. He shared the financial assets and discussed how the assets of the Foundation have grown over the past 10 years by 215%.
    2. Mr. Andriatch discussed the priorities for the campaign and shared the new logo. The campaign will launch in November, and he said they are very confident that they will reach $40 million, which is the goal, and may even exceed it.
    3. Mr. Turner asked if there are any other public universities having campaigns, and Mr. Andriatch said that Geneseo recently finished theirs.

V. Next Meeting

The next College Council meeting will be on December 2, 2025.

VI. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 6:05 pm.