President’s Newsletter

Friday, October 24, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

This has been a week of significant quarterly or annual meetings and external commitments, as well as regular one-to-ones with cabinet members and other senior leaders. We had our Annual Work Plan meeting with State University Construction Fund (SUCF) representatives. We reviewed our five-year capital funding plan, noting which projects are funded through our regular yearly allocation of funds and which are proposed for lump funding from SUCF. Tuttle remains our number one priority, and we talked about advocacy for this and other projects.

We also met with UUP for our monthly labor management meeting and held our quarterly UUP Salary Increase and Promotion meeting. I met with Senate Executive and discussed the recent SUNY presidents’ meeting. This week’s cabinet meeting focused on preliminary discussions around areas for further investment, including in advising support. Cabinet will be having a budget retreat in November at which point decisions will be made about funding priorities. We also finalized the enrollment projections for next year. In addition, we reflected on leadership practices. I believe it is important to build time into the cabinet agenda to think and reflect on complex leadership topics, rather than only focus on the day-to-day business at hand.

I was honored to be asked to do two welcome addresses this week for significant activities on campus. The first was for the EmpowerHer event, which was held at the REOC/Brockport Downtown and organized by our Small Business Development Center (SBDC). It was great to see the energy in the room and the investment individuals were making in their professional and personal development. Then on Thursday, I was asked to speak briefly at the Indigenous People’s Day Luncheon, which was part of a larger day of programming and activities. I was joined by several cabinet members.

Mid-week, there was a virtual meeting of the College Presidents for Civic Preparedness group. We discussed the public’s trust level with higher education, which, though lower than it was before, still remains relatively high, especially in relation to regional comprehensive universities like us that are anchors in the community. We also discussed ways of raising trust levels and leading with empathy and integrity. It was a good discussion, and I am grateful to have colleagues across the nation who are invested in the bigger picture.

This morning I will be attending a strategic planning retreat for the United Way, and tonight I will be attending a Camp Good Days fundraiser; SUNY Brockport is fortunate to have a longstanding relationship with the camp, which includes our participation in the Courage Bowl every year.

As we head into the weekend, I hope you will have some down time to do something that energizes or sustains you.