President’s Newsletter

Friday, January 30, 2026

Dear Colleagues:

The Spring semester has started with…..a lot of winter! I hope everyone is endeavoring to stay warm during this cold spell. I also fervently hope that February offers us some respite from this return to the “good old days” of Western New York winters. These stretches of harsh winter weather can have negative impacts, and we should all be mindful of that. Next month, we will be launching TimelyCare, a 24/7 resource that will support our students’ mental and physical health. Remember that employees have access to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which offers a wide array of services. I hope you’ll take a look to see if any of their services can be of value to you. More information was recently published in the Daily Eagle.

Now on to some good news: Car sharing is back! You may recall we had a Presidential Taskforce on Transportation last year, which made a number of key recommendations to Cabinet. As a result of their hard work, and Johnna Frosini’s leadership in Parking and Transportation Services, as well as the efforts of our procurement office, we now have a new partnership with Enterprise Mobility. There are two vehicles in the program, including one hybrid car, which can be rented by the hour, day or week, for minimal charges to students. Please encourage your students to take advantage of this opportunity. For students who don’t hold licenses, we are working with SUNY Broome on pre-licensing courses; some were offered in the fall, and others are planned for this semester. In addition, we’ve made changes to Eagle Run, which now includes stops at WellNow and Strong West to assist our students. In addition, we are exploring an on-demand solution during non-peak hours to increase ridership for fall 2026.

Last week, we held the semi-annual Campus Leadership Summit. Our focus was on communication and collaboration, two areas that were highlighted in the Great Colleges to Work For survey as areas that needed further attention. I was gratified by the engagement of those who attended, which topped over 130 individuals. Cabinet has reviewed the initial feedback from the event and will implement a number of new activities as a result. I was pleased to note that in the survey, roughly 78% of respondents noted that they felt they received sufficient communication from Cabinet, and for those who asked for more, they offered concrete ideas that we can follow up on. Goal Group Four for our strategic plan will also review the feedback from the day so that they can also offer ideas for continuous improvement in these areas.

This week, in addition to reviewing the summit feedback, Cabinet focused on our capital plan, and I’m pleased to say that we are making good progress on a number of crucial projects across campus. In addition, we continue to advocate for Tuttle as our number one priority, most recently by sending advocacy materials to SUNY that outline how crucial this renovation project is not only to our campus, but to the region and the wider community.

The rest of the week included one-to-ones with four cabinet members, a Senate Executive committee meeting, a meeting with BASC, and time spent at REOC/Brockport Downtown, along with a United Way Board meeting. I also had the opportunity to meet our new Dean of Students, Dave Bagley, see a number of faculty, staff and students at Seymour Union, and participate in Club Craze on Thursday night.This weekend we have Senior Day for hockey, and our men’s and women’s basketball teams also have games. This is also an early reminder that next Friday is our first First Friday of the semester, so mark your calendars. I hope to see you there.