Newsletter — Office of the Provost

Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Volume 2, Issue 7

We’re into the second week of May, and the end of the semester and the conclusion of my second year at SUNY Brockport is rapidly approaching. During this time, I have come to appreciate the many challenges that we face, the dedication of our faculty and staff, and the value that is placed on participatory decision-making. We have hard choices to make as we work to close the structural deficit, balance our obligations to all our programs, support our faculty, staff, and students, and develop the programs that are needed to establish a strong future for our institution.

I appreciate the feedback that you have offered to me and the Academic Affairs leadership team over this past year, as well as the input that has come to academic affairs through other venues, for example, the Presidential Campus Climate report. I note that there is a request for greater engagement of faculty in decision-making, and as such, I have committed to convening a group of faculty, staff, and students in fall 2024 to investigate how best to collect input, and will continue to work with Deans, Chairs, and our University Senate as I seek faculty input. We have great expertise throughout our campus community, and I look forward to identifying effective mechanisms to obtain broad input that will allow to us reach the best possible outcomes.

Organizational Effectiveness Task Force

As expected, the OETF released its report on April 1 and it was posted to the academic affairs webpage shortly thereafter. I met with the task force later in the week to better understand the background that led to their proposal.

I met with department chairs the following week and then faculty in an open forum shortly thereafter, receiving excellent and important input from both groups. I also received the perspective of our students. There were several points raised during these meetings that was captured by academic affairs staff and compiled into a summary document. The main theme from those meetings that came through to me was that greater investment is required to support some of the larger and more complex programs, without significantly increasing cost. And, make sure the investment goes to work to support the programs, rather than administration.

Over the last several weeks, I’ve been working with the Deans Council to integrate the recommendations of the task force with the input from the open forums. We have developed a draft plan that I believe is responsive to each of these objectives and are starting to seek input. Cabinet will review the draft on Wednesday (5/8), followed by the Organizational Effectiveness Task Force on Thursday (5/9). After that we plan two open forums, one in McCue Auditorium next week on Wednesday (5/15) at 3 pm and then the following Tuesday (5/21) at 12:30 via Teams. This is a tight schedule, but I am anxious to gather as much input as possible before folks leave for summer and do not want folks spending their summer worrying about what might be forthcoming. Also, please keep in mind that the current version is a draft proposal to be finalized in fall when we will have the opportunity for further discussion. Given the timeline and the amount of work required to make all the proposed changes, we will need the bulk of the 2024-25 academic year to minimize disruptions to students, faculty, and staff for possible implementation beginning in fall 2025.

Departments and Programs on the move

We have a busy several weeks planned immediately after commencement, as several departments will be relocating.

To make room for an expansion of the Academic Success Center, Honors College is moving into the space currently occupied by CELT. This will put Honors closer to the students with whom they work, including being close to the Honors LLC in Thompson Hall. We will be making use of the classroom in Edwards 107 for many Honors courses, trainings, and meetings.

We are taking advantage of this opportunity to move CELT into FBW, where they will have an opportunity to interact more directly with faculty. They will have access to more facilities than are available in their current space, allowing them to offer a greater range of programs and reach more faculty and staff.

To locate our EOP office more centrally, the Center for Global Education and Engagement (CGEE) will be moving from its location in Dailey Hall. They will initially be relocating to space on the second floor of Hartwell Hall, where Political Science is currently located. This is planned to be a temporary move, with CGEE eventually moving to the lower level of Rakov (pending required renovations), the space that EOP is vacating.

Several of our academic departments are also on the move. Philosophy will be moving to Holmes to join Psychology and Modern Languages and Cultures will be moving to Brown to join Education and Human Development. Political Science, Sociology, and African and African American Studies are moving from Hartwell to FBW. In addition, Anthropology is moving from the third floor of FBW to the first floor, and English (2nd floor) and History (3rd floor) will have some faculty changing offices to allow their new neighbors to occupy cohesive space.

Finally, the special sessions office is moving from their current space in Holmes into the space in Hartwell currently occupied by AAS. The additional offices on the 2nd floor of Hartwell will become available to support our Nursing program, which has outgrown their space in Lathrop.

New Investments

Last year, we put aside $500,000 to cover renovations to several classrooms. We have received final bids and are hoping to complete the work during the summer. The work includes upgrades in Edwards 104 and the corridor around it, the multipurpose room in Tuttle and Hartwell 26 and 29, with new seating, tables, and technology upgrades.
Incremental funding supports students

As you may recall, SUNY awarded Brockport approximately $330,000 in incremental funding to promote internships. We dedicated a significant portion of that funding for direct student support, and this spring, we were able to provide $97,570 for students working an unpaid internship and $93,665 for students with need for expenses associated with their internship, supporting approximately 100 total students. Needs-based funds offer monetary support to undergraduates for transportation costs, to purchase professional attire, food, or other expenses associated with the experience (including rent, telephone, utilities, etc.). Additional funding will be available for students completing internships this summer. The application is currently posted here.

Searches underway

We are finishing our on-campus interviews for the Director for the Career Design Center on campus. Candidates for the position of Director for Institutional Research and Analysis are scheduled for May 13 and May 20. Please try to attend the open forums and provide feedback to this important search. I am hoping to be able to receive your input and that of the search committees shortly so that we can make offers and have the Directors in place before fall.

I am pleased to announce that Denise Copelton has been selected as the new Interim Associate Dean in Arts and Sciences, replacing Jennifer Haytock who is returning to faculty. Alisa James, Associate Dean in EHHS for the past six years, has also chosen to return to faculty, prompting us to conduct an internal search for an Interim replacement. I would like to thank both Jennifer and Alisa for their excellent service as Associate Deans.

Finally

We have several events and celebrations that I hope you will consider attending throughout the month. Our final Senate meeting for the year will be next Monday (5/13) in the New York Room of Cooper Hall, when we will also have our Senate reception. Please consider attending the Honors Graduation Ceremony on May 16 at 3 pm in Tower Fine Arts and remember that Commencement takes place on Friday May 17. Please RSVP to indicate your intention to attend. I very much hope that you will come out to celebrate the success of our students by participating in these events. Finally, May 23 is our annual faculty/staff recognition dinner and I hope you will also join us in celebrating the successes of faculty and staff.

This has been a very productive year and we have much to be proud of at SUNY Brockport. I appreciate all your contributions and look forward to working with you as we continue to make Brockport a better place for faculty, staff and students. Thank you.