President’s Newsletter

Friday, October 25, 2024

Dear Colleagues,

I want to start by thanking everyone who took part in the Open House on Saturday or who readied the campus for the event. It was a beautiful day and the energy on campus felt great. I also want to thank the Division of Enrollment Management for an engaging Open Forum last Friday. We talked about highlights of the division, opportunities for good communication across campus, and our plans regarding being a laptop ready campus. I am looking forward to today’s Open Forum with Academic Affairs that I believe will be similarly engaging and robust.

Along with several one-to-ones with members of the senior team, I also met with Senate Executive Committee. I met with Darcy Porter to talk about the task force on space, and Elliot Weininger to discuss investment funds processes.

Cabinet met twice, first to undertake additional leadership development training, and then to review UUP salary increase requests. I also had a great lunch with BSG leadership to address concerns and keep communication lines open. Our student leaders are thoughtful and engaged, and it fills me with hope and pride when I get a chance to spend time with them.

I met with the CEO of Trillium Health to talk about partnership opportunities. I also reached out to donors who have recently given to Brockport through the New York State Charitable Tax Credit Program.

The REOC hosted their annual Community Leaders’ Breakfast on Thursday. This breakfast, which showcases stories of REOC alumni, is always a good event, and this week’s speakers rivalled any we had in the past. In my opening remarks, I talked about the importance of the co-location of REOC students and master’s degree students in the same building, and then in a wonderful connection that I hadn’t anticipated, one of our speakers talked about her own journey from the REOC to graduate work in counselor education. The REOC transforms lives, and it was wonderful to see so many people in attendance to hear about our students’ successes.

I want to thank Savisesh Malampallayil for inviting me to join his Marketing Agency class on Monday. It was great to engage with the students on questions of leadership and relationship building. It was one of the highlights of my week.

On Saturday, we will celebrate Senior Day for Women’s soccer, and we’ll be hosting a football game against Morrisville. Hockey also have their opening games of the season this weekend, which is an early reminder that winter is definitely just around the corner.

Finally, I wanted to share a report from the SUNY Transfer Task Force that was just released by SUNY. The report contains recommendations to improve transfer within the System, particularly between the community colleges and state operated campuses. The report is now available online and open for comment from the SUNY community. The webpage includes an online form to share feedback through November 25, 2024.

Have a wonderful weekend!