A Message from the President ...
How time flies!  It seems like yesterday that we were all in Lake Placid enjoying our annual conference. As I pen this message, staffs from all over SUNY are in Syracuse preparing for our SUNY College night program after two excellent events in Buffalo and Rochester on Monday and Tuesday.  SUNY truly is on the move and in demand and SUNYCAP looks forward to continuing our working relationship with System Administration as well as following their lead in providing more professional development opportunities for our membership. Speaking of professional development, the SUNYCAP Leadership Institute (SLI) Steering Committee has worked hard in making sure that we have SLI workshops at every Operation Inform program this fall.  Many thanks to Deb Goodrich from Alfred State for coordinating those efforts. In fact, we started our New Professionals off right by offering an SLI workshop in Ethics.  Mary Claire Bauer from HVCC and Bob Andrea from SUNY Albany presented the workshop and let’s just say that the case study offered up a spirited discussion. The New Professionals Conference was held in early September in Albany.  The conference just gets better every year.  There were over 35 new staff in attendance and almost 20 seasoned people to make sure they had a positive experience.  I would be remiss if I did not thank Katie Lansford from Binghamton University for coordinating the event, the E-Board members and mentors who attended the event to assist and System Administration for hosting us. The E-Board held our retreat in Rochester at the Hyatt, site of our next conference next June, to set our objectives for the New Year.  More on that will come in the next issue but suffice to say that we are looking forward to continuing the momentum that Clare’s leadership provided our organization last year.  Needless to say, we have an E-Board that is full of energy who wants to make a difference for our organization.  Check out who is on the E-Board at SUNYCAPcom.  They volunteer to give their time so that we can all have opportunities to better ourselves in the profession we call Admissions.  If you see them on the road… please thank them for going to extra mile. I hope everyone will travel safe and have great success in recruiting students for next fall.  Enjoy this issue of Endeavors as it is the first for our new Editor in Chief Aaron Marshall from Fredonia.  Megan Sarkis has moved to the greener pastures of Graduate Studies at SUNY Brockport and while she left a big void, Aaron has stepped up and will continue the great work that was done while Megan was our Editor.	Tom Nesbitt Potsdam SUNYCAP President

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The 2008 conference & other things...
Aaron Marshall Endeavors Editor SUNY Fredonia	First things first. Make sure you mark your calendars for SUNYCAP's next conference - in Rochester, New York from June 11-13, 2008. The conference promises to be educational, informative and fun. Now that you have the dates saved, let me apologize to all of you. Endeavors is ONLY three months behind schedule. This is definitely not the way I envisioned starting things as editor. Sorry to have made you wait... That being said, I hope you will find the wait was worth it. By now, you've noticed that we've made some changes with Endeavors. Goodbye .pdf document. Hello electronic newletter. Of course, with any time you implement change, we had some "issues". Big issues actually. Which is why this "August" issue of Endeavors finds you just in time for the holidays. Things have been rather challenging to say the least. It started innocently enough with a few little 'html' coding errors - and ended up with a complete crash of my computer - taking to the digital abyss the very-nearly-complete November issue. Not to make excuses, but... I have learned quite a bit lately though...thanks to some outside help and those little "HTML For Dummies" books. And, now that Endeavors is up and running, I hope to bring you one newsletter every other month for the rest of my life (or at least this academic year - which ever ends first), leading up to the Special Conference Edition. However, to do so...I will need your help. Anyone interested in contributing to Endeavors should simply contact me. Just so you know, I will also be hunting folks down to write on those topics I think would benefit us all. Any topics are welcomed - so send what you have. Oh yeah, it's also a great way to 'payback' any grants you may have received. So if you owe SUNYCAP (and you know who you are), it’s time to pony up. And don't forget - the 2008 SUNYCAP Conference at the Downtown Hyatt Regency in Rochester, New York is set for June 11-13. Save the dates in your calendars!

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2007 New Professionals Orientation...
About 50 new and 'seasoned' professionals gathered September 6-7, 2007 in Albany for New Professionals Orientation. (more photos...)

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My own private NPO...
It’s Thursday morning, September 6th, and I’m about to leave my husband and dog for a two-day road trip.  My destination: the annual New Professionals Orientation (NPO) in Albany.  Not only is this my first solo trip for work, but it’s the farthest I’ve ever driven alone – something I am not yet used to as a new professional.  Needless to say, I was a little apprehensive, but I was also excited about the new ideas and information that I would be privy to over the next day and a half.  I first found out about NPO from my supervisor, who recommended this opportunity to further my professional development. I arrived at our state capital expecting to see a bustling city with a big skyline, but was surprised to find a quaint place with character.  After checking into my spacious room at the Crowne Plaza, I made my way down to the historic SUNY System Administration Building.  We were presented with a bingo networking activity and dinner, where I had the pleasure meeting SUNY Administrators, SUNYCAP committee members, and new SUNYCAP members.  The food was great, the atmosphere was nice, and the conversations were interesting.  After dinner, we socialized at Jillian's – a large bar, restaurant, and entertainment complex – where I learned more about my contemporaries. Friday’s agenda included presentations by System Administration and SUNYCAP, a SUNYCAP Leadership Institute workshop on Ethics, and tours of the Application Services Center and Recruitment Response Center.  The program involved intelligent speakers, thought-provoking discussions, and enjoyable networking opportunities.  I can only imagine what the SUNY Centers look like at peak application times with over 150,000 applications coming in! After our group picture on Friday afternoon, I departed Albany – admittedly driving a little faster for my return to Buffalo than my drive to Albany.  However, I am already looking forward to my second experience at NPO, when I will return a seasoned veteran and able to help the rookies.  I’d like thank SUNYCAP for providing such an important program and giving me the opportunity to attend.	Christine Stumm University at Buffalo

Florida just 'sounds' better...
Mariah Lane University at Binghamton	Miami, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale - they all sound so glamorous when compared to Binghamton, NY, in October.  Early in September I was asked if I would be available for a ten-day trip to Florida in mid-October. I was ecstatic to be given the opportunity.  I quickly cleared my calendar for those days, finding someone else to cover my trips to the Mohawk Valley and Central New York regions and I began planning.  With the help of many others in the office, I was able to get into a variety of different high schools and fairs, even one including a cruise! It sounded like the highlight of my travel season.  Five weeks of travel later I began dreading the trip.  I was homesick, tired and ten more days of travel seemed like forever. I arrived at the Binghamton airport early on the Saturday I was supposed to leave.  I don’t travel often and was nervous about the e-tickets I had printed out.  I was surprised to find that my best friend’s parents and two friends of mine from high school were on my flight.  My nerves had just begun to calm when the strap on my computer bag snapped dropping everything on the ground. Just then the announcement was made that our flight would be delayed a half hour.  A half hour turned into four hours of waiting on the runway and sitting in the dreaded holding pattern above Philadelphia airport.  When we finally landed there was no way that I would make my connection. The flight attendant said that I should go to my gate anyway and they would be able to help me.  After riding the shuttle to the correct terminal and finding the gate I was given the ‘are you stupid look’ and told that the flight had left some time ago.  I eventually made it to customer service where I was able to get another flight to Fort Lauderdale a few hours later. This flight was particularly interesting.  They boarded everyone on the plane, filling every single seat and then they began calling passengers off of the plane.  Some people who were removed seemed fine with it but one woman began crying hysterically, they took her off of the plane, only to bring her back a few minutes later!  I, however, was fortunate enough to sit next to a man from Australia. He worked on a private yacht off of Rhode Island and he was flying to the Bahamas and back in the same day to get a stamp on his boat visa.  Don’t other people’s lives sound so interesting? Once in Florida things were looking up.  I was given a nice rental car, my hotel was beautiful and they upgraded me to a room overlooking the lake instead of I-95.  At the first college fair I attended I was determined to meet some people so I didn’t need to spend the next ten days all alone.  I set out hoping to arrive early to explore the Miami area a little bit before the fair.  Two and a half hours later I barely made it on time to the fair.  I said to the person next to me, “I can’t believe the traffic down here!”  She looked at me like I was crazy and said “I don’t think the traffic is bad.”  A little confused I looked at her banner thinking she must be from L.A. or something only to find that she was from a southern state and a small town.  Although she didn’t want to be my friend, the Navy recruiters were very nice. They gave me a Frisbee for my dog, sunglasses (I had forgotten mine) and a much coveted Navy pen.  I was grateful for the gifts but alas they were leaving that night for the Keys.  Then finally a recruiter from another school in the Northeast came over and said I think the traffic is crazy too.  Yay!  A new friend!  We made plans to attend the reception the next night together.  Since our hotels were so close she was going to pick me up. When we arrived at the reception we quickly made friends with two other people, one who was a native of Fort Lauderdale.  The next few days we attended the fairs together and met for dinner after.  Florida was definitely looking up now that I had some people to explore it with.  Mid-week I had some high school visits and then we were all going to go to the beach to check out the kite surfing.  Unfortunately, my twenty minute drive turned into three hours when there was an accident on the Saw Grass Highway.  Several fire trucks came through, helicopters were landing and it looked very serious.  I was talking to a co-worker when a policeman knocked on my window.  I was told to turn around and drive the wrong way down the highway and get off on the on-ramp. My poor GPS was having a breakdown!  She couldn’t handle this change of direction; I had to turn her off until I was able to correct my direction!  On the same day my friend had even more excitement when a body was found on the beach by her hotel! Things calmed down a bit for a few days until we were at a college fair being held at a University.  All of a sudden you could see the lights flashing on the fire alarms but the alarm wasn’t loud enough to hear.  No one was leaving and no one was really sure what was going on.  Finally people began exiting; I was honored to see that my new friends waited to make sure I got out safe.  As we were leaving people were still coming in the building, we were sure that it must have been a false alarm, but it wasn’t.  The building actually had a fire; it definitely would have been a failed drill.  A fire truck finally arrive about thirty minutes later, fortunately it wasn’t a very serious fire.  After all of the excitement the fair died out pretty quickly. The rest of my week held some more excitement including the celebrity cruise where I saw the homes of Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Puff Daddy, and the owner of Chiquita Banana; a fair that was attended by Chris Everett and Greg Norman; and my friend being quizzed about what kinds of purses are carried at her university in the North. Now it was time to head home.  I was going to miss my Florida friends and the weather but I was excited to get back to Binghamton.  I once again arrived at the airport early only to be greeted with another delay and holding pattern but this time I was given false hope that I might make my connection.   I ran to the shuttle, which took twenty minutes to arrive, I then began the run to my gate; of course it was the furthest one away.  Once I got there I was greeted with a new ticket because my flight had been canceled.  I was crushed. Five more hours till I could get home.  I called my mom to tell her that she wouldn’t need to pick me up until later and found a comfy seat to read my book.  When I finally arrived in Binghamton I was surprised that my mom wasn’t waiting for me, but I got my luggage and called her to let her know I’d meet her outside.  I was upset to find out that my mom had forgotten to come get me but when she finally arrived I was so happy to be home I couldn’t even be mad. I recommend to anyone who is ever given the opportunity to recruit in Florida to take advantage of it!  It’s a whole different world from upstate New York!

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SUNYCAP loses two dear friends...
By now, many of you have seen the e-mails and or the SUNYCAP Blog about the passing of Dave Truax and Larry Appel. As I look at the makeup of our organization, it occurs to me that most of you never had the pleasure of working with these two men as Dave left SUNY in the mid 90's and Larry retired prior to 2000. Larry did attend our 35th in Saratoga and, by all accounts, had a great time visiting with other retirees who came back to celebrate with us. A former SUNYCAP Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Dave always believed that he worked for the campuses. This made him a great advocate for our organization. He hosted our E-Board meetings a couple times a year at System Administration and always stopped in to give us insight as to what was happening in SUNY. A former SUNYCAP Service Award winner, Larry's enthusiasm for all things admissions was infectious. He literally lit up every room he entered. He loved new people... he wanted them to know that this profession could be much, much more than a quick stop to gain experience and move on. His training sessions at New Professionals were legendary and usually ended with the crowd in stitches. Both of these men made an indelible mark on our organization. They nurtured it from birth to adulthood and proudly watched us grow from afar. As they are now gone, let us do something so that others who follow us will gain insight into the type of people who took the time to create our organization in Star Lake, NY almost 38 years ago. (From Tom Nesbitt)	Dave Truax Former SUNYCAP 'Lifetime Achievement Award' recipient Larry Appel Former SUNYCAP 'Service Award' recipient

 

You know you're an admissions counselor when...
Heather Scott SUNY Potsdam Kelly Rourk SUNY Potsdam	You drive a rental car for a third of the year. You don’t need to test drive vehicles when you go to purchase a new one because you have driven them all as rental cars. The majority of your weeknights are spent standing in school cafeterias and/or gymnasiums. You consider Yahoo Maps, Google Maps and MapQuest your best friend.  You’ve forgotten how to read road signs because your GPS does all the work for you (this is only for the very lucky Admissions Counselors). You forget that meals can consist of more than stale bagels, deli sandwiches, made-in-bulk pasta, and dried out cookies. Your “must have” supplies consist of mints, water, rubber bands and caffeine. You will only stay in hotels that offer “points/rewards.”  You will stay an hour away from your event rather than stay in a hotel that is not in your point or reward system. Getting lost is a weekly or sometimes daily event. You have contests with yourself to see how long you can “hold it”. You wake up and don’t know which hotel, state or city you are in.  Hotel clerks look at you funny when you ask to have the same room number as the last hotel that you stayed in. All your work and personal belongings can be found in bags with wheels. You are capable of driving, talking on your cell phone, reading directions and eating all at the same time. You have several, prepared responses for when a hostess at a restaurant asks, “Just one?” You are out at a restaurant and you automatically ask the server for separate checks. You’ve mastered fitting a square peg in a round hole; i.e. all of your travel materials and suitcase into a 2x2 foot trunk. You ask for a receipt for your $1.49 purchase of Tic Tacs and coffee. You are standing behind your display board during one of the infamous “lunch visits,” in the cafeteria of XYZ High School and you are asked multiple times if prom tickets or senior rings can be purchased from you. You’ve tried 5 doors and still cannot figure out how to get into a high school. You refuse to make more than one trip from the car to the hotel. Friday night consists of removing empty coffee cups, directions to schools, empty water bottles and books on CD from your rental car. The topic of conversation among colleagues is what do you “get free at your hotel” (i.e. goodie bad, breakfast, movie, etc.) Packing should be an Olympic sport and you would be a gold medal winner.