College Council addresses community concerns, outlines new academic programs

JOHN MACKOWIAK
Special to The Leader

Campus administrators, distinguished alumni, former professors and community members found their way into the President's Conference Room on Oct. 10 for the first of four College Council meetings of the 2007-2008 academic year.

The College Council is a group of 10 university officials who meet four times a year to assess the status of the Fredonia community, address public concerns and outline new academic programs. Each council member is appointed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer and serves a 7-year term.

All of the campus vice presidents prepared reports designed to keep the council informed of campus activities and progress. Council members heard reports on topics ranging from the new recruitment strategies to campus safety.

"The College Council is a public forum for the community to hear about the progress and the future of the college," said Lisa Eikenburg, interim director of public relations.

David Herman, Vice President for Student Affairs, was the first to address the council. After showing the newly produced campus recruitment video, Herman said that Fredonia enrolled the second largest freshman class in campus history. One-thousand forty- four new freshman arrived on campus for the first time this August.

"Fredonia's enrollment continues to remain strong with the Fall 2007 headcount at 5,424, which equates to a one-percent increase in overall enrollment compared to last year," Herman said in his written report.

The new freshmen and transfer students enhanced diversity on campus with 175 students representing minority group.

Herman and Burns provided the council with a safety update. They reported that the campus surveillance systems utilize 38 cameras that cover about 80 percent of the campus. Burns and Herman also noted that there are 17 emergency "blue lights" and 87 emergency telephones located around campus.

The council addressed the Sept. 21 bomb threat, which presented University Police with a clear test for their campus safety precautions. Word of the threat was disseminated by email and by the emergency Textcaster system. Students got the message but there were delays due to technicalities of the new system. Building monitors informed students in classes about the threat.

"I think it was handled well. I think we learned a lot in terms of evacuation procedures and how to get the word out more quickly," Herman said. "We are going to do more exercises to improve even more."

Council member and Village Mayor Mike Sullivan addressed the downtown Fredonia bar scene and nightlife. He said he has not had any major complaints about students up to this point in his term. The only problem he commented on was students' excessive use of digital and cell phone cameras. Students often use their cameras to capture embarrassing or harmful images of fellow students, Sullivan said.

"Students need to respect the person who has found himself in the condition that he's in and not try to catch him with their cameras. The cameras could become potentially embarrassing for some of their friends," Sullivan said.

Vice President of Academic Affairs Virginia Horvath spoke to the council about new academic programs and academic department adjustments. According to the SUNY Fredonia Academic Master Plan, a new Bachelor's of Science degree in journalism from the Department of Communication will be available in the 2008-2009 year.

Academic Affairs is also working on the development of a Masters in Music Therapy, which they plan to debut in 2009. The School of Business is attempting to gain Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation as part of their long-term goal of developing a Masters of Business Administration.

Other new degree titles proposed were an Master's of Science in Computer and Information Science, a Bachelor's of Science. in Applied Mathematics, Masters of Arts for Teachers in Math and Science Education, and a Bachelor's of Science in Music Business.

Horvath also introduced the new members of the Academic Affairs team to the council. Kevin Kearns is the new associate vice president for Graduate Studies and Research. John Kijinksi is the newly named dean of the College of Arts and Humanities.

President Dennis Hefner raised six central issues based on SUNY and New York State action.

Hefner said the state has mandated increases in salaries but failed to provide the campus with the financial support to provide those increases.

Hefner also addressed the issue of flexibility. He would like to see SUNY campuses treated more like the state Department of Motor Vehicles. When improvements or adjustments are necessary in a timely manner, Hefner believes it is necessary that the individual campus be able to make decisions without state delays.

He also wants to see an increase in the number of full-time faculty. Fredonia employs fewer full-time professors than the national average. SUNY, Hefner thinks, should work to meet that average.

The final point Hefner focused on was graduate programs, research and assistantships. He would like to see more SUNY funding for grad programs. An increase in the grad assistantship stipend should also be considered, Hefner said.