SUNY Fredonia General Campus Meeting
Good morning, and welcome back for the start of the spring semester. Jan and I hope that you enjoyed your holiday, and that you were able to visit with family and friends. So far it's been a very mild winter, but with the recent drop in the temperature, I thought you might enjoy seeing a video that will help you thaw out.
Many of you remember Danish sculptor Nina Hole, who visited Fredonia last year as a Williams Distinguished Visiting Artist. She's known for baking her sculptures from the inside out. Her Fredonia creation and her unique internal kiln process were captured on video by student Kyle Morrissey under the guidance of Distinguished Teaching Professor Marv Bjurlin, and here's a 4-minute clip.
After viewing that video, I'm reminded of Minnesota, and the holiday tradition of a cable TV channel showing a crackling fire, 24 hours a day for two solid weeks. I must confess to having watched that channel, waiting for a hand to reach out and add another log to the fire. While it's not the most scintillating viewing, the anticipation of seeing a new log added to the fire offers more drama than most reality shows.
The intersession was busy with a 10 percent increase in J-Term enrollments, as once again travel abroad programs were a significant part of the offerings. Progress was made on a number of internal and external building projects, including the fascinating crane work associated with the replacement of the campus-wide boiler/chiller system.
After months of planning, the new office for Grants and Sponsored Research is open in Thompson Hall. Instead of having separate pre- and post-award offices, SUNY Fredonia now offers a one-stop shop, under the able leadership of Director Maggie Bryan-Peterson. This consolidation begins to address one of the Fredonia Plan's Scholarship Improvement goals. Of course, as I've said on many occasions, this new structure means our grant volume, which exceeded $4 million this past year setting a new Fredonia record, should be even higher in the future.
This past week, several workshops were held on campus. One involved more than 30 staff from Student and Academic Affairs, and featured a presentation on learning outcomes by Dr. Steven Terell, the vice president for Student Affairs at Alfred State. The next day, Academic and Student Affairs held a joint workshop involving nearly 60 faculty, staff, and students working on the Foundations of Excellence in the First College Year project. This year-long guided self-study and assessment also has seen nearly 1,000 faculty, staff and students respond to a Foundations of Excellence survey. Wednesday's day long retreat identified a number of action steps that will help launch several components of the Fredonia Plan's Student Learning Improvement goals.
Perhaps the most exciting intersession news revolved around our Latin Jazz Ensemble being invited to perform on New Year's Day as part of Governor Elliot Spitzer's inaugural celebration. Following their performance, our students and their advisor, John Bacon, had an opportunity to meet briefly with the new governor. I've been told by people from SUNY Central that the group's performance was one of the highlights of the day. John Bacon called the group's performance "its best of the year," and Kay Stonefelt wrote, "What a great showing in Albany for jazz and for Fredonia." And one student member said the inaugural performance was "definitely one of the brightest moments in my college and musical career. It was amazing!" Congratulations to the School of Music, especially to John Bacon, Karl Boelter, and Kay Stonefelt, and also to June Miller-Spann from our University Advancement office, for showing Fredonia in such a positive light.
Spring semester is the time for state budget news. Because of the change in governors, the Administrative Budget will not be released until February 1. However, I am pleased to report that for the second consecutive year, the system has submitted an aggressive, yet reasonable, budget request, thanks to the strong leadership of Chancellor John Ryan. The SUNY system has formally requested funding for inflationary dollars to cover contractual salary increases, energy costs, and other non-personnel inflation; enrollment dollars to cover increasing numbers of freshmen and transfers; and mandatory dollars to cover geographic cost differences.
In addition to these basics, SUNY proposed three new initiatives: (1) expansion of high need academic programs, (2) greater support for graduate programs, including more funding for graduate assistantships; and (3) dollars to support academic performance and innovation. The system also requested state support for a rational tuition policy. As part of his first State of the State message, while not directly addressing the issue of tuition, Governor Spitzer did recommend the formation of an independent Commission on Public Higher Education. This commission will undoubtedly explore the need for a rational tuition policy for SUNY.
Other priorities mentioned in the governor's State of the State Address included investing in necessary infrastructure and focusing on the growing Knowledge Economy to assist upstate communities that have been left behind in the recent economic surge. These priorities, along with Governor Spitzer's pledge to "make New York public higher education the best in America," bode well for the future of SUNY.
Last week I was one of five SUNY presidents asked to testify before the New York State Assembly Higher Education Committee, and was greatly encouraged by the upbeat tone of the hearing and the positive comments made by various committee members. It truly felt like higher education has once again become a priority in Albany, and that's good news.
The SUNY Board of Trustees' budget request also included a capital construction provision. As proposed, Fredonia would receive nearly $8 million to renovate and upgrade existing buildings, and $4.6 million to allow for construction of a stand-alone child care center. The current Campus and Community Center is a high quality operation, which, unfortunately, lacks the space necessary to provide a full range of child care services, such as infant care, or to adequately support our academic programs. This year represents our best chance to move forward on this critical initiative, and free needed space in Thompson Hall. I should add that we have received assurances that the remaining funds for our science/technology building, which are not needed until we approach the end of the design phase, will be included in future capital project requests.
Speaking of construction projects, the new sound recording studios and control room, which were originally scheduled for completion at the same time as Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall, but were delayed because of serious design flaws, have now been completed. At 11:30 a.m. today, State Senator Cathy Young and State Assemblyman Bill Parment will be on campus to help us formally dedicate the new facilities. If you'd like a sneak peek, the studios will be open immediately following this meeting and you are welcome to go upstairs and quickly tour the new facilities prior to attending the reception that will be held in the Williams Center.
And two final construction projects you may be wondering about are the outdoor bleachers for the soccer/lacrosse stadium, which will be installed sometime later this spring, and the natural gas wells, which had a successful bidder, and should be drilled within the next 60 days. Let's hope they strike gas!
We are currently in the planning stages for the next major fund-raising campaign, but have already secured nearly $2 million in gifts and pledges. One of those gifts is sitting right here on the Rosch Recital Hall stage. The Sorel Foundation made a $144,000 donation to SUNY Fredonia, including funds for a $89,000 brand new Steinway grand piano. While the gift is important, the story of how an alumna assisted us in receiving this gift is even more important. Wende Persons, a 1974 Music Education graduate who is the web marketing consultant at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, had studied with Claudette Sorel, a talented pianist, who was a Distinguished Teaching Professor at SUNY Fredonia. The Sorel Foundation was established by the parents of Claudette Sorel, and our alum, Wende Persons, knew the Sorel Foundation executive director, and suggested that the Sorel Foundation consider making a gift to Fredonia. Thanks to Wende's thoughtful suggestion, and the work of the School of Music and the University Advancement division, Rosch Recital Hall has the type of grand piano it deserves. It just goes to show how one person can make a big difference.
As a footnote to this story, I should add that three of our faculty--Phyllis East, Sean Duggan, and Nathan Hess--traveled to Steinway headquarters to play six grand pianos, and decide which one would best complement this hall. It seems that each grand piano has a unique sound, or as one faculty member said, a "unique personality." As an economist, I just thought a grand piano was a large piano. Little did I know it has a personality.
There were a number of highlights from this past semester. University Commons opened to rave reviews. The production of "Carmen," which had nearly 1,000 in attendance on Friday night and fully sold out King Concert Hall on Saturday, was an incredible and awe-inspiring production. Would Assistant Professor Won Cho, who directed this year's Hillman Opera, and everyone involved with that production please stand? Fredonia was once again listed among the top universities by Kiplinger's magazine. Our campus was pleased to name Priscilla Nixon of Westfield as our Philanthropist of the Year. The SEFA campaign, which had a $40,000 goal, set a new campus record by exceeding $47,000. The convocation theme, "Origins of the Future," featured world-renowned astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, who was a Williams Distinguished Professor and gave the Maytum Convocation Lecture. And our campus hosted the regional Fulbright conference for the second time in 10 years.
Our fall athletic teams: soccer, swimming and diving, and women's volleyball, had excellent seasons, and I'm pleased to report our student-athletes continue to put the emphasis on student as they graduate at a considerably higher rate than our general student body. To further emphasize this point, Coach Jeff Meredith recently sent me an e-mail showing that 14 of our current hockey players earned grade points above 3.0 this past fall.
Our student recruitment process was fully evaluated by Victoria LaFore, vice president for Consulting Services at Noel-Levitz. Her report identified a number of areas for improvement, which will elevate our student recruitment efforts to the next level. It will be considerable work to implement all recommendations, but the final results-larger applicant pools and academically stronger students-will be worth the effort.
This spring, a member of our English faculty, Dr. Bob Marzec, swapped lives (that's lives, not wives), with David Walker, a colleague from Northumbria University in England. I'd like to ask David to stand so we can all welcome him to our campus for the spring semester. Another international traveler is recently departed Dean of Arts and Humanities Paul Schwartz, who took great delight in describing the Mediterranean climate of Aix-En-Provence, France, where he will become the chief academic officer of the Institute for American Universities. We wish Paul well in his new position, and thank Professor Thomas Loughlin of our Department of Theatre and Dance faculty for agreeing to serve as interim dean while a national search is conducted.
Several new planning committees have been formed for the spring: one involves developing a plan in case of a pandemic flu-a plan we all hope sits on the shelves, never to be used; and the other is a Sustainability Committee, which will identify ways to improve our campus recycling efforts.
The system recently sent us the final version of a Memorandum of Understanding II (MOU II), which truly reflects and endorses the goals we identified in our Mission Review II submission. This document, which covers a wide range of topics including enrollment growth, selectivity, faculty, academic programs, student outcomes, technology, and facilities, has been sent to all members of our University Senate, and will be a discussion item at the first spring senate meeting on February 7.
On Saturday, May 5, the Fredonia College Foundation will be presenting three Distinguished Service Awards: to Wally Gotowka, a prominent Fredonia businessman and Fredonia alumnus who has served as chair of the Fredonia College Foundation; Cathy Young, our State Senator who attended Fredonia for two years and has helped us receive funding for a number of important campus projects; and the Fredonia Rotary Club, which has undertaken numerous community service projects. More information on how to reserve a spot at the dinner/awards program will be mailed to faculty and staff later this semester.
I will end my remarks by mentioning two items. The first is a recently announced national campaign being conducted by the American Council on Education, the Lumina Foundation, and the Ad Council. It's entitled "KnowHow2Go," and is designed to speak to young people, helping raise awareness especially among high school students about preparing for college and what it takes to get there. The message to students is for them to "Tell everyone you know that you want to go (to college)!" In this way, students may be able to identify mentors to help them along the way. I was reminded of the important role mentors play this past Tuesday at the memorial service held in Buffalo for Distinguished Service Professor Franklin Krohn, who gave so much of his time assisting students outside of class. A number of Frank's former students, many former members of SIFE teams, had traveled from different parts of the state to pay their respects. As I spoke with them following the memorial, each passionately talked about how important Frank's guidance, positive comments, and willingness to challenge them had positively impacted them, and how his mentorship had changed their lives.
A second related item involves an e-mail I received last week from the mother of three children: one is a SUNY Fredonia alum, who graduated cum laude and has done well since graduation; the second is a current SUNY Fredonia student, who is doing well academically; and the youngest, who spent fall semester traveling to different campuses, trying to decide on any campus other than Fredonia to avoid following in his siblings' footsteps. However, when decision time came, he compared what he knew about Fredonia with the other campuses he'd visited, and applied here. The mother was delighted, and wrote "the friendliness of the faculty, staff, and students;" "the appearance and cleanliness of the campus;" and "the quality of the education you offer" were the deciding factors. Her letter demonstrates the positive impact each of you has on both current and prospective students. And whether it's as a mentor, or as someone who provides a kind word, your actions make a difference.
Thank you for doing such a wonderful job, and have a great semester! Have a great semester!