SUNY Fredonia General Campus Meeting
Remarks by President Dennis L. Hefner
Friday, January 25, 2008
Good morning, and welcome back for the start of the spring semester. I hope the break gave all of you a chance to visit with family and friends. Jan and I were very excited to have our three grandchildren visit us after Christmas. Jillian is now 8 years old, Callahan is 4, and baby Caitlin is 1. Thanks to several of you who loaned me snow tubes, Jillian and Callahan had planned to go sledding. Also, building a snowman and having a snowball fight were greatly anticipated. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate, so I again got up my courage, checked on my health insurance, and took them ice skating. As a native Californian, my skating leaves a great deal to be desired. However, as the old saying goes, it’s not the skating I worry about, it’s the falling. Fortunately, I managed to avoid visiting the emergency room, which as I’ve said before, is my definition of a successful ice skating session.
Speaking of skating, on January 6, our hockey team played an NCAA game against Wentworth at the Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena. It was the first time our team played in that beautiful facility, and everyone attending the game had a great time, especially with the Blue Devils winning handily.
The intersession was busy with another successful J-Term. Enrollments were 50.5 percent higher than last January, and the array of offerings again included more courses specifically designed to take advantage of the shorter, more concentrated, format. Also during intersession, the CSEA contract was ratified and the UUP negotiations concluded, which means most of you will soon be receiving much deserved retroactive pay increases.
A considerable number of campus improvements occurred over the break, including new campus signs in several key locations and the renovation of Jewett 101, which received a new carpet and new, wider, more comfortable chairs. Also, the renovations to the President’s Office area were completed, and an open house was held earlier this week.
Two weeks ago Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine released its “Best Buys” in higher education, and SUNY Fredonia was again ranked among the “100 Best Values in Public Colleges” in the nation.
Spring semester is the time for new student leadership. I would ask that our newly elected Student Association President Cody Meyers, a senior Political Science major, and SA Vice President Nick Dhimitri, a junior Political Science major, stand and be recognized. Both have served in numerous student leadership positions and will do a great job leading SA over the next 12 months.
Spring semester is also the time for news from Albany. Carl Hayden was formally approved as chair of the SUNY Board of Trustees, the system has begun a national search for a permanent chancellor, and the board approved a budget request that fully addressed what we truly need.
Of course, the request was only the first step in the process. This year’s budget was to be influenced by the draft report released by the New York State Commission on Higher Education, which made a number of positive recommendations on behalf of SUNY. Relying heavily on the commission’s report, Governor Eliot Spitzer’s State of the State message highlighted higher education, and this positive theme was reiterated during his State of the Upstate message recently delivered in Buffalo.
Based upon these promising events and proclamations, I had planned to take my juggling props, which I have used before to divert attention from budget difficulties, and ceremoniously discard them during today’s meeting. Unfortunately, when the Executive Budget was released on Tuesday, because of a $4.4 billion shortfall in state revenues, reality overtook expectations and the proposed SUNY operating budget was disappointing.
On the positive side, the proposed budget fully covers all salary adjustment costs and non-personnel inflation, and provides for a reserve to handle any unexpected utility increases. Included in the budget are a series of policy and procedural changes designed to provide campuses with greater flexibility. The governor also announced a plan to create a $4 billion endowment for public higher education, which in a year or two could provide SUNY and CUNY a combined $200 million in budgetary relief.
Unfortunately, the news goes rapidly downhill from there. SUNY was hit with a 2.5 percent across-the-board cut ($600,000 for SUNY Fredonia). Enrollment growth was not funded, the modest 5 percent tuition increase proposed by the board of trustees was ignored, all SUNY budget initiatives were rejected, plus with utility costs down this year and campus energy savings up, the state withdrew sizeable utility funds from next year’s baseline funding ($500,000 for SUNY Fredonia).
Overall, we face a $1.1 million shortfall in our operating budget for 2008-09. This campus shortfall will not require any layoffs, but delays in filling some positions, along with other budget reduction strategies, are unavoidable. We’ve been through much worse, and together will get through these operating budget difficulties.
Yesterday I was one of four SUNY presidents asked to testify before the New York State Assembly Higher Education Committee, and was encouraged by the tone of the hearing and the supportive comments made by various committee members. SUNY may be able to work with the legislature to reduce a portion of the shortfall, but there is no doubt we will need to tighten our belts next year.
On the capital side, the news is much better. The budget includes a five-year capital construction plan of nearly $4.5 billion for SUNY. Our campus will receive millions of dollars each year to address critical maintenance issues, and also will receive funding for new capital construction. SUNY was given a fixed amount of $1.6 billion for new projects, and was asked to prepare a priority list. We will definitely see the remaining funds for the Science/Technology building on the SUNY list, and given the willingness of the governor to now allow for partial funding of new projects, there is a good chance we will receive planning and design funding for the Rockefeller Arts Center addition. Overall, the news on construction is probably more positive than we could have expected.
Even without these new capital dollars, construction on our campus continues to move at a rapid pace. The remodel of the Dods Hall Dance Studio will be fully completed this month. Four major projects will be going to bid soon: Phase II of the Soccer Stadium will be advertised next month, both the Technology Incubator and the Campus and Community Children’s Center will be out for bid later this spring, and the new practice rooms for Mason Hall should be bid this summer. Erie Dining Center has gone off-line through spring to accommodate the boiler replacement project, and this summer the Williams Center goes off-line for a $3 million upgrade to the food court, new flooring for the first floor, and work on the skylights. The campus-wide replacement of the heating and cooling system remains on track, but we still have 14 more months of construction before the entire campus is converted to the decentralized system. In other words, parts of this campus will be under construction for the foreseeable future, which means we better get used to seeing “Pardon Our Progress” signs.
This spring we begin work on our Middle States reaccreditation self-study, which must be completed by Fall 2009. You will hear more about this significant undertaking later today from one of our accreditation committee co-chairs, Kerrie Wilkes. Another major spring initiative will occur on February 22 when a campus-wide Conference on Teaching and Learning will be held. Two major presenters include Jean Twenge from San Diego State University, who is the author of Generation Me, and Candace Thille who is the director of the Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University. Following their presentations, there will be campus-wide discussions on ways to improve student learning, which is one of the five goals of the Fredonia Plan. Just a reminder that Vice President Horvath has recommended that faculty give their classes alternative assignments that day to allow for full faculty participation in this important event.
One of the more unique spring competitions will be RecycleMania. At the urging of the Sustainability Committee and with Jim Pepe as campus coordinator, SUNY Fredonia will participate along with 200 other universities in a 10-week competition for top recycling honors. We are entered in the “Per Capita Classic” division, which separately targets paper, corrugated cardboard, bottles and cans. Let’s put those new recycling bins to good use.
Writing a book is a major accomplishment and, quite frankly, a labor of love. On January 31, our campus will once again honor recent authors at the annual campus book launching. This year 14 authors will be honored.
Enrollment for next year looks strong, as we are nearly 8 percent ahead of our all-time record number of applications. In fact, our growth in applications is second highest in SUNY among all of the four-year campuses.
This past fall saw a number of accomplishments. One of the most exciting events was the dedication of the new soccer/lacrosse stadium. Nearly 1,200 people attended the event, including State Senator Catharine Young and Assemblyman William Parment, and there was truly excitement in the air. However, there was one anticlimactic part to the evening. The event was supposed to begin with me flying onto the field in a helicopter, but strong winds grounded the helicopter. I was then told the Blue Devil mascot was going to drive me onto the field, but learned the mascot can’t see very well through the mask. In the end, Coach Jeffrey Meredith drove me onto the field in a cart—not very dramatic, but much safer.
The new stadium seemed to create some magic on the field, as the men’s soccer team went on to win the conference and participate in the NCAA tournament, and the women’s soccer team reached the semi-finals of the post-season ECAC tournament. Also, men’s soccer Coach P.J. Gondek received SUNYAC Coach of the Year honors this past fall, as did Geoff Braun, coach of the women’s volleyball team, which set a new school mark for total wins. Senior diver Scott Horsington, a music major, who earned All-American status last spring, was the 2007 recipient of the Dr. Sam Molnar Award, given by SUNYAC to the male student-athlete with the best combination of athletic and academic performance in the conference.
The Sorel Charitable Foundation donated a new Steinway grand piano for Rosch Recital Hall, added a $55,000 endowment, and at the piano’s dedication, surprised us with another check for $55,000. Professor Wildy Zumwalt coordinated the 100th birthday celebration of famed saxophonist Sigurd Rascher with a spectacular two-day event that enticed dozens of alumni to return to campus. Fredonia became one of the first campuses in the nation to place the Voluntary Standards of Accountability data on our web site, and Reed Library led the multi-county “Big Read” program, which focused on Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. The Financial Aid Office was recognized by Student Lending Analytics as one of the best in the country for providing lender information, and our new sound recording studios won the small project category architectural award given by the Buffalo Western New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. This is the third time in eight years that one of Fredonia’s construction projects won a major architectural award.
For this year’s convocation theme, entitled, “Reflections of the Past,” Dr. Spencer Wells, who heads National Geographic’s Genographic Project, gave an excellent Maytum Convocation Lecture to a near capacity crowd in King Concert Hall. Next year’s theme, “Human Rights: With Liberty and Justice for All?” has just been announced, and we are currently negotiating with Marian Wright Edelman to have her visit campus in early fall as a Williams Distinguished Visiting Professor.
The first gas well was drilled on campus, and was a success. As the cold weather descended upon western New York, we started using the output of this well to help heat the campus. Given the budget news, we may want to drill a few more wells and start selling natural gas.
The recent “bomb threat” brought campus safety discussions to the forefront. The Emergency Response and Planning/Pandemic Flu Task Force had already been reviewing safety procedures, but in response to campus concerns helped with the development of the red emergency safety brochure that was distributed to everyone on campus. We have a safe campus, but will need the assistance and cooperation of everyone from across campus to ensure we maintain a safe environment.
The student organization, Students Teaching Equals Positive Sexuality (STEPS), hosted its first annual AIDS walk. Approximately 100 people participated in the walk, including prominent community members Doug and Ann Manly who served as guest honorees. More than $6,000 was raised to support the Malawi Children’s Village Foundation, which assists African children who are orphaned by AIDS.
In response to the beginning of our next major fund-raising campaign, entitled “Doors to Success,” the campus’ annual fund donations exceeded the $2 million mark for 2007. You’ll be hearing more about this campaign as we move into the public phase later this year.
The SEFA campaign raised $51,401 this fall—topping $50,000 for the very first time. Thanks to all of you, this campus has again stepped forward to help others who are less fortunate.
Before concluding, I wanted to share with you a true story from this November that demonstrates the positive, can-do spirit of the campus. The story involves the folding table tops that were recently removed from Jewett 101, a young man in a wheelchair, an alum, two e-mails, and, even more important, how people on this campus make a difference. Cathy D’Agostino, a teacher from Dunkirk and a Fredonia alumna, has a student in a wheelchair who always needs help getting into a desk. Remembering that Fredonia’s campus lecture halls have folding table tops, she asked Lisa Eikenburg of Publication Services if we had any broken table tops that might be spared and could perhaps be welded to the student’s wheelchair. Lisa sent an e-mail to Mike Wygant of Facilities Management describing this young man’s plight and Cathy’s request. Exactly 25 minutes later Mike e-mailed back and mentioned the Jewett 101 lecture halls chairs and table tops were being replaced over intersession. His e-mail also indicated that several employees from the automotive garage had volunteered to help adapt the wheelchair to accommodate the desk top. The desk top has now been set aside, awaiting the final go ahead from the parents. This simple act of kindness on the part of several Fredonia employees will not only help this young man, but will once again demonstrate to the community how our faculty and staff make a difference by going above and beyond their job descriptions. Thanks to each of you for the pride you take in your job, in this campus, and in this community.
Have a great semester!