President Wheeler’s October 2023 Report to the Faculty

Dear Colleagues:

With summer and September in our rear-view mirror and the autumn season settling in, I write to share key news items since my State of the University Address. My report also includes critical updates from other Cabinet members and their divisions since the semester began.

Budget Update. The Administration and Finance team just completed the close-out process for fiscal year 2022-2023.  The University exceeded its tuition and fee target by 3%, while achieving a 4% reduction in budgeted expenditures (most of which came from savings from vacant positions).  The result of these actions reduced the budgeted deficit for fiscal year 22-23 from $10.4 million to an actual use of reserve of $5.7 million in the state operating fund.

Governor Hochul’s executive budget for fiscal year 2023-2024 included $163 million for SUNY, of which SUNY New Paltz was awarded one-time funding of $935,000 (see uses for these funds for recruitment and retention initiatives outlined below), additional operating aid of $2.2 million and the ability to apply for $939,000 in additional ongoing support for specific activities including; graduate student worker fee mitigation, food insecurity support, mental health supports, support for students with disabilities, and support for internship opportunities.  Proposals for those activities are currently under review by the Chancellor’s Office, and the campus hopes to hear about them soon.

As most of you are aware, the UUP collective bargaining process came to a successful conclusion at the end of August and individual salary increases are currently being calculated for all UUP represented employees.  The financial impacts of collective bargaining agreements on fiscal year 2023-2024 is approximately $2.5 million. The full impact of this will be spread over five years with an overall impact closer to $14 million.

As outlined in my State of the University Address, ‘cutting’ our way out of a deficit threatens our ability to function with the excellence SUNY New Paltz is known for, therefore we must imagine, build and execute on innovative ways to grow our way out of this fiscal deficit. That means increasing revenues from enrollment and non-tuition based sources. Interim Vice President for Enrollment Management Stella Turk, along with a working group from across divisions, is identifying actions to achieve enrollment growth across undergraduate, graduate, international and online offerings. This includes new efforts such as our new Science of Reading microcredential. We believe within five years, despite projected increased costs during those years, incremental enrollment increases will bring us within $800,000 of closing our deficit. This plan does not include tuition or fee increases, which are set at the state level.

To learn more about our plans and the role that all campus community members will need to play to help us achieve these institutional goals, you are invited to attend the annual Budget Forum at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 1, in Lecture Center 100. While I won’t comment on decisions made recently by other SUNY presidents at sister campuses because I am not in their shoes, I can discuss a road map as well as the ways we will need to think and work differently at New Paltz to bring our revenues and expenditures into balance.

SUNY New Paltz Wins SUNY Transformation Funds. SUNY New Paltz has been awarded $935,000 in one-time competitive funding included in this year’s SUNY budget to establish an ACE (Accelerate, Complete, Engage) replication program at New Paltz, thanks to the timely submission in July by a team led by Interim Vice President for Enrollment Management Stella Turk. ACE is a comprehensive academic support program designed to help students complete their academic journey to the bachelor’s degree on time. Modeled on the principles of CUNY’s highly successful and nationally recognized Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP), ACE provides intensive academic advisement, career development, tuition scholarships, textbooks, and transportation assistance. ACE helps students earn their college degree as quickly as possible, by removing the financial, academic, and personal obstacles that many SUNY students confront. Key ACE program features include a consolidated block schedule, required full-time study and comprehensive advisement and career development services. Financial incentives include tuition and fee gap scholarships for financial aid eligible students, textbook assistance, and transportation assistance for all students. The New Paltz pilot implementation of the ACE program will focus on both first-year and transfer students. Lisa Jones, Executive Director of Special Sessions & Partner Programs, is the campus point person putting together a New Paltz team to prepare to launch our ACE program in fall 2024. We will initiate a search for the ACE Director in the next few weeks.

Transfer Pathways Funding. Relatedly, SUNY also announced recently that SUNY New Paltz is one of 19 campuses across SUNY to receive these one-time transformation funds ($158,637 of the $935,000 mentioned above) to expand transfer pathways to help more community college students continue their higher education and complete their bachelor’s degree. SUNY will strengthen transfer opportunities between campuses and offer more students early advisement.  New Paltz will build in programming and communication support, including the hiring of an additional transfer advisor, to assist students with the transition from their community college to New Paltz.

Meeting our Larger Enrollment Targets. In preparation for what we hope will be a larger incoming fall 2024 class, and to meet growing demands from our current students, the Center for Student Success has added staff and services, doubling its capacity to serve more students.  New satellite services are being offered in the Athletic and Wellness Center in the evening. The campus also has launched an Academic Coaching program for students who need more academic support. The program requires that students attend multiple sessions and offers a textbook stipend for successful program completion. For more information, visit the Center for Student Success website.

Our Annual Fall Open House is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We will welcome more than 900 prospective students and their families. This is our largest, most comprehensive recruitment event of the year and we need your help. We will showcase campus facilities and provide information about academic programs, internship opportunities, student services, admission, financial aid, residence life, athletics, recreation and wellness and much more. Thank you in advance to all the faculty who will represent the University on this day. When you showcase our diverse and dynamic academic programs and share your passion for educating our students in your disciplines, so many of our prospective students and their families are convinced that New Paltz is where they belong.

Agriculture Technology Workforce Readiness Summit. SUNY New Paltz hosted the first ever such summit on Sept. 7, as SUNY Chancellor John B. King, Jr. and New York Senate Agriculture Committee Chair, Sen. Michelle Hinchey led a dialogue with industry, education and government leaders on farming and technology. The chancellor announced at the summit the first round of agriculture and technology grants of upwards of $300K to SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Morrisville, and SUNY Cobleskill. The grant funding was made possible by the $75 million one-time transformation fund allocated to SUNY by Governor Hochul and state legislators in the 2023-2024 enacted budget. The New Paltz proposal is titled “Enhancing Understanding of Soil Regeneration Through Experiential Learning for Sustainable Agriculture Practices for Undergraduate Students” and was prepared by Dr. Shafiul Chowdhury, associate professor of geology and director of the environmental science program.

Science of Reading Fundamental Microcredential. Thanks to a generous contribution to the SUNY New Paltz Foundation, the Ibis Group-supported Science of Reading Fundamentals Microcredential launched as planned on Sept. 11, with all 250 slots in this first cohort filled. The second cohort begins Oct. 19, with robust interest from numerous school districts in New York City and throughout the state. Thanks to the numerous people in units across campus who have worked hard to meet this ambitious goal.

Development and Alumni Relations. Sixty SUNY New Paltz supporters are being interviewed by Campaign Consultants – AKA Strategy/The Development Consulting Group – to gather their input for a feasibility study that will inform our next comprehensive campaign. The study will be completed in November and will help determine financial goals and priority projects for funding.

The Office of Development launched a new website and newsletter dedicated to retired faculty and staff members, all of whom continue to play an important role in the life of the University.

The Office of Alumni Relations hosts Reunion Weekend October 20-22. Nine individuals will be recognized with special Alumni Awards, including Dr. Patricia Sullivan, Honors Program Director (Friends of the Alumni Association Award), Dr. Gweneth Lloyd, Psychological Counseling Center Director (Heritage Award) and Mark Rumnit ’93, Scholars’ Mentorship Program Director (Heritage Award). At least 200 alumni are expected to return to campus for the event. Several campus departments have activities planned, and we invite you to review the schedule and join us in welcoming our alumni back to campus.

All are invited to attend this fall’s Distinguished Speaker Series Thursday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. in LC 100, featuring Award-winning journalist, activist, artist, and author Sonali Kolhatkar. Sonali’s talk is titled Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice and will be followed by a reception and book-signing in the LC lobby. Thanks to generous contributions to the Fund for New Paltz, New Paltz students attend this and other programs for free. Please encourage your students to join this special evening.

Semester Kick-off Update from Student Affairs. Thank you to those who volunteered to support student move-in days, hosting an event during Welcome Week, or participated in the re-imagined Convocation event.  A special shout out to the Center for Student Engagement, Residence Life, and University Police for coordinating these efforts. With more than 75 individual Welcome Week events, just over 1,800 new students joined our campus and nearly 2,900 total students moved into campus residence halls before classes began.

Welcoming our students is no small feat, and everyone’s contributions is vital to promoting a welcoming, caring, and warm environment where students can feel a sense of community and belonging.  The re-imagined New Student Convocation, hosted in partnership with Academic Affairs and the program director of Special Events in Development and Alumni Relations, held during the first week of classes was a promising re-imagination to an important tradition that engaged our entire community.  For those that supported and/or participated in all of these efforts, please be on the look-out for de-briefing sessions in the coming weeks. On Sept. 30-Oct. 1, the Center for Student Engagement hosted our annual Parent and Family Weekend where over 350 families and 1,200 participants returned to campus for a beautiful fall foliage weekend where we could continue to interact and engage with our students and their important supporters.  Again, thank you everyone for your support!

External Activities:

• In September, I traveled to Washington, D.C., for SUNY DC Days (Sept. 19-20), where I met with our Congressman Pat Ryan and other lawmakers as well as federal agency representatives, SUNY government relations staff and some of our students doing internships in our nation’s capital. Last week, our SUNY Federal Relations Director Jeff Cullen came to campus as a follow up and met with deans and vice presidents to discuss ways we can strengthen ties to our elected federal officials and explore federal funding opportunities.
• I spoke to BOCES Superintendents about the Science of Reading last week, where we generated enthusiasm for our microcredential and our role in higher education to support teachers with the evidence-based tools they need to improve literacy rates in our state and the nation.

Upcoming Events. I hope to see many of you at the upcoming Classified Staff Annual Gathering at 1 p.m. in Lecture Center 100, where supervisors will introduce new and newly promoted classified colleagues. As I noted at the First Fall Faculty meeting where we introduced new faculty and professional staff, I would like to see us combine these events to hold one inclusive gathering for ALL employees.

Fall Break is fast approaching, so I’ll wish you a restorative long weekend as we head toward midterms and some of the busiest weeks of the semester. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have about this report or any other topic.

Darrell P. Wheeler
President