President Wheeler’s November 2023 Report to the Faculty

Dear Colleagues:

I share the following thoughts and news as we move into the second half of the fall semester.

Campus Climate. I wish to thank those in our community who have been responsive to the needs of our students and colleagues during a tumultuous time in our world. Each day brings new incidents of violence, both here in the U.S. and across the world. In response to such acts that devalue human life, terrorism, and wars, I am so proud of how our community has come together to express their beliefs and show support for each other in peaceful and respectful ways. Our students, faculty, staff, and visitors have followed our free speech protocols that outline their rights and responsibilities and made room for others who may not agree with them to do the same. In the past month, students, staff and faculty have organized both a peaceful prayer vigil for our Jewish students and a peaceful vigil and silent march for Palestinians. Those events were supported by Student Affairs personnel, faculty, staff and University Police to ensure the safety of participants, bystanders and visitors. This is consistent with our mission to educate students to engage civically and use their voices constructively. Please continue to be mindful of resources available to students and employees who are struggling as many in our community are directly impacted by these horrific events. When I read about the volatile protests in other university communities, I am proud to be a member of the New Paltz community. I know that this does not mean hateful, racist, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic events cannot happen here, but we can model the kind of community we hope to be through our words and actions as we go about our days.

Fall Open House and Recruitment. We had a beautiful fall day for Fall Student Open House on Saturday, Oct. 28. Families started showing up as early as 8:00 a.m., excited to take part in the day’s activities.  By all measures, the day was a huge success.  Our attendance was up 5% compared to last year with 624 students and a total of 1,527 family members attending.  Our academic buildings, Athletics & Wellness Center, Student Union Building and grounds all looked fantastic.  Prospective students and their families were impressed with our terrific student ambassadors, faculty representatives from all departments and the information sessions they attended. Many took tours of residence halls, dining facilities and strolled through town.  They commented on feeling welcomed in our special community. SUNY’s free application week ended on Sunday, Oct. 29, and 40% of the students who attended Open House applied to New Paltz. This is truly a great momentum.  Thank you for your participation. We will be calling on you, the faculty and staff, throughout the recruitment cycle to help us get these interested students to enroll.

We are preparing for Spring 2024 new student orientation sessions on January 9, 11 and 17.  Department transfer advisors will be invited to training sessions in November to help prepare for advising and registration.  Students have started signing up for these sessions through their Admissions Status Portal. Please see the Take Flight website for more information. Updated information will soon be posted in my.newpaltz.edu > Advising Menu > Onboarding Information.

Winter Session and Spring Course Registration. Registration for Winter Session 2024 begins Nov. 6 for all students; Spring Semester 2024 begins Nov. 6 for matriculated graduate students and on Nov. 13 for matriculated undergraduate students. Non-matriculated graduate students may register starting Nov. 20. Please continue to support your students with the goal of retention and successful completion of their degrees.

Budget Forum. Vice President Halstead and I will be hosting the campus wide budget forum on Nov. 1 at 1:00 p.m. in Lecture Center 100. At the forum, we will discuss SUNY New Paltz’s financial health in terms of historical trends, current context, revenues and expenditures and measures we need to take to stabilize our finances.  Those measures include but are not limited to growing revenue streams beyond student enrollments and mitigating expenditures, all while maintaining a quality educational experience for our students.

I urge you all to come to the forum to learn more about the state of our fiscal climate and to participate in the discussion that will clarify everyone’s role in building a sustainable New Paltz. (Anyone who is unable to attend on Nov. 1 will have an opportunity to view the recorded event on my.newpaltz.edu.)

Strategic Planning. Today, Oct. 31, I submitted the president’s required institutional annual report to SUNY, and we are working on content for the financial accountability report we must submit by Jan. 1. As president, I set the tone for accountability, and I ask that campus units pay attention to how they evaluate their effectiveness and efficiencies as we move forward. We are all accountable for fiscal responsibility and programmatic responsibility, and we must be intentional about the nature of our programs – remaining strategic and critical about how programs align with our mission and goals.

To that end, on Dec. 13 at 2:00 p.m., outside Lecture Center 100, we will be holding a celebration to close out the 2013-2018 University’s Strategic Plan. Everyone is invited for refreshments and a small program to be led by me and Associate Provost Laurel M. Garrick Duhaney to acknowledge the collective work and accomplishments of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee, who developed the plan, and the two groups that worked on implementation – the earlier Strategic Planning Council and the current Strategic Planning and Assessment Council (SPAC), who graciously worked on the closeout report.

Looking to our next strategic plan, we are in the process of procuring a strategic planning consultant to guide the campus’s work this spring semester on developing a new plan to be implemented beginning in fall 2024. This will be a three-year plan – the world of higher education is evolving too quickly to engage in a longer plan at this time.  My goals as president for this new plan are to integrate strategic planning with resource development, financial planning and implementation and to nurture a culture of planning, measuring, and increased accountability toward goals at a time when fiscal management and the demonstrated impact of our mission will be critical to our ongoing viability and success.

Professional Development SAVE THE DATE. The Office of Human Resources, Diversity & Inclusion (HRDI) is pleased to announce Jan. 17, 2024 as our 5th annual campus-wide Professional Development Day. HRDI invites all SUNY New Paltz faculty and staff to join in learning and growing together as a community. This year’s offerings will be posted soon, and we hope many of you will take advantage of this opportunity for personal and professional growth. We also invite anyone who has an interest in sharing their knowledge by teaching a session to contact us at odt@newpaltz.edu with their course proposals.

Compliance with Required Training. In December 2022, Governor Hochul announced a statewide requirement for all state employees to receive ethics training. Since then, HRDI has presented 43 training sessions. We are required to report participation numbers to SUNY on a monthly basis with the expectation of near 100% compliance by the end of calendar year 2023. We are currently at a completion rate of approximately 65%. There are an additional 16 sessions being offered between now and the end of the calendar year. If you have not yet signed up for a course, please do so by following this link. To see all available sessions, select “View All Sections” from the lower-right side of the screen, and then select a date from the list. The full schedule will also be communicated via email and in The Digest.

Student Affairs Update. The Career Resource Center hosted the fall Networking Fair for Jobs and Internships on Oct. 18 with over 70 employers and 470 students in attendance.  Please note that there is a Graduate and Professional School Fair on Wednesday, Nov. 15, at 6:00 p.m. in Wooster Hall.  Please encourage your students to attend, and to contact the Career Resource Center with any questions.

Our Athletic teams are having a great fall semester! Men’s Soccer, Women’s Soccer, Field Hockey, Women’s Volleyball, and Men’s and Women’s Cross Country have or are headed toward post-season playoff games.  Please take the opportunity to cheer on our amazing student athletes and join us for an upcoming playoff game. Field Hockey has a game Nov. 1 at 2 p.m. on campus. Click here for the Athletics calendar (https://nphawks.com/calendar).

The Disability Resource Center continues to conduct intake meetings with students seeking accommodations.  So far this fall, over 250 new students have submitted documentation for review, which continues the exponential growth of students seeking disability-related support and services.  Please be aware that new accommodations are being approved daily and will be shared with faculty accordingly through the Accommodate portal.  New accommodations are not retroactive to work already completed but are effective upon notification.  If you have any questions related to accommodation, please reach out to the staff in the Disability Resource Center at 845-257-3020 or visit them in Haggerty 203.

Development & Alumni Relations. The SUNY New Paltz Foundation hosted a visit by Sojourner Truth’s sixth great-granddaughter Barbara Allen on Oct. 5, which included a public presentation at our own Sojourner Truth Library and a luncheon that included a lively discussion around how best to honor Truth’s legacy here at the University.

The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art held a successful gala on Oct. 7, netting nearly $73,000 for the Dorsky in unrestricted funds. Artist Richard Hunt was honored with the Dorsky’s first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award. Given Mr. Hunt’s advanced age, I presented the award to him at his Chicago studio and a brief video was created and shown at the gala. With 40 of Hunt’s pieces in the Dorsky collection and his monumental “Large Hybrid” on our campus, encircled by the Walk of Honor bricks, the Dorsky is one of the leading collectors of his work. Hunt recently completed the main sculpture for the Obama Presidential Library and is at work on a piece commemorating Emmett Till.

While much of the team’s work centers on raising funds for scholarships and programs, they also focus on connecting SUNY New Paltz to the region, the state, and at times nationally as our work with Richard Hunt demonstrates. On Oct. 19, the Distinguished Speaker Series (which is supported by many generous corporate and individual contributors allowing our students to attend free of charge), featured Sonali Kolhatkar, who spoke to a full house about the importance of digital narratives in shaping racial justice. This year’s event was a collaboration with the Elting Memorial Library.

The busy month saw a truly successful and robust three-day Alumni Reunion weekend. With well over 300 alumni returning to campus and another 100 faculty, staff, and students joining the festivities, we had the best attendance in the last five years. It was a lively and meaningful experience for all involved. Activities ranged from a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Global Engagement Program, Liberal Arts & Sciences panels, a gathering of Honors alumni and students, Sorority and Fraternity mixers, a glorious Roman feast hosted by Art History Professor Keely Heuer, a hike, meals in the dining hall, and of course, the traditional 50th anniversary class dinner and awards celebration dinner.

A great time was had by all, and we are deeply grateful to the many, many faculty and staff members who turned out in support of these events and worked so hard to welcome our alumni “home!”

The Development Department’s Campaign Consultants – AKA Strategy/The Development Consulting Group – completed a feasibility study that will inform our next comprehensive fundraising campaign. The study has concluded that we are indeed well-positioned to enter a new five-year campaign that will culminate with the University’s 200th anniversary in 2028. From here the consultants will work with Development staff to put in place volunteer leadership and develop campaign materials.

Science of Reading Microcredential. The first graduates have successfully completed the new microcredential and have been very positive about the quality of the course and its value. We will open registration on Nov. 6 for the two spring cohorts that begin in January and March. Please spread the word!

Holiday Gatherings. It’s hard to believe that we are already announcing the two traditional holiday gatherings we hold for employees each December!

• All Academic and Professional Faculty, M/C employees and Retired Faculty are invited to the Holiday Gathering at the President’s Residence at 29 Cedar Ridge Road, New Paltz, on Dec. 2 from 2-4 p.m. (for those whose last names begin with A-L) and 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. (for those whose last names begin with M-Z). These are suggested times. You are welcome to attend during the time that is most convenient for you.
• All Classified Staff are invited to the Classified Staff Holiday Luncheon and Recognition Awards on Friday, Dec. 8, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Elting Gym. Please note the location change due to the current renovation of the Student Union Building Multi-Purpose Room.

Other special events this month include Black Solidarity Day on Nov. 6, and Veteran’s Day remembrances on campus and across the region.

I look forward to answering questions about my report and any other topics you’d like to discuss at the Nov. 1 Faculty Senate meeting and the Nov. 1 Budget Forum. Wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving and productive and successful second half of the semester.

Sincerely,

Darrell P. Wheeler
President