President Wheeler’s February 2024 Report to Faculty
Dear Colleagues:
I start off my first report of spring 2024 with a note of gratitude for the way our community builds a diverse, equitable, inclusive culture of well-being and belongingness for our students and employees.
We had a difficult start to the semester with the death of student Ray Rattray. This tragedy reminds us of the fragility of life, something that many of our students may be experiencing for the first time in their young lives. SUNY New Paltz is known for its welcoming and nurturing environment, and I am grateful to the campus community for the ways it has demonstrated compassion and offered support for Ray’s family, friends, faculty, classmates, teammates, and all of us who are grieving this terrible loss.
Additionally, during the first week of classes, a concerned student reported an anonymous posting on social media picturing a chalk board in Peregrine Dining Hall where the words: “White Power” had been written. When University Police (UPD) arrived at Peregrine, they found the words lightly erased. UPD documented the racist content and are investigating. Campus leadership takes these incidents seriously, and we are offering appropriate support to those students impacted by the incident.
Our Student Affairs professionals and our faculty are focused on facilitating and building student resiliency. As president at SUNY New Paltz, I try to model how one can learn to integrate difficult experiences into the narrative of success, overcoming fears and developing strong internal and external networks of support. This is our goal as an institution of higher learning that prepares students to thrive personally and professionally in the world beyond their studies at this University.
I also wish to note that International Holocaust Remembrance Day was Saturday, Jan. 27. On the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, we remember the six million Jewish victims and the millions more murdered by the Nazis because of their political views, their sexual orientation, their disabilities or their national origin. Reports of racism, anti-Semitism, and other -isms are increasing in our country and around the world. We must not forget the lessons of the Holocaust. As a public university, we are all responsible under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to keep students free from a hostile environment based upon their ethnicity or national origin. The University has a robust Bias Response Reporting & Support policy in place, including a Bias Reporting Form that is available to students and employees who experience incidents of bias on or off campus. At SUNY New Paltz, there is no place for hatred of any kind and this absolutely includes anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
I now share enrollment and budget updates and other campus news.
Enrollment Management
The Office of Undergraduate Admission delivered a larger than expected spring 2024 transfer class. New Paltz received 815 transfer applications and 454 students were admitted, resulting in 305 deposits. This is 55 students above our target. Ultimately, 263 transfer students matriculated. We are pleased with this number but will want to assess additional efforts or changes we could implement to matriculate all deposited students.
The New Student Onboarding program, “Take Flight,” was held on Jan. 9, 11 and 17. We welcomed 288 transfer, first-year, second-degree and readmission students. This collaborative orientation effort included the divisions of Enrollment Management, Academic Affairs and Student Affairs and was a great success. New student survey feedback indicated that 98% of the students reported that the transfer program overall was good to excellent, emphasizing support of advisors and welcoming, helpful staff. I wish to thank the 51 faculty orientation advisors and professional advisors as well as the staff and students who made these days a meaningful introduction to New Paltz.
Enrollment Management is working with Admissions and academic departments to prepare for Accepted Student Open Houses on April 6 and 20. The Accepted Student Open Houses are our major enrollment yield events. Last year, 65% of the students who attended these spring open houses matriculated at New Paltz. I look forward to seeing all of you there. Enrollment Management will be contacting you soon with ideas about how to encourage your accepted, future students to attend along with best practices on making the day memorable.
Student retention is another critical focus to help maintain our enrollment. The ACE program pilot launched in January and is continuing to recruit students until the enrollment census deadline. Already feedback has been very good, with students reporting that they are grateful for the additional support New Paltz is able to provide. Enrollment Management has also launched the Summer Honors Program. We are actively receiving nominations for rising high school seniors to attend this weeklong college program, which provides conditional New Paltz acceptance to 30 students who complete the program.
As previously reported, the Center for Student Success expanded its services and reach this fall. The results have had a significant impact with more than a 100% increase in student visits and a satellite location at the Athletics and Wellness Center. They have increased embedded tutoring (supplemental instruction) and added peer coaching services. Consider inviting them into your classroom to talk about their services.
Records & Registration has announced a new feature that allows students to enter chosen name and preferred pronouns directly in Profiles and Settings in my.newpaltz.edu. The pronouns will appear on class rosters and advisee listings. The chosen names will also appear on final grade rosters, the transcript search page, ID card and name field on the University email address.
You may have heard in the news about the revision and ongoing problems the federal government is having with the launch of the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). These issues have had a major impact on most of our students and notably on the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) applicant populations. The US Department of Education announced on Jan. 30 additional delays releasing the FAFSA applicant information due to continued updates to the Student Aid tables in the system. Without this information, Student Financial Services will not be able to determine financial aid awards. This has led to extraordinary challenges for students and families making informed decisions for college admissions. Our staff in Student Financial Services have been monitoring the situation and working with Admissions, EOP and others to provide the most up-to-date information.
Interim Vice President for Enrollment Management Stella Turk will present the Strategic Enrollment Plan 2024-2026 to Faculty Senate on Feb. 7. Other Vice presidents will present initiatives in their divisions at future Faculty Senate meetings during this semester.
Budget Process for New Fiscal Year
Vice President Michele Halstead, Assistant Vice President Julie Walsh and Administrative Assistant Lauren Basciani teamed up to deliver “Budgets 101” during Professional Development Day on Jan. 17. They delivered information about the new incentive-based budgeting process, 12-month fiscal calendar, and different funding sources and uses. Directly following this session, Julie and Lauren delivered hands on “tactical” training on the use of the SUNY Business Intelligence (BI) System and provided helpful tools for account managers and assistants to manage and track budgets. All documents, along with other useful tools, are posted in the my.newpaltz.edu Budget Information Center. Please take time to review the posted documents. These documents were shared with divisional leaders in December.
February marks the official campus 2024-2025 budget process kickoff. Account managers and divisional leaders should be meeting regularly during this timeframe to begin to develop the fiscal year 2024-2025 budget for each area. By Feb. 29, directors, chairs, deans and AVPs should submit proposals for NEW funding requests to divisional vice presidents. As presented at the January training session, all requests for new funding must be accompanied by a rationale for how the proposal meets the two pillars of our University mission – Student Success or Being a Value-Added to the Region and New York State – or why it’s needed to comply with federal/state/SUNY laws and policies. Once all requests for new funding are received, campus leaders will prioritize the requests. When more is known about the status of the 2024-2025 state and SUNY budgets, decisions will be made as to what, if any, proposals are approved for the next budget cycle. You are encouraged to reach out to Vice President Halstead with questions.
Facilities Updates
Opening of Awosting Hall – Thank you to those who helped us celebrate the reopening of Awosting Hall on Jan. 31. The renovation of Mohonk Hall is now underway, so our traffic patterns have changed for our students. Please remind all faculty, staff, and students to check for updates on signage and via email for ongoing work.
Elevator Modernizations – As you are likely aware, we are doing important work to improve our aging elevators on campus. Please continue to remind your students to allow for extra time when going to buildings that are undergoing elevator work. Additionally, please stay tuned for additional elevator upgrades that will take place over the summer and fall semester.
Strategic Planning
As those who attended the closeout ceremony for our previous Strategic Plan in December 2023 are aware, we needed a longer runway to procure the right strategic planning consultant to guide our planning efforts. We have reinitiated the procurement process this spring with the goal of having a consultant on board this summer who can begin their work with the campus community in fall 2024. We will conduct an inclusive, consultative process across the 2024-25 academic year to ensure the plan has plenty of opportunities for community input. I will task the selected consultant with guiding our plan to focus on auditing our capacities for improving our key vulnerabilities for doing business in higher education in the 21st century. Stay tuned for more information this spring.
Development & Alumni Relations
As of Jan. 22, the Office of Development & Alumni Relations had raised $8,274,845, which is 89% to our fiscal year-end goal of $9,250,000, leaving $975,155 remaining to raise by June 30. Thank you to all who contributed. Please mark your calendars – our online Giving Day campaign in support of SUNY New Paltz is March 28. Details to follow closer to the date.
The SUNY New Paltz Foundation is delighted to welcome Dr. Vilicia Cade ’88 (Black Studies) to its Board of Directors. Dr. Cade brings a wealth of experience in the field of education, among many other things, to our work together. A full listing of Board directors and committee members may be found here.
Scholarship Applications open March 1 for students. Here is a listing of the numerous awards available for the 2024-25 academic year. Note that the top four are open now for student conference presenters/exhibitors presenting and traveling this spring. Please encourage your students to apply. Faculty will be notified of funding available for their area and will be asked to organize committees for review of scholarship applications in February.
100 Days to Commencement takes place Thursday, Feb. 8, from 1 to 5:30 p.m. in the Elting Gym. This is a celebration of our seniors, providing resources to prepare them for their last 100 days and welcoming them as alumni of the University. Please spread the word to seniors and encourage them to attend.
Alumni Relations is hosting President Wheeler on a West Coast Tour, beginning Feb. 17 in Los Angeles, California; Feb. 18, in San Francisco, California; Feb 20, in Palo Alto, California; and Feb. 22, in Seattle, Washington. Please join us if you plan to be on the West Coast during this time. For additional information, email alumni@newpaltz.edu.
Mark your calendars for the Spring 2024 Distinguished Speaker Series on April 16 at 7 p.m. in Lecture Center 100, in collaboration with the School of Science & Engineering Harrington STEM Lecture Series, presenting an evening with Sean M. Decatur, president, The American Museum of Natural History. All are welcome and faculty are encouraged to announce the event to their students, who attend free of charge. Information/registration at newpaltz.edu/speakerseries.
A reminder that this spring’s Commencement Ceremonies are May 17-19. Registration to be a faculty marcher or volunteer marshal is open and sign-up information will continue to be sent campuswide. Participation is strongly encouraged to celebrate our graduates from August/December 2023 and January/May/August 2024. Further details can be found at newpaltz.edu/commencement.
Professional Development Day
Human Resources, Diversity & Inclusion (HRDI), in collaboration with many partner offices across campus, hosted a training and development day on Jan. 17. The collaboration yielded 20 different courses and workshops on topics ranging from budgeting to supporting student wellbeing. 268 of our colleagues attended, prioritizing learning and growth to start out the new year. There were many ideas for courses and workshops that could not be scheduled for the one day of professional development, and HRDI looks forward to finding opportunities throughout the year to strengthen collaboration with campus partners and make these offerings available to staff and faculty.
I am unable to attend the Faculty Senate meeting on Feb. 7 because SUNY Chancellor John B. King has asked me to participate in the SUNY delegation attending the Congreso Universidad/Cuban Higher Education Summit in Havana, Cuba Feb. 4-10. I am pleased that Executive Director of International Programs Beth Vargas and Deputy Chief of Staff/Director of Community & Government Relations Richard Winters will also be part of the SUNY New Paltz delegation. This is an opportunity for the Chancellor to lead the post-COVID reinvigoration of a ground-breaking and vital partnership between SUNY and the island nation of Cuba in the higher education sector.
I will be happy to respond to questions about this report at the March meeting or you can reach out to me directly when I return.
Wishing everyone a productive spring semester.
Darrell P. WheelerPresident