SUNY New Paltz appoints assistant vice president of human resources

NEW PALTZ — The State University of New York at New Paltz has appointed Cathy M. Beard as assistant vice president of human resources.

Ms. Beard comes to New Paltz with a wealth of experience in public sector human resources administration. Most recently, she held the position of assistant director of employee relations at SUNY System Administration in Albany and from 1999 to 2003 was manager of employee and labor relations at SUNY Binghamton.

At New Paltz, Ms. Beard will oversee an office of 10 staff members and an employee base of about 1,600, including academic, professional, graduate assistant, civil service and research foundation employees represented by five negotiating units.

In addition, she will be responsible for providing expertise and authority for personnel policies and procedures involving employment, compensation, benefits administration, classification, training, performance evaluation programs, labor/management issues, counseling, human resource data management, affirmative action and SUNY-wide business matters.

In addition to 15 years of experience in human resources management, Ms. Beard has a number of professional and community affiliations. She serves as regional vice president for the New York State Public Employers Labor Relations Association and as senator for the SUNY Faculty Senate.

“This is a very important appointment,” said Johanna D’Aleo, vice president of the administration at New Paltz. “Any college’s primary capital is its employees. We are pleased that Cathy will be joining us.”

Ms. Beard received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Empire State College and her master’s degree in public administration from SUNY Binghamton.

Note to editors: A photograph of Cathy M. Beard may be downloaded from the SUNY New Paltz Web site at www.newpaltz.edu/news/images/beard.html.