President’s Newsletter

Friday, May 2, 2025

Dear Colleagues:

I hope you all had the opportunity to see Dr. Kelly’s enrollment update earlier today. This was a significant week in our undergraduate recruitment efforts, based on the historical trend of May 1 being a “National Decision Day.” Due to the success of the past two cycles and some promising indicators from the fall, President’s Cabinet increased our first-year undergraduate target by 50 students and our transfer target by 25 students this cycle. These are important numbers, as they inform our budgeting models. Our campus, with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions leading the way, has risen to the challenge. As we all know, there is still much work to be done to close out this class. But we are optimistic that we will finish with strong classes at both the undergraduate and graduate levels — which has similarly robust targets. A sincere thank you to all for their continued efforts.

At last week’s Presidential Donor Recognition Dinner, we inducted 36 individuals and corporations into giving societies, and we recognized 64 individuals for consistent yearly giving. It was a wonderful evening, and a great end to the week. The individuals in the room had given or pledged more than $5 million to SUNY Brockport!

Celebrations and end of year events continued this week. The Senior Student-Athlete Dinner was well attended on Monday, and it was great to see so many students honored for their athletic accomplishments as well as their scholastic ones. I was able to attend the COSAC Appreciation Luncheon. This week is also a time of farewells, with events for Principal Mail and Supply Clerk John Carlson, who is retiring after 30 years at SUNY, and Michael Doyle, whose term as Interim Dean comes to an end this summer.

I had my final meeting with the current BSG leaders, and we discussed the students’ experiences at the SUNY Student Association and their advocacy efforts. At the final Senate Executive Committee, we discussed recent Presidential Executive Orders and SUNY’s responses.

I had my last open forum of the semester, with Enrollment Management. We discussed similar topics that have been raised during previous open forums, including the federal landscape and the state budget (and shortly thereafter, we got the good news that the state budget has been agreed in principle!). We also discussed some Enrollment Management initiatives and successes. For example, did you know that Registration and Records have digitized more than 1.5 million documents? I also learned that Financial Aid have received a record number of FAFSAs for 2025-2026. We have already had over 13,000 applications this year. Athletics, Admissions, the ASC, EOP all shared good news from their departments. I particularly appreciated the way that directors thanked their teams for their incredible hard work over the year.

I was able to visit with colleagues in Rakov, Tower, Lennon and Smith this week. I was particularly heartened when I spoke with Sara Saputo, who told me how much she loved advising! I know that this has been an advising-heavy period of time, so I am grateful to all who are assisting our students with their critical choices.

At Cabinet we discussed the Space, Place and Amenities Refresh Committee’s final report and pledged to begin work on reviewing carpeting, paint and furniture needs for various areas. We also committed to a review of dated wall hangings, and updating of old College at Brockport branding. This work will be ongoing for a number of years, but I hope we’ll be able to see some impact over the summer. We also reviewed the collective work undertaken in response to last year’s Presidential Campus Climate Committee Report. When Dr. Davis compiled the outcome of the work undertaken, the report ran to more than 20 pages. I am grateful to my colleagues for keeping our campus climate efforts front and center in their thinking and actions. I’m also hopeful that these efforts are positively impacting our community and enhancing a collective sense of belonging. Work is already underway to prepare for our next Campus Climate Survey.

Other events this week included a donor lunch, a meeting with the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST) accreditors, a dinner with the Senate presidents at Burlingame House (where my dog, Rosie, was rather badly behaved, but hopefully made up for it with cuteness), and a one-to-one with a senior leader, amongst other activities.

Today is the final First Friday of the academic year, and I hope to see you there!