President’s Newsletter

Friday, May 9, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

As the last week of classes winds down, I hope you can take some time to reflect on all that you have done to support student success this year. In the whirlwind of day-to-day activities, it’s easy to lose sight of the difference you make to individuals and groups. Whether you teach our students in the classroom or on the playing field, whether you support their financial needs or offer job opportunities for them in your department, whether you take care of their health and well-being or feed them nutritious meals at Harrison, whether you advise them or keep their environment safe or beautiful, you all play a key role in the process of ensuring that so many students will cross the stage next week and become our alumni. Thank you. It is the effort of many individuals and teams together that get our students to this point, and I am truly grateful.

This week I had the privilege of serving on the Presidential Teaching Excellence Awards Committee. I can’t wait to honor our new winners at Commencement next week. (I still need to find a way to call colleagues that doesn’t raise concern, but hopefully a second or two of worry was an okay price to pay for being recognized for the difference you make to our students.)

Dr. Amy Guptill came to Cabinet this week to discuss the final report from the Presidential Taskforce on Student Transportation Priorities. Dr. Guptill and her committee reported on four findings, including deficiencies in the RTS on Demand option which does not enable reliable commuting, gaps in student access to some retail outlets and services, including non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT), student isolation and communication gaps. The taskforce made a number of recommendations including establishing new fixed-schedule connections between Brockport and Rochester, looking further at the Transportation Fee students pay, employing more student drivers, and bringing a car-share program back to campus, amongst other recommendations. Cabinet will be looking to make additional investments in relation to student transportation options during our summer budget retreat, and I hope to be able to announce some new initiatives this fall.

Cabinet members also attended a virtual meeting with the Chancellor regarding the federal landscape. We were heartened by the Chancellor’s message and priorities. The Chancellor noted that he will continue to speak out regarding SUNY’s values. This includes making the case for public higher education, which involves our research, affordability, the importance of teaching the truth about our history, and building communities that are inclusive and create a sense of belonging for our students.

In terms of planning for next year, JPBC and our Budget Town Hall reviewed the 5-year model. Our VP for Administration and Finance noted the following key points: our continued focus on enrollment and retention is fundamental to the long-term financial health of the University; enrollment performance and retention rates continue to trend favorably, both for undergraduate and graduate populations; and we must continue to exercise fiscal responsibility. We do not yet know what impact the state and federal budget plans will have on these plans, so we will continue to monitor and review our progress and our goals in this area.

I was grateful to be invited to the Drake Library Award Luncheon this week. I also attended the beautiful and thoughtful Tree Planting Ceremony commemorating Dr. Matthew Altenritter and Ms. Gina Nicholson.

We had the final regular Senate meeting this year which reviewed the proposed bylaws, and I also had the final Senate Presidents’ meeting of the year at which Dr. Logan Rath discussed next year’s priorities. I had one-to-ones with a number of cabinet members and a meeting with our AVP for Human Resources. Finally, I chaired a Willow Domestic Violence Strategic Planning Committee.

Finally, I want to express my deepest condolences to all who knew Miller Mietus, the student who passed away earlier this week. I’d also like to express my gratitude to all who help support our students and colleagues as they process their grief, including Brockport Student Government for the touching vigil that they organized last evening in Miller’s memory. 

Next week we will start to see our students depart, as they finish their finals and as some of them graduate. I hope to see many of you at our commencement and other celebratory activities, and I know our students would love to see you, too. Thank you for your dedication to building community, and thank you for being there for our students.