President’s Newsletter

Friday, April 10, 2026

Dear Colleagues,

It was nice to get away for a short vacation with Allan last week. We returned on Monday evening (or rather, very early Tuesday morning!). So for me the work week began on Tuesday with our annual Community Breakfast. We had around 50 individuals gathered, including business leaders, elected officials, University Council members, health care leaders, and members of the community and university. It was a great way for individuals to talk, connect, and reinforce our town-gown relations. I was also able to give a short update on our progress on institutional goals.

Also on Tuesday, I attended a virtual Presidents Forum for College Presidents for Civic Preparedness. Chancellor King was the guest speaker, and we broke into smaller groups to discuss ways to engage students in civic learning. Another external meeting I attended this week was a Governance Meeting for Willow Domestic Violence Center.

Cabinet on Wednesday focused on a range of topics including Commencement planning and updates from Academic Affairs. We also discussed some upcoming facilities projects and Title II updates. I had one-to-ones with four cabinet members this week and one with John Follaco. At JPBC, we had an update on the SUNY AcMo (Academic Momentum) initiative, as well as an enrollment update. We also had a vote on fall and spring course fees.

I spent time this week calling donors. We are getting ever closer to our overall fundraising goal, and it was great to speak to the most recent contributors to the campaign. I also spoke with University Council chair Scott Turner regarding the final University Council meeting of the year, coming up later this month.

I was privileged to interview four students for the Presidential Citation Award this week. The winner of this competition is….the student who will be named at the Honors and Awards Ceremony on April 24! I hope you’ll come along to this important end-of-year event to celebrate with all our incredible student leaders and scholars.

On Saturday, I’m looking forward to an event in support of Camp Good Days in the morning, followed by the women’s flag football and women’s lacrosse games in the afternoon. Here’s hoping for sunshine and warmth for the competitors!