Update from Farmingdale State College President John Nader, PhD |
December, 2017 |
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December, 2017 Happy Holidays! As we reflect on the year past I want to begin this update by thanking you for all that the College has accomplished. As our mission statement says, we are indeed dedicated to student success. I wish each of you a very happy holiday season and a great New Year. PIF Awards - Congratulations to Academic Affairs for having secured six SUNY Performance Improvement Fund Awards totaling about $975,000. These awards nicely align with our academic priorities with funding received for: the Nexus Center, a new master's degree track, Med Lab Tech curricular enhancement, the Computer Science program, joint program development and distance and hybrid capacity building. A host of people saw these proposals through to completion over many months. Farmingdale State College submitted seven PIF proposals. We await word on the last submission. Very impressive. Thanks to all. SUNY Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice Award - As you may know, FSC received this award—along with SUNY Oswego—from SUNY's Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Many individuals participated in making the submission. Several representatives from the campus: Veronica Henry, Laura Joseph, Lorraine Greenwald, Mimi Deitsch, Andrea Thomas and Laura McMullin attended the University's Diversity Conference where the award was given. LIEOC staff members Tory Hare, Derick Bennett, Maria Matos and Yair Cohen were also present. RAM Program Retention - It's always nice to report that a program has served its intended effect. The fall to fall retention rate for first year students in the Research Aligned Mentorship group who entered in fall 2016 is 86.9% (i.e., 179 out of the initial 206 registered fall 2017). The RAM cohorts fall to fall retention was actually six percentage points higher than that of all FSC first-time, full-time, bachelor's degree-seeking students who started in fall 2016 (excluding the students in the RAM treatment group). Quite notable. Space Utilization and Building Improvements - As you know, we have been facing increased space constraints. It is a problem. I have appointed a Space Allocation Utilization Task Force. The group will examine the scheduling of academic courses and sections and the current allocation and configuration of office space. Where there are advantages for the College, relocation options and costs should be considered. Topics to be explored include: identifying areas/offices/programs/functions that have sq. ft. significantly above or below that which is required to fulfill their campus function; exploring efficiencies that may be gained through change in frequency/location of class meeting and times; identifying possible repurposing of underused or unassigned space; finding space that could be made useful through reasonable renovation costs; encouraging hybrid and online course development and exploring possible areas for added parking. At the same time, we are making plans to upgrade the Great Room in Ward Hall and exploring options for renovating Knapp Hall to make the space useable and consistent with the College's goals. Recently we also revamped and refreshed the look of the MADD Garden. A restored sign at the College's original Long Island Agricultural and Technical Institute entrance near Orchard Hall will soon be in place. Thanks to Bill Steedle and Jack Petrich for their work on this. College Foundation and Alumni Association - We have made great strides in recent months to improve the effectiveness, transparency, engagement and success of our Foundation and Alumni Association. Our November Gala was both popular and a financial success. We are trying to better connect with alums and donors and we are working to relax some restrictions so that money can be released for student scholarships and faculty support. As the season of giving is upon us, please consider a gift to the Foundation. We have made it much easier to give online. The Farmingdale Fund provides an opportunity to take advantage of the 2017 year-end tax deduction. You can, of course, fulfill your pledge at any time before June 30, 2018. We have simplified the process for you to make a donation online or you may return the completed and signed payroll deduction form to the Office of Development and Alumni Engagement in Horton Hall room 120. If you already contribute through payroll deduction, thanks very much. Your ongoing support is very much appreciated. Economic Impact Statement - We recently commissioned a study conducted by the Long Island Association on the economic impact of the College on the regional economy. The study will be published in January. It finds that: FSC's total impact from 2009-2017 was $2.51 billion. FSC returned FIVE times in economic impact for every dollar that the State invested in FSC during this period. Particularly interesting is that the study concluded that FSC provides upward mobility to students who may not have otherwise attended college, helping to place FSC in the top 35% of colleges in promoting upward economic mobility (a NY Times study is referenced in the economic impact report). Student Newspaper - We have a newly (re)launched student newspaper. Thanks to Noel Holton Brathwaite who has helped students get the Dale News up and running. Let's hope for more issues next semester. Once again, I wish each of you a joyous holiday and some well-deserved time off during the upcoming break. No college lacks for problems or issues to be resolved. We are fortunate that so many of you make this an exemplary institution. John Nader |
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