Update from Farmingdale State College President John Nader, PhD |
April, 2017 |
Message to all Faculty and StaffMarch, 2017 The last few weeks have been busy ones as you'll see below. As we wait for spring, perhaps the Update below will distract you from the last and worst days of winter. Cabinet Level Searches - The searches for two cabinet-level positions are moving forward. We have search committees reviewing the applications for both the Vice President for Administration/CFO position and for the Vice President for Development and Alumni Engagement. Once the pools are winnowed to a manageable number, we will begin to bring candidates to campus. There will be opportunities for the finalists to meet with a broad cross-section of the campus community, including the cabinet and the staff in the functional area which will be overseen by the successful applicants. Internal Campaign - Many thanks to all of you who've participated. At this point we have gained 28 new donors! Fifteen donors—including me—have increased their gifts! The money will be used for student scholarships and for faculty and staff development awards. Thanks again. The donor reception will be held on April 20. In addition, we are planning to give tickets to a Backstage Theatre Company performance to a randomly selected group of donors. If you have not had an opportunity to pledge, there is still time. BASS and the State Budget - The College continues to advocate for a new Building for Applied Social Sciences. We have met extensively with our state legislators, the LIA and labor leaders seeking support for this. We have also received substantial support from our College Council and our Foundation Executive Committee. The budget is scheduled for completion by April 1 so we continue to advocate. Feel free to contact your own state legislator to support this. On other matters, there appears to be support for a state budget that assures maintenance of effort from the state to SUNY campuses. Student Government Conversations - In recent weeks, I've met a number of times with some of our SGA leaders and attended one of their town hall meetings. As you might expect, students have many suggestions. A number of them are quite good so I will be asking cabinet members and others to help implement some of these ideas. Some of the suggestions, and actions, are summarized below. Extending Library Hours - Students have asked for more hours of operation. On average, our library has fewer hours of operation than many of our SUNY peers. Thanks to Laura Joseph and Karen Gelles, we created a plan for extending hours during the weeks leading up to and including finals week. This is a step in the right direction. Food Service - This is a perennial topic on college campuses. Students are hoping for more food options and asked that Books and Beans be open slightly earlier to accommodate 8:00 a.m. classes. As you may know, Aramark and ASC have brought Wings Over Farmingdale to the Campus Center and this local establishment has been well received. We are also pursuing the option of bringing Chick-Fil-A to campus. Students like national brands and the SGA made this request last fall. I recently received a Dining Survey Report from the fall semester which shows both areas of strength and areas in which there is room for improvement. A little under 350 people took the survey. Books & Beans - One area in which we can improve is to have more food options and convenient locations for our students. I have asked for a proposal to expand and improve the Books & Beans space in Greenley Library to make this possible. We await an estimate of costs. Nexus Center - You will also see renovation in Greenley to create the Nexus Center, which will house FSC's internship, applied learning and career development initiative. As you may know, the College is moving forward with a robust program of applied and experiential learning opportunities. Policy Update - I recently joined with many other college presidents in signing a letter urging the Trump Administration to allow the students who arrived in the US under DACA (Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals) program to continue to work and study while the administration and Congress seek a permanent solution. Here's a link to the letter. Inauguration - New events have been scheduled. Feel free to check the Inaugural Events page. Budget Development - One of the broad goals that we discussed at the August convocation was the imperative to add new faculty and academic staff. We are trying to do so. Provost Laura Joseph has developed a prioritized list by working with deans and academic departments. We are trying to balance these requests with other campus goals, including maintaining and improving spaces and grounds. STEM Diversity Conference - Over 800 students from around Long Island are attending the annual STEM Diversity Summit. Thanks to Dr. Veronica Henry for organizing such a successful conference. The Summit is highly regarded and helps raise the profile of the institution. This allows us to recruit promising students into the STEM field here on campus. National Grid - Last week National Grid and SUNY acknowledged the work of FSC and its Renewable Energy and Sustainability Center Director Marj Issapour for the creation of the Natural Gas Technical Certificate Program. This program recently graduated its first class of 12 students. National Grid President Ken Daly and Chancellor Nancy Zimpher praised Farmingdale's outstanding work in preparing students for employment on Long Island and encouraged other similar programs in the renewable energy field. The curriculum developed at the RESC will be replicated at other SUNY colleges. Thanks again for all that you do. As I look over this Update, I'm encouraged by all of the many things you are all doing to help FSC become even better. John |
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