Update from Farmingdale State College President John Nader, PhD |
April, 2019 |
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April, 2019 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification – The College has submitted a very thorough and well-crafted document in our effort to attain designation as a civically engaged campus. The document, and compiling the evidence to be included in it, took countless hours of work. The classification affirms an institution's commitment to broaden and deepen its practice of service and to building bonds between the campus and the broader community. We have already learned some things that will make us even better in engaging external and community partners. Thanks, especially to Associate Provost Allison Puff, the working group that helped accumulate data, and the faculty and staff who participated in our recent dinner with over 20 community partners. Scholarships - The College is taking important strides to better use our scholarship funds as a recruitment and retention tool. The Admissions Office is now able to make scholarship awards on a timely basis so that we can attract quality students with financial need. Admissions, in conjunction with the College Foundation, are focusing on attracting community college transfers and students who might choose a residential experience. We have also had some recent success in attracting new dollars and redirecting scholarship funds to meet our enrollment and selectivity targets. MSCHE Self-Study - Thanks to the Middles States Steering Committee along with Dr. Michael Goodstone for drafting and submitting an excellent self-study design for the College. Many members of our faculty and staff are participating in one of the eight working groups. Survey of Recent Graduates - Once again, the Office of Institutional Research has shared the Six Months After Graduation Survey Report for 2017-18 graduates. Below are some highlights from the summary provided by Pat Lind-Gonzalez: 94% of respondents who earned a baccalaureate degree are working and/or continuing their education. Of those employed, 73% are employed full-time and 22% are employed part-time. 71% of employed respondents are either working in a new job related to their degree (39%) or continuing in a related job (32%). 67% of employed respondents who earned a baccalaureate degree secured their job prior to graduation from Farmingdale State College. Among those with positions related to their degree, 62% secured their job prior to graduation. 79% of respondents who earned a baccalaureate degree and are working in a job related to their degree are satisfied with their preparation at Farmingdale State College. 96% of employed graduates are working in New York State, 95% in the New York City metropolitan area, and 82% on Long Island. 37% of respondents who earned a baccalaureate degree are continuing or plan to continue their education. Bottled Water Policy - The cabinet recently adopted a new policy on the use of bottled water. We are striving to reduce the use of plastics particularly at events and gatherings of less than 50 people. The College has installed the following filtered water dispensers. Horton – 1; Whitman – 3, including the basement; Gleeson – 2; Lupton – 1; UPD – 1; Nold – 1. We hope to install more such dispensers in the near future. The policy will take effect on August 26. Thanks to the work of Dorothy Hughes and members of the Sustainability Committee who have helped us make some strides over the past year. CPRA and the Strategic Plan - The Committee on Planning and Resource Allocation (CPRA) is working with the cabinet to monitor progress with the College's strategic plan. The cabinet and my office will update the campus on progress and problems at intervals of approximately six months. The CPRA will provide direct feedback to the cabinet. Dr. Kevin Jordan will serve as a cabinet liaison with CPRA. We anticipate distributing a succinct and attractive strategic plan summary of accomplishments in brochure form at Convocation in August. Classroom Upgrades - We are planning technology upgrades to eight classrooms over the summer. These will be in Gleeson, Thompson and Whitman Halls. This is in addition to the improvements to several rooms we completed last summer. A Greek Peak - As part of the annual Greek week, the sororities and fraternities participated in the annual Can Castle competition. They were able to donate 100,412 items that included bottled water/beverages, pasta, fruit snacks, mac/cheese and other foods. Of that number, 39,213 were food cans. This is compared to over 24,000 cans donated last year. Congratulations to Lukas Miedreich for coordinating such a wonderful event! Inaugural Ram Run - Thanks to the members of the Centennial Working Group and the Alumni Relations office for organizing last weekend's highly successful 5k event with well over 200 walkers and runners, many of whom were college faculty and staff. We hope to make this an annual event with the proceeds to support scholarships. Mimi Johnson did a terrific job as race director. Centennial Commencement - I hope to see many of you at our upcoming 100th commencement ceremony on May 21 with fireworks to follow. We expect over 1,000 students to participate. Finally, and most importantly, Happy Passover and Happy Easter. John Nader |
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