| Update from FSC President Nader, PhD |
October, 2022 |
Student Engagement Event: Meet & Eat with Brian Baumgartner |
Strategic Plan- The Committee of Planning and Resource Allocation will be working on updating and
revising the College’s strategic plan. The plan has served us well as the basis for
reporting and monitoring progress to SUNY, Middle States and, most importantly, the
campus community. Co-chairs Kathy Machin and Meeghan Rogers will be soliciting feedback
as CPRA works to develop a revised plan.
Capital Projects Update- Work continues in a number of areas on campus and will continue over the next few
years. A campus wide Space Utilization Task Force has been meeting to address the
space constraints that will occur as the work progresses. Some of these issues may
be eased a bit as work on Thompson Hall has been delayed. Previously we were expecting
to close Thompson and Sinclair simultaneously. We recently had water issues with work
being performed at Roosevelt Hall. Unfortunately, the contractor struck a water line
while excavating. This could have been avoided by hand digging, which had been recommended.
AABI Visit- Thanks to the Aviation Department and its staff and faculty for organizing the recent
reaccreditation visit by the Aviation Accreditation Board International. As with all
such visits, we will receive the results in a few months. The visiting team, however,
identified many programmatic strengths. Accreditation remains a key college-wide goal,
and one that many of our programs have pursued successfully.
Lock Project- Thanks to University Police and the Physical Plant Lock Shop staff for successfully
completing the “lock project”. In addition to the 486 electronic locks installed on
campus, the lock shop conducted a survey of classroom doors that could not accommodate
electronic card access. Approximately 50 classroom doors were immediately identified
and the locking hardware was changed to "red button" locks for better lock identification
in an emergency. All campus classrooms are now lockable from the inside. Testing will
continue on an annual basis to ensure that all electronic locks are fully operational
and integrated with the central control system. Approximately $300,000 was invested
in the project.
University Police Programs- University Police will be holding two more programs this semester addressing important
campus safety issues. The next program on November 2 at 10 a.m. is titled "Situational
Awareness" focusing particularly on crisis settings. The last session, "Dealing with
Difficult Situations and People", is on December 5 at 11 a.m.
Student Engagement- Thanks to the many people in Student Engagement who have done excellent work to
start the academic year. We are nearly full in the residence halls and have even tripled
some rooms. The range of events and activities that are being offered to both residential
and commuter students are expanding and attendance has been strong. These are big
steps forward. I am particularly pleased to welcome two new members in the Student
Engagement Division—Kathleen Flynn, Title IX Coordinator, and Director of Residence
Life, Michael Nembhard. Both bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the campus.
FSCNow- The latest edition of our campus magazine, FSCNow is out. The magazine includes spotlights on three students, three alums and three
faculty/staff members. Thanks to Marketing and Communications for creating a publication
that has already generated interest and feedback.
Compensation- Employees in the CSEA bargaining unit received a retroactive raise in the paycheck
of October 12, 2022. This payment reflected a 2% salary increase retroactive to April
2021 and a 2% salary increase retroactive to April 2022.
Employees in the UUP bargaining unit will be eligible to receive discretionary and
compression salary increases which will be reflected in the paycheck of December 21,
2022. One half of a percent (.5%) of the UUP base salaries are allocated for each
of these programs. Discretionary increases will be awarded at the discretion of management
and the compression increases will be determined by a formula mutually agreed upon
by UUP and the State.
Gala- Our annual President’s Gala will be held on November 3. This year’s honorees include
Bill Steedle ’81 Assistant Dean, School of Business and Associate Professor of Visual
Communications, who will receive the President’s Award for Academic Leadership and
Rena Varghese, Executive Director of Nexus Center for Applied Learning & Career Development
who will receive the President’s Award for Professional Leadership. Daniela Figueroa
’23 will receive the President’s Award for Student Leadership. Bethpage Federal Credit
Union will be honored with the Ram’s Horn Award for Corporate Leadership and Dr. Eileen
Magri ’78 will receive the President’s Award for Alumni Leadership. Dr. Magri is Senior
Director of Nursing at NYU Langone Hospital, Long Island. Discounted tickets for faculty
and staff are available through the College Foundation office.
John Nader
President
