Present
Mr. Joseph Bernier
Dr. David Brenner
Mr. Patrick Brown
Dr. Diane Georgeson
Ms. Kainat Malik
Mr. Mark McGough
Ms. Debra Parisian
Presiding
Mr. Patrick Brown, Chair
College Administrators
Dr. Paul Adamo, Vice President for College Advancement
Ms. Colleen Brannan, Senior Assistant to the President
Dr. Franklin Chambers, Vice President for Student Development
Mr. Todd Foreman, Vice President for Finance and Administration
Dr. Nancy Kleniewski, President
Mr. Hal Legg, Executive Director of Communications
Dr. James Mackin, Interim Provost
Mr. Terrence Mitchell, Chief Diversity Officer
Ms. Lisa Wenck, Senior Executive Employee Services Officer
Presenters, Invitees, Observers
Ms. Karen Brown, Director of Undergraduate Admissions
Mr. Daren Rylewicz, Alumni Observer
Call to Order
Mr. Brown called the meeting to order at 4:31 p.m. He welcomed Mr. Daren Rylewicz, alumni observer.
Approval of Minutes
Upon motion of Ms. Malik, seconded by Mr. McGough, the minutes of the meeting of Sept. 23, 2015 were unanimously approved.
Chair’s Report
Mr. Brown deferred his report.
President’s Report
Dr. Kleniewski referred to a publication introducing Strategic Plan 2015: Scholarship, Service, Strength, and referred to a document describing the Stand with SUNY campaign. She announced that the SUNY Oneonta College Foundation had received a four-star ranking from Charity Navigator for the fourth consecutive year. The president called on Dr. Chambers to discuss recent athletics successes.
Dr. Chambers discussed “Midnight Madness,” an event that highlighted fall sports, which was attended by over 1,000 students. He added that the college’s men’s and women’s soccer teams both had won their SUNYAC championships and bids to the NCAA championship playoffs.
The president reminded Council to attend December recognition.
In response to a question from Mr. Bernier, the president affirmed the college’s commitment to a strong response to incidents of bias. Mr. Mitchell shared that his office is pro-active in addressing concerns.
In response to a question from Ms. Malik, Mr. Mitchell indicated that he is developing relationships with City of Oneonta officials to address acts of bias that occur off-campus.
Provost’s Report
Dr. Mackin referred to a document regarding the Community of Scholars, an annual celebration of research and scholarly activities conducted by college faculty. He updated Council on the college’s work to increase online learning. He shared that proposed new academic programs are in various stages of development.
In response to a question from Dr. Georgeson, Dr. Mackin confirmed that the college accepts credit-hours students earn in online courses offered at other colleges. In response to a question from Mr. Brown, Dr. Mackin shared that promotion and tenure is one driver of faculty research. He added that the college recently enacted a program to return to grant awardees’ budgets a portion of the grant overhead the college receives.
Dr. Mackin described the typical online learning environment. He reported that the college’s graduate program development effort is focused on online delivery.
Admissions Report
Ms. Brown delivered a presentation summarizing trends in recruitment and enrollment. She stressed that the number of high school graduates will decline in the Northeast for the next several years, which has heightened competition among colleges. She discussed aspects of the incoming class including which majors are most popular among them, the amount of college credit they earned prior to attending SUNY Oneonta, and their high school academic performance.
In response to a question from the president, Ms. Brown clarified the definitions of “freshman applicant” and “transfer applicant.” She also described system-wide trends in applications.
In response to a question from Mr. Brown, Ms. Brown described efforts to grow overall enrollment by attracting students other than traditional-age prospects from New York state high schools.
College Advancement Report
Mr. Adamo delivered a presentation describing the organization, history and success of philanthropic efforts at SUNY Oneonta. He emphasized the alignment of these efforts with the strategic goals of the college.
Mr. Adamo described the growth of the college’s endowment, adding that fundraising efforts increasingly face challenges.
Chair’s Report
Mr. Brown referred to correspondence from Council to the student that Council nominated for the ACT for Excellence and Student Initiative Scholarship application.
He shared that leadership within the state legislature is in a period of transition, and that he is optimistic that new leaders will be SUNY allies.
Mr. Brown added that he expects the state budget process to be challenging this year, and that SUNY funding will likely be part of the legislative discussion.
ACT Report
Mr. Brown discussed the ACT conference held Oct. 16-18. He reported that the panel on which he and the president served was productive. President Kleniewski added that Mr. Foreman presented a session about college budgets.
Good of the Order
Adjournment
On motion of Mr. Bernier, Mr. Brown adjourned the meeting at 5:59 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Hal Legg