Cabinet to Grow by Two This Fall

Members of the campus community shared many thoughts, suggestions and questions during my 2018-2019 listening tour. Reimagining our mission was the most sweeping of these, but others bubbled up repeatedly in conversations. One idea that, for me, rose to the top was to give the student body and the faculty representation on my Cabinet.

Through my tour, I learned that Cabinet seems mysterious. After all, we don’t circulate notes — or even take them. We don’t circulate agendas. I don’t often identify as such the decisions that I’ve made on Cabinet’s advice. Cabinet’s most conspicuous regular output is approval (or not) of requests to fill vacancies every month.

I’m pleased to share that the president of the Student Association (or the president’s designee) and the presiding officer of the College Senate will join Cabinet as members at the beginning of the fall semester. This is, quite simply, a step in the direction of greater transparency around the leadership of the college.

Of course, some matters discussed at Cabinet are sensitive. However, just recounting a few recent Cabinet meetings, topics have included:

objectives and key results;
commencement;
policy around meals and refreshments;
updates from SUNY; and
annual reports.

I believe that Cabinet’s new members will contribute to building trust, reaching decisions and taking actions to support our mission and values. Whether churning through the unglamorous and routine, or tackling serious, urgent issues, I want and welcome input given on behalf of our students and faculty.

Officers in Charge While I ‘Take a Hike’

Having a down jacket at the Albany International Airport in July caught other travelers’ attention.

For the past several days, I have been away from campus on a true “bucket list” journey: scaling Mount Kilimanjaro. In fact, I began working on this edition of Notes from Netzer during layovers between flights last week.

As my absence is uncharacteristically long and communications connectivity is spotty — although you might be surprised at where there is cell service — I have formally named officers in charge while I’m gone.

My thanks to Vice President for College Advancement Paul Adamo for serving in that capacity July 17-21. Vice President for Student Development Frank Chambers, who took over for Paul, will serve as officer in charge through July 26. On July 27, Frank will pass the baton to Vice President for Finance and Administration Julie Piscitello. She will be officer in charge through July 30.

The Office of Communication and Marketing is helping chronical my journey via social media. You can follow my trek to Kilimanjaro’s summit, which stands about 16,000 ft. above its base and more than 19,000 ft. from sea level, on the college’s Twitter at @SUNY_Oneonta. I’m also trying to share good photos along the way, as technology allows, on Instagram and Facebook.

Wish me luck as I ascend and then descend the highest peak on the African continent. And wish Frank and Julie well as officers in charge while my adventure continues.

Establishing Priorities for the Fall

Leamor Kahanov
Provost

The welcome I have received on campus is extremely humbling and I thank everyone. I have already dipped my toe in the water and plan to begin work with faculty and staff through the shared governance process this fall. We will develop our academic plan to coincide with the renewed vision to be an exemplar residential campus. We will also collectively identify the objectives for the 2019-2020 academic year with a focus of supporting our students.

That said, we do need to start work on course renumbering this academic year, as that will be one of the first items we discuss so we can move forward on our faculty identified deadline of 2022. The renumbering is my first opportunity to positively affect our students. It will identify our student academic experiences so that our students will have a smoother transition into the workforce or further education.

Additionally, we need to collaboratively address SUNY’s new Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) Accessibility Policy this fall so that we are in compliance by Spring 2020. I’m on a steep learning curve, yet excited to learn about all the departments, programs and initiatives. Thank you for your patience while I ask questions for a better understanding.

College Budget Committee Entertains 27 Requests

Julie Piscitello
Vice President for Finance and Administration

In 2018-19, the College Budget Committee carried out its charge to advise the president regarding the process of constructing annual divisional operating budgets and an overall college budget. A new budget request process brought 27 requests to the College Budget Committee for review.

Alongside reviewing budget and student fee requests and making recommendations to President Morris, the Committee discussed general budget conditions and context. Members talked about the impact of the New York state and SUNY-wide budgets, student tuition and fees, and multi-year enrollment and financial projections.

President Morris approved six requests for new, recurring funding totaling about $663,000 and supporting 12 positions (nine faculty, three administrative). Sixteen requests resulted in one-time funding totaling about $685,000 and supporting 11 temporary positions (seven faculty, four student services/administrative). A list of budget requests will be posted on the College Budget Committee webpage within a few days.

In addition to the regular budget request process, this month the Committee reviewed a capital budget request and recommended that the campus provide funds needed to move forward with the plan to construct an emergency services building. This facility will house the University Police Department, campus emergency management staff, and the Otsego County Law Enforcement Academy.

The college continues to pursue grant and additional capital funding for the new building. However, if we cannot secure any external support for the emergency services building, then its one-time cost to the campus could be $2.5 million-$4.0 million.

The emergency services building project is a key part of the plan to vacate Alumni Hall in preparation for a major rehab to begin early 2021. Once renovated, Alumni Hall will house the School of Economics and Business and the Division of College Advancement. Both the new 9,000-square-foot emergency services building and the renovated Alumni Hall will be net-zero carbon use buildings and will meet SUNY and state goals for decreasing our carbon footprint and energy usage.

The College Budget Committee will continue its work over the next year, revisiting some of the budget questions arising in our discussions last year, and new and ongoing budget conditions. The Committee will make recommendations to the president for improving the budget request process, its transparency, efficiency and effectiveness.

SUNY Sets Electronic and IT Accessibility Standards

Steve Maniscalco, Chief Information Officer 
Jennifer Smith, Associate Director for Digital Strategy

This month, the SUNY Board of Trustees voted unanimously to adopt a new policy establishing accessibility standards for colleges’:

websites;
digital content;
classrooms;
libraries; and
procurement practices.

The Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) Accessibility Policy is the result of an effort that began in November 2017, when then Interim Provost Grace Wang convened a committee to ensure that individuals with disabilities would have equitable access to electronic information resources across the university system. Beyond drafting a policy, the charge of the SUNY Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Committee was to recommend to the Board of Trustees:

a systematic approach to maintaining accessible electronic environments for campus community members with disabilities;
technical standards, roles and responsibilities;
protocols for new and existing content and technologies, accessible technology
acquisitions; and
methods for training relevant campus constituents.

Implementation of the EIT Accessibility Policy on our campus will touch several areas. Key provisions of the policy include the designation of an EIT accessibility officer by the president by the end of this year, and the adoption of a campus-wide plan to meet the minimum standards described within the policy.

Next month we will join President Morris, Provost Leamor Kahanov, Vice President for Finance and Administration Julie Piscitello, and Assistant Vice President for Strategy, Planning and Effectiveness Lisa Snyder to consider what changes our institution will need to make. By this fall, the college will begin moving ahead with EIT accessibility.

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