President Hefner gives All-campus Address

General Campus Meeting
Remarks by President Dennis L. Hefner
Friday, August 21, 2009

Welcome back for the start of what will be a great year on campus and a very interesting year in Albany.  The state continues to face revenue shortfalls; the legislature is up for reelection in November; and SUNY has hired a Chancellor with the skills and knowledge to be an effective advocate.  What an interesting dynamic!

It was a pleasure to welcome our new Chancellor, Dr. Nancy Zimpher, to campus earlier this week.  Many of you had an opportunity to hear her speak.  I’m sure you share my opinion that we have a system leader who understands what campuses need.  She also understands that SUNY will need to shoulder its fair share of the economic downturn, but will ensure SUNY speaks with one voice.  The playing field has been leveled.

I want to thank so many of you for coming to hear the Chancellor.  She had a jam-packed five hours on campus, and hopefully left here with a very favorable impression.  My favorite moment of the day occurred during the campus tour.  As the Chancellor and I drove up to University Stadium, the Blue Devil mascot was standing there to greet her.  The person who normally wears the costume wasn’t available, so one of the cheerleaders had volunteered.  Here it’s the hottest day of the year, the cheerleader is wearing that thick costume that’s drooping down around her ankles because it’s made for someone 7 inches taller, and she greeted the Chancellor in such a professional manner that you would think she does this every day.  That young woman really demonstrated the Spirit of Fredonia.

That same spirit was demonstrated by each of you last year.  You were challenged by the worst economic downturn in our lifetime, by four different cuts in SUNY funding, by the unprecedented tax on tuition, and by the outbreak of swine flu, to name a few.  Nevertheless, you survived and thrived, and with a new, dynamic Chancellor, things are looking up.  I’m really looking forward to this academic year.

Earlier this summer, Jan and I had a chance to visit our grandchildren in Austin, Texas, and now know our grandson, Callahan, who turned 6 yesterday, seems destined to be a math major.  After all, he greeted Jan by saying “Gramma, your age is 9 times 7, but next month you’ll be 8 times 8.”  He’s a real character and a lot of fun, as are his sisters, Jillian and Caitlin.  I should add that the grandchildren’s great-grandmother, Jan’s mother, moved from California to Fredonia two weeks ago and is living in the President’s House.  We’re pleased to welcome my mother-in-law, Hilda Nielsen, who is 9 times 10, to Fredonia!

Maytum Hall, the tallest building in Chautauqua County, is currently vacant.  Moved were 86 employees, 30 student workers, 163 computers and printers, 102 telephones, 187 file cabinets, and over 1,800 boxes.  These people and their boxes were shoehorned into six locations across campus in a well coordinated move.  Special recognition goes to four individuals: Kevin Cloos for overall coordination of the new spaces, Mark Delcamp for the physical move, Joe Baxter for the wiring, and Terry Tzitzis for the telephones.  Let’s give them a hand.  If you’re curious about the new locations, immediately following the all-campus meeting until 3:00 p.m. today, shuttle buses will circle campus, giving rides to the six temporary locations.

Over the past three months, the campus was extremely busy with two summer sessions, our first-ever May Term, numerous youth camps, and six summer Orientation programs.  Summer construction included new windows for Kasling Hall; new bathrooms for McGinnies Hall; completion of the University Stadium entrance; pavement for Symphony Circle, a portion of Ring Road, and the Steele Hall and Nixon-Chautauqua hall parking lots; and an overhaul of the Andrews quad entrance, just to name a few.

Upcoming ribbon-cuttings will occur on Friday, September 11 for Phase II of University Stadium; late October/early November for the Technology Incubator; and early spring for the child care center.  Also, architects are working diligently on the design for the new Science and Technology center, which will see a ground-breaking in early 2011.  And, yes, the project “no one” has been anxiously awaiting, completion of the $22 million replacement of the campus-wide heating and cooling system, occurs in November.  I personally will miss seeing the steam rising from the ground on cold days, and that winter path of grass going from the Facilities Services complex to the Rockefeller Arts Center, and of course, life will be a little duller, but a lot safer, without the surprise 50 foot geysers of super heated water.

Because of an early graduation, we have new Student Association officers for the fall: Anthony Faraco, a junior Political Science major, is the new SA President, and Nicole Matteson, a sophomore Political Science major, is the new SA Vice President.  Would they stand and be recognized?

The Princeton Review again placed us among the top universities in the Northeast and just yesterday U.S. News and World Report ranked us 14^th among public regional universities in the North.  These rankings are welcome, but it’s important to remember the most important “bottom line” statistics are retention and graduation rates.  In a new category released yesterday, Fredonia was ranked second among SUNY university colleges and 22^nd among all public and private master’s universities in the North for student retention rates.

For the second consecutive year, student applications set an all-time record.  Much of the increase involved students of color, whose freshman application numbers were 20% higher than last year.  One reason for the overall increase was the successful implementation of the Common Application, which generated more than 1,500 applications in its first year of use.  Thanks to the large number of applicants, the quality of the entering class is the best we have ever seen.  The entering freshman class was deliberately shrunk by 60 students from last year, but we are still bursting at the seams.  Fortunately, thanks to considerable help from Department Chairs, faculty, and Deans, we have provided every registered student with a full class schedule. 

This year’s budget continues to be a challenge.  While the dollars for negotiated salary increases were provided, we experienced a cut in state funding of approximately $800,000 and had 80% of the $300 tuition increase swept away by the Governor and the State Legislature.  We are also expecting a mid-year cut.  Fortunately, the campus budget planning has been solid, as the Budget Book prepared last spring anticipated these three cuts.  However, I don’t want to minimize the severity of what has occurred over the past 16 months, nor the pain caused by permanently freezing up to 30 positions vacated through attrition, the imposition of six month or longer delays in the filling of vacancies, and the difficulties created by eliminating several degree options.  Fredonia has been fiscally prudent and has not experienced the formal layoffs, furloughs, and academic discipline closures that have occurred on other campuses and in other states. Thanks to your extraordinary efforts, this campus continues to be one of the gems within SUNY’s crown.

Before discussing several priorities for the coming year, I’d like to reflect briefly on a few of the many highlights from this past year:

• SUNY Fredonia was awarded its fourth national ANGEL impact award, more than any other university in the nation.
• The Professional Development Center conducted more than 90 workshops in its first full year of operation.
• Diver Kelly Sponholz and thrower Julia Hopson became Fredonia’s first ever female NCAA Division III national champions.
• The fall production of, “The Magic Flute” was truly magical.
• Despite a difficult economy, philanthropic giving to the campus last year was nearly $2.5 million, as the $15 million “Doors to Success” campaign approached the 60% mark.
• The Health Center handled 6,905 student visits and conducted 429 physical examinations for students involved in athletics and study-abroad programs.
• The SEFA campaign generated $51,786—another campus record.
• Multicultural student clubs provided 61 successful programs and events that were attended by more than 7,500 people.
• Fredonia was one of only 12 universities across the nation to receive a $500,000 Project RAISE UP grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support special education programs.
• The Women’s Volleyball team won the league for the very first time and made it all the way to the “Sweet 16” round of the NCAA tournament.
• A new campus emergency procedure manual was prepared and is being distributed to every employee.
• The College Symphony and Masterworks Chorus gave a glorious performance of “Carmina Burana.”
• Two coaches received SUNYAC “Coach of the Year” honors: Kevin Moore for Men’s Basketball and Geoff Braun for Women’s Volleyball.
• The Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team won regionals for a record 12^th consecutive year.
• Weekend Hangout Activities (WHOA) were initiated during spring semester by Residence Life to provide late night programming for Saturday nights.
• The nationally-known band O.A.R. headlined FredFest 2009.
• Dan Tramuta received the William A. Troy Service Award at the SUNY Financial Aid Conference.  He is only the fourth person to ever receive this prestigious award.
• A total of 381 programs were provided to students living in the residence halls.
• The Statement alumni magazine was successfully converted to a twice-yearly magazine format.
• Lake Shore Savings Bank’s donation to the “Doors to Success” campaign allowed the sculpture “Popeye” to become part of our permanent collection.
• Over 350 students presented research and creative projects at the April 2009 Student Research and Creativity Exposition.
• Students in the Department of Theatre and Dance worked a grand total of 43,600 work-hours to produce the Walter Gloor Mainstage season.
• The Ethics Bowl team, in just its second year, finished fifth overall at the Northeast Regionals.
• The Music Business program was approved as an independent major with the Department of Business Administration.
• Introductory Arabic and Chinese were offered for the first time.
• The Fredonia Academic Community Engagement (FACE) Center was established under the leadership of Dr. David Rankin, Dr. Christina Jarvis, and Dr. Emily VanDette.
• Marian Wright Edelman gave a stirring Maytum Convocation Lecture describing her work with the Children’s Defense Fund.
• Fredonia was the first BANNER institution within SUNY to provide transfer information for the new SUNY-wide equivalency web site.

Several individuals filled, assumed, or returned to administrative leadership positions:

• Russell Boisjoly, Dean, School of Business
• Betty Gossett, Associate Vice President for University Development
• Kevin Cloos, Director, Facilities Services
• Bob Booth, Chair, Department of Visual Arts and New Media
• David Rankin, Chair, Department of Political Science

• Joseph Straight, Mathematical Sciences

• Neil Feit, Philosophy; Daniel Ihasz, Music; Markus Vink, History

• Christian Bernhard, Music; Gwendolyn Detwiler, Music; Jill Marshall, Curriculum and Instruction; Ann Siegle Drege, English

• Secretary 1, Rebecca Nalepa
• Senior Grounds Worker, Gary Cady
• Manager, Tracy Raczka
• Assistant Director of Facilities Services: Mark Delcamp, Michael Jackino, Robert Lawson, James Schwerk, Michael Wygant
• Calculations Clerk 2: Mary Jo Rusch
• Assistant Manager: Felicia Nowak, Lynne Montague
• Motor Equipment Maintenance Supervisor: John Schmidt
• Residence Hall Director: Erin Ackerman, Matthew Foster, Matthew Samuelson, Catherine Schrum
• Secretary 2: Julie Sticek                                                         

Congratulations to each of you!

Thanks to the leadership of Dr. Roger Byrne and Kerry Wilkes, and the hard work of so many of you, the Middle States self-study report is nearing completion.  The draft self-study will be released the first week of September, followed by open meetings on September 9, 15, 17, and 21 to secure campus-wide input. A near final draft of the self-study will be completed in early October; the visiting team leader, Arnold Speert, president of William Paterson University, will visit campus on October 19-20; and the final report will be completed by the end of the fall semester.  The full accreditation team visits in spring, and details of what to expect will be reported at the January 2010 General Campus meeting.  We’re nearing the finish line for this once every 10 year task.

As we enter the fourth year of the five-year Fredonia Plan, we continue to make progress in the five key areas: Student Learning, Scholarship, Diversity, Technology, and Campus Image.  This coming year we will expand our first-year programs to reach every single new student, complete the campus-wide wireless plan by adding all residence halls, continue to expand study abroad programs, implement additional recommendations from the Diversity Task Force, and ensure every academic major has a significant Senior Capstone Experience as part of the graduation requirement. 

Our campus planning should dovetail nicely with the system-wide strategic planning effort outlined by Chancellor Zimpher.  SUNY will release its strategic plan this spring as we near completion of the Fredonia Plan and finish the Middle States self-study reaccreditation process.  It will be the perfect time to begin the process of developing a campus strategic plan that ensures our future actions support the still-to-be-defined system-wide initiatives.

Campus sustainability efforts have continued to move forward.  Many successes are documented in the 2^nd Annual Sustainability Report to the Campus released last April.  Highlights include a very successful Earth Week attended by nearly 2,000 students, the placing of 2,400 recycling totes in individual offices and residence hall rooms, more than 8,500 pounds of clothing being donated to the Chautauqua County Rural Ministry as part of Fredonia Waste-Wipeout 2009, and 78,000 pounds of recycled materials generated during the 10-week RecycleMania.  Paperless efforts were expanded with Student Accounts adding the new TouchNet system, Career Development using Quest software, University Advancement designing a new Alumni Portal, and by implementation of the online graduate application, completion of the new online catalog, elimination of the print version of the Spring 2009 class schedule, and the opening of several new campus internet marketplace stores.  One of the newest initiatives is the call for campus departments to become Sustainability Partners to assist the university in becoming greener.  Sixteen departments have already signed up, and many more are expected.

Finally, I want to give you an update on an alum who was mentioned in my remarks four years ago.  You may recall my talking about Margaret Wyckoff, a member of the Class of 1930, who as a young girl learned how to play the piano by painting keys on a board of wood and trying to hear the music in her head as she moved her fingers on this silent keyboard.  Well, that young girl just sent me an invitation to her 100^th birthday celebration.  On the invitation was a printed request for attendees to make a donation to SUNY Fredonia’s Margaret Wyckoff Scholarship Endowment in lieu of gifts.  After graduating 79 years ago, she still thinks fondly about this campus.  Upon receipt of the invitation, I picked up the phone to wish her a happy birthday, and to thank her for what she is doing with her scholarship.  She said to me, “I know how important my Fredonia education was to me and my life, and I wanted to establish something that will always be there to help young students achieve their dreams.”  And Margaret is very correct: students come to this campus because they have dreams and goals, and they know an excellent education will help them achieve those goals. 

You probably don’t normally think about it, but what each and every one of you does is help our students’ dreams come true.  Not only do you make this university run, but a kind word or supporting gesture from you can make a big difference in a student’s life.  Thank you for what you do each day to make this campus so special, and have a great semester!