STUDENTS AND STAFF 1989-94

PRESIDENT WILLIAM C. MERWIN

AUGUST 26, 1994

Good morning and welcome to all, again! I'd like to begin by telling you a story about Oliver Wendell Holmes, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court around the turn of the century. As the story goes, the Chief Justice boarded a train one morning and the conductor asked for his ticket. Unfortunately, the Judge couldn't find his ticket. The conductor said "Well, if you say you bought a ticket, I certainly believe you, being the Chief Justice and all." Holmes said: "No, that's not the problem, you see I need the ticket to know where I'm going." While none of us will need a ticket to know our direction, I believe that it is a valid exercise to examine our progress as an institution at regular intervals. To carry the railroad metaphor one step further, to determine if we are still on track.

I'm a firm believer that the future is most likely to evolve in rather systematic and logical ways from a well understood past. The past is prologue - you have heard me use this before. I have always used intervals of five (such as five, ten, fifteen and twenty) to commemorate events and institutional and personal mile stones. I have just concluded five years as your President and I've chosen the occasion of this address to review the past five years. I even re-examined my inaugural address in an effort to evaluate our last five years. Inaugural addresses are really pretty scary, since you attempt to establish a vision (or should I say lay the track) for the institution after only 90 days on the job. Much to my delight, we are still on track in spite of some drastic external change forces. This is the topic of my address this morning. I'd like to begin by reviewing global, national and state conditions of the past five years as a context for a more local analysis of our progress at SUNY Potsdam.

The decade of the 1990s - the decade of promise - has proven to be one of the most challenging in the history of higher education. Quite simply stated, we have been expected to "do more with less." And, quite incredibly, we've managed to do it - not, of course, without the expenditure of considerable effort and sacrifice.

We have been challenged and continue to be challenged by a kaleidescopically changing world and national arena in the 1990s, the external change forces.

1. Changing World Order: dissolution of nations - Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, unification of Germany, shift from nuclear power to economic power. The apparent official end of Apartheid in the Republic of South Africa.

2. Rapid Demographic Shifts - growth of non-white population and senior citizens, the graying of America. The largest growth group in the United States consists of those entering their 80th year. As these groups grow in size and political power they are demanding to be heard.

3. Increased Societal Tensions - Environmental concerns, personal health, social activism, family values, restructuring of American Business Enterprise, information explosion (computers, faxes, telecommunication), service economy, globalization are among the many forces producing incredible changes in every fiber of the American fabric.

4. Stagnant Economy - 300,000 jobs lost in New York; in SUNY tuition doubled, student fees, DIFR, HIFR, PIFR were imposed to shift the financial burden to our students; 38% of the SUNY Potsdam budget now comes from the State. In 1989, it was 45%!

5. Closer to home at SUNY Potsdam, the 1990s have witnessed programs, positions, enrollments and budget cuts and losses. The loss phenomenon was experienced throughout the Northeast and especially in New York. The enrollment loss of nearly 500 students over the past five years has resulted in budgetary reductions at SUNY Potsdam.

Through all of this chaos, Higher Education has been expected to play an even more pivotal role in resolving these problems and external forces. And, at SUNY Potsdam we have! The alternatives weren't good. A Hobson's Choice-a choice with no alternatives.

Reminds me of the story of the farmer taking his horse-drawn, loaded, hay wagon across the highway, his dog at his side, one sunny August afternoon, when suddenly a semi-trailer truck appeared out of nowhere and ran headlong into the hay wagon. The farmer, horse and dog were all badly injured. So the trucker gets his pistol and puts the horse and dog out of misery. The truck driver then asks the farmer: "How are you doing?" The farmer says, "under the circumstances, I've never felt better." That's a "Hobson's Choice." When people ask me how we are doing at SUNY Potsdam, I say: "Under the circumstances, very well indeed!" For more than 178 years, we've been a most resilient institution; for the past five years, we've been a model of buoyancy.

I believe we have met the challenges of the 1990s head on and that we are a better institution for the experience, albeit considerably leaner. A quick review of the past five years is in order. I have chosen to examine eight of our major goals and priorities for this review. What have we been doing for the past five years?

1. Program Development - We reviewed our programs and engaged in both internal and external environmental scanning (quality, student demand, centrality to mission and cost). We strengthened many programs by investing more resources; and we eliminated some programs - not without pain and anguish. Perhaps, more importantly, we have created new programs which respond to changing market demands: new majors in Communication, Special Education, Business/Economics, and new minors in Environmental Studies, Women's Studies, Native American Studies. Several other program initiatives are now on the drawing board. We must continue to analyze changes in our society and be prepared to make appropriate modifications to our programs. In a rapidly changing world we must be continuously "fixing it" - even if it is not broken. To do less is to fall seriously behind.

2. We invested in human capital with extensive staff development and programming - The Teaching and Learning Committee projects, the Research and Learning Fair, new faculty orientation, faculty and staff traveled to conferences. Many consultants visited our campus. We continued to prioritize excellence in teaching and devised innovative teaching methods and enhancements in our classroom modernization program. The concept of the teacher-as-scholar is in practice at SUNY Potsdam.

3. We invested in technology - 90% of tenure line faculty (virtually all who request them) have desk-top computers. Our computer networking has been recognized as among the nation's best. The library automation project, nearly completed, is designed to provide on-line public access catalogs and circulation systems to SUNY's libraries. As we look to the future, particularly with SUNY now prioritizing educational technology and telecommunicative learning and increased administrative productivity, our investment in technology and local budgetary sacrifices over the past five years will serve us well.

4. We became considerably more diverse and multicultural during these past five years. From 1988-1994, SUNY Potsdam:

a. increased teaching faculty of color by 133%

- 12 to 28

b. increased all faculty (teaching and non-teaching) of color by 144% - 17 to 41

c. increased students of color by 60% - 145 to 245 (1988-1994)

d. increased the number of women teaching faculty by 40% - 61 to 85

As I mentioned earlier we have added minors in Women's Studies and Native American Studies. Our Offices of Native American Affairs and Diversity have provided scores of opportunities and programs that have enriched not only our campus but the community as well. Arts exhibits, Drama/Dance and musical productions have been used extensively to advance our diversity goals. We work continuously to improve the campus climate for women as well as people of color.

5. We were successful in soliciting support and resources beyond State budgets during the past five years. We closed a $3 million Capital Campaign with nearly $4 million. We initiated ten alumni chapters throughout the country; raised nearly $1 million for faculty development with the National Endowment for the Humanities Program. Our College's endowment was increased by more than 100% from 1989-94 - $2.5 million to $5 million. Our Office of Faculty Grants and Sponsored Research continues to generate nearly $2 million a year to support faculty and student research initiatives. Our Office of College Advancement raises nearly $1 million a year for scholarships, faculty development, athletics and libraries/art collections. We are currently providing over 280 privately funded scholarships to deserving students. This represents a 50% increase over the past five years. We continue to make considerable progress in developing our alumni in support of programs such as scholarship, advocacy with the Governor and State legislature, student internships and career planning.

6. Over the past five years, we have engaged in significant planning for the future of our college. The Middle States Self Study resulted in unconditional reaccreditation through 2002. Our SUNY 2000 Phase II document and presentation to the Chancellor and staff, which was the culmination of three years of self study and analysis, was very well received on July 21, 1994. We are awaiting a response to our supplemental funding request. During the past two years we have developed specially targeted planning initiatives for computing, marketing and retention. Our Master Plan study completed in 1993 calls for $50 million in Capital construction and rehabilitation funds for our campus beginning in 1997. Our campus continues to draw plaudits for its beauty from most who visit us. This is before a $50 million facelift! A very exciting prospect!

7. Our public outreach efforts over the first years of the decade have been astounding. Our Crane School of Music, School of Education and School of Arts and Sciences have been responsible for bringing over 600,000 visitors to our campus over the past five years. Additionally, our faculty, students and staff have provided considerable community service as volunteer workers with local governments, public schools, service organizations and community agencies. Since its establishment in 1990, the Rural Services Institute has provided technical and logistical support for scores of staff development conferences, needs assessments, and consultation for local governments, economic development groups, Social Service Agencies, health care providers and the arts community. Our success in public affairs is in fulfillment of our mission to be a part of the community, to improve the quality of life in Northern New York.

8. We have worked tirelessly in making SUNY Potsdam a student-centered campus. We have changed our Code of Conduct, expanded learning support systems and improved academic advising. A genuine concern has been fostered by the faculty and staff. Everyone including the physical plant staff, administrative staff, clerical and service staff, PACES staff, student life staff and faculty have worked on the theme that students are the reason for our existence - our raison d'être. We are a service-oriented educational institution. From the Registrar's Office to the Health Service, we have tried to assess needs and change how we deliver essential services. Our College places its students first, taking care to guide them as they strive to reach their full potential in life.

As you can see, the past five years have been full of important accomplishments - our accomplishments - yours and mine. Using the past five years as a benchmark of our capacity to respond to - and adapt to - economic, demographic and societal changes, one can conclude that we will also be able to respond to the challenges of the future. We are an amazingly resilient and vibrant institution. I feel very fortunate to have such an outstanding and committed faculty, student body and staff. Without your support and hard work, few, if any, of these achievements would have been possible. We are an institution committed to the fulfillment of its state mission, its people, its community and its students. We do not, as did Chief Justice Holmes, need a ticket to find out where we're going. Our pathway is clearly marked. Our likely future is an extension of past accomplishments.

My vision for the next five years includes a similar re-commitment to: continuous program review, investment in human capital, excellence in teaching and scholarship and technological advancements. We need to be increasingly more diverse and multicultural, even more resourceful in soliciting support for the College, a better steward of state resources, continuously updating our plans to provide public service that enables an improved quality of life within our community, and continue to be a student-centered campus that fosters knowledge, civility and human potential.

I urge us all to be steadfast in that vision - it will provide the security of our rich past as well as the instruments to adapt to our changing environments. The solution for our enrollment problems of the recent past resides in our resolve to re-commit to these goals as an institution. I would like to close my address with a piece of Ralph Waldo Emerson prose. Perhaps a bit of advice for all of us in putting our problems in perspective, especially at the beginning of an academic year - and another five year cycle.

"Some of your hurts you have cured,

And the sharpest you still have survived.

But what torments of grief you endured

From the evils that never arrived."

Thank you. Have a wonderful and fulfilling academic year. Remember: you are the best!