[Important Information for Employees] Strategic Planning and Financial Stability

[Office of the President]

Dear Campus Community,

This spring, we will come together as a campus community, clarify our
values and aspirations, and shape the future of the college. It is
necessary work that will enhance our place as the educational and cultural
center of the North Country, fuel our work as a catalyst for prosperity in
our region, and develop a basis for us to invest resources both
strategically and sustainably in the future.

This time in our history demands this of us. Factors that include tackling
COVID-19 and all its challenges, adjusting to shifts in the higher
education landscape, and addressing structural deficits in the years ahead
require our undivided attention.

We will collectively create a strategic plan for Plattsburgh Next over the
next few months. This plan will clearly reflect our commitment to current
and future students and ensure we provide them a career-ready education
anchored to a foundational liberal arts core. I envision Plattsburgh Next
will build on our institutional strengths of business, education, health
care, social justice, STEM, and sustainability with the overarching goal to
be a truly inclusive academy with high accountability that holds the
elimination of equity gaps as a top priority.

At the same time, we will collectively face the reality of our financial
challenges. Our new strategic plan will guide our choices of how to invest
our precious resources and inform a spending plan that is a direct
expression of these values. It will also build on spending reductions we
are making now.

All of this is about developing new possibilities for a stronger
student-centered campus, and for becoming the flagship college of the North
Country. As the flagship, we will work to create a culture of college
attendance among regional community members and increase the number of SUNY
Plattsburgh graduates who remain here as valued contributing citizens
following the completion of their degrees.


*Strategic Planning and Programming*I have asked Provost Anne Herzog and
Dr. Gary Kroll, chair of the Faculty Senate, to lead in the development of
our next strategic plan during the spring semester. The steering committee
will be wide, diverse and committed. This group, with the help of many
voices, will develop the blueprint for Plattsburgh Next to guide us into
the future.

Our last Campus Plan carried us through 2018, and restated campus
priorities took us into the present year. This planning process will take
the next step, helping us clarify the "why" of what we do as well as "how"
we can most successfully accomplish our goals.

We will plan thoughtfully about what our students seek and need when they
enroll in pursuit of their educational goals. As we learn, we can better
assess where we must invest more and what we will no longer provide so that
necessary funds can be strategically allocated for the success of our
current and future students.

Provost Herzog and Dr. Kroll will be sharing details soon about focus
groups and steering committee work.


*Financial Stability and Our Budget*Connected to this future-thinking focus
is our fiscal health. We have made tremendous progress via the Financial
Stability plan. In its absence, we would be facing a far greater budget
challenge today.

But while the short-term picture is positive, longer term trends in state
allocations and enrollment are not. We cannot continue to spend as we have
and simultaneously create a thriving future for our institution.

Spending restrictions and limitations from each part of campus and one-time
stimulus resources will allow us to end the current 2020-2021 fiscal year
with a surplus estimated at $12 million. This is good news. But this
surplus will not hold in the years ahead without changes, including general
spending reductions. Without any changes to our 2021-2022 spending plan,
the current year surplus would largely be used up. And with no changes to
plans for the following year, we would face an estimated $11 million
deficit in 2022-2023. This gap would swell in the years ahead driven by
anticipated lower state support, rising costs, negotiated salary increases
and projected lower enrollment.

To address the 2021-2022 structural deficit (i.e. budgeted revenues minus
budgeted expenses), I have charged each vice president to reduce planned
spending in their divisions by a minimum of 7 percent next year. Taking
this step now will allow our current-year surplus to carry forward and give
us flexibility in 2022-2023 and beyond to make greater investments to fuel
growth along with required reductions to further align the budget. As
additional reductions are required in the next few years, the strategic
plan will be leveraged to guide the campus.


*Principles to Guide Us*As we enter Plattsburgh Next planning, we remain
committed to the priorities we forged from the expired Campus Plan: support
for the student experience, increasing financial sustainability, and
advancing institutional diversity, equity and inclusion.

To add more guidance to our strategic planning process, I am advancing the
following principles to guide us:

   - *Keep students first.* We exist for our students. Promoting their
   success is our primary focus. Every decision we make must include
   consideration of how students are affected and, on balance, make choices
   that serve their best interests in pursuing their goals.
   - *Include the entire campus community.* It is critical we follow a
   planning process that is trustworthy and transparent. We have a tradition
   of shared governance. That will be honored and employed.
   - *Reaffirm our academic reputation.* As the flagship college for the
   North Country, we are the driver of cultural experiences and economic
   growth in this region. We cannot cut our way to prosperity and must invest
   where we should. But we also cannot ignore the urgency of spending
   reductions.
   - *Grow a sustainable college.* Our excellence in academic programs, the
   health and safety of the campus, and the ability to perform essential
   operations have guided us through COVID. We need to lean into these as we
   plan a sustainable future.


*Final Thoughts*The continuing, focused efforts of faculty and staff on
this campus is overwhelming. I have shared my pride with many of you
directly as we are able to connect, but certainly not all of you.

Driven by the ongoing needs of COVID and an embedded desire to serve our
students, this campus has stepped up. This week's start of the on-campus
spring semester is only possible because of your own diligence and
sacrifice. The incredible support from academics, residential life, student
success, the health center, facilities and operations, administrative
support, athletics and so many more was essential.

My deepest acknowledgement and sincere appreciation is extended for each of
your contributions to this ongoing work and the focus on strategic planning
ahead. I will look to meet with many of you and share more with all of you
over the course of the semester.

Trust, too, that while we cannot wish challenges away, we can step up to
meet them. We can grasp this time to collectively shape the next phase of
SUNY Plattsburgh.

Alexander Enyedi
President
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