[Important Information for Employees] February Campus Update

[Office of the President]

Dear Campus Community,

I want to begin by saying thanks to each of you for your continued work on
behalf of our students. I know firsthand how much it means to them on their
journey of matriculation at SUNY Plattsburgh.

As I walk campus and visit with many of you in offices, hallways and
classrooms, I see energy for student success and accomplishment as we lean
into the new semester. I am always proud to say we do great work here that
has life-long impact.

I also see and hear the concern and even fatigue that accompanies both
today's higher education environment and how we endeavor to meet the
growing needs with the precious resources we have. In facing change and
challenges, I aim to foster a campus environment that supports one
another and advocates for ourselves and our students.

As we move toward the end of February, indicators for spring and fall
enrollment are at or above expectations. This raises our expected revenues.
We also have positive early news on the state budget, where strong advocacy
will be advanced over the next month to help ensure the proposed increases
become reality.

Two other important developments occurred this week:

   - *SUNY Plattsburgh has officially gained university status in New York
   state*
   <https://www.plattsburgh.edu/news/news-archive/suny-plattsburgh-officially-recognized-as-a-university-by-new-york-state.html>,
   a designation that reflects our breadth of undergraduate and graduate
   programs and our wide-ranging areas of study. While this does not change
   our public-facing name, it has drawn attention to who we are and what we
   do, with outlets around the state picking up news of the change. It is one
   more way we can share our story and prompt prospective students and their
   families to consider us home.

   - *We launched with Clinton Community College an integrated dual degree
   program for nursing*
   <https://www.plattsburgh.edu/news/news-archive/suny-plattsburgh-clinton-community-college-launch-integrated-dual-degree-nursing-program.html>.
   This is a powerful way to serve the North Country together, with strong
   health care and nursing critical to the growth and sustainability of our
   region. We celebrated this Thursday with a special program at Clinton. News
   was widely shared. Goodwill with a range of public officials was also
   advanced. This helps our overall advocacy efforts, too, as we show what
   cooperation can do and what a good investment SUNY Plattsburgh can be.

*Enrollment Update*
We remain 20 students above our original goal of 350 new students for the
spring semester. We will know more details on spring enrollment overall as
the third-week census is completed. We are on track to be a few students
above 4,080, or about 75 over our expectations.

Fall applications are at 8,863 with 5,252 acceptances. This is 29 percent
and 25 percent, respectively, above expectations and maintains a higher
trend that we have carried forward from the early burst of applications
from the fall SUNY incentive. Taking advantage of this early pool has been
the highest priority of Admissions. They are focused on labor intensive
personal touches (e.g. - calls, emails, texts), with financial aid
information being forwarded early as well.

This recruitment work includes the broader use of Slate, an online tool
that strengthens communications. This includes the capacity for faculty to
look at acceptances and reach out as well. If you have questions on how to
help with this effort, please contact Troy Joseph, director of
undergraduate admissions, at *tjose001 at plattsburgh.edu*
<tjose001 at plattsburgh.edu>. The Admissions office is also pushing harder in
Vermont, with in-person visits and extensive advertising. Athletics is also
working to use increased roster sizes in track and field, cross country and
lacrosse to add students for next fall.

SUNY system is also developing a "cascading admissions" process for fall
2023 that will redirect students to other SUNY campuses should they not
receive an offer of an admission at their declared “first choice
institution.” To better support the yield of new students, SUNY is also
supporting college fairs and New York City bus trips. SUNY is developing an
EOP centralized process that will launch this month to streamline EOP
student admissions.

*Campus Budget*
The better than projected enrollment this fiscal year translates to
increased revenue for the university over expectations. Our billed tuition
for fall, winter and spring will be about $735,000 over budget – or 2.24
percent above last year’s projection. Increased recruitment and student
retention ahead will take us farther down the road to our Plattsburgh Next
goal of 4,800 students by fall 2025. I want to emphasize that this is no
small undertaking in the midst of the headwinds facing all public regional
universities in our part of the country.

To reach our fall 2023 target, we need to accomplish two things: recruit
1,700 new students (a mix of graduate, transfer, international and in-state
recent high school graduates) and retain 84 more students who are currently
enrolled. This appears within reach given the large application pool and
many of the tools we have or are putting into place to enhance and track
student progress and provide student support and help.

In concert with this, the campus divisions continue to work on a
combination of permanent and temporary reductions that will bring the
overall budget into more long term alignment. So far, $1.2 million of the
$5.2 million target has been identified. Work on the 2023-2024 FY budget
will continue through the semester and wrap-up in early May.


*State Budget*This is an important time in the development of the New York
budget. Our long-term prosperity depends in large measure on consistent and
growing state support that will allow us to maintain important services and
grow our programming.

Gov. Hochul's executive budget contained some good news for campus. This
includes a proposed increase in base state support and greater
contributions for employee salaries and benefits. New one-time dollars for
digital and technology upgrades were also added, as well as more capital
construction dollars. The governor's budget also contains a tuition
increase of up to 3 percent for the comprehensive sector.

This was the first stage in development of a state spending plan that will
be completed in late March or early April. I encourage you to advocate
through your own channels and take advantage of collective opportunities.

This week, I met with state Assemblyman Billy Jones, who pledged his
support for the university. He also made a point of sharing this strongly
at this morning's North Country legislative breakfast. I am very grateful
for his strong advocacy on behalf of our university. The SUNY system is
also elevating advocacy for additional support for general fund operating
costs including employee salaries and more dollars for capital project
funding.


*Plattsburgh Next*Advancement on our strategic plan continues. I want to
draw your attention to the Plattsburgh Next webpage --
*plattsburgh.edu/next* <http://plattsburgh.edu/next> -- that houses the
campus' work and progress on this road map. It contains links and charts
you may find helpful. Campus accountability partners met today and will
meet periodically over the year to review progress, help me and my cabinet
set priorities and to make other suggestions for improvements to the
webpage, tracking charts and tools.

Additionally, I will be working with the provost and the Faculty Senate
executive committee to have further conversations on shared governance. It
is important for all campus leaders to be invested in this work and better
understand each other, our roles and our responsibilities. I look forward
to these conversations.

A new Diversity News newsletter was produced and shared with campus, too,
containing updates and details on programs ranging from Equity Advocates,
who assist with the campus hiring process, to programming associated with
Black History Month. I encourage you to read these materials and
participate when you are able during the remainder of February.

I will also be meeting with many alumni and donors over the course of the
spring semester. These include visits in Syracuse, Rochester, southern
Florida, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. These are important
connections that serve to extend our work and create new opportunities for
students, faculty and staff.

I am very excited about where we are, what is happening on campus, and
where we are going.

All the best,

Alex Enyedi
President
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ls.plattsburgh.edu/pipermail/critical-employees/attachments/20230217/27de370a/attachment.htm>