President’s Newsletter

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Dear Colleagues,

I want to start by thanking everyone who was involved in the Middle States Self-Study, planning, and virtual visit. Those of you who were able to join the exit meeting have already heard the verbal report that noted a number of commendations and some “collegial advice” which we can, as an organization, take into account. The next steps will be for the self-study team to finalize their report by early May and report out to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education in June, at which point the review becomes official. I want to thank Frances Dearing, Amy Guptill, and Monica Brasted for leading the review process; all of the standards chairs and co-chairs for their leadership throughout the last few years; Jenny Green and Heather Raczkowski for their continuous support before and during the team visit; and Marsha Ducey for acting as a stellar editor of the self-study report.

End of Year Events

We are well into the end of the semester planning for SUNY Brockport. Honors and Awards will be held on Friday, April 22, at 3:30 pm in the McCue Auditorium. Because of the change of location, and the need to sit in tiered seating, we will not be in academic regalia or processing/recessing for this year only; we will return to our regular format in Spring 2023 when the Seymour Ballroom is fully renovated. Please do come along and celebrate your students’ achievements.

In addition, we have the Student Leadership Awards ceremony on Monday, April 25, at 5 pm in the New York Room. The Military Cording Ceremony, to honor graduating seniors who are serving or have served in the military, as well as senior ROTC students, will take place on Thursday, April 28, at 5 pm in the ROTC Gym in Cooper. The Umoja Ceremony will be held on Friday, April 29, at 4:30 pm, and the Lavender Ceremony will take place on Saturday, April 30, at 1 pm in McCue Auditorium.

Our students have worked hard over the last year, and I hope you will have an opportunity to celebrate with them at one or more of these events.

Summer Construction Updates

This will be a busy summer with a number of different projects commencing or continuing. Some of these dates may change, based on weather and other factors, but it gives you a sense of the magnitude of what will be happening.

New Campus Drive (NCD). The portion from the Welcome Center to the edge of the Allen Loop is expected to be completed by Commencement. The remaining portion of NCD will be completed during the late summer/fall.

Residence Drive (RD), including Parking Lot A (behind the high rise residence halls), will be torn up this summer. Lot A will be completed before the fall semester begins, as will a portion of RD up to the “Mac” halls. The parking lots along the railroad tracks and the road will be flip flopped, with the road running along the tracks and the parking lots moving closer to the residence halls. The remainder of this work – which will be done in 2 or 3 sections – will be completed by 2023.

Other projects:

Allen Loop. This project will begin right after Commencement and is expected to be completed by October.

New Turf Field. This is on schedule to be completed by the end of the summer.

New Press Box. The press box arrived on campus last week, and work is continuing on accessibility. It should be ready by the beginning of the fall season.

SERC Lighting. The lights will be replaced in SERC (which is 10 years old this summer!) between July 29 and Aug. 15.

Welcome Center. A new roof will go on this summer.

Bridge. The portion from Drake to Tuttle will have the ceiling repainted and the portion between Drake and the AW Brown Building will be cleaned. This should happen between May and August.

Seymour Ballroom. This current project remains on schedule to be completed by Jan. 2023.

Hartwell Hall. A new boiler (May to Oct.) and a new dance floor (May to Aug.) are scheduled.

Harrison Hall. A new generator will go in this summer, and the outdoor amphitheater on the east side of the building should be completed soon.

While there is likely to be some disruption to travel in and around campus over the summer, the end result will be worth it. Thank you for your continued patience.

As we wrap up this academic year, I want to thank you again for all that you do to support our students inside and outside of the classroom, to engage with our community, to keep our campus safe and accessible, and to continue to undertake important scholarship that makes a difference to our campus and beyond it.