Strengthening Our Community
State of the College Report
Quentin Wheeler, President
February 4, 2016
Yesterday’s update on the state of the College focused on strengthening our community,
and highlighted a selection of recent successes and some of the directions in which we
are headed to adapt ESF to the rapidly changing world in which we operate and lead.
To begin, let me acknowledge the elephant in the room: a threat over the past six months
of a motion calling for a vote of no confidence in my leadership. My response to a Bill of
Particulars distributed to the College community on February 3, 2016 corrects factual
errors and provides context and explanations for the allegations made and was sent to the
ESF community separately.
Last fall, a process was set in place by the College and SUNY to address concerns about
campus leadership, management, and relationships. A third-party, non-biased group (the
Sears and Associations) was engaged by SUNY and a report was issued, entitled “SUNY
ESF: Strengthening Our Community.” A summary of that report was sent to the College
in December 2015, and the full document from the third-party consultant was distributed
to the College community on January 28, 2016. That report provided potential
engagement options. I used those ideas to help develop next steps, which were outlined
by me in the cover transmittal message accompanying the report. Those next steps will
help us build a stronger community.
The initial assumption that the Sears group would also be hired to carry out a second
phase was reassessed after review of their report and their proposal for a phase II. Most
of their recommended next steps involve frank discussions that we could carry out
ourselves and/or that could be facilitated with assistance from SUNY or a third party.
This forms the basis of our Strengthening Our Community engagement action plan.
Here are the immediate next steps of this action plan:
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Working with SUNY’s Center for Professional Development to create a
mechanism through which everyone can express their concerns and, importantly,
suggest solutions.
I will schedule informal meetings, with campus groups to brainstorm solutions
with the College community (this includes academic departments, student
associations, groups of staff members, and others).
An important framework for community engagement is the excellent work being
done by the Strategic Plan Steering Committee which is on track to complete a
bridging document by May 2016.
My collaborative leadership philosophy and style differ from previous
administrations, as identified in the report, and this has led to some confusion
about roles. We will work collaboratively to clarify those roles.
While we will focus on solutions to concerns raised, it is important that we
celebrate, too, our many successes along the way.
Let us communicate better. In more detail. And with more frequency. I am taking
steps to improve communication from the President’s Office, but ask for your
help in assuring that communication is a two-way street.
SUNY has confidence that the ESF community can work through these issues. I have
confidence in ESF, in all of you. There are three necessary components to our being
successful: putting what is best for ESF first; being willing to engage in dialogue and a
good will search for solutions; and bringing your “A” game by sharing your best ideas
and engaging in creative collaborations to find new ones.
Until all such options have been explored and exhausted—and I am confident all options
have not been pursued—I suggest that a vote of no confidence is premature, extreme, and
ill-considered. Therefore, I strongly urge the authors of the Bill of Particulars to
reconsider, and become part of the process that is already in place for our community.
We have made progress addressing the daunting combination of challenges that faced the
College at the time of my arrival, including:
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A structural budget deficit inadequately addressed for at least six years;
A new Chancellor at Syracuse University (SU) who undertook a comprehensive
review of services provided to ESF and their costs, resulting in significant
increases;
The necessity to immediately staunch the flow of College financial reserves, fast
approaching depletion; and
The requirement to create IT infrastructure in time to transition away from SU
within five years.
I am beginning to fulfill the goal stated in the presidential search to increase ESF’s
national visibility in order to open doors to new opportunities, and have been leading a
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transition to the kind of collaborative leadership model that I have found highly effective
in arriving at better and more fully informed decisions.
I have worked to build a team based on my philosophy of collaborative leadership. This
necessarily had to begin with the Executive Cabinet and will expand in concentric circles
thereafter. This is a very different leadership style, more transparent, more instructive,
more informed and, I believe, ultimately more effective at making the best decisions
possible.
A central part of collaborative leadership is being as transparent as possible. Because the
campus community had not been aware of the depth of the financial situation, disclosing
this information while working to identify steps to resolve the issue created an
uncomfortable sense of urgency and understandable angst about the future. I have
absolute confidence in our ability to resolve the deficit and create a prosperous future, but
it will of course take time. I understand the impact of openly sharing this information and
I am confident that we will be okay.
I have offered and continue to offer new directions and initiatives that are investments in
the ultimate elimination of the deficit, the creation of growth opportunities, and the future
success of ESF. It was not the Royal astronomer who solved the navigational problem of
longitude, but a humble clock maker named John Harrison. Science is a meritocracy that
adopts good ideas regardless of their origins. Every one of us has contributions to make
through the identification of opportunities for efficiencies, sharing of creative ideas, and
working together to advance the College. I urge us all to think outside the box, to offer
solutions in addition to concerns, and to be flexible in reimagining our future. Beyond
doing our best in our individual roles at the institution, we have unlimited opportunities
when we pull together and collectively seek solutions. Well-intended reactions to
challenges that are divisive destabilize the College. They focus on problems rather than
solutions. They distract us just as we are hitting our stride.
The environmental problems of tomorrow will be larger and more complex than ever.
Future support for environmental research and solutions will depend on the political
willpower of a population that is increasingly urban and minority majority. The
proportion of university budgets from direct state allocations is likely to continue to
decline. As the student population of the northeast declines, competition for the best
students will heighten. I see in each of these challenges a huge opportunity for ESF.
At a time when many colleges are struggling to meet first-year student enrollment targets,
we have had a record-setting year. For the first time ESF enrolled more than 2,000 fulltime students this year(2,040), including a record 1,750 undergraduates. We realized
another record as well: 801, or 46%, of our undergraduates are women. We have
increased our out-of-state student population to 24% of our entering first-year class, and
under-represented and Asian-American students to 13% of our undergraduate total. The
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Ranger School class of 2016 is the most diverse ever. We have more work to do, but this
is a great start. Additionally, our entering class also set a record for highest SATs, with an
average score of 1,213.
We offer a uniquely excellent student experience at one of the best price points in the
country. Our focus on science differentiates us from the many environmental programs
embedded in liberal arts colleges. Our research has the potential to transform science, to
solve great environmental problems, to influence public understanding and support for
environmental science, and to create a future that is truly sustainable for humanity as well
as for nature. While many of our “laboratories” are regional, such as Onondaga Lake and
the Adirondacks, our impact and relevance knows no political or geographical
boundaries. We have a unique institution to share with the world, and projects and
priorities that will resonate with anyone, anywhere who cares about the environment and
sustainability. This opens doors to partnerships, investors, and opportunities across the
country and around the world. Most institutions can only dream of such opportunities to
market themselves and create new sources of revenue.
Following is a sampling of the College’s recent successes:
Successes: New Capital Projects
We have more than $50 million in construction projects currently underway, and by 2018,
that total will increase to $96 million. The Academic Research Building (ARB) is a $30
million project that will add a dozen modern laboratories while freeing space in Illick for
renovation. The ground floor will include a collaboratory, a common space where faculty,
students, and staff can gather, formally or spontaneously, to explore complex questions.
We anticipate semester or year-long questions that will cut across academic departments
and invite the creative input of everyone on campus. This will be an ideal location for
such synergism.
A new education and research facility located in the Inner Harbor will provide a focal
point for ESF research on water and water-related issues. From water chemistry to lake
restoration ecology to conflicts that arise in a populated drainage basin, and from ESF
research, teaching, and public outreach to partnerships with state agencies and NGOs
concerned with water, this new ESF center will be a focal point for the College, for
Syracuse, and for the state. The NYSUNY 2020 funding for the center resulted from a
proposal that was submitted under President Murphy’s leadership and the project itself is
a groundbreaking example of a public-private partnership. We are currently working with
the State University Construction Fund, the Governor’s office, and the State
Comptroller’s office to literally create a new model for advancing such partnerships.
A $3.5 million NYSUNY 2020 award for a biomimicry laboratory and data center is the
first seed money for expanding our already impressive standing in biomimetics. ESF has
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a long tradition of understanding the biological and physical cycles related to the
biosphere and using that knowledge to inspire new technologies and solutions to
countless problems. Examples of such nature-inspired innovation are found across ESF,
from chemistry to landscape architecture. Most of the funds from this award, $2.3
million, will directly benefit the Syracuse campus through investments in IT
infrastructure including data storage and expanded wireless connectivity while providing
a necessary foundation for the biomimicry effort. The laboratory will capitalize on ESF’s
reputation for scientific natural history and be a location where natural historians and
citizen scientists can be immersed in the biodiversity of the Adirondacks and explore
adaptations of animals, plants, and ecosystems that can become models for natureinspired materials, processes, and designs. A faculty-led initiative may soon bring
statewide biodiversity databases to ESF that would be the first to populate this data
center.
A $2 million award from SUNY is modernizing the vertebrate collections contained in
the Roosevelt Wild Life Station, completing a 5,000 square foot space in the Gateway
Center where collections will be housed in a state-of-the-art facility, supporting research,
teaching, and outreach.
Other Milestones
A recent award from SUNY provided funds to establish the ESF Open Academy. The
Academy is conceived to extend ESF’s reach and impact in the rapidly expanding digital
sphere. It will be a portal to access ESF courses, degrees, and certificates; databases, such
as the biodiversity data center; student produced videos; and public science education
assets. Not limited to digital, the ESF Open Academy will be an umbrella for ESF’s
outreach work, from Syracuse to New York City and beyond. It will create an innovative
teaching and learning center to provide the skills and support to create world-class
content online. An ESF Academy of Fellows will provide honorary appointments to
acknowledge outside collaborators from academia and the private sector.
After extended negotiations, we have reached a framework agreement with Syracuse
University that continues unchanged the current arrangements for accessory instruction,
disability services, student and co-curricular activities, and recreation. The framework
provides ESF with stable and predictable costs for services over the next five years, a full
five years to transition to new IT systems, and realizes an annual savings of $300,000.
We have reached a tentative agreement with SU, yet to be signed, that preserves the
current level of tuition support. For ESF employees who have been with the College
since before September 2010, and who have in good faith assumed that their currently
eligible dependents would have access to reduced tuition at Syracuse University, we have
found a solution to preserve their current 15% co-pay. Chancellor Kent Syverud and I
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have also agreed to identify areas for expanded or new academic and research
collaboration between ESF and SU.
We are establishing a working group with representatives from ESF and the New York
State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to strengthen existing
collaborative work and to explore the potential of new areas of collaboration. The DEC is
increasing the number of student internships this year to more than 50, representing a
fantastic opportunity for ESF students. A particularly exciting possibility we are
exploring involves linking our properties, from the Thousand Islands Biological Station
to Pack Forest, into an ecological, climate change, and biodiversity observatory network
that would monitor data long-term that both meets ESF research needs and provides to
the DEC the most valuable data for decision-making.
We have signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with the Boone and Crockett
Club and Syracuse University’s Maxwell School, and begun fundraising to endow the
first Boone and Crockett faculty chair east of the Mississippi River, and the first
anywhere to offer concurrent degrees in wildlife conservation and public policy.
Additional partners are the DEC and the Campfire Club, which is working with us to
raise funds. To date, we have raised more than $600,000 toward the endowed chair. In the
process, this work with Boone and Crockett and the Campfire Club has introduced us to a
new community of potential donors who are deeply committed to conservation, and
therefore natural allies of ESF.
One of those contacts made during fundraising was Theodore Roosevelt IV. Following
several meetings with Mr. Roosevelt at his New York office, he volunteered to advocate
for ESF with the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA). The result is that ESF has
received naming rights from the TRA to use President Theodore Roosevelt’s name in a
big way, such as for a graduate school. The right to use a respected name so universally
identified with natural resources, national landscapes, and conservation is priceless in
regards to visibility, recognition, and widening the base of potential donors. Discussions
with faculty on how to best use this unique naming opportunity have begun.
Expanded Visibility
Many of our goals hinge on increasing ESF’s national visibility. Visible and respected, we
can have greater control over enrollment management and associated tuition dollars,
attract consumers to online content, and become visible to major foundations and private
philanthropists across the country that share our environmental science interests. To that
end, we are laying a strong foundation on which to enhance our visibility.
We have engaged Bruce Mau Design, one of the most respected international firms that
focuses and refines institutional images and identities with authenticity. With their
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guidance, we will have a far more effective message around which to build a visibility
campaign.
I have agreed to join the board of the Planet Forward initiative at George Washington
University and to formalize ESF as an institutional partner in this consortium. Led by
Frank Sesno, former CNN anchor, Planet Forward promotes effective student
sustainability story telling through video and new media. Their events in Washington
bring students together with leaders from the federal government. And they provide to us
a highly visible portal for ESF student initiatives.
ESF is one of 19 founding university members of The Conversation, one of the fastest
growing news media organizations. The Conversation is unique because of its academic
roots. All contributors to The Conversation come from academia, bringing scholarly and
authoritative views that are then edited by professional writers to have maximum appeal
and accessibility to a general audience. Scott Turner, Tristan Brown, and Bill Powell have
already published pieces in The Conversation, including Tristan’s lead story on February
2, 2016 and other ESF faculty members are preparing contributions. Content is picked up
by both traditional news outlets like the Associated Press, and new outlets like Huffington
Post and countless blogs. The Conversation is a powerful visibility tool, with many of its
pieces going viral.
A piece in The Conversation this week by history and environmental studies Professor
Black at Pennsylvania State University focused on the history of the politicization of
environmental issues. It highlighted the opportunity for our Center for A New American
Environmentalism to rebuild broad support for environmental issues by returning the
focus to science and in the process, redefining the word environmentalism in the public
mind.
Regarding politics, neither environmental nor any other issues can be resolved when our
elected officials and citizens have forgotten the art of listening and respectful discourse.
To assure that our students are challenged to be curious, open to new ideas, and able to
have civil discussions on any topic, I began the Moonlighting Lecture Series. These
lectures are designed to be open to campus and the community and to demonstrate
reasoned discourse between people on opposite sides of difficult issues. Our most recent
Moonlighting lecture featured Dr. Warren Allmon, of the Museum of the Earth in Ithaca
who has lectured and written a great deal about the conflict between religion and
evolution, and Father George Coyne, of LeMoyne College who for many years was the
Vatican’s astronomer.
At the December Commencement, I awarded the inaugural ESF Presidential Medal to
Rick Fedrizzi, the founder of the U.S. Green Building Council and a long-time friend and
ally of ESF. I created this award to recognize extraordinary contributions to science, the
environment, ESF, and the community. We give honorary doctoral degrees at our May
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Commencement. The ESF Presidential Medal provides a way to honor others we admire
in December. We are continuing discussions with Rick to expand our connections with
the U.S. Green Building Council, including the growing impact of biomimicry in
architecture, construction, and urban design.
ESF is expanding its global reach. In September, 60 students began their studies as the
first class in a joint degree program between ESF and the Beijing University of Chemical
Technology. They will spend their senior year on our campus. This bioprocess
engineering program grew out of faculty research collaborations and represents our first
venture into large scale international exchange of students.
This is just one of many MOUs that have been signed or are in process or being
discussed. Others involve EPA Region 2 (New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, US Virgin
Islands, and the eight tribal nations in New York), and DEC Region 2—representing an
important steps in creating a stronger ESF presence in New York City—and with sister
research and educational institutions in Thailand, Chile, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and
France.
When I arrived at ESF, I brought the International Institute for Species Exploration,
dedicated to the exploration, inventory, and classification of earth’s species, and creating
public awareness of the biodiversity crisis. A primary activity of the Institute is to select
the top 10 from among the thousands of new species named during the previous year as a
means to gain media and public attention. The nominations for the ESF Top 10 New
Species for 2016 are currently in the hands of the international selection committee of
scientists. The first ESF announcement of the Top 10 shattered all previous records for
the number of hits to the ESF websites. My goal now is to have several comparable
media headlines.
Our participation in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System
(STARS) program of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher
Education (AASHE) had lapsed with negative implications for our rankings from the
Princeton Review, the Sierra Club, and others. Not only have we reengaged with STARS,
we are now on track to potentially be the top rated college in New York and in the top 20
in the nation. Our goal in the next few years is to achieve Platinum rating. Only one other
U.S. school currently has that rating.
We were invited to participate in telephone conversations with White House staff aimed
to engage academia in the United States’ response to climate change. ESF was among the
first of more than 200 universities to agree take a pledge on climate change prior to the
Paris meetings last fall.
We are creating a campus energy manager position. This position will receive full
funding its first year from the New York Power Authority, with decreasing levels of
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support in its second and third years. Thereafter, the position is designed to increase
energy efficiency of campus while recouping savings exceeding the cost of the position.
We are also rejuvenating a campus sustainability committee that will advise and advance
ESF as a leading sustainability campus.
Working with the board of the ESF College Foundation, the College and College
Foundation made a joint statement on divestment. This statement validated that we do not
and will not have any direct investments in fossil fuels and reaffirmed our commitment to
full divestment when investment instruments are available that also meet our fiscal
responsibility to donors. Divest ESF and the ESF Undergraduate Student Association
were instrumental in this action, working diligently for divestment and dedicating their
time to meet on several occasions with the College Foundation in a spirit of finding a
path forward.
ESF initiated another historic announcement this past fall. The ESF Center for Native
Peoples and the Environment, ESF, and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy organized a
joint press conference at which ESF publicly acknowledged that the Syracuse campus is
located on the ancestral homelands of the Haudenosaunee, and that it is our intention to
share this information with the thousands of visitors to campus each year. Further, we
pledged to acknowledge this fact permanently with a stone monument to be located on
campus. This is our way of acknowledging this history, thanking our Onondaga neighbors
for their traditional wisdom, and articulating our shared dedication to protecting this
special place where we live. It was extending our hand as a first step toward
reconciliation and acknowledging what we each bring to conservation in the region.
ESF students are constantly moving us forward in exciting new ways. They launched a
digital literary journal, unearthed (that “focuses on works that define the environment as
what Glen Mazis calls “surround”–the natural and social world that species share”); they
started a video club; and, they are currently organizing a biomimicry club.
Following the completion of ESF’s first capital campaign, ahead of schedule and over
target at $21.5 million, our annual fundraising has doubled from the pre-campaign $1.5
million/year to its present $3 million/year. We successfully conducted our first crowdfunded campaign, raising money to support the American chestnut restoration project.
Our goal was $50,000 in 30 days. We raised more than $100,000, with 68% of the money
coming from individuals with no prior connection to ESF.
We continue to enjoy extraordinary rankings as the best environmental college in the
country. US News and World Report ranked us in the top 30 public universities. The
Princeton Review included ESF in its top 200 best value colleges, its top 279 colleges
list, and its top 50 green colleges. The Niche ranks ESF as the number two university in
New York. Forbes counts us among the top 25 best value colleges and ranks ESF as the
number three college for women in STEM fields. This is due, of course, to our worldState of the College Report, February 4, 2016
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class faculty and staff, our genuine commitment to the best education we can deliver to
our students, and our leading edge research that creates an atmosphere of discovery and
problem-solving.
Strengthening Through Diversity and Inclusion
We have made progress in the area of diversity and inclusion, but that is only a
beginning. We will be taking more steps to promote diversity and inclusion at all levels
and in all aspects of our campus, and to make our campus welcoming to anyone who
shares our passion for science and the environment. We were the first STEM institution to
partner with Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) in New York City to give
meritorious minority students the opportunity to explore career possibilities in the
environmental sciences. The College Diversity Committee is being organized to address
issues of diversity and inclusion and, importantly, to develop a campus diversity and
inclusion plan. A successful faculty mentoring day in January will be followed up with
additional training. The Undergraduate Student Association and Graduate Student
Association organized the first of a series of events to gather ideas for making our
campus more inclusive and welcoming. We will continue to work with students and
student organizations, such as the Baobab Society, to promote cultural consciousness on
campus. I note that when I arrived there were no women in vice presidential level roles at
ESF. Today, five women sit on Executive Cabinet, including ESF’s first female (interim)
provost.
Bridging the Budget Gap
We have a plan to bridge the budget gap that continues to mature and be refined. This
plan involves a diverse set of strategies, including:
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Maximizing tuition revenue by achieving enrollments of 1,900 undergraduates
and 600 graduate students by 2020;
Maximizing tuition revenue by increasing the proportion of out-of-state first-year
students from 24% to 40%, the out-of-state net yield on tuition being twice that of
in-state;
Augmenting tuition by creating online courses, degrees, and certificates;
Increasing competitively externally funded research including multi-investigator,
multi-institutional proposals;
Increasing the number and diversity of contracts with state and federal agencies;
Diversifying private and foundation philanthropic supporters, especially those
out-of-state;
Identifying and taking advantage of possible sources of new efficiencies;
Considering the appropriateness of additional fees;
Exploring avenues to construct an ESF dining hall and potential benefits of
establishing an ESF auxiliary corporation;
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Expanding summer programming; and
Instituting recharge fees that capture full costs.
I put these and other financial opportunities into three broad categories: Sustain, Seize,
and Seed. First, we will Sustain and expand current sources of funding, a prime example
being our current work with the DEC to secure existing collaborations and create new
ones. Secondly, we will Seize opportunities as they present themselves. Examples are our
recent successful bids for NYSUNY 2020 and State University funds. Lastly, but not
least, we will plant the Seeds through which we will create our own opportunities. These
include membership in The Conversation, high profile media events, and the biomimicry
lab and data center.
Conclusion
Finally, I want to comment on the issue of trust. I do not think it is fair to ask you to
simply give me your trust, but I do believe it is reasonable to ask for enough time to earn
it. You may not like or agree with all of my decisions; but, I can assure you that in every
case I will make decisions with integrity and with good intent and always for what I
believe to be best for ESF.
Moving ESF forward and creating a sustainable future is not a spectator sport. Each and
every one of us has contributions to make. Take the initiative to solve problems, suggest
solutions, and share your best ideas.Where there are challenges, there are opportunities. If
we work together, we can both seize and create the opportunities that will bring ESF a
new century even more successful than its last.
To take full advantage of these opportunities to strengthen our community we must
Sustain our strong STEM foundation, Seize new opportunities, and Seed the future with
transformative ideas. Will will focus on leadership, management, and relationships. We
must finely hone our message, increase national visibility, and offer to the world a vision
that is bold and transformative, inspiring others to want to be a part of this exciting
response to the environmental challenges we face through donations of money, time, and
talent.
Thank you for your attention and let us move forward together to make ESF all it can be.
Quentin Wheeler
President
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