University Faculty Senate
Student Life Committee
Report to the Senate
Spring Plenary, SUNY New Paltz, April 22-24-2010
Since the SUNY Faculty Senate winter plenary meeting, the Student Life Committee met at
SUNY Central Administration on April 16, 2010 to complete a very successful year. All of the
projects continued from the previous year or initiated in September 2009 have been completed
or are in the last stage of development. Project status follows.
1. Student Health Services - Focus on Returning Veterans. The Student Life Committee
in the fall planning meeting chose to focus on this topic on a priority basis. The key
objective was to determine to what extent campus student health services are
prepared to deal with the physical and mental health issues of returning veterans
who will be enrolling in SUNY campuses in increasing numbers since the passage of
the 9-11 G.I. Bill. The whole committee was involved in researching these issues by
means of campus website readings and/or interviews of campus student health
services directors. Examination of the data revealed a wide range of capabilities
campus to campus in dealing with veteran health issues. In the era of limited
economic resources while attempting to serve the returning veterans, the student
health service centers are focusing on securing funding from outside sources and
training the existing staff to address the health needs of the veterans with
sensitivity. The completed project will be posted on the Faculty Senate website. The
project results were authored by Catherine Parker (University at Albany) and Cheryl
Drout (Fredonia).
2. Off Campus Housing Issues. The objective of this topic was to determine the level of
involvement by SUNY campuses in helping students on a wide range of issues
concerning off campus housing, while also taking into account the legal restraints
placed on SUNY acting as an intermediary in issues arising between the student and
the landlord. The results of the sub-committee’s research were not surprising. Few
campuses provided services beyond listing available rentals. On the other hand, a
prepared Excel spreadsheet which included a set of categories determining the
extent and quality of services available at each campus, identified Binghamton and
Stony Brook as best positioned in helping students seeking off campus housing. The
spreadsheet should help campus housing offices compare their standing in
comparison to the best examples and hopefully lead to improvement in services
rendered. The document was written by Laura Valente (Stony Brook). It will be
posted on the Faculty Senate website.
3. Student Leadership Development. The sub-committee working on this project
focused on researching and identifying the leading student leadership programs
within SUNY. Two surveys were conducted for this objective. “The first asked career
development professionals which tools would be of best use as students graduate
from our campuses. The second asked the campuses about the development and
forms of their leadership programs”. All sectors of the SUNY system were
represented in the responses. Council for the Advancement of Standards (CAS) and
student learning outcomes were utilized to gauge the quality of student leadership
programs. The document includes descriptions of several model programs. The
document was written by William Harcleroad (Oneonta).
4. SUNY Campus Traditions II. Having prepared a letter requesting descriptions of
campus traditions (accompanied by a tradition descriptions form) earlier this year,
the sub-committee working on this project has been pleased to have received 204
submissions for the electronic version of the Traditions Project. The next and final
step in the completion of this project will require the review of the submissions by
the whole committee to determine which will be placed on the Faculty Senate
website. William Harcleroad (Oneonta) and Michael Holland (Cortland) were the
main contributors in the development and completion of this project.
Student Life Committee 2009-2010
Chair – Ray Krisciunas – SUNY Canton
Kathleen Jacquette, Farmingdale State University
James Dawson, Plattsburgh State College
William Harcleroad, SUNY Oneonta
Michael Holland, SUNY Cortland
Cheryl Drout, SUNY Fredonia
Laura Valente, Stony Brook University
Yenisel Rodriguez, University at Albany
Catherine Parker, University at Albany
Terry Hamblin, SUNY Delhi
Ed Englebride – SUNY Administration Liaison
Charley Boyd – Genesee CC – Community College Liaison
Melody Mercedes – Student Assembly Liaison
Respectfully submitted,
Ray Krisciunas
Student Life Committee