PRESIDENT’S QUARTERLY REPORT TO THE COLLEGE
DECEMBER 2010
Budget issues continue to plague the state, SUNY and the college. A major mid-year cut
to state funding of more than $23 million was announced in October, and the allocation
of those cuts has, in our opinion, once again been unfair to this college. I have continued
to point out to our SUNY colleagues that this formula for allocation penalizes the most
efficient and one of the most innovative of its colleges in the absence of any tuition
flexibility. While a new reallocation process is being promised, it is “business as usual”
in the meantime. The college’s spending power since 2008 has dropped by nearly $8
million.
Empire State College continues to work in tandem with SUNY System Administration
assisting with their strategic initiatives while working to implement our Vision 2015
goals over the next year. I am currently co-chairing the SUNY Innovative Instruction
Transformation Team that will help the system find ways to share resources and
collaborate to find new ways the colleges and universities can share innovative
instructional ideas. This group will also focus on new methods to remove barriers for
degree completion, and I was able to participate in an ACT conference panel on Oct. 16
to talk about the group’s plans.
The college also has representation on the following innovation and transformation
teams: SUNY and the Seamless Educational Pipeline, SUNY and a Healthier New York,
SUNY and an Energy Smart New York, and the SUNY Budget Task Force.
In late September, I was a panelist at The Chronicle of Higher Education and University
of Maryland/University College (UMUC) roundtable meeting held at the National Press
Club in Washington, DC. Lively discussions were held around greater accountability,
affordable student access, and the future of delivery modes in adult higher education.
Follow-up meetings will be scheduled with a few of our peer institutions to discuss
collaborative ways to lobby Congress for restructuring financial aid policies so they do
not discriminate against part-time adult learners.
In early October, I was part of the college group that won the award for team spirit at the
“Run for the ROC” charity event in Saratoga Springs, where $3,125 was raised for the
local hospital’ radiation and oncology unit.
On Oct. 13, I had the pleasure of going to Raquette Lake for a visit to the college’s
Environmental Residency program. The cross-pollination of the students’ learning
environment with the natural elements of the great Adirondacks and the knowledgeable
faculty was very evident.
Several members of the administration spent half a day on Oct. 25 at SUNY Plaza
sharing information and ideas with our SUNY system colleagues. Both the college and
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SUNY see the need for a better understanding of what we can offer each other. There are
still many misconceptions across SUNY about the college’s unique mandate.
I am continuing my visits to the centers and units across the state attending important
student, staff and alumni events. This is a great networking opportunity for me to meet
with each area and update them on our “Open University” concept as it unfolds. It is also
a good way for me to stay informed about any local issues or concerns.
Likewise, I attended alumni events including a Buffalo Bills game organized by the
Genesee Valley Center and a reception organized by the Metropolitan Center at the
Russian Tea Room. I also continue to meet with key donors and potential donors in
meetings organized by the Office of External Affairs. I recently attended the wonderful
Altes Prize ceremony in Auburn to honor Dr. Heidi Nightengale for her work in the
community.
I have also discussed the “Open University” concept with the Foundation Board, the
Alumni Federation Board, the Student Academic Conference – which proved to be a
huge success – and at the All Areas of Study meeting on Oct. 27.
I was recently the keynote speaker at the Collaboration for Online Higher Education and
Research conference in Toronto. And on Nov. 20, I attended the annual meeting of the
American Association of State College and Universities (AASCU) and volunteered to
join their Economic and Workforce Development Committee.
The search for the new provost is progressing well. The candidate vetting process has
begun and, on Nov. 3 and 4, we held semi-finalist interviews. In-person interviews with
the finalists conclude in early December.
I am pleased to confirm the appointment of Evelyn Buchanan as vice president for the
Office of External Affairs after her 10-month appointment as interim vice president, and
a comprehensive review process.
Environmental Sustainability
The Environmental Sustainability Committee and a few non-committee volunteers have
met and formed subcommittees to focus on the issues of paper reduction, transportation
reduction and energy savings. Some of the preliminary discussions among these groups
include a paper reduction contest, solar panel use and an electronic ride share link-up.
Co-chairman Wayne Ouderkirk has been appointed to the Academic Planning Task
Force. He will give the subject of sustainability a voice in the new academic plan.
The Environmental Sustainability Committee will host workshops at both the All Area of
Studies Conference as well as the Professional Employees Conference. Presentations by
members of the committee have also been added into the regular agenda on the new
employee orientation and the new mentor orientation.
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Additionally, the committee has finished their five-year strategic “Green Path” plan. It
will be sent to the Cabinet and Senate for comments before being accepted as the
college’s official sustainability plan. These goals and objectives will remain fluid as the
committee grows and learns of new opportunities in sustainability initiatives throughout
the college and SUNY.
Affirmative Action
Thus far this quarter the college has conducted 42 management confidential (MC),
professional employee (PE) or faculty searches, with several new employees participating
on search committees. In total, nearly 700 employees have received affirmative action
search committee training.
Civility training initiatives continue throughout the college. At the end of this quarter the
following centers will have received level one civility training: the Center for Distance
Learning (CDL)/Nursing/the Center for International Programs, the School for Graduate
Studies, CNYC, HVACLS, HVC, LIC, and NEC. In addition, various coordinating
center offices have participated in training, with training set to be conducted at GVC,
NFC and the remaining coordinating center offices by early spring 2011. Participant
feedback from these sessions has been extremely positive.
Several centers have committed to extending civility concepts and expectations for
mutual respect into their daily interactions, meetings and course development. A second
level training has been developed to address additional issues around this topic, which
include the college’s expectations for professionalism, ground rules for meetings, and
communication skills for electronic and social media. Information obtained from the
recent climate survey will be helpful in identifying areas of focus and will be used as
benchmark data for climate enhancement.
The Affirmative Action officer, Mary Morton, has been assigned to the ad-hoc committee
on policy development. She attended a two-day policy and procedure training program.
Policies that have been updated, revised or developed for vetting by the Cabinet and
governance committees this quarter include the Workplace Violence Policy, Domestic
Violence in the Workplace Policy, Expectation for Professional Behavior and the Internal
Promotion Policy for management confidential employees.
OFFICE OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
SUMMARY
Several interesting initiatives were undertaken or are nearing completion in the Office of
Academic Affairs. Those, coupled with some special honors for our members, have made
this an exciting quarter.
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The Blue Ribbon Panel on Faculty Work Life continued its work to explore issues of
faculty work life throughout the summer via conference calls and Elluminate sessions. In
September, panelists met face-to-face in Rensselaerville to focus on their subgroup work
and to discuss the broad goal of bettering work life for college employees. The Provost’s
Council, led by Interim Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs Hugh Hammett, will
submit a final report of the panel’s findings and suggestions in late fall.
Interim Vice Provost for Global and Online Learning Meg Benke Named Sloan-C Fellow
Dr. Meg Benke has been named a member of the inaugural class of Sloan-C Fellows for
her advocacy and leadership in the field of online learning. The Sloan Consortium has
honored her as an outstanding individual whose pioneering work has played an important
role in moving online education into the mainstream at colleges and universities across
the nation. According to the Sloan Consortium, “… the Sloan-C board of directors
confers the distinction upon individual members of the Sloan Consortium who have
outstanding and extraordinary qualifications in the field of online learning; significant
experience in online learning or an allied field; a record of distinguished service to SloanC or the field; and extraordinary contributions or leadership in the field of online
learning.”
SUNY North Country Consortium
The 25th Anniversary ceremony of the SUNY North Country Consortium was held at Fort
Drum in September. Dr. Deborah Armory, interim vice provost for regional centers and
networked learning, is the current chair of the board of directors of the consortium and
attended the celebration that included a deployment ceremony at Fort Drum. A
representative from Rep. Bill Owens’ office was in attendance as well as local state
Assembly member Addie J. Russell, District 118.
Hewlett Packard Catalyst Initiative Grant
Interim Associate Dean Betty Lawrence of the Center for Distance Learning (CDL) and
Interim Vice Provost for Global and Online Learning Meg Benke were awarded a
$150,000 Hewlett Packard Catalyst Initiative grant on behalf of CDL and the college.
The grant will allow for a partnership with St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University,
located in St. Petersburgh, Russia, to research and demonstrate best practices in online
education for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students, and
for the development of instructional faculty.
Office of Collegewide Academic Support
In July 2010, Vice Provost Marjorie Lavin instituted a new leadership model for the
college’s academic support initiative. Seana Logsdon, director of academic support for
the Genesee Valley Center, and Craig Lamb, director of academic support for the Center
for Distance Learning, were asked to serve as co-leaders and conveners of the directors of
academic support along with Kelly Hermann, director of the office of collegewide
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disability services, as the liaison for the Office of Academic Affairs. The team has begun
to set and implement goals for the 2010-11 academic year.
New Administrators
Dr. Janet Shideler has joined the Center for Distance Learning as an associate dean. Dr.
Shideler earned a doctorate in French from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst
and a Master of Arts in French from McGill University. She previously was the associate
dean and graduate program director in the school of liberal arts at Excelsior College.
New Faculty
Dr. Tracy Galuski has joined the Center for Distance Learning. Dr. Galuski earned a
doctorate in elementary education and elementary childhood education and a Master of
Education in general education from the University at Buffalo. Dr. Himanee GuptaCarlson joined the faculty as an assistant professor and academic coordinator for early
childhood development.
Dr. Nicola Martinez has joined the Center for Distance Learning. Dr. Martinez earned a
doctorate in media and communications from the European Graduate School in
Switzerland and a Master of Arts in art, dance, and music from University of California
at Santa Barbara. She previously was the director of curriculum and instructional design
at the CDL. Dr. Martinez joined the faculty as an assistant professor and academic
coordinator in humanities.
Dr. Roxana Toma has joined the School for Graduate Studies. Dr. Toma earned a
doctorate in public administration from North Carolina State University. She joined the
faculty in social policy.
Dr. Nancy Kymn Rutigliano has joined the School for Graduate Studies. Dr. Rutigliano
earned a doctorate in organization development from The Union Institute. She joined the
faculty of the Master of Business Arts program.
Dr. Chaochao Gao has joined the Genesee Valley Center. Dr. Gao holds a doctorate in
environmental sciences from Rutgers University. She joined the faculty as an assistant
professor in science, math and technology.
Dr. Francine Jones has joined the Genesee Valley Center. Dr. Jones holds a Master of
Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. She joins the faculty as a parttime lecturer in business, management and economics.
Dr. Barbara Isaman-Bushart has joined the Genesee Valley Center. Dr. Isaman-Bushart
holds a Master of Social Work from Roberts Wesleyan College. She joins the faculty as a
part-time lecturer.
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Dr. David Pritchard has joined the Niagara Frontier Center. Dr. Pritchard holds a
doctorate in international trade and a Master of Arts in international business from SUNY
Buffalo. He previously taught at University of Buffalo, Rochester Institute of
Technology and Walden University. He joined the faculty as an assistant professor in
business, management, and economics.
Dr. Rhianna Rogers has joined the Niagara Frontier Center. Dr. Rogers holds a doctorate
in comparative studies and a Master of Arts in history from Florida Atlantic University.
She joined the faculty as an assistant professor in historical studies.
Dr. Linda Jones has joined the Northeast Center in the Saratoga Unit. Dr. Jones holds a
doctorate in geology and environmental geosciences and a Master of Science in
geography from Northern Illinois University. She joined the faculty as an assistant
professor in science, math and technology.
Dr. Sewon Kim has joined the Northeast Center at the Adirondack Unit. Dr. Kim holds a
doctorate in human resource development from Texas A&M University. He joined the
faculty as an assistant professor in business, management and economics.
Dr. Nadine Wedderburn has joined the Northeast Center in the Schenectady Unit. Dr.
Wedderburn holds a doctorate in public management from Florida Atlantic University
and a Master of Science in engineering management from the Florida Institute of
Technology. She joined the faculty as an assistant professor in social theory, social
structure and change.
College Professor for Adult Learning and Mentoring
Alan Mandell continued to work on scholarly writings and efforts to expand scholarly
publications at the college. He coauthored an essay, “Can Adult Students Transform our
Universities” with colleague Xenia Coulter. Dr. Mandell also had an essay,
“Transformative Learning in Planning and Policy Deliberation: Probing Social Meaning
and Tacit Assumptions,” accepted for publication in an edited volume in collaboration
with his colleague, Frank Fischer.
Center for Mentoring and Learning
The first blended learning model workshops with mentors from the Harry Van Arsdale Jr.
Center for Labor Studies, Hudson Valley Center, Long Island Center and the
Metropolitan Center have been achieved. It also held the first residency for the 2010-11
new mentor orientation.
The Center for Mentoring and Learning launched its website in September, with ongoing
development planned.
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Academic Review
In August, Nan Travers, director of collegewide academic review, brought together a 27member task force to review and recommend direction for the college regarding the use
of e-portfolios. The committee consists of five subgroups: learning portfolios within
course/study settings, learning portfolios as a degree planning tool, measuring outcomes
and institutional effectiveness, career portfolios and technology tools.
Degrees Awarded During the First Quarter of the 2010-11 Academic Year
The following tables display the number of degrees granted at Empire State College
during the first quarter (July 1 through Sept. 30, 2010) of the 2010 – 11 academic year.
The three tables in the report denote the number of undergraduate degrees awarded by
center, the number of degrees awarded by graduate program area of study and the number
of degrees awarded by undergraduate area of study.
Undergraduate Degrees Awarded by Center
Associate
N
%
7
4.7%
25
16.7%
10
6.7%
14
9.3%
9
6.0%
31
20.7%
11
7.3%
11
7.3%
30
20.0%
0
0.0%
2
1.3%
150
100%
Center/Program
Genesee Valley
Metro
Long Island
Central New York
Hudson Valley
Van Arsdale
Northeast
Niagara Frontier
Center for Distance Learning
International Programs
Verizon Corporate College
Total
Bachelor's
N
%
10
1.4%
108
15.0%
66
9.2%
57
7.9%
52
7.2%
16
2.2%
30
4.2%
67
9.3%
186
25.9%
124
17.2%
3
0.4%
719
100%
Graduate Degrees Awarded by Program
N
Area of Study
Arts in Teaching
Business Administration
Business and Policy Studies
Labor and Policy Studies
Liberal Studies
Social Policy
Total
5
6
5
2
12
4
34
7
%
14.7%
17.6%
14.7%
5.9%
35.3%
11.8%
100.0%
Total
N
17
133
76
71
61
47
41
78
216
124
5
869
%
2.0%
15.3%
8.7%
8.2%
7.0%
5.4%
4.7%
9.0%
24.9%
14.3%
0.6%
100%
Undergraduate Degrees Awarded by Area of Study
The Arts
Business, Management and Economics
Community and Human Services
Cultural Studies
Educational Studies
Human Development
Historical Studies
Interdisciplinary Studies
Labor Studies
Science, Math and Technology
Social Theory, Structure and Change
Total
Associate
N
%
2
1.3%
34
22.7%
12
8.0%
3
2.0%
4
2.7%
4
2.7%
3
2.0%
48
32.0%
31
20.7%
9
6.0%
0
0.0%
150 100.0%
Bachelor's
N
%
41
5.7%
291
40.5%
140
19.5%
49
6.8%
8
1.1%
44
6.1%
17
2.4%
51
7.1%
15
2.1%
39
5.4%
24
3.3%
719 100.0%
Total
N
43
325
152
52
12
48
20
99
46
48
24
869
Center and Program News
Center for Distance Learning
The nursing program admitted 100 students in the fall term and currently has a total of
166 students in the program. Its online student center has been edited and now includes
new tools and resources for students to view when visiting the site. Program staff
participated in several statewide recruiting and outreach events.
In July, the Center Development Committee collaborated with student and academic
services to present a panel discussion on the BP oil disaster. The panel included faculty
members Bidhan Chandra, Oto Jones, and Phil Ortiz, as well as MaryNell Morgan of the
Northeast Center. The session was fed via live videostream and made available to
current and prospective students.
Nazik Roufaiel served as chair, reviewer and discussant at the American Accounting
Association’s annual conference. Her presentation, "e-Portfolio: An Effective
Developmental and Reflective Tool for Global Leadership," was nominated for the Bea
Sanders/AICPA Innovation in Teaching Award. Dr. Roufaiel also attended the annual
meeting of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners in Washington, DC.
Dee Britton chaired a panel and presented at both the International Sociological
Association Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden and the International Visual Sociology
Association in Bologna, Italy.
Interim Dean Tom Mackey presented at the Sloan-C Emerging Technologies for Online
Learning conference on the topic: “Designing a Hybrid Open Learning Model for
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%
4.9%
37.4%
17.5%
6.0%
1.4%
5.5%
2.3%
11.4%
5.3%
5.5%
2.8%
100.0%
Teaching Social Media Online” in San Jose, CA in July. Additionally, College &
Research Libraries, one of the top journals in the field of library and information science
published a review of Interim Dean Mackey’s latest book, “Collaborative Information
Literacy Assessments: Strategies for Evaluating Teaching & Learning,” describing the
book as: “informative and practical for librarians seeking to partner with teaching faculty
to enhance and assess information literacy learning.” In August, the peer reviewed open
access journal Information Research published a review that stated: “the book is written
on a sound scholarly foundation.”
Mara Kaufman and Interim Dean Tom Mackey co-presented on service e-learning with a
presentation titled “To Individualize Make it Personalized: Creating Project Based
Service E-Learning” at the 26th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning in
Madison, Wisconsin.
John Beckem presented on the topic “The Integration of Web 2.0 and Adult Learners to
Foster an Engaging Online Classroom” at the SUNY Fredonia 4th Annual Teaching &
Learning Conference.
Eric Zencey, David Starr-Glass, Tanweer Ali and Max Hilaire participated in a jointly
sponsored Prague symposium “Meeting Crisis with Wisdom: Charting our way Forward
in Politics, Business, Finance, Law and Education.” Dr. Zencey was also integral in
planning "GNH 2010: Changing What We Measure from Wealth to Well-Being," the
first international conference on Gross National Happiness held in the United States
while Dr. Starr-Glass presented “The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning” in the
PULSE Lecture Series of UNYP, our partner institution in Prague. Additionally, Dr.
Zencey published an invited article, "Theses on Sustainability: A Primer," in Orion, a
leading environmentalist magazine.
Chris Whann offered a conference in San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, Honduras, titled
“The 2007-10 Financial Crisis and Emerging Markets: Where Are We Now?” The
conference was announced in the media and was well attended by both UTH students and
the local population. An article on the conference appeared in the local newspaper,
Diario El Tiempo.
Deborah Smith continued her series of travel writings with an article in the Iceland
Review.
The Thessaloniki Unit in Greece welcomed three new instructors for the fall term who
will teach in the areas of international finance, international business, java programming,
and systems analysis and design.
The new English language and literature concentration being offered at the Prague Unit is
generating student interest and is being supported through independent study, seminars
and Center for Distance Learning offerings.
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Lebanon’s annual Cyprus residency featured an innovative “green theme.” In addition to
course work, the residency included a trip to nearby farms and businesses as an example
of society interacting at the village level to sustain traditional ways of life.
The Panama program held its first graduation in July and granted degrees to nine
students.
Panamanian students participated in courses with both the Lebanon and Honduras
programs. The opportunity to cross-register for classes offered student a greater variety
of course and scheduling options while introducing them to students of other countries
and cultures.
The Honduran program began offering a degree in international business, which students
will pursue simultaneously with a second degree in another area from the partner
program at the Universidad Tecnologica de Honduras (UTH).
Central New York Center
CNYC hosted its third annual open house on Sept. 24. More than 60 people attended the
opening remarks by President Davis and Dean Shrimpton. A video was shown that
documented the Empire State College experiences of three Chancellor’s Award winning
alumni, David Eichorn ’10, Dee Cote ’10 and Peggy Lynn ’05.
Our Central Arts Gallery fall show, “The Central Fire: A Native American Art Exhibit”
was on display. This show was curated by local artist, Tom Huff (Seneca – Cayuga).
The same night the college hosted “Native People in Popular Culture, Stereotypes and
Mascots” with speakers: Suzan Shown Harjo and Michael Taylor. The talk was part of
the Onondaga Land Rights series, sponsored by Neighbors of Onondaga Nation. Dr.
Oren R. Lyons, Jr., long time advocate for indigenous people, and SUNY Distinguished
Professor and Professor Emeritus of American Studies in the University of Buffalo
College of Arts and Sciences also spoke. The talk was attended by approximately 150
students, employees and visitors.
The first annual Native American studies residency was held in September. Thirty-five
students registered for the residency studies while more than 25 faculty members and
students from surrounding colleges attended the keynote presentations and workshops.
As a chosen poet by the New York State Council on the Arts, Heidi Nightengale
presented a poetry reading at the Schweinfurth Museum of Art in Auburn, NY.
In collaboration with Ogdensburg Public Library, Maureen Kravec received a $500 grant
from Poets and Writers for a poetry and fiction reading workshop that was held at the
library Sept. 26.
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Genesee Valley Center
In September, the Fifth Annual Alumni, Student, Faculty Art Show opened at the Central
Library of Rochester and Monroe County. Thirty-five artists displayed 83 works. The
Sept. 23 opening reception was attended by more than 70 people.
Students and alumni worked together on the 2010 Making Strides against Breast Cancer
Kick off Breakfast and Press Conference.
The Harry Van Arsdale Jr. Center for Labor Studies
The first sections of a newly required course for all lower division apprentice students
were introduced during the September term. Titled "Critical Reading Strategies," the
course introduces students to a range of college-level texts and methods of reading
effectively.
The center sponsored a forum and webcast on Sept. 13, 2010, featuring representatives
from the Cordoba Initiative, the American Society for Muslim Advancement, and faculty
and students from HVACLS. The forum, titled “Inside the Mosque at Ground Zero:
What is the Cordoba Initiative and Why Does it Matter?,” is available for viewing online
at http://media-origin.esc.edu/stream/Cordoba_Initiative/index.html
Hudson Valley Center
Dr. Anna Bates, a professor in historical studies in Newburgh, is leading a study group
focusing on George Washington’s activities in the mid-Hudson Valley during the
Revolutionary War. Thus far, the study group has visited Washington's headquarters in
Newburgh for a presentation about medicine during the American Revolution. The class
also went to Fort Montgomery for a fife and drum presentation in period costumes and a
demonstration of Revolutionary War artillery.
Long Island Center
Nine adjuncts were hired to teach in the areas of accounting, early childhood,
psychology, criminal justice and history. To support the adjunct’s transition to Empire
State College, the Long Island Center held an orientation that included an overview of the
college, covering topics such as academic support services available to students, the prior
learning assessment (PLA) process, the ins and outs of the Registrar’s Office and how to
get paid. The presentations were made by Interim Dean Kenneth Feldman, Mary
Edinburgh, college registrar, and professional staff.
Viktoria Popova-Gonci has developed and will be facilitating PLA concept mapping
workshops. These workshops will be offered to students who are interested in presenting
PLA requests in the form of concept mapping.
Ian Reifowitz wrote the manuscript for a book that explores Barack Obama’s recasting of
the history of this country and his innovative interpretation of American nationhood. The
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manuscript is currently under review at various presses. A section of the book manuscript
will appear as a chapter in an edited collection, “Obama’s Burden.” Additionally, Dr.
Reifowitz wrote a number of academic book reviews in the field of central European
history.
Barbarie Rothstein completed a series of sculptures called “Interiors.” Ms. Rothstein’s
work was accepted by the Brooklyn Museum’s Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist
Art. The work is now included in the center’s “Feminist Art Base,” a database of artists
whose works reflect issues and concerns related to feminism. The database may be
accessed through the Brooklyn Museum’s website (www.brooklynmuseum.org).
Toni Raiten-D'Antonio’s book “Ugly as Sin: The Truth About How We Look and
Finding Freedom from Self-Hatred” was published in September to a favorable review in
Publisher's Weekly which calls it, “empowering” and praises her “message of acceptance,
healing and hope.” This is her third mass market book, following “The Velveteen
Principles” (2004) and “The Velveteen Principles for Women” (2007).
Dr. Ann Becker was appointed unit coordinator of the Riverhead Unit.
Metropolitan Center
A prestigious new community partnership was signed with Year Up New York, an
organization dedicated to closing the opportunity divide for urban youth through an
academic and internship program that prepares young people for well-paying careers in
finance, banking and healthcare management. The graduates of the program will enter
with advanced standing based on transcripted prior leaning assessment from Pace
University, in addition to the array of Empire State College transcript and individualized
prior-learning assessment. A signing ceremony was held Sept. 30 in Year Up New
York’s offices in New York City. SUNY Empire State College President Alan R. Davis,
and founding executive director of Year Up New York, Lisette Nieves, were present for
the event.
On Sept. 21, Betty Wild-Biasiny opened the Metro Gallery season with “Arcitectonica,”
a solo exhibition of digital watercolors. Students and members of the college community
attended. The exhibition was on view through Oct. 5. The works now grace the hallways
of the Hudson Street location.
Judy Gerardi participated in a panel on child trauma at “Children and War: Past and
Present,” a conference in Salzburg, Austria. Her presentation, “Childhood, Imagination,
and War,” focused on the inner life of children and the ways in which they cope
psychologically with extreme danger.
Gohar Marikyan participated at the “Conferences on Intelligent Computer Mathematics
2010” held in Paris, France. She presented the results of her research topic, “Efficiency
of Automating Problem Solving in Martin-Löf's Type Theory” to a group of scientists.
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Lucy Winner participated in the panel “Transnational and Intercultural Collaborations via
Study Abroad and the Arts in India, southern Africa, and Colombia” held in Seattle,
Wash. She shared her ideas on international partnerships, work in arts/community health,
and study abroad programs that focus on human rights.
Karyn Pilgrim presented “Reinventing the Past: Futuristic Fiction and the Case for
Sustainability” for the Association of Literature, Environment and Culture of Canada
(ALECC) at Cape Breton University, Nova Scotia, Canada. She also presented “Old
Fashioned Futures: Ecological Perspectives and New Cultural Frames in McCarthy,
Kunstler, Butler and Atwood” for the Association for the Study of Literature and
Environment (UK) (ASLE-UK) “Environmental Change – Culture Change” conference
at University of Bath in England.
Gina Torino gave two presentations “Key Elements of a Multicultural Internship Built to
Last Through Generations of Psychologists” and “Gender Microaggresions Scale
(GMAS): Initial Scale Construction and Exploratory Factor Analysis” at the American
Psychological Association convention.
Northeast Center
Associate Dean John Eisler, Adirondack Unit Mentor Christine Testani and Assessment
Specialist Liza Feldmen presented “Identifying and Dealing with Stress” for the
Worker’s Compensation Board Sept. 28, 2010.
Elaine Handley of the Saratoga Unit was one of the featured readers of poetry at the
Bright Hill Writing Center in Treadwell, N.Y. Additionally, Dr. Handley had her poem
“Crossword” published in the anthology “When Last on the Mountain: The View from
Writers Over 50,” edited by Lettmann and Roan, Holy Cow Press. She also wrote a
poetry chapbook titled “Winterberry, Pine: Three Poets on Adirondack Winter” in
collaboration with Mary Sanders Shartle and Marilyn McCabe that was published.
Northeast Center mentor Bob Congemi published a book of short stories titled “The
Absurd Heart.”
Plattsburgh Unit mentor Anastasia Pratt’s book, “Clinton County,” has been published
and was released Oct. 18. The book is part of the “Images of America” series produced
by Arcadia Publishing and uses photographs to tell the story of Clinton County's past.
Niagara Frontier Center
The center hosted monthly literary events at which students, faculty, alumni and members
of the community read their works.
The center sponsored an information booth at the Erie County Fair in August. More than
40 alumni volunteered their time to staff the booth, dispersing literature and answering
questions about the college and their experiences as students.
13
School for Graduate Studies
At the fall 2010 School for Graduate Studies residency, 283 students were in attendance.
Students were engaged in authentic learning led by guest speaker Mike Neidl, the deputy
legislative director of the New York State American Federation of Labor and Congress of
Industrial Organization (AFL-CIO) and an immigration panel discussion with Gabriela
Villareal of the New York Immigration Coalition and Andrea Callan of the New York
Civil Liberties Union.
Community College Partnerships
The Pathways Transfer Program is designed to promote a seamless transfer for associate
degree holders to Empire State College bachelor’s degree programs. During the last
quarter, multiple community colleges signed on as Pathways partners, bringing the total
to 18 SUNY and CUNY community colleges. Our newest partners include CUNY
LaGuardia CC, Onondaga CC, Schenectady CCC, Suffolk CCC, and Westchester CC. In
addition, we had meetings at nine other colleges to begin negotiating agreements,
bringing the total to 27 out of the 35 SUNY and CUNY community colleges involved
with the Pathways program.
Currently, there are four regional higher education centers located on community college
campuses in the state of New York. Empire State College has been a partner-inresidence in the center at Adirondack CC, and during the past quarter formally signed
similar agreements with the centers at Jefferson CC and Jamestown CC. The fourth
center, to open in the coming months at Onondaga CC, is currently being considered as
well.
Out-of-state efforts to expand the Pathways program are also underway. During the third
quarter we signed an agreement with Ivy Bridge College, the two-year online community
college of Tiffin University in Ohio. Training for Ivy Bridge’s “transfer coaches” will be
provided by Shelley Dixon in CDL. Additionally, we are in the process of renewing an
agreement with the Maricopa Community College District that includes 10 campuses and
serves over 260,000 students annually) in Arizona and creating a new partnership with
Georgia Perimeter College.
Community college marketing plans are underway for the academic year. Pathways and
transfer advertisements have been placed in community college student newspapers,
regional community college publications, and other selected items such as student
advisement/career center guides. A new 20-page Empire State College transfer student
magazine is going to press by the end of October to assist with the recruitment of
prospective transfer students. A new front page for the Pathways program has also been
added to the college’s new webpage. On this page (www.esc.edu/Pathways), prospective
students will find a dropdown list of currently active Pathways partner community
colleges, along with other information on transferring to Empire State College.
14
Finally, 33 of the 35 SUNY and CUNY Community Colleges offer a nursing associate
degree program (RN). After conducting a summer outreach campaign to all 33 nursing
directors, we now have nine signed nursing agreements. Thirteen other colleges have
responded with interest and have begun the review process. We plan to pursue similar
agreements with the fire science and emergency management programs at community
colleges throughout New York state (and eventually the northeast region).
Corporate and Community Partnerships
The pilot between the New York state Office of General Services (OGS) and Northeast
Center was launched. Six employees registered for the study titled “Principles of
Sustainability,” which is the first of four course offerings. The launch of the pilot has
generated interest from other state agencies even though a marketing campaign has not
been initiated. This is a development that holds great promise as the state continues to
position itself as a leader in the sustainability movement, and there is a growing demand
for sustainability education across multiple occupational areas.
A formal signing event recognizing the partnership with the Hudson River Community
Credit Union (HRCCU) provided an opportunity to raise visibility through media
coverage, and provided an opportunity to solidify relationships with faculty and staff
representing SUNY Adirondack. Six information sessions were scheduled at each of the
HRCCU branches and a soft landing page was launched to provide direction.
A formal signing event recognizing a partnership with the New York State Correctional
Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) was held at NYSCOPBA’s
headquarters in Albany. The signing event provided an opportunity to meet with
NYSCOPBA’s executive board. A memorandum of understanding was signed by
NYSCOPBA president Donn Rowe. Attending on behalf of the college were Northeast
Center Dean Gerald Lorentz, Center for Distance Learning Associate Dean and Director
of Outreach Shelley Dixon, Northeast Center Recruitment and Outreach Specialist Kate
Reis, and Director of Corporate and Community Partnerships Lisa Sax.
In August, Ms. Sax worked with a local company to develop and offer a guided tour of
their facility to Empire State College faculty and staff. With assistance and coordination
from faculty member Bidhan Chandra, 20 people visited Tribune Media Services in
Queensbury to learn about the company, and innovations and challenges faced by the
media and entertainment industry. The open dialogue between Empire State College
faculty and Tribune Media Services representatives provided a unique opportunity to
share expertise, and led to discussion of future possibilities including internships,
capstone projects and shared learning activities.
Office of Veteran and Military Education
In July, the Office of Veteran and Military Education (OVME) launched the Student
Veteran and Military Club. Additionally, OVME was named a military friendly school
by GI Jobs magazine.
15
September brought approval of participation in the Air Force’s General Education
Module program. OVME was named “Best for Vets” by MilitaryEdge in the same
month.
Recruitment specialists have made agreements to either expand their monthly visit
schedule or to visit new sites. These sites include the Bethesda Naval Hospital, Oceana
Navy College Office, Hector and Sectron Coast Guard bases, and the Yorktown Coast
Guard which is the largest Coast Guard installation in the United States.
Office of Collegewide Student Affairs
Patricia Myers, along with Northeast Center Associate Dean John Eisler will chair the
newly formed Student Success and Retention Task Force. The charge of the group is to
conduct an analysis across the multiple domains of student services in order to identify
critical service touch points and barriers to student success. The goal for the task force is
to develop recommendations for strengthening services to students that will result in
improved student success and retention of students.
The Harry Van Arsdale Jr. Center for Labor Studies is piloting the new counseling
project along with the previously announced Genesee Valley Center and the Metropolitan
Center. Both full-time and adjunct faculty were given information on how to refer
students who are need of assistance.
Office of Collegewide Disability Services
In July, Kelly Hermann, the director of collegewide disability services, and Danielle
Dottolo, the collegewide disability specialist, attended the Association for Higher
Education and Disability (AHEAD) conference in Denver, CO. Ms. Hermann presented
several sessions, including a pre-conference workshop on online learning and disability
services. Ms. Hermann and Linda Frank, director of the Office of Veterans and Military
Education, also presented on meeting the needs of veterans with disabilities and not only
disseminated lessons learned from our experiences but gathered information for inclusion
in the college’s ACE/Wal-Mart Success for Veterans Initiative grant.
Ms. Hermann was an invited delegate to the National Disability Policy Summit in
Washington, DC, sponsored by the National Council for Disability (NCD) in July. The
theme of the summit was “Live, Learn, Earn,” with sessions focused on the needs of
individuals with disabilities across all policy sectors, including education, independent
living, and labor. Policy updates from the Departments of Justice and Labor as well as
from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) were presented and discussed in
small and large groups as the summit attendees helped to shape the policy agenda of
NCD.
16
OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION
SUMMARY
In our last report, we changed our reporting focus from a broad scope of activities within
the Office of Administration to a more focused and detailed report on a couple of select
functions. Last quarter, we reported on the budget function/financial update, as well as
the student financial aid function. Given that we are in a continual state of budget
turmoil with respect to the state and SUNY’s budget, it looks as though a quarterly report
update on that subject may be warranted for some time, so we’ll touch briefly on that
subject. We also will feature updates to activities around facilities.
Budget Update
The college was notified at the end of October of another midyear reduction as the state
continues to struggle to balance the budget for the 2010 – 11 fiscal year. Gov. David
Paterson has implemented $250 million statewide cuts across all state agencies with
SUNY’s portion of that reduction amounted to approximately $23.5 million, 9.4 percent
of the total. SUNY has allocated the full amount of the reduction against each stateoperated campus, as well as SUNY System Administration and the statutory colleges of
Cornell and Alfred Ceramics; however, they spared university-wide programs from any
further reductions. Unfortunately, the reductions were based upon each campuses total
state financial plan that is state support plus campus tuition revenues, which in the case of
Empire State College, disproportionately negatively affects the college. The college’s cut
amounted to $548,500, or 5.1 percent of total state support. Had the cuts been allocated
based on each campus’ and university-wide programs’ state support, the college’s
reduction would have only been $210,235.
The college had already planned for a budgetary operating gap of about $7 million for
this year, offset by considerable personal service cost savings by delays in hiring as well
as contingent expenses which may or may not materialize; however, the additional
$548,500 reduction will lead to targeted reductions in spending by various centers and
department, as well as additional delays or freezes in selected hiring.
Facilities
The Office of Administration oversees all issues involving facilities, including all new
capital construction projects, acquisition of leased facilities, critical and routine
maintenance of both state-owned and foundation-owned buildings, and cleaning and
grounds keeping. Below find information on college buildings throughout the state:
State-owned
ESC Foundation-owned
Leased or Shared facilities
Total
# of buildings/facilities
4
2
33
39
17
square footage
133,600
67,600
180,800
382,000
In order to maintain these facilities and plan for future operations, the following
individuals directly reporting to the Vice President for Administration share
responsibilities:




William Ferrero – Director of Capital Facilities (part-time)
Jeffrey Ellenbogen – Director of Real Estate
Rick Reimann – Director of Facilities Maintenance
Harold Schneiderwind – Field Site Representative/Project Manager
These individuals work closely with the Procurement Office and the Office of Safety and
Security, as well as working collaboratively with the deans and their staff and other
offices to provide adequate and safe facilities.
Capital Program
Bill Ferrero, the former vice president for administration has been working on a part-time
basis as our director of capital facilities. Mr. Ferrero’s extensive experience in working
with members of the State University Construction Fund (SUCF) and various
architectural firms on recently completed new constructions projects, such as 2 Union
Ave. and 113 West Ave., as well major renovations to 1 Union Ave. and 28 Union Ave.,
has been invaluable.
Harold Schneiderwind, a licensed engineer, was essentially our man on the ground for
these projects working with Mr. Ferrero and directly with the general contractors to help
ensure the architectural and building specifications were adhered to, as well as attending
progress meeting in order to meet construction schedules.
Mr. Ferrero is currently working with Jeffrey Ellenbogen, director of real estate, on real
estate acquisitions for the capital construction projects for a new Genesee Valley Center
and a new Long Island Center. The GVC regional center was to be located on the
Monroe Community College campuses using a long-term ground lease; however, after
lengthy negotiations, it was determined by both parties to mutually part ways. Another
location, an 11+ acre parcel has been located, a contract price for the purchase has been
agreed upon and a closing package has been sent to SUNY for their approval prior to
moving the contract to the Attorney General’s Office and the Office of the State
Comptroller for their approvals. It is expected that all approvals will be completed in
January and the construction contract will go out to bid that same month.
Groundbreaking for the new GVC could occur by June or July once the bids have been
evaluated and a construction contract awarded and approved. Construction should take
approximately 18 months, so we expect to have the new facility for late winter or early
spring 2013.
The LIC regional center is also moving along on a parallel track. A 6.6 acre site owned
by Suffolk County, adjacent to Suffolk Community College in Selden, has been identified
and negotiations are proceeding to purchase the property from the county. The college
has had an independent appraisal done on the property and we are awaiting the results of
18
the county’s appraisal to complete the negotiations. We believe the project will follow
the same schedule as GVC but lag by approximately two to three months.
Leased Facilities
As mentioned in our prior council update, Mr. Ellenbogen has recently joined the college
as our director of real estate. He has extensive experience in commercial real estate and
is a licensed broker and comes to us from SUNY System Administration where he
worked in a similar capacity. Mr. Ellenbogen’s experience with working with University
Counsel’s Office, the State Attorney General’s Office and the Office of the State
Comptroller is critical to process purchase and lease agreements as quickly as the state
can possibly move. He is currently working with various deans on locating new facilities
or expanding current space to accommodate growth in enrollment and staffing. Major
lease projects recently completed or in progress include:







22,000 square foot addition at 325 Hudson Street to expand the Metropolitan
Center, the Harry Van Arsdale Center for Labor Studies, the School for Graduate
Studies and the Center for Distance Learning. A lease amendment to our existing
33,000 square foot lease has been approved by the state and build-out by the
landlord to accommodate the college’s needs is expected soon with an expected
occupancy by May 2011.
8,000 square foot addition at AppleTree Business Park to expand the Niagara
Frontier Center and to also accommodate growth in graduate programs and CDL.
We are currently working with Dean Nan DiBello on defining the programmatic
needs for a floor plan and expect a lease amendment by the end of December. A
build-out will follow and we expect occupancy by August 2011.
6,000 square foot facility is being sought in Nassau County for a new unit for our
Long Island Regional Center. Mr. Ellenbogen and Interim Dean Kenneth
Feldman are working on an alternative location after negotiations with a landlord
on a previously agreed upon location fell through. Three sites are currently under
consideration and we expect to have everything in place by the fall 2011 term.
4,000 square foot facility has been identified in Troy for a new unit of the
Northeast Center and the lease is currently being negotiated. We expect to take
occupancy by the May 2011 term.
2,600 square foot facility to provide meeting room space for the Genesee Valley
Center has recently been leased at University Business Center in Rochester. The
annex was needed because the GVC Winton Road location lacked sufficient space
for group studies. Winton Road location will still house faculty and
administrative staff until the new center is built.
2,500 square foot facility lease for a new location for the Canandaigua Unit in
commercial property to replace a much smaller shared space on Canandaigua
Community College.
There have been or currently planning a number of smaller changes at various
units, all less than 1,000 square feet, including: Cayuga Community College,
Jefferson Community College Higher Education Center, Jamestown, and
Hauppauge.
19
Critical Maintenance Projects
Also mentioned in the prior council report was the addition of Rick Reimann as director
of facilities, responsible for both critical and routine maintenance of college and
foundation-owned building here at the Coordinating Center. Mr. Reimann also comes to
the college by way of SUNY System Administration and has extensive experience
working with the SUCF and has certificates in code compliance. Working with Mr.
Schneiderwind, Mr. Reimann oversees a critical maintenance budget of approximately
$900,000. Included in the scope of these projects were the recent installation of an
emergency generator to maintain our computer operations in the event of a significant
power outage, additional exterior lighting for safety purposes, new storm and sanitary
sewer connections and current reconstruction of the 30-car parking lot behind 1 Union
Ave. Other planned critical maintenance projects include the rehabilitation of the
elevator, replacement of boiler, roof repair and exterior façade work at 1 Union Ave. In
October, college staff also coordinated the efforts to replace the roof on 111 West Ave.;
the $250,000 cost was approved and paid for by the Empire State College Foundation.
In addition to the critical maintenance projects noted above, which are all bid out to
private contractors, Rick supervises a maintenance staff of four to handle routine
painting, repairs and grounds, as well as a cleaning staff of seven to clean the six
buildings of the Coordinating Center, approximately 201,000 square feet, during the
evening hours. All other leased or shared facilities have their cleaning and maintenance
outsourced or covered under the lease terms.
The college has been without a facilities building since the demolition of the old structure
to accommodate the new building at 2 Union Ave. The college recently leased a 2,800
square foot garage conveniently located on 1.25 acres of land in Saratoga Springs to
provide storage space needed for equipment and maintenance supplies. The college has
an option to buy the property and is currently negotiating a purchase contract with the
landlord.
Facility Master Plan
The State University Construction Fund (SUCF) has recently contracted with various
architectural firms to conduct facility master plans for all SUNY campuses. We were
fortunate that JMZ Architects and Planners, PC won the bid to provide an updated master
plan for the college, as they helped design a number of the buildings here at the
Coordinating Center, most recent of which is the new building at 113 West Ave. The
consultants will assist the SUCF and the college in planning our capital needs for the
through 2023, as well as provide added insights into locations for additional leased
facilities and how to equip all of the buildings in the future. The facility master plan
process began in July and is expected to take one year. As noted in the report above, the
college is already moving forward on a number of projects which cannot wait.
20
OFFICE OF ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT
SUMMARY
Targets have been set for the year with a total increase of 5.6 percent across the college.
Regional center credit targets have a combined average increase of 9 percent and
programs an increase of 2.7 percent. Our credit target goal is to reach 289,218 credits.
We enrolled 12,047 students for a total of 100,657 credits for the September term. Even
though we did not reach our credit target of 104,265 credits for September, we did have a
1.6 percent increase compared to last year’s actual credits earned.
Applications are down 13.4 percent compared to last year for the months of July, August,
and September. The School of Graduate Studies experienced an increase in applications
due to the new certificate programs of which 59.4 percent of their applications were for
the certificate programs.
Enrollment management staff continue to assist centers with recruitment and outreach
efforts. We have developed a communication plan for our dormant lead population and
are working with centers to further develop their communication plans. A new and
improved power point has been created for centers and units to use at their information
sessions. The information session power point with audio will soon be available online
for prospective students to view, where they will register which allows us to track their
attendance as well as the length of viewing time.
Outreach/Recruitment specialists from across the college met in late September for a two
day retreat to discuss and share recruitment and retention strategies for the year which
included; best practices, consistency in tracking prospects in the CRM system,
preliminary review of prior college transcripts, engaging alumni in recruitment efforts,
marketing, and community college and corporate partnerships. The group also meets
through Elluminate on a monthly basis.
Marketing
This quarter was devoted to planning and analyzing results from last year’s promotions.
Below is an overview of the projects undertaken during this period:



Media plans were developed, together with the deans, directors and recruitment
professionals, for the programs managed at the coordinating center. This included
media plans for undergraduate, graduate, CDL, veterans/military and nursing.
The September/October undergraduate promotion is currently under way with
newspaper ads appearing in major newspapers for centers and units statewide;
traffic and weather sponsorships announcing the college and phone number are
running on multiple radio stations statewide for two weeks; and banner ads are up
on major newspaper websites for three weeks.
Marketing for the graduate program includes ads in business journals and major
newspapers relating to graduate study; banner ads on major newspaper and
21


business journal websites across the state; and an email blast alerting prospects
who have inquired but not yet enrolled that the application deadline is Nov. 1 and
to apply now.
Our second 30-second television commercial titled “Parkour,” which is the art of
overcoming barriers, is running on cable television stations, such as Bravo, FX,
ESPN, local news, MTV and Comedy Central, throughout the state except for
Manhattan. We had a total of 3,509 commercials appearing from Sept. 20 to Oct.
10.
Empire State College flags were hung in downtown Saratoga Springs during the
racing season from the beginning of July through Sept. 15.
Empire State Plaza Office
The Empire State Plaza Office continued its ongoing outreach efforts during July, August
and September. In addition to conducting two onsite undergraduate information sessions
per month, a wide variety of offsite sessions (both undergraduate and graduate) were held
at various governmental agencies in the Capital Region including: NYS Division of
Budget, NYS Office of General Services, NYS Office of Children and Family Services,
NYS Department of Insurance, NYS Dormitory Authority, and the Albany Department of
Social Services. Outside the region, the Plaza office coordinated undergraduate and
graduate information sessions in New York City for the NYS Department of Insurance
and the NYS Office of the Medicaid Inspector General and in White Plains for the NYS
Office of Children and Family Services. Additionally, a highly successfully graduate
information session (with 28 attendees) was coordinated by and held at the Plaza office in
September.
The Plaza workshop series launched its second year in September with a workshop on
Office Ergonomics. This was followed at the end of September by a non-partisan panel
discussion which focused on political issues of importance to voters. The panel,
facilitated by CDL faculty chair Al Lawrence, featured high profile representatives from
the NYS League of Women Voters, New York Public Interest Research Group
(NYPIRG), and the Rockefeller Institute. The discussion attracted the attention of such
political notables as local Assemblyman Jack McEneny and Assemblyman Herman
Farrell, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. It should also be noted that the
Plaza office contacted the editor of The Legislative Gazette to publicize the event; in
addition to the regular calendar item, a full story with photos was published. The
Legislative Gazette also sent a reporter and photographer to cover the event for an
upcoming election insert.
The Plaza office played an integral role in the birth of a new sustainability academic
program being offered by NEC to Office of General Services (OGS) employees. Course
information and registration advice was administered to interested OGS employees and
the conference room is now being used for all study group meetings for the first course
on “Principles of Sustainability.”
22
One of the major directives of the Plaza office is to continually build and foster
relationships with key influential figures and connect them with colleagues from the
Empire State College community. Outreach initiated by the Plaza office has led to the
college’s involvement in events or information sessions in the Niagara Frontier, Hudson
Valley, and New York City regions. Plaza outreach was also responsible for connecting
the new director of NPONSI with the director of corporate and community partnerships.
Applications and Admissions
Total applications (undergraduate and graduate) for July, August, and September is
2,380.
Undergraduate:
 July: 364 accepted (41 writing accept), 103 incomplete, 4 rejected, 6 inactivated
(477 total)
 August: 784 accepted (78 writing accept), 321 incomplete, 7 rejected, 10
inactivated (1122 total)
 September: 263 accepted (19 writing accept), 370 incomplete, 6 rejected, 4
inactivated (643 total)
 Total for three months: 2,242
* The total number accepted includes writing accepts, those students accepted contingent
on additional work on writing skills.
Graduate:
 July: 10 accepted, 7 incomplete, 1 rejected, 0 inactive (18 total)
 August: 41 accepted (36 Certificate), 29 incomplete (15 Certificate), 0 rejected
(70 total)
 September: 17 accepted (15 Certificate), 33 incomplete (13 Certificate), 0
rejected (50 total)
 Total for three months: 138
As applications remain lower over last year, the Admissions Office continues to reach out
to applicants with incomplete applications. We have added additional automated email
reminders for incomplete applications and continue to reach out to prospective students
who have submitted documentation without an application.
Admissions Assessment
We added three questions to the application from the previous essay asking applicants the
topics they hope to explore, strengths, experiences and interests they bring to the college
and their long term personal and professional goals. A new skills assessment brochure
has been developed to accompany acceptance letters to students required to complete a
second assessment. The Center for Distance Learning has reported that with the new
instructions outlined in this brochure students are able to complete the skills assessment
quickly and easily.
23
During the first quarter, the admissions advisors reviewed 2,242 undergraduate essays
and 138 students have been referred to complete a second assessment. These students
have been distributed as follows: 4 Genesee Valley Center, 31 Metropolitan Center, 12
Long Island Center, 6 Central New York, 9 Hudson Valley Center, 8 Northeast Center,
13 Niagara Frontier Center, and 55 Center for Distance Learning. Of the 2,242 essays
reviewed, 15 essays scored a 7 and went to committee review, and 4 of the 15 applicants
were denied admission based on the committee’s decision.
Graduate Certificate Programs
The Graduate Certificate Application is live with great success. Admissions is
processing applications on a daily basis. To date we have received 79 applications. Of
those applicants, 51 are now eligible to register. The Admissions Office continues to
accept applications for future terms.
Web Marketing
Paid Search Campaigns
Paid search budgets were set to relatively low levels and display network campaigns were
paused in July in order to save funds for busier more important periods in our recruitment
cycle. In August and September, the budgets were increased and network campaigns
were turned back on, with a corresponding response in the number of leads.
Paid Search Total (Search and Display Network combined)
Month
July
August
September
$
$
$
Spend
12,150.52
28,353.04
46,449.95
Leads
323
586
725
Conversion Rate
8.62%
7.09%
5.73%
Cost / Lead
$
37.62
$
48.38
$
64.07
$
$
$
Spend
12,150.52
18,250.59
23,366.39
Leads
323
501
556
Conversion Rate
8.62%
8.44%
8.00%
Cost / Lead
$
37.62
$
36.43
$
42.03
Spend
Leads
Conversion Rate
Cost / Lead
10,102.45
23,083.56
85
169
3.65%
2.96%
Search Network
Month
July
August
September
Display Network
Month
July
August
September
$
$
24
$
$
118.85
136.59
At the end of September, our contract with Prime Visibility (a paid search agency)
expired. From October onward, all paid search initiatives will be managed in-house.
Bringing paid search management back in-house will save 10 percent in agency fees and
allow us to make adjustments to our campaigns more quickly. In the next quarter, paid
search accounts will be re-organized so they can be more easily reconciled with the lineitems in our budget.
Email, Landing Pages, and Banner Ads
Casey Lumbra joined Empire State College at the start of August. Mr. Lumbra serves as
in-house graphic design resource for marketing campaigns. He is responsible for the
design of landing pages, banner ads, HTML email, newsletters and other online
marketing collateral.
In August and September, Mr. Lumbra helped develop a fresh look for our marketing
emails. Seven new email templates were developed to market the new graduate
certificate programs and 12 new templates were developed for the dormant lead
campaigns managed by OEM. Several new landing pages have also been designed to
improve the overall appearance of the pages and to align with the look and feel of the
new emails.
Mr. Lumbra has also started working on creating a well-organized library of banner ad
templates. The objective of this project is to enable OEM to more quickly develop highly
targeted online display ads that have a consistent look and feel. The consistent
appearance will help promote recognition of our brand, while the targeted messaging will
help drive prospects to convert to a lead.
Online Information Session
A new version of our online information session was produced in this previous quarter
and has recently been launched. The initial effort was spearheaded by Kathy Schechner,
who reorganized and updated the contents of the presentation. Extra effort was taken to
ensure that the new presentation is fully compliant in terms of accessibility. The result is
a presentation of much higher quality that should prove more useful in communicating
what Empire State College has to offer while demonstrating our command of online
technology.
Prospective Student Website
The prospective student website was launched on July 22. Since the launch, the website
has brought in approximately 285 leads per week. The discovery phase of our project
with FingerPaint Marketing began in late August and was accelerated in the last week of
September. FingerPaint will build on the work of the prospective student website to
further refine and optimize our ability to convert prospects to leads.
25
Student Information Center
The Student Information Center (SIC) answered 40,172 calls in 63 days for this quarter.
This was the single highest volume for any quarter since the SIC opened in 2006. We
averaged 638 calls answered per day for the reporting quarter. Last year, we answered
35,775 calls in the reporting quarter that was 64 days, averaging 559 calls per day.
The increase in volume reflects the number of students we serve as well as service issues
that our students encounter as they apply to the school; go through the registration
process; and secure financial aid or make other payment arrangements. In addition,
students continue to call the SIC when they are unable to contact their mentors; have
concerns regarding the dates for study outcomes: and when they are unable reach a live
person at the Tech help desk extension. Each year the SIC responds to a high volume of
calls in August and September, and each year we identify the processes that warrant
review if we are to achieve the highest level of service for our students.
Service initiatives:
o Admissions has been providing the SIC with reports identifying accepted students
who indicated an intent to apply for financial aid; the SIC is following up to
ensure that the students have applied appropriately and will be prepared to enroll
after orientation.
o The SIC collaborated with colleagues in OEM/web marketing and Student
Financial Services (SFS) – providing feedback regarding effectively
communicating with students.
o SIC staff attended NEC and CNY orientation. Continue to review HVC, Metro
NEC, and CNY attendees for outreach calls to minimize deregistrations for this
population.
o Continue to review all newly registered students, and subsequent outreach calls to
minimize deregistrations.
o SIC staff meetings attended: OVME grant discussion; CDL non-matric
orientation; OEM recruiters; civility workshop.
o SIC prepared a narrative analysis for May term deregistrations and data on SIC
outreach below.
Service issues:
o Changes to the Time Payment Plan (TPP) making $30 application fee nonrefundable provided some challenges for students:
 Delay in mailing bills due to statement revisions. SIC and SA worked
created a staggered billing schedule.
26



SIC is no longer able to assist students in signing up for TPP as
students will need to actively sign up on line or through the mail due to
the required payment.
SIC worked with SA on suggestions to modify webpage due to
changes to TPP.
The SIC presented SA with a suggestion to modify the process into a
single step of enrolling and paying the first one-third payment which
would eliminate students who mistakenly think that they are enrolled
with the selection of TPP and the fee being added to their accounts.
o SIC identified concerns with a number of grad applicants in the “complete and
awaiting” status remaining over 30 days. SIC, Admissions and the School for
Graduate Studies are working on solutions.
o There we complications with extracting BCMS for the month of July. SIC was
unable to retrieve “real-time” data and history had to be retrieved in the computer
room at 3 Union Ave.
o Deregistration continues to be challenging as many of the same issues are
encountered each term. We are currently gathering data for analysis of the
September deregistration.
Deregistration Analysis for the 2010SU - May Term
The table below highlights the reasons why students are being deregistered.
5/5/2010
# of
% Of
Students Total
Dereg
Dereg
Academic
Issue
Impacting
Aid
ERROR
Fin. Aid
No
Payment
or
Financial
Aid
Time
Payment
Error
Voucher
Related
Total
5/7/2010
# of
Students
% Of Total
Dereg
Dereg
5/12/2010
# of
Students
% Of Total
Dereg
Dereg
5/17/2010
# of
Students
% Of Total
Dereg
Dereg
26
6
228
5.73%
1.32%
50.22%
3
2
32
3.30%
2.20%
35.16%
1
2
27
1.35%
2.70%
36.49%
54
5
52
33.33%
3.09%
32.10%
132
29.07%
36
39.56%
30
40.54%
25
15.43%
42
9.25%
12
13.19%
10
13.51%
16
9.88%
20
454
4.41%
6
91
6.59%
4
74
5.41%
10
162
6.17%
27
The number of students with the invoice and credit amounts is illustrated in the chart
below.
# of Students
Deregistered*
Invoice Amount
# Of Credits
05/05/10
05/07/10
05/12/10
05/17/10
454
$839,111.40
3582
91
$161,320.15
669
74
$133,574.00
565
163
$327,726.90
1465
Total
782
$1,461,732.45
6281
*There are students who were deregistered in more than one cancellation.
The purpose of analyzing the accounts is to determine if there are actions that we could
take to retain more registrations. In the final deregistration, 15 percent of those
deregistered were strictly self payers who indicated no intent of paying, and roughly
another 10 percent had issues with time payments—either choosing the plan and not
making the first payment, or paying the one-third and not choosing the plan. One third of
the registered students were deregistered because of academic issues impacting their
aid—a group who should be counseled before deregistration. There appears to be a need
to reach out to students in FA SAP warning. It is possible that the Starfish software
currently being piloted will facilitate early identification of this population.
We see opportunities to decrease the deregistrations through a more integrated effort that
includes functional offices and centers. The implementation of Starfish may help
facilitate integration.
The Student Information Center Outreach
Over the course of the registration and late registration periods, the Student Information
Center contacted 1,172 students at risk of being deregistered for a variety of reasons. The
chart below outlines our efforts.
Type of
Outreach
1st Term, No
FAFSA
Aid in past, no
10/11
Payment & Billing
Issues
Missing Financial
Aid Documents or
MPN Needed
Non-Matric, 1st
term
Total
# of
Students
Contacted
# of
Students
Remaining
Registered
for 2010SU
161
% Remaining
Registered
Invoice
Amount for
those still
Registered
Credit Count
for those still
Registered
128
79.50%
$259,279.00
1018
389
308
79.18%
$528,923.00
2194
335
302
90.15%
$452,246.75
1860
242
209
86.36%
$456,043.05
2046
45
1172
36
983
80.00%
83.87%
$45,160.85
$1,741,652.65
197
7315
28
OFFICE OF INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES
SUMMARY
The Office of Integrated Technologies (OIT) has cast its goals and associated action
items for the ensuing year. These are grounded upon Vision 2015: Empire State College
Strategic Plan for 2010 – 2015 and the Integrated Technologies Strategic Plan for 2010 –
2015, crafted and vetted collegewide this past year collaboratively by the Educational
Technology Committee (ETC) and OIT.
Priority action items for OIT this year will be focused on: 1 – completing the OIT
organizational restructuring so as to establish a stable, effective and efficient platform
from which IT services and support can be provided. The first step is currently underway
to create a single, highly visible, authoritative and accessible source of information about
IT resources and support available to the college community. This new User Support
Services group within OIT is currently being resourced and tasked. 2- balancing IT
governance and advisory. OIT is working with ETC for a new chartering to extend
beyond educational technologies and create a college wide representative forum which
contributes balanced vision, direction and priorities for the full spectrum of integrated
technologies consistent with the unique characteristics of the college. 3 – managing
current commitments made for projects within the IT Project Portfolio, while establishing
priority algorithm for all future project requests. All IT projects are now processed
through a single service request system and will be assigned priorities based upon
guidelines established and published collaboratively by OIT and IT governance. 4 –
establishing authority, responsibilities and actions for the college’s presence on the Web.
These are the first steps to creating an exemplary college presence on the Web. This will
be followed by a clear set of policies, standards and best practices. An electronic
media/web presence style guide will also follow. 5 – identifying principals for the
ownership and shared stewardship of college data, information and knowledge assets.
This action item speaks to managing knowledge within the college as a common and
open asset of the college. First steps will be to establish sensitivities to and dialog for
examining the principles and policies associated with knowledge ownership, shared
stewardship and management.
With these goals and action items in the forefront, each of the units within OIT now
begins to focus resources, creative thoughts and actions. In the following pages and in
future reports specific tasks, actions and results will begin to reflect the directions and
priorities founded upon the strategic planning done this past year.
Academic Technologies
Successes
Completed and began promoting a new library Information Skills Tutorial to replace
original Online Information Literacy study; Introduced new "Research Assistance"
service for students, faculty and staff; added three new streaming video services with
29
history, counseling and ethnography content; Ask a Librarian reference questions grew
by 31 percent over the same period a year ago as a result of more students using the
library's "chat" service.
Completed successful searches for Faculty Instructional Technologist positions at Long
Island Center, Hudson Valley Center and Niagara Frontier Center. Jase Teoh (LIC),
Nathan DiGrassi (NFC) and Mark Lewis (HVC) began work during August and
September. Jeremy Stone was hired into a junior programmer position in an effort to
deepen web programming expertise in the AT Development group.
Established a partnership with the University at Albany's School of Education to identify
Masters students, in the CDIT instructional technology program, who are interested in
online learning in higher education as a potential pipeline to fill instructional design
positions in the college. This channel will be used to identify strong candidates for the
Northeast Center Faculty Instructional Technologist vacancy.
Problems, Setbacks, Postponements:
Plans to schedule the jointly-sponsored Center for Mentoring and Learning and AT
Blended Learning workshop at Central New York during the September term have been
postponed until the January Term.
New Projects
The AT development group has configured Open Atrium (OA) to support a pilot
alternative learning environment for two CDL projects. Frank VanderValk's New
Freedom project, funded through the Center for Mentoring and Learning, is using OA for
two courses to explore new options for study groups/independent studies and to create
community among political science students. The second is the CDL Degree Planning
and Finalizing Community site. The goal here is to increase interaction and feedback
among the approximately 30 mentors and their 200+ students as they develop their
individualized degree plans. The Metropolitan Center is also exploring OA as a shared
project management work area.
Work continues on the development of the Link Redirector (links.esc.edu) used in
Empire State College Mapblogs. This application has been moved to Voxel, a highly
reliable environment and preliminary work is underway to define a REST architecture for
the academic computing environment.
The AT group has convened a collegewide committee to research a wiki platform for OIT
to endorse for college-wide use. Their objectives are to: (1) select a wiki that will
support teaching and learning as well as administrative uses (2) engage users and other
stakeholders in the selection process; and (3) document the process so that we will be
able to use it and refine it as we continue to develop our AT “toolkit.” OIT, NEC, CNYC,
30
CDL and Graduate Studies are all represented on the team which will select and evaluate
wiki products and make a formal recommendation.
Development of AT website continues. Work is underway to develop a list of OITpurchased technology tools and those which are freely available on the web. Each tool
will have its own page that will be organized using standardized templates that will
include a description, links to tutorials and resources for further assistance.
Lessons Learned
The mid-pilot survey of the college’s Basecamp project management software users
showing low usage has resulted in a decision to scale down the monthly subscription. At
the same the pilot has been extended through April 2011 so that (a) CDL can use it to
plan their April 2011 conference, and (b) AT group can test out connection with Zoho for
collaboration on course revisions with the CDL CID group.
Other Accomplishments, Plans and Next Steps
Katherine Watson of the AT development group continues to play an important role in
the design, development and administrative tasks in preparation for the migration of the
college's web site to the new t4 content management system.
Aaron Zachmeier, the FIT at Metropolitan Center, attended and participated in a joint
presentation with faculty and staff from the Metropolitan Center at the Association for
Authentic, Experiential and Evidence Based Learning World e-Portfolio Summit, Boston
(July 19–22).
Suzanne Hayes and Dana Longley delivered presentations on the Faculty Instructional
Technologists and the ESC Library at the New Mentor Workshop held on Sept. 23.
Dana Longley is a member of the planning committee for the SUNY-wide Teaching with
Learning and Technology conference "The 3 T's: Exploring New Frontiers in Teaching,
Technology and Transliteracy" which will be held at Fulton Montgomery Community
College in March 2011.
Administrative Applications Group
Successes

Administrative Applications (Admin Apps) successfully completed a pilot to allow
students to view and download student academic documents, such as learning contracts,
contract evaluations and outcomes securely on the Empire State College website. This
replaces a manual process where documents were printed and mailed out to the students.
This new website now gives students more timely access to their CEs while saving paper,
postage and staff time. This will be made available collegewide spring 2011.
31










Successfully completed an upgrade to Datatel WebAdvisor which addressed some bugs
experienced by students during heavy registration periods.
Completed the transition of the Adjunct Faculty Payment system into a new academic
year.
Implemented new review procedures to the Electronic Review File (ERF).
Converted content contained in Lotus Notes databases for use by T4 Content
Management System.
Implemented a calendar reservation system for the Bike Share program.
Maintenance of forms and databases including Admissions Application, Alumni
Information Update, Stewart Scholarship Application updates, CDL Procedures database,
CDL Course Catalog, CDL Tutor Trak database, DocPak maintenance, MAT Observation
database, Student Accounts database and the Writer’s Complex.
Developed programs to be used for uploading student and course data into the SUNY
Institutional Research Information System (SIRIS).
Continue to work on publishing academic summaries for mentors’ students on the Web.
Conversion of reports to run using Entrinsik Informer reporting tool.
Work revisions to the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) Rewrite Project for Student
Accounting.
Problems, Issues and Postponements


Staffing within this group still remains a concern. We have a programmer/analyst
position to fill and anticipate starting a new search to fill that position in December. We
are currently conducting a new search to fill two new junior programmer/analyst
positions. These positions will allow us to address our backlog of projects and other
requests.
Project priorities across the college still need to be established. We have many requests to
our group but it is difficult to determine which projects need immediate attention and how
they might fit the college’s overall strategy.
Lessons Learned



The Admin Apps group is working to apply the principles of project management to bring
projects to a more successful conclusion. We continue to strive to develop better
coordination with the service support group for problem resolution.
We need to work on the coordination of delivering on-demand training and
documentation to the user community as well as technical documentation for our own
staff.
We understand that communication is the key to successful project outcomes and the new
ticketing system is helping to address that particular issue.
32
New Projects




We are working on creating an online application for non-matriculated students.
Currently non-matriculated students are entered into our systems using a manual process.
An online application will allow a quicker turn-around time for non-matriculated students
and helps to reduce the amount of staff time required for processing non-matriculated
applications.
We will begin work on the next phase of displaying contract evaluations for other centers
after the successful completion of the CDL pilot.
We are implementing tools to allow easier SQL (Structured Query Language) access to
non-SQL databases. This will facilitate better integration among our distributed
applications.
Genesee Valley Center room reservation calendar.
Other Accomplishments, Plans and Next Steps





We are participating with CAS Single Sign-On Project.
We have started using the Deskpro ticketing system as the single system to track
problems and requests. This system helps our group to be more responsive to problems
and requests and allows better integration with other OIT groups.
We are working on improving the integration between Datatel and our other systems.
We are working on establishing on-demand training materials for our staff.
Much of what we do is continual support and maintenance for Datatel, Student
Registration, degree planning, financial aid services, student accounting as well as
enrollment management reporting.
Infrastructure
Successes
Microsoft campus-wide agreement. Empire State College will for the first time take part
in the SUNY campus-wide agreement. This will allow the faculty and staff unlimited
access to the newest versions of the office products.
After a long and arduous process that started in March 2010, an integrator has been
selected to install and implement the next generation of Empire State College’s computer
infrastructure. Brite Computers was selected as the integrator and the server and storage
hardware will be IBM’s new X series. Contract negotiations were completed, purchase
orders were created, and equipment has begun to arrive. We will now begin the process
of virtualizing our production environment and our statewide collection of desktop
computing.
The Angel learning management system was successfully loaded with 1,124 active
sections with 16,235 enrollments for the fall 2010 term.
33
Our online bookstore environment was successfully moved from a physical platform to a
virtual machine and the results were immediately gratifying to bookstore staff due to the
increased speed of the application.
The upgrade of Internet bandwidth for all centers was initiated. This upgrade is
necessary in order to facilitate the use of video conferencing. Several sites are already
completed, with most of the balance due in November.
The selection of the content items for the “office (or unit) in a box” project is completed.
This project’s concept is to be able to roll into a unit or new location, the appropriate
technology and give that site the same capabilities as all other facilities within Empire
State College in a quick, simple, and standardized manner. Units are currently being
scrutinized for cost-effectiveness.
Efforts began in the single sign-on project. This is also known as CAS, which is a
protocol for identity sharing and authorization. Empire State College’s online systems
are made up of many different software applications. This project will allow the user to
login once and then be able to share that login with the other applications. The expected
completion date for the majority of this project is either mid-December 2010 or midJanuary 2011
The t4 (our content management system) project is in the content migration stage for the
main Empire State College website. Testing of the converted content and portal begin in
November.
An upgrade to our video production facilities in the form of a storage server farm has
been completed and is working as planned.
The upgrade to Room 126 and 2 Union Ave. for multimedia projection and origination
has taken place and is working as planned.
Archival data from the Registrar’s Office is being moved into the Nolij scanning system
and is half complete. The registrar has already started to use the data that has been
loaded.
The Office of Collegewide Academic Review (OCAR) and the Registrar are now taking
incoming faxes of documents straight into the Nolij scanning system. This has greatly
increased their processing turnaround.
The Blackberry Enterprise server was successfully upgraded.
A failover procedure was created for the e-mail system in the event of a mail server break
down. This was successfully tested and has resulted in a five-minute downtime versus a
minimum of 5 hour response as in the past.
34
A new software product, called Lotus Integrator, was successfully installed in a virtual
environment. This software will allow extraction of Lotus Notes data into a SQL database
that can then be shared for reporting or data warehouse integration.
Two new Empire State College sites were successfully brought online: the Canandaigua
Unit and the Rochester Annex.
Problems, Issues and Postponement:
The start of the power monitoring for the NYSERDA data center energy study was
delayed by NYSERDA due to scheduling difficulties.
A roof leak at 111 West Ave. may have damaged some of our new IBM equipment. This
may delay some aspects of the virtualization project.
We’re still in negotiations for the installation of a conduit to bring 100 MB Internet
service into our Metro location. This could delay the bandwidth augmentation of this site
as well as the implementation of video conferencing at this site.
With the implementation of the new flip cam digital video recording devices, the video
production group is trying to determine how best to store and utilize these digital images.
Our Old Westbury site has been plagued with a failing, older communications
infrastructure. This has resulted in downtime for their phone system and Internet
connections. A secondary pathway via the new bandwidth augmentation is being
accelerated. This will be installed by the end of October.
We still have issues with our identity management process and single sign on. How are
we going to handle password resets and forgotten logins?
The Infrastructure staff is trying to work through electrical power issues for the new IBM
equipment.
The Colleague Advancement dashboard application has issues with the virtualization
procedures. The application support and server groups are working to resolve this.
New Projects





Video conferencing rollout to the Empire State College enterprise.
Audiovisual and video conferencing upgrades to the President’s Cabinet
room.
Replacement of the teleconference phones to the new SIP style system.
The Rice building move.
Implementation of a mass notification system. Contract negotiations are
complete. Cooper Wheellock is the selected vendor.
35


The Open Atrium project. This will provide a generic online space for group
collaboration which will be piloted with the Metro faculty and staff. This
software is a candidate for the next generation platform for ESCNET.
We are receiving an increasing amount of Web streaming requests. How can
we leverage our new video conferencing capabilities with streaming?
Other Accomplishments, Plans and Next Steps




Continuation of the virtualization project. Installation and racking of the new
IBM equipment. Move the physical servers to virtual servers.
A definition of the products and systems involved and the subsequent rollout
of the videoconferencing systems enterprise wide.
There will be an Angel 7.4 upgrade in December 2010.
The new Starfish software application is scheduled for a spring pilot starting
with the directors of academic services, the Student Services professionals,
CDL, GVC, and the Northeast center. The Starfish software is a student
retention tool.
Project Management
Successes
Ten new projects were successfully completed:
- Prospect website
- Certificate Program Phase I
- CDL Adjunct Faculty
- @ Task PM tool to replace
development space
CourseTrak
- New Gen Ed Requirements
- Active Directory (Phase II)
- Certificate Program Phase II
- OIT Ticketing System Project
- CML website
- CE's on the Web (CDL pilot)
The following training sessions were completed:
Training Description
What's New in Lotus Notes 8.5.1
Conducting Online Meetings
Fundamentals for Lotus Notes Email and Calendaring
Blended Learning - How to Successfully use Elluminate
Custom Elluminate session for Academic Technologies
Sessions
2
4
3
1
1
Attendees
6
8
16
16
1
Problems/Issues/Postponements
There were 86 projects in the portfolio during this quarter of which eight were new
requests. Overall the project portfolio was reduced by two projects during this quarter.
The issue of resources highlighted in last quarter’s report has still not been addressed.
36
Currently there are 36 projects in the active category and no work was done on nine with
another five having identified issues. Additionally, there is one project with a planned
start date that could not be started because of a lack of staff resources. All other projects
are in the planning or analysis phase.
The Project Management Office (PMO) lost a staff member to an internal transfer and
has another on loan to the Administrative Applications group. This reduction of staff has
hampered our ability to move more projects from the planning and analysis phase to
projects with planned start dates.
The PM website is in the process of being moved from Commons to the t4 portal. This
additional worked has pushed the launch date back to the end of October.
Lessons Learned
We have targeted one area for improvement: project status reporting. Currently there is
no single process for reporting project status to stakeholders, and plans have been
initiated for each major project to complete a monthly status report using a standardized
format. These reports will be made available for stakeholders to review via a secure
website.
New Projects Requests
Eight new projects were requested during this quarter:
- Regulation Changes for TAP
Module
- ERF Updates mandated by UUP
agreement
- GVC pilot: Lotus Notes Rooms
Reservation
- Virtual Desktops/Virtual PC
- WebAdvisor Upgrade
- Bandwidth Upgrade
- Angel Upgrade
- OIT/Grad Collaborative project
Other Accomplishments, Plans and Next Steps
Work on the PM website continues. The initial launch will create a site open to the
public. The second phase (when single sign-on is available) will launch a secure part of
the site where more details on projects will be posted.
During the next quarter, we expect to add a new project manager to the office and our
analyst, on loan to the programming group, is expected to return. These additions should
improve our ability to service the backlog of project requests.
37
Services Support
Successes
During the 3rd quarter of 2010, the Services Support department responded to a total of
2,208 requests for assistance. Refer to the following chart for the breakdown. Also
scheduled during this period were four Student Elluminate Practice Sessions and 15
Angel Faculty Workshops. The student sessions provide familiarity with the use of the
Elluminate synchronous communication program used to enhance the online course
environment. The faculty workshops provide training on the many tools and features of
the Angel course management delivery system.
FAC/STAFF
July
Aug
Sept
Total
167
216
293
676
STUDENT
OTHER
(alumni, vendors,
prospective
students)
302
332
768
1,402
32
48
50
130
TOTAL
501
596
1,111
2,208
Personal
Web
Server
Student
Name
Change
Requests
3
3
56
62
38
36
29
103
In August the updated technology service request ticketing system was rolled out to
provide a single location for technology service requests. A slow but steady increase in
end-user adoption has been seen during this period.
Problems, Issues and Postponements
In addition to its traditional service tasks, the help desk expanded its role in August as
OIT’s central point of contact for all technology issues (infrastructure and desktop
support, administrative applications’ problems and requests, and related academic
technology matters), by recording and triaging requests to the other OIT departments.
38
While supporting documentation was developed and utilized by the Technology Help
Desk staff to channel ticket assignments within the updated support request system,
refinements on the nature of reporting relationships and communication across OIT
departments are still needed as a way of improving timeliness, accuracy and closure of
service level responses.
Lessons Learned
Given the multi-faceted nature of technology help requests (ranging from Elluminate
room and Personal Web server requests to registration issues, DP Planner, login,
ANGEL, and website navigation issues etc.), there is still a persistent need for a full
complement of “full time”, cross-trained help desk staff. Developing improved crosstraining for all help desk staff, on both technical and academic application support, needs
to hold a higher priority. In addition to offering coverage options and improving
response times, this staff would be better positioned to develop and implement the
Service Support Catalog or to explore other initiatives (like multimedia based support
materials). Tracking responsibilities within and across OIT departments needs more
complete documentation and refinement to assist with improving support request
resolution.
New Projects
During this period no new projects were initiated in the Service Support department as
the staff concentrated on continuing work on the Service Support Catalog, consolidated
support request system and support knowledge repository, as well as addressing the fall
term start technology support requests.
Other Accomplishments, Plans and Next Steps
Service Support continues to work towards the goal of documenting common, first-line
IT Help Desk questions and a consolidated support knowledge repository, as well as a
Service Support Catalog for future inclusion in the updated website. Service Support also
performed several training sessions for OIT personnel for adaptation to the consolidated
ticketing system. Plans for transition to the new college website format are in the works
as are preparations for adjustments in department procedures and personnel. Service
Support will begin working on identifying opportunities for multimedia-based support
materials and developing these in the coming months.
OFFICE OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Fundraising Activities
The Foundation continued to move forward reaching out to our many alumni and friends
in the third quarter with the Annual Fund and gifts for student scholarships leading the
39
charge. During this time period our phonathon callers contacted approximately 10,000
alumni to ask for their support and generated in excess of $104,000 in gifts and pledges
from more than 2,700 donors.
The Annual Fund is 11 percent ahead of the same time last year. Having closed the gap
in alumni giving and surpassed the total dollars raised as of this time last year – we are
well positioned heading into what has traditionally been our most successful quarter.
Employee support remains strong and our work is ongoing with many personal visits to
alumni, a fall direct mail appeal and the launch of a new President’s Club campaign all
planned for the coming months.
YTD Totals
Annual Fund
All Other Gifts
2010 YTD
2009 YTD
$274,320(+11%)
$246,653
$195,413 (-57%)
$456,784
Total Foundation
Gifts
$469,733 (-33%)
$703,437
The following are the Leadership Contributions ($1,000 +) received from July 1 through
Oct. 26, 2010:
$ 25,000
23,850
15,000
16,500
14,000
11,000
10,000
10,000
7,500
6,000
5,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,500
1,000
1,000
1,000
New York Community Bank Foundation
Unrestricted Annual Fund
Marie Morrison Endowed Scholarship
Unrestricted Annual Fund
O’Connor Scholarship
Kresge Scholarship
Penn Wettlaufer Memorial Scholarship
Joseph L. Mancino Family Endowed Scholarship
Joseph L. Mancino Family Scholarship
Hoyt Foundation Scholarship
Adirondack Trust Co. Scholarship
Torres-Wilczewski Scholarship
KeyBank Annual Scholarship
David Yamada Labor Relations Scholarship
Vincent & Chris Persico Scholarship
Morton Bahr Distance Learning
Fuensanta Plaza Annual Scholarship
Academy for Lifelong Learning
Highlights:


We are slightly ahead of last year in the number of donors to the Foundation and
are ahead in the amount of the average gift from each alumni donor. In 2010 the
average gift is $97.24 compared to $87.22 in 2009 at this time.
We wrapped up our 2010 Phonathon and to date have raised in excess of
$104,000 in gifts and pledges from 2,721 donors. This is a significant increase
40


over 2009 results and is an encouraging sign that the impact of the economic
crisis on our alumni and other donors may be abating.
In November we are launching an intensive campaign to generate support at the
President’s Club level, with gifts of $500 +. A special brochure, invitation and
reply card have been developed and will be mailed to a targeted population with
individual follow up.
Development staff will continue to focus on personal contact with donors to
solicit them before the end of the calendar year.
Grant Activity
Four proposals submitted for $656,040
Nine awards received for $911,869
One proposal pending for $397,251
Proposals submitted:
Frank, Linda
Franz, Jonathan
Trullinger, Robert
Lawrence, Betty
U.S. Dept. of Education – FIPSE
Ontario County Dept. of Social Services
Rockland County Dept. of Social Services
Hewlett Packard Co.
$397,251
$82,340
$26,449
$150,000
National Science Foundation
Erie County Dept. of Social Services
(Degrees)
Erie County Dept. of Soc. Services
(Inservice)
Rockland County Dept. of Social Services
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Ontario County Dept. of Social Services
Hewlett Packard Co.
Hoyt Foundation
Kresge Foundation
$7,654
$253,971
Awards received:
Eaglefeathers, KD
DiBello, Nan
DiBello, Nan
Trullinger, Robert
Dixon, Shelley
Franz, Jonathan
Lawrence, Betty
Anthony, Lorrie
Anthony, Lorrie
$405,504
$15,865
$10,000
$51,875
$150,000
$6,000
$11,000
Several highlights for the past quarter include:


A proposal was submitted to and awarded by Hewlett Packard Co. which involves
a collaboration with the St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University in Russia.
Dr. Betty Lawrence is the principal investigator for the project. Co-principal
investigators are Dr. Mary Mawn, Dr. Pauline Carrico and Dr. Kim Stote.
Several new mentors have visited or contacted the Office of Grants and Contracts
for grants information. One, Dr. Michael Parsons of the Hudson Valley Center, is
planning to submit a proposal to the National Science Foundation in January
2011.
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

A proposal to the National Institutes of Health is under development by Dr. Kim
Stote of the Center for Distance Learning. This proposal will be submitted in
February 2011.
Dr. KD Eaglefeathers of the Long Island Center received from the National
Science Foundation a small grant to support the training of two Native American
students to assist with her project of documenting the sacred language of the
Northern Cheyenne.
Alumni and Student Relations
This past quarter, we finished a project on which we spent many months. We now are
able to invite students in to the alumni online community. This will enable alumni and
student to connect easily and also give alumni the opportunity to act as career mentors
and post jobs for students.
In keeping with our student outreach, we had a good presence and the Student Academic
Conference. We sponsored the opening reception, invited local alumni to attend, gave a
presentation and had an alumna as the keynote speaker to the students. We had record
breaking attendance, approximately 200 students.
And finally, we held alumni and student events in Saratoga Springs, Syracuse, New York
City, Ithaca, Washington DC, Albany, Hyde Park, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Ft. Drum, Staten
Island, Latham, Waterloo, Rochester, White Plains, Auburn, Rocky Point and Utica.
Events and highlights:
 Published the fall issue of the Connections

Published the summer issue of Update

Continued work on the 40th Anniversary planning committee

Convened the Alumni Student Federation Board of Governors

Completed work on the college wide task force on career services

Launched another legislative advocacy campaign to support the Office of Veteran
and Military Education

Facilitated the start of a new student club – the Student Veteran and Military Club

Sent 165,000 e-mails to alumni and students promoting activities and events

Grew our social media numbers to:
7,220 members in the alumni student online community
5,100 members on our Facebook fan pages
350 Twitter followers
550 LinkedIn members
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55 photo albums in Picasa
45 subscribers to the Empire State College YouTube channel
Academy for Lifelong Learning
At June’s annual meeting, the Academy for Lifelong Learning membership approved the
following new mission statement for the organization:
The Academy for Learning at Saratoga Springs is a non-profit, memberdriven and managed organization offering non-credit academic study
groups while providing leadership, personal development, and social
opportunities for adults who have a continuing passion for learning.
The academy officially became a year-round organization this summer with two special
events planned and attended by members. In July, 45 members and guests enjoyed a
performance of the New York City Ballet and lunch at the Hall of Springs. In August, 40
members took a hike in Moreau State Park followed by a potluck luncheon in the covered
pavilion. Both of these events furthered the Academy’s goal of building a community of
learning.
This fall term, 194 individuals attended A.L.L. as full members, which entitled them to
take up to three study groups, and 41 were registered as associates, which entitled them to
participate in all programs except study groups. There were 33 new members to A.L.L.
Twenty-three study groups took place this fall, ranging from “The Natural History of an
Adirondack Lake” to “Victorian Thought and How it Affected Our Upbringing.” A.L.L.
will be offering 24 study groups for the spring 2011 term. We are very excited that
Empire State College’s Phylise Banner will be leading an eight-week study group on
digital storytelling and eight other college staff, professors or students will be giving
presentations in our new Empire State College Speakers Series.
In celebration of New York State Lifelong Learning Month in September, the academy
invited the public to a health forum hosted by Benita Zahn that addressed the new health
care bill and touched upon subjects such as Alzheimer’s Disease. The enthusiastic
audience of A.L.L. members and individuals from the community enjoyed a thoughtprovoking program.
In Oct. 30, A.L.L. members and guests enjoyed a day trip to Cooperstown to view the
John Singer Sargent and Victorian clothing exhibits at the Fennimore Art Museum. After
lunch in the museum’s café, they toured the Farmers Museum across the street.
On Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. in Room 126, 2 Union Ave., A.L.L. is joining with the college to
present Partners in Poetry, featuring three poets from each group reading from their work,
with refreshments to follow.
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The membership committee and the Third Age Press Board will be participating in the
Chronicle Bookfair on Nov. 7.
Presently, the membership committee is planning a Barnes & Noble Bookfair for Dec. 3.
On that date, A.L.L. will take over the store, offering entertainment and services such as
story hour for children, storytelling for adults, tables of books recommended by A.L.L.
members, a children’s librarian available to suggest books for customers’ children or
grandchildren, a film expert to suggest DVDs, strolling Victorian carolers, and a gift
wrapping service. If customers mention A.L.L., a percentage of their purchases in the
store, including the café, will be donated to the organization. Any purchases from Dec. 3
– 8 made online with the A.L.L. code number will also be included in the total. We’re
very excited about this fundraising event since it not only will add to our funds but will
help build community with so many of our members joining in the fun.
A.L.L. will be celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2012 – 2013. We have formed a 20th
anniversary committee to select a theme and begin planning the programs, study groups
and special events for that important milestone.
In respect to publicity, the academy continues to receive excellent press in area daily,
weekly and monthly publications. Most recently, feature articles on the Academy were
published in Saratoga Today and The Saratogian. In December, Executive Director JoEllen Unger will be appearing on both Moon Radio (Saratoga Springs) and WCKM
(Glens Falls) to advertise the spring term and winter special events.
OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
Summary
Initiatives to positively enhance the image of the college continued during the past
quarter on several fronts and in many locations, from Saratoga Springs to Washington,
D.C. and beyond. All facets of the Office of Communications and Government Relations
(OCGR) have been brought to bear on these efforts while also preparing for major events
being developed in association with the college’s 40th anniversary year in 2010.
40th Anniversary Communications Plan
A draft communications plan and accompanying PowerPoint for the college’s upcoming
40th anniversary celebrations were provided to the president and the cabinet.
Feedback was given to the Office of Communications on the plan and as a result, updates
of the PowerPoint and plan will be provided with specific focus on sharpening the
messaging associated with the 40th anniversary celebration, and providing additional
detail on the first press conference to launch the year-long campaign.
Another comment concerned the possible cost of the initial press event and the resulting
overall perception of extravagance at a time of ongoing budget challenges.
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An updated plan, which will include the new 40th anniversary logo, will be provided
shortly after Dec. 1.
Media Relations
Proactive statewide media relations have begun. A press release highlighting the multiple
open enrollment opportunities of the college will be issued and reporters will be
canvassed.
The release features quotes from the president, all the regional deans and CDL. The full
release with all quotes will be posted to the college’s website. The release, with the
appropriate quote from the president and the regional dean, will be targeted to the
associated media market.
The college is now participating in WAMC’s “The Academic Minute.” These are brief
commentary by faculty members from public and private institutions of higher education
on their area of expertise.
Long Island Center Professor Ian Reifowitz discussed the political impact of the recent
statewide elections. CDL Professor John Beckem discussed how to enrich the online
academic experience for students.
Airdate for Dr. Reifowitz is Dec. 15 and an airdate for Dr. Beckhem has not yet been
determined.
OCGR also placed an opinion piece by Dr. Reifowitz in the Glens Falls Post-Star, which
ran on Sunday, Oct. 24. Fifty people shared the piece on Facebook and the paper’s
twitter feed was re-tweeted five times.
In addition, events at the college’s regional centers and individual units are being
supported by the Office of Communications. For example, the college is supporting an
upcoming poetry reading by Hudson Valley Center faculty with press release creation
and distribution.
Two releases issued by the college, “College Launches Bike Share Program,” and
“SUNY Empire State College Students Participate in Library of Congress Veteran
History Project,” featured video generated by the college.
All releases are linked to the college’s home page and are modified and posted to the
college’s Exchange Web page.
By the numbers: The college issued 15 press releases during September and October,
which generated 30 stories with an estimated 667,805 impressions. When placement of
Dr. Reifowitz opinion piece is included, impressions increase to 702,385.
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This compares to the last week of July and August of 2010 when the college issued 8
press releases, which generated 31 stories with an estimated 555,211 impressions*.
College Communications: Exchange and “Connections” Magazine
The Exchange Web page, the college’s community’s internal communication tool
managed by OCGR, continues to gain audience and is increasingly seen as the place to go
for timely, accurate and complete information on matters affecting the college
community.
Google analytics have been employed on Exchange with the following results: In
September, there were 22,985 page views, with 668 new visitors coming to the site.
The ends of the work week drew the most traffic, with high points on Thursday, Sept. 16,
288 visitors; Friday, Sept. 17, 285; and Wednesday, Sept. 29, 290.
In October, there were 27,262 page views with 681 new visitors. High points included
Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 354 views and Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 294 views.
Also, there were 42 new visitors on Wednesday, Oct. 13 and 32 new visitors on Friday,
Oct. 29.
The data generated from Google analytics is used to help determine where and when to
place stories on the page for maximum impact.
Like the college’s press releases, Exchange stories on the college’s bike share program
and the participation of our students with the Library of Congress Veterans History
program included college-produced video.
OCGR produces nearly all the copy and content for “Connections” and for the Office of
Veteran and Military Education newsletter and most other publications.
Migration to t4
The Office of Communications and Government Relations staff continues to work with
the Office for Integrated Technology on webpage migration, workflow and on the college
style guide.
OIT has been most collaborative in this effort and has actively sought out OCGR input on
the appearance and content of the college’s Web pages.
Integrated Communications Plan
The college’s Vision 2015 and The Power of SUNY will drive the integrated
communications plan.
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As part of the process to create the plan, visits to each of the college’s regional centers,
and with CDL and Graduate Programs by the director of communications were
completed in October, which will inform the integrated communication plan.
Elements of the overall integrated communications plan will be included in the college’s
40th anniversary communications plan. Statewide media relations will also be a
component of the college’s overall plan.
Special Events
During the month of August, the coordinator of Special events:

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
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oversaw completion and installation of Chancellor’s Award mural on first and
second floor of Two Union.
SUNY Day at the Races with the chancellor, SUNY executive staff, local
business representatives and state and local lawmakers – 35 attendees
NYSTAA (New York State Transfer and Articulation Association) Day at the
Races – 20 attendees
farewell reception for Vice President Tom Warger – 30 attendees
worked with Steve Simon on developing college calendar for t4
began work on establishing a committee to plan events for the Office of Veterans
and Military Education (OVME) community. The committee consists of members
of the Center Military Points of Contact (CMPC) from across the college.
The month of September offered outstanding opportunities to extend the image and
reputation of the college including:


Bike to Work Day – Kick-off of program at Empire State College, which
encourages staff to use bikes, provided through donations, to travel back and forth
between Union Ave. and West Ave. locations.
Voters Workshop at plaza location – Panel of distinguished experts discussing
“what you need to know before voting”/
During the month of October, the office coordinated:




AHEA Conference (Adult Higher Education Alliance)
Rebuilding Together Saratoga County (team of 14 college employees helped to
paint Saratoga Senior Citizens building)
College team in Run for the ROC (fundraiser for Saratoga Hospital’s Radiology
Oncology Center)
Veteran’s Recollections – a reading by two Empire State College student veterans
at the New York State Military Museum, in recognition of Veterans Day. Taped
interviews of veterans to be used for Library of Congress Veterans History Project
and a short documentary will be produced.
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Ongoing Projects:

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
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40th Anniversary celebrations
2011 All College
2011 SCOP (Standing Conference of Presidents) in New York City. Also setting
up logistics for UNESCO meeting which will take tag onto SCOP meeting.
events for OVME including some in collaboration with Intersections International
SUNYCAUD 2011 Conference
First SUNY Sustainability conference to be held in Saratoga Springs, in the fall of
2011, and hosted by Empire State College.
Government Relations
At the federal level, the director of government relations continues to develop a working
relationship with University of Maryland University College and Thomas Edison
College. We participated in another joint trip to Washington, D.C. soon after the
elections. The agenda for this trip included a meeting with senior staff from Senator
Harkin’s Education Committee to present ourselves and discuss the differences between
our “public” institutions and the for-profits. Issues related to financial aid for independent
students. Additional amendments to the Post 9/11 GI Bill and the Basic Allowance for
Housing for distance learning students.
Plans for future meetings, invitations for other colleges like ours to join our group, and a
forum for our presidents to meet elected officials are also being planned.
We are scheduled to meet with AASCU and ACE government relations people to discuss
the implications of election results to current and future federal issues.
The director has had several meeting with staff of the state Legislature and some elected
members of the Senate and Assembly regarding tuition policy, specifically, regularly
scheduled annual increases in tuition coupled with save-harmless provisions that ensure
that a minimum of state funding support is maintained from year to year.
We have also discussed changes to the State’s Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) that
would be provide students with financial aid regardless of how quickly or slowly they
pursued their degree program. Under the proposed revisions the TAP would no longer
distinguish between full and part-time status.
During this quarter we also undertook an electronic advocacy campaign using an alumni
email list tailored to students and alumni who are veterans. We asked if they would use
our very easy electronic system to contact their elected officials at the federal level about
adjusting a benefit in the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Below are the details of the request and the
results it produced. Increasingly, the college’s alumni and students are enthusiastically
responding to our requests to participate in political advocacy on behalf of the college
for, or against, issues that impact our work.
48
Advocacy Campaign
Subject: Post 9/11 GI Bill
Purpose: To bring to federal representatives attention that the Post 9/11 GI Bill does not
cover housing expenses for veteran students that take all their courses online. This was to
support hearings scheduled in Washington, DC during the same time period.
Advocacy Page: http://www.esc.edu/advocate
Email Campaign Results
Date
Audience
Emails
Sent
Emails
Opened
Open
Rate
Clicked
Click
Rate
Sept 16
Alumni
/Students
7,377
1,452
19.7%
734
50.5%
1,452 alumni and students opened emails and 734 of them clicked through to the
advocacy webpage. Of those 366 submitted advocacy emails to their representatives.
Conversion rate: 25.2% (based on opened emails)
25.2% of our audience that opened an advocacy email continued on to submit an
advocacy message to their representative.
Advocacy Results:
366 alumni, students contacted their representatives.
Top seven federal lawmakers by number of advocacy messages received:
Sen. Charles Schumer – 366
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand – 366
Rep. Scott Murphy (DEM-NY-20)
Rep. Bill Owens (DEM-NY-23)
Rep. Maurice Hinchey (DEM-NY-22)
Rep. Dan Maffei (DEM-NY-25)
Rep. Paul Tonko (DEM-NY-21)
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27
25
23
23
Publications, Print Shop and Central Services
During the third quarter, the Print Ship completed 437 printing requests, for 6,420,015
impressions, and 99 separate typesetting jobs.
These numbers include several major projects that were wrapped up or are currently in
production. Among them are:

Fall 2010 issue of “Connections” magazine – nearly 70,000 four-color copies
typeset, printed and mailed.
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

CDL January 2011 term booklets – revised and printed
Pathways Transfer Program booklet – revised and printed
OVME Veterans and Military Education Booklet – printed
Graduate Programs recruitment booklet and certificate programs – inserts
completed
Slip sheets for new telecommunication fee produced for undergraduate catalog, as
well as other print materials for distribution in November
Begin printing of transfer student recruitment magazine
Completed initial 7,000 run of undergraduate catalog
Coordinated printing of 3' x 4' posters for All Areas of Study poster session and
other conferences
Other work undertaken this quarter by the print shop involved the creation of an
electronic version of publications approval form for use collegewide
We began design of print shop brochure to highlight all the services provided to the
college
And the staff took on matting and framing duties for the college, a new service of the
print shop that is expected to save the college thousands of dollars annually in costs
associated with framing through outside vendors.
CENTER FOR PLANNING AND INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
Staffing
The Center for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness (C-PIE) was engaged in the
following personnel searches during the 1st quarter of 2010 – 11:
Director of Outcomes Assessment
Lead Research Analyst
Director of Strategic Planning
The director of outcomes assessment and lead research analyst searches were initially
launched last spring, however, these searches failed. Both searches were reinstated this
quarter, and are expected to conclude in October. In addition, a final decision concerning
the director of strategic planning is expected next quarter.
Strategic Planning
The C-PIE staff participated in a strategic planning retreat and committed one day to
activities related to self reflection and development of a mission statement. Staff also
engaged in a comprehensive review of Vision 2015; with particular attention to what
metrics or key performance indicators would be most appropriate to evaluate the success
and progress toward the documented key goals and strategies.
50
Several components of the discussions from the C-PIE retreat were integrated into the
construction of Balanced Score Card (BSC). The BSC will facilitate movement from the
vision into metrics that operationalize the vision. It establishes linkages between goals,
plans and processes; and identifies the areas responsible for driving key outcomes. The
first draft of the BSC links key goals and strategies to potential measures, identifies the
responsible administrative area, and possible connections to SUNY System
Administration’s strategic plan, the Power of SUNY.
Learning Outcomes Assessment
C-PIE continued working on assessment reviews conducted over spring 2010; and
completed nine draft assessment reports relevant to the following reviews:
GEAR: Social Sciences, Humanities, the Arts, and Other World Civilizations
AOS: The Arts, Cultural Studies, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Assessment in the Major: The Arts and Cultural Studies
C-PIE also supported CUSP-PA(Program Assessment), a college-wide committee to
develop the process as well as culture of assessment at the college. C-PIE’s support has
particular focus on the “culture of assessment.” The primary goal is to identify
limitations and gather options of possible aids for AOSs.
SIRIS
C-PIE continued its collaboration with the Office of Information Technology (OIT) in
developing programming to support the implementation of the SUNY Institutional
Research Information System (SIRIS). This initiative involves re-engineering existing
systems to implement modern database storage technology and file formatting, modern
reporting, querying and analytical tools, and web-enabled methods to govern the
submission and correction of data. The college’s first official SIRIS transmissions are
scheduled to take place this fall and include a course file, a term-section file, and a
student file - each representing enrollments in the September 2010 term.
SUNY Reporting – Five Year Enrollment Projections
In accordance with campus reporting responsibilities, C-PIE prepared and submitted the
annual Five-Year Enrollment Planning Update to SUNY System Administration. While
the college continues to anticipate growth in the coming years, it should be noted that
SUNY requires annual average FTE estimates, and fall headcount estimates. Since all
SUNY campuses are transitioning to SIRIS beginning with reporting for the fall 2010
term; all enrollment planning estimates for fall 2010 forward were based on the new
reporting structure.
This has implications for changes for how fall headcounts will be perceived. Previously,
the college reported credit and headcount information using mutually agreed upon term
reporting conventions. Specifically, the fall term included all enrollments that occurred
51
between July 1 and Nov. 17, which captured all September term enrollments and most of
the enrollments for November.
With the transition to SIRIS, Empire State College’s five term model will map in to
SIRIS such that the September term will represent all fall enrollments. The table below
shows the distribution of annual enrollments in the ESC 5- term structure environment
relative to the SUNY System (SIRIS) three term convention. It also identifies how the
proportion of enrollment for each term contributes to the annual enrollment.
Table 1 Distribution of ESC’s Annual Enrollment Relative to SIRIS Reporting
Conventions.
During this time of transition, the fall enrollments will appear to be in decline from
previous years. The reality is that due to the change in reporting conventions, the
proportion of annual enrollment activity will shift - from a heavy fall (roughly 45 percent
of annual enrollment), moderate spring (about 30 percent), and lighter summer (25
percent); to relatively equal proportions for fall (37 percent) and spring (37 percent) and a
summer term that doesn't change (25 percent). This has no impact on the AAFTE
computation.
Fact Book
C-PIE began data preparation and cleansing of annual (2009 – 10) data files that will
eventually form the basis for application, enrollment, and degree award statistics for the
Fact Book. The office also initiated requests for information from other administrative
offices that will contribute to this endeavor.
Business Intelligence
C-PIE continues to evaluate Business Intelligence/Data Warehouse development tools.
Although still relatively early in the planning process, the data warehouse project team
recognizes the need to implement an agile data warehouse in order to better serve the
changing demands and reporting needs. An agile approach will support an evolutionary,
52
iterative and incremental architecture to meet the changing needs of the college’s
Business Intelligence consumers.
C-PIE continues to submit data files to the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) to
complete a more in-depth longitudinal analysis for the college’s students. A model will
be developed to integrate NSC data into the data warehouse for use in the retention data
mart.
The model will strive to answer questions in the following areas:
1) Transfer out destination (Where do our students who transfer-out enroll)?
2) Institution(s) of origin for incoming students (Where are incoming transfers
coming from)?
3) Destination of applicants who did not enroll at Empire State College.
4) Degree and concentration transfer-in and transfer-out.
SALE
C-PIE continued to utilize Evaluation Kit, with overall success; and response rates
ranging from 33 percent to 42 percent.
Faculty Salary Analysis
C-PIE continues work from the previous quarter, working with the Office of Academic
Affairs and the Office of Finance and Administration to develop strategies and
recommendations for faculty salary adjustments. Initial steps were taken to examine the
impact of a cost of living differential for faculty residing in the downstate/New York City
area.
Alumni Survey
C-PIE began the initial stages of developing an Alumni Survey that will be administered
via EvaluationKit. The survey will retain components of the existing Alumni Surveys
currently being administered by the Office of External Affairs. Data collected from
Alumni Surveys will be used to learn more about student satisfaction and alumni success;
thereby developing institutional knowledge, and providing evidence to support strategic
goals.
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