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Leadership

University Council Meeting Minutes - Wednesday, April 23, 2025

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Leadership

University Council Members Present:

In-Person:

  • Richard Farfaglia
  • Tara Fitzgibbons
  • Carol Bradlinski-Watros
  • Aiden Wilson
  • Christine Patrick
  • Kristin Shanley-Graves

On Zoom:

  • James McMahon
  • Brian McGrath
  • Darlene Baker

Absent:

(None listed)

Cabinet Present:

In-Person:

  • Peter Nwosu
  • Jamal Coleman
  • Kristi Eck
  • Scott Furlong
  • Vicki Furlong
  • Kendra Cadogan
  • Kathleen Kerr
  • Cory Bezek
  • Murat Yasar
  • Karen Crowe

On Zoom:

  • Heath Wood

Absent:

(None listed)

Observers:

In-Person:

  • Jeffery Schneider (presented on behalf of Gwen Kay)

On Zoom:

  • Jennifer Janes

Absent:

(None listed)

Additional Attendees:

In Person:

  • Steve McAfee
  • Richard Bush

Agenda

  1. Welcome and call to order - James McMahon, University Council Chair

    • Call to order time: 2:05 pm by James McMahon

  2. Approval of Minutes of February 26, 2025 - James McMahon, University Council Chair

    • A motion to approve the minutes: Darlene Baker
    • Second the motion: Tara Fitzgibbons
    • All in favor
    • Minutes are approved

  3. Student Association Report – Aiden Wilson

    Here is a brief summary of the discussion during the meeting.

    • Went through the Slide Presentation
    • Past:
      • Elections
        • Held April 2 and 3
        • Oghenetega Adjoh - President
        • Emmie Ashley – Vice President
      • Budget
        • Passed by April 22
        • Conservative budget, estimated income decreased from $1.44M to $1.31M
        • ALANA Conference Pool
        • Sailing Club
    • Future:
      • OZFEST is scheduled for May 9
      • Discussions regarding SA vs. Department funding
      • University Recognized vs. SA Funded Organizations
      • Representatives from clubs required to attend Senate Meetings
      • Liz McGrath retirement after 36 years as Finance Manager
        • Now 2 Full-Time Employees
        • Assistant DOF to handle Purchase Orders

  4. Alumni Report – Jennifer Janes

    Here is a brief summary of the discussion during the meeting.

    • Recently, the spring Career and Internship Fair was held. 38 alumni participated, and there was also a reception hosted before the fair to thank alumni employers for participating.
    • Recent events include:
      • Spring Career and Internship Fair
        • 38 alumni employers participated
      • Women’s Empowerment Summit
        • 150 attendees, including 9 alumnae speakers
        • Distinguished Alumna Award presentation
      • “Alumni and Appetizers” Reception
        • More than 40 student attendees
        • 11 OAA Board members
    • A couple of weeks ago, there was the Women's Empowerment Summit, where 9 alumni speakers participated, and the distinguished alumna award was awarded to Indy Lee, class of '93. She founded a clean Skincare and Cosmetics company after being diagnosed with a life-threatening brain tumor, believed to be environmentally derived.
    • The Reunion Weekend is coming up June 5th through the 8th, where 15 class anniversaries and 5 milestone mini-reunion anniversaries will be celebrated. Registration is open, and as of April 17, nearly 90 attendees are registered to participate.
    • Reunion Weekend: June 5-8, 2025
    • Alumni Sharing Knowledge (ASK)

  5. Faculty Report – Jeff Schneider

    Here is a brief summary of the discussion during the meeting.

    • Went through the Slide Presentation
    • Task Force Updates: Haudenosaunee Task Force, Civic Engagement Task Force
      • The Faculty Assembly did accept the Haudenosaunee Task Force report, and we were looking forward to the implementation of any of those recommendations.
      • The Civic Engagement Task Force report hasn't been accepted yet; it will be at the next meeting. They were charged with proposing a campus definition for civic engagement.
    • Recent Actions
      • Academics Policies
        • Program revisions, approved some new programs.
        • As far as curriculum is concerned, the Undergraduate Curriculum Council approved 25 new or revised courses, and the Graduate Council 14 new or revised courses.
        • We've had program revisions for Biology (BA), the Zoology (BA), and then we approved quite a few new programs: Child Advocacy, Minor Operations, Management and Information Systems, Cannabis Studies.
        • On academic policies, we passed a combined enrollment policy which allows undergraduates and/or graduate courses to have some common language. We also passed a definition for the high-flex modality.

  6. President’s Report – Peter O. Nwosu

    Here is a brief summary of the discussion during the meeting.

    • Went through the Slide Presentation
    • There have been several Federal executive actions since January 20, 2025, as reported at the last meeting.
    • National Higher Education Climate Update
      • Last Update to University Council – February 26, 2025
      • Federal Executive Actions Since January 20, 2025
      • As of April 18, 2025, the current administration has issued:
        • 129 Executive Orders
        • 35 Presidential Memoranda
        • 33 Proclamations
        • Additionally, over 197 lawsuits have been filed in response to these actions.
    • These actions have implications for American higher education. You will note the US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights; the dear colleague letters that we received.
    • As we received these letters, we responded in consultation with our SUNY Office of General Counsel, consistent with the guidelines that I shared with you at the last meeting.
    • Haudenosaunee Task Force Update – Kendra Cadogan went through the timeline.
      • Invited co-chair to come to cabinet.
      • The resolution comes to the President's office, and the President says yes or no, or endorses the resolution, and that's been the approach that I have taken. There is really nothing that says that the President must implement a resolution of a task forces that comes to what we do take.
      • In October, the President charged a Cabinet working group, which he just referred to, with identifying some next steps for recommendations from the report. That working group immediately went to work and began advancing actions.
      • We've already been able to identify some opportunities; an introductory meeting between the President and Onondaga leadership is a 1st step in relationship building, and those conversations are underway.
    • Strategic Plan – Murat Yasar went through the Strategic Plan.
      • That strategic plan is everyday work that we do on this campus. It is not an additional burden. We are always relaying this information to our campus members, and that has been received nicely.
      • We had 3 workshops in March, 3 workshops in April. It was clear to everyone, including myself, that there is a really palpable ownership of the strategy plan by the campus members.
      • Campus members have a sense of ownership of this plan. It's very clear to me after attending 6 workshops in March and April.
      • We trained 139 people, but this was voluntary. This is a great number for this campus, and then we did a survey.
    • Fundraising – Heath Wood went through the Foundation Report.
      • We are over 5 million dollars in funds raised for the year. Despite a year of transition in my position, the team has worked really hard to maintain fundraising, and the alumni and the alumni base and our organizational partners have continued to support the institution.
      • We awarded 1.5 million dollars’ worth of scholarships this year and we've raised an additional 1.4 million in endowed scholarships.
      • The endowment is up around 4 and a half percent. It was doing even better than that. Some of you may remember in the last report we had the return was over 7%, as you all will probably know, the market has experienced quite a bit of volatility since then.
    • May Commencement 2025 – Steve McAfee went through the details of the Commencement.
      • Here is a brief summary of the discussion during the meeting.
      • Went through the Slide Presentation.
      • May 17, 2025
      • Total Eligible to walk for commencement – 1385
        • Summa - 105
      • Expected Participation - 1127 (81%)
      • College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at 9 AM (80% - 355) –
        • Speaker: Ambassador Erastus Ekitela Lokaale
      • School of Business at 12:30 PM (65% - 215) –
        • Speaker: Constance Schwartz-Morini ’90
      • School of Communication, Media and the Arts & School of Education at 4 PM (88% - 557) –
        • Speaker: Linda Cohn ’81

  7. New Business

    • N/A

  8. Old Business

    • N/A

  9. Adjournment - James McMahon, University Council Chair

  • Motion to adjourn – James McMahon
  • So moved – Brian McGrath
  • Second the motion – Tara Fitzgibbons
  • All in favor
  • 3:36 pm meeting adjourned

University Council Meeting Minutes - Wednesday, April 23, 2025 (PDF)