Posted on May 26, 2004
Dear Friends of Union:
Our spring meeting of the Board of Trustees
again coincided with Reunion Weekend — and once again, we were privileged to
be able to combine the College's business with the fun of getting together with
many old friends. It was a wonderful weekend. Convocation in Memorial Chapel is my favorite event, because we all experience the tradition of new graduates
receiving a congratulatory handshake from those who are here celebrating their
50th graduation anniversary.
We spent quite a bit of time on academic and
student affairs over the course of our meetings. We first heard from Vice
President Dan Lundquist on the success the
Admissions Office has had with the Class of 2008. Average GPA and board scores
continue to be up from the previous year, and the class is otherwise outstanding.
We also were treated with two presentations over
lunch from two students who briefed us on their Steinmetz Symposium research projects. It's
great to see how nationally acclaimed the Steinmetz Symposium has become, and our
presenters were suitably impressive.
We heard from the committee assigned to improve
upon the current trimester system curriculum, since we have had very few major
changes in quite a while and it's the trustees' desire to capitalize better
on the school calendar. The committee members shared ideas that they were
discussing on pedagogical issues and heard reactions from many trustees.
Finally, the Board also heard an energetic
presentation from Professor Doug Klein, director of the Center
for Converging Technology, on the amazing work that has been accomplished in the Converging
Technologies initiative. We have so many cross-departmental studies emerging on
campus that we are now being visited by other institutions to learn how they
can implement what we are already doing. Quite a compliment to CT!
Vice President of Academic Affairs Christie
Sorum reported favorably on two important student-related initiatives —
student advising and student retention. Based on feedback from past graduating
seniors, we have made a number of changes in the College's advising system,
such as improving the way we connect advisees with faculty in their
departments.
On student retention, Christie reported that a
new position has been created called the Director for Student Support Services.
The position will focus on identifying students with a high risk of
encountering academic difficulties, either because they have a history of poor
grades (students on Academic Warning) or because faculty report a significant
number of absences or otherwise poor performance. The position's focus will be
to get the proper attention to reverse the problem. While few students
encounter this issue, we want to be “first responders” to those who
encounter academic difficulties.
The campus' Alcohol Task Force has been
exploring ways to offer improved monitoring of formally sanctioned parties,
seeking, among other things, to provide ample food supplies and non-alcoholic
beverages, and seek a healthy and moderate atmosphere among those students of age
who are eligible to drink legally on campus. The ban on hard liquor at such
events will remain in place and will be strictly enforced. The Task Force's
first policy announcement was the implementation, at the behest of President
Hull, of a “Good Samaritan” policy encouraging students to report any
potentially dangerous cases of intoxication without being concerned about
disciplinary consequences at such a time. Incidentally, the policy refers to
isolated incidents only and does not protect any who flagrantly and repeatedly
violate the College's alcohol policy.
There is good news to report on the Minerva
Houses. The former Psi Upsilon building will become known as Beuth House,
thanks to the generosity of Trustee (and former Psi U member) Phil Beuth '54.
Beuth House joins Golub House and Wold House as named houses, and we anticipate
announcing more names in the next few months.
Elections for house governance positions were
held recently, and I'm pleased to report that all seven houses have both
students and faculty in leadership positions. Construction is also proceeding
well. Renovations to North College are on schedule for
completion in mid-July, and the renovations in the Chi Psi and Psi Upsilon
buildings are on schedule for completion in mid-June. Renovations to the Sigma
Phi building will begin in July of 2004. The Inn at College Park (the former Ramada Inn) will open this fall, and it proved to be a high priority housing
option in the spring housing lottery. Their choices show that the Inn has already been
accepted as a high-quality housing option, and that students and staff alike
are excited about the interior design scheme.
Two new Theme Houses have been authorized by the
Student Affairs Council: Bon Appetit House is organized around the concept of
high quality student-prepared food dishes, while Ozone House seeks to promote
environmental awareness among students, faculty, and staff.
The Board was gratified to hear about the many
ways our students are involved in helping the local community. Efforts include
the Relay for Life (a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society), a fashion show
of support, Derby Days, T-shirt sales with proceeds to charity, UCare Day (an
event that brings local children to Union for fun and feats of
skill), canned food drives, and several more. The Harlem Wizards drew 500
people from campus and the community as a joint effort among Big Brothers-Big
Sisters, College Relations, Dining Services, and the Athletic Department,
funded by Student Activities.
The Kenney Center continues to provide a
wide array of programs for the local community:
–In
the Homework Program, approximately 20-30 Union student volunteers serve as
tutors for 20 third and fourth graders for 15-20 hours a week.
— In the America Reads Program, two student program coordinators and 15-20 volunteers provide one-on-one tutoring for some 20 youth ages 5-12.
— The Girls Inc. Science Program, supported by Union volunteers, is offered one day per week for girls in grades 4-6. Ten girls participate in interesting and time-consuming projects.
—
Studying Arithmetic in Literature (SAIL) Program involves three elementary schools, with 35-50 Union volunteers tutoring 62 third and fourth graders in reading and math.
— The
Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) provides after-school tutoring and
Saturday workshops for 30 middle and high school students.
— Big Brothers-Big Sisters, our biggest
student program, provides mentors for at-risk youth and includes an eight-week day camp with activities for youngsters.
— The
Obenzinger Scholars Program offers a premedical student the opportunity to
develop programs related to the health and welfare of our community. This year
the student coordinated with volunteers the following programs: STD awareness
health fair, HIV testing and counseling workshop, breast cancer informational
health fair.
–In
Las Mariposas, sponsored by ALAS student group. Union students volunteer to
work with bilingual youngsters whose first language is Spanish.
—
UCARE, a student volunteer outreach group, assists individual students and student
groups in identifying volunteer opportunities in the community. Projects include
tutoring at the public library, volunteering at the Northeast Parent and Child
Society, volunteering at Schenectady 2000, planting trees for Re-Tree Schenectady,
and assisting in after-school programs at Hamilton Arts Center.
As usual, we had a full round of committee
meetings. Here are a few additional highlights:
FACILITIES AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
The second phase of the improvements to Frank
Messa Rink at Achilles Center, which includes the
creation of new locker rooms, showers, a general-purpose
room, and enlargement/renovations to the sports
medicine area in the lower level, is complete. The women's hockey ECAC final
four was held at Achilles Center and was a huge success,
using the newly-renovated facilities. The David A. Viniar Basketball Pavilion
project is on schedule for completion in September of 2004.
ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE COMMITTEE
Having incorporated the cost containment
measures recommended by committees formed during the 2002-2003 fiscal year,
attention has turned to examining some of the principles that we view as
critical to maintaining the College's ability to recruit quality students,
faculty, and staff and its reputation as a top liberal arts institution. The
Planning and Priorities Committee is examining the College's commitment to our
faculty-student ratio, as well as financial aid, terms abroad and student undergraduate
research, facilities/deferred maintenance, and salary increases/employee
benefits.
COLLEGE RELATIONS
Through March
31, 2004,
Union had received $7,557,581
in private support, up $1,055,507, or 16 percent, over the same period last
year, and we have over $15 million in outstanding or pending gift requests that
should be decided by June 30. The Union Fund was ahead of last year's figures
by 505 alumni donors and $251,000, putting us in a great position to achieve
our goals of 40 percent participation and $3.9 million.
Our work with current students has expanded to
include freshmen, sophomores, and juniors in addition to the senior class. Each
class has an active committee educating and soliciting their classmates about
the need and benefit of giving back to Union. This new program is
designed to instill class pride, a sense of philanthropy, and a stronger
connection to Union among undergraduates so that they will continue to give to
Union after they graduate, increasing both our young alumni participation rate
and our young alumni volunteer numbers.
In the winter and spring, we held alumni events
in Boston, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco,
Schenectady, Seattle, Washington D.C., and London, to name a few. By the end of
June, nearly 70 events will have been sponsored with more than 6,000 alumni,
family, and friends participating.
INVESTMENT COMMITTEE MEETING
The performance of the endowment continues to
show excellent results. We are now comfortably positioned in the top 25th
percentile of peer institutions for both the last year and the last three
years. The Investment Committee is satisfied with how our portfolio is balanced
and with the individual managers we are using. We hope that the alumni and
other gift-givers are now feeling that they are getting a strong ROI on the
gifts they provide.
TRUSTEE NEWS
In news about the trustees, I'm very pleased to
announce that Trustee Bob DeMichele '66, who has done such a wonderful job as
chair of our Investment
Committee, was named a Life Trustee — a
well-deserved honor for his unique contributions to the Board. Trustees Estelle
Cooke-Sampson '74, Robert F. Cummings, Jr. '71, William J. Curtin '82,
Christine I. Reilly '75, and David A. Viniar '76 were all reelected to
four-year terms, and we said farewell to outgoing Trustees Phil Beuth '54,
Gerald Barandes '54, Paul Wintrich '60, and Student Trustee Matt Gerien '04.
I have said repeatedly that the College is in
excellent condition overall. In many respects, we are really
“over-achievers,” in that we get by far the most out of our resources
when compared to our competition. Our biggest challenge to even better
performance is to increase our endowment materially, and we plan to unveil a
program for this initiative at Homecoming weekend next fall. I hope you will
all join us then, as it promises to be an event you won't want to miss.
Steve Ciesinski '70
Chairman, Board of Trustees
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