Nancy Zimpher to end tenure as SUNY chancellor on June 30, 2017

Dear SUNY Family,

Serving as chancellor of The State University of New York during a time of such change and challenge, and of wonderful opportunities and possibilities, is a great honor. The strides we have made together to improve the delivery and quality of public higher education in New York State are the highlights of my career.

Today, I write to tell you that I will end my tenure as chancellor on June 30, 2017. My hope is that by sharing this news now, Chairman McCall and the SUNY Board of Trustees will have ample time to find my successor, someone who will continue to carry out our collective vision for SUNY.

When I came to SUNY seven years ago, New York was in a period of major transition. You know better than anyone the serious toll the Great Recession took on our state’s finances, creating challenges for our campuses and SUNY System Administration alike. As this university has done throughout its 60-plus year history, we rose to the challenge and met our responsibility to students, faculty, staff, and taxpayers. SUNY came together and worked in a more unified way than ever before. In realizing our full potential for systemness, we brought together SUNY’s 64 campuses to serve as an engine of economic revitalization and life-enhancing opportunity throughout our state.

Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher Congratulates SUNY Campuses on U.S. News Rankings

“SUNY colleges and universities offer students top quality degree programs, applied learning opportunities, and workforce training that prepare them for success and position New York State as a leader in the 21^st-century global economy.

“Today’s favorable rankings by U.S. News & World Report are another testament to SUNY’s capacity to deliver on our promises of access, completion, and success as we offer one of the best values in higher education anywhere in the country.

“Congratulations to the many SUNY campuses recognized by the 2015 U.S. News and World Report rankings.” 

Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher on the Appointment of H. Carl McCall as Chair of SUNY Board of Trustees

"Few individuals have served New York State with such distinction and in so many capacities as the Honorable H. Carl McCall. As a former state senator, as New York State Comptroller, and as the state’s Commissioner of Human Rights, Mr. McCall has proven one of our most valued and admired public servants. And now, I’m proud to call him Chairman McCall as he assumes his new leadership role in the service of the citizens of New York State.

“At the same time, I want to express my sincere gratitude and admiration to Trustee Carl Hayden for his exceptional leadership during a particularly tumultuous and historic period in SUNY's history.

“The appointment of Carl McCall – a long-time member of our Board of Trustees – ushers in a new era of achievement for SUNY, and I commend Governor Andrew Cuomo for providing the state university with such a stalwart leader. In his new capacity, Chairman McCall will be able to give even greater force, wisdom, and vision to the task of making SUNY the most outstanding public higher education system in the country.

“Since his first days in office, Governor Cuomo articulated a clear vision for public higher education as a catalyst for New York’s economic recovery, and he has delivered on his promise. The governor proposed, helped pass, and signed into law landmark reform for New York's tuition policies, which will help SUNY maintain both quality and accessibility for years to come.

“Now, with the selection of Carl McCall to lead the Board of Trustees, Governor Cuomo has shown, once again, that his commitment to SUNY’s academic excellence and its role as an economic driver is for the long haul. We look forward to a fruitful partnership.”

About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating more than 467,000 students in more than 7,500 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses with nearly 3 million alumni around the globe. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu

SUNY System the Key to New York’s Economic Future

Albany, N.Y. -- A comprehensive statewide study finds that the State University of New York is positioned to be the critical force in building a new innovation economy for New York -- with a broad and diverse array of economic development activities already in place across the 64-campus system, and with a growing potential to do more in the future.

The study, a joint project of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government at the University at Albany and of the University at Buffalo Regional Institute, reported that the SUNY system had an economic impact of a minimum of $19.8 billion in 2008-09, based on the spending of its colleges and universities, students, employees and campus visitors.

But the institutes' report, How SUNY Matters: Economic Impacts of the State University of New York [PDF], found that the system is making an even more important contribution to New York's future economy -- to the state's capacity to grow and produce jobs in the new economy of the 21st Century.

More HERE.

The Power of SUNY

The most recent version of the strategic plan, The Power of SUNY is available for public comment for about one week.

UAlbany's Census 2010 event

To the University at Albany Community:

UAlbany students are pledging to be counted in Census 2010 by dipping their hands in purple and gold paint and placing their handprints on the Lecture Center windows, starting at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, March 23. I invite faculty and staff to add their handprints, as well. The handprints will be a reminder "It's in Our Hands," one of the key Census 2010 messages. The event will take place in the Lecture Center area downstairs from the University Library. It is all part of UAlbany's efforts, in partnership with census officials, to build awareness of the importance of being counted. Census staff will be on hand to answer questions and distribute information.

Each person counted is worth about $1,600 a year in federal funding to a region. U.S. Census data is used to determine funding for education, health care, transportation and other important services that affect our daily lives as members of the UAlbany community.

I appreciate everyone's efforts to make Census 2010 a success by completing your census forms and returning them.

Sincerely,

George M. Philip
President