I want to welcome all of you back for the 2014-2015 academic year. I hope and trust that the summer has been pleasant, restful, and reinvigorating. I look forward to working together with all of you to achieve both your personal goals and those of our College. From the latter perspective, many exciting developments have transpired during the summer months. President Fritz has already shared many of these with you. Some are of particular interest to Academic Affairs and I want to mention them briefly:
- Chancellor J.B. Milliken visited the campus on July 30, 2014 and met separately with faculty, staff, and students. The visit was cordial and the overall impression was that it went very well. I am grateful to those individuals who took the time to represent our campus to the Chancellor.
- CUNY2020 awards were announced and CSI programs were notably successful. These funds will ensure that our construction in the 2M building will move ahead and that it will be expanded.
- The College received significant funds through our legislative representatives. These funds, termed “ResoA money,” will enable us to completely rebuild and modernize the media laboratory and upgrade the sports facilities. Additional monies will be received from the State for technology equipment that will impact our psychology, engineering, and trading simulation laboratories in the 2015-2016 academic year. Our CUE allocation for 2014-2015 is nearly $700K and will enable many programs.
- The residence halls will be occupied to capacity.
- Funds for the complete design of the Interdisciplinary High-Performance Computing Center building were allocated; final designs should be completed this year with construction starting in 2015-2016.
- A total of 21 new full-time faculty colleagues have come to CSI this semester.
The faculty is reporting many exciting achievements. I will save these for a later missive. As I expect you are aware, President Fritz has announced a search for my replacement. I am very grateful to the President for his strong support for the academic and teaching mission of CSI. I will save the eulogies for the future, but my observation is that we have a President who is a faculty member at heart and who understands and supports the concerns of the faculty. I enjoy very much working with the President, the Deans, and the faculty leaders to try to make CSI an outstanding educational institution. After two years as Provost, my respect for the faculty and staff at CSI is even greater than it was when I assumed this position. I will strive this year to work with dedication and energy to further the Mission of our College. I am confident that I can continue to depend on your support as together we face the challenges that are intrinsic to the academic enterprise. Have a productive and stimulating fall semester.
