As the calendar turns to June (Happy Pride Month!) I write with updates and information about recent activities that you may find of interest.
Recent weeks have seen a tremendous amount of activity as we wrapped up another successful academic year at the College of Staten Island! The past few months have seen: the successful adoption of our new Strategic Plan, Bridge to Success; long-overdue revisions to our campus Governance Plan and Bylaws; sustained enrollment growth; continued deficit reduction; multiple facilities enhancements; incredible faculty accomplishments (including Fulbright awards to Professors Chandan Acharya and Sarah Berger to conduct research in Nepal and Czechia, respectively) and impressive student achievements (including the selection of Katherine Yenna as a Fulbright scholar to study in Tunisia!). It has been a tremendous pleasure and a great source of pride to see CSI and its constituents blossom!
This was a message I was pleased to carry to meetings with internal and external constituents. Whether briefing the Executive Committee of the CSI Foundation, visiting with U.S. Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, or engaging with donors who have generously and graciously supported the College and its mission, you have made my job of “selling CSI” not just easier, but enjoyable. The many wonderful things that we are doing here—from the revitalization of the Center for the Arts and the soon-to-be-launched CSI Tech Innovation Hub, to the ribbon-cutting of our new (and long awaited) MakerSpace Lab—are topics of conversation at virtually every event I attend, and they are recognized and appreciated by many in our community. This was evident at last week’s event at the Richmond County Jewish Cultural Center, where the campus was celebrated for its approach to religious pluralism and support for its students, to private conversations with local elected officials and with members of the Chancellery and CUNY Board of Trustees, where our work was highlighted as exemplars of what others should be striving to achieve. Indeed, the College of Staten Island is fast moving from the “best kept secret in higher education” to becoming a jewel in CUNY’s crown. Thank you for making us stand out!
Last week we saw more than 2,100 of our graduates move from students to alumni. In addition to the wonderful Commencement exercise—and tremendous thanks to all who made the day so special, but none more so than the always-amazing Lisa Korchma in the Office of Student Affairs—we celebrated the achievements of our Verrazzano Honors students (with thanks to Cheryl Craddock), our Student Military Veterans (with gratitude to Laura Scazzafavo and Rosemary Vitale), the Lavender Graduates (with appreciation to Jeremiah Jurkiewicz), our new Doctors of Physical Therapy and Community Leadership, and various departmental ceremonies (with thanks to Deans Dreher, Holak, Joiner, Peetz, Takács and all the Chairpersons)! We also celebrated the contributions of more than a dozen of our colleagues at the ever-popular Dolphin Awards with a post-Commencement celebration in our Library (thank you Dean Stempler!). As the saying goes, “it takes a village” and we saw that many individuals had a huge role to play in all these festivities.
While the spring term has concluded, much work remains to be done. Our third-quarter financial projections show continued erosion of our structural deficit (now poised to be closer to $3M than the original estimate of nearly $5M at start of FY25), and our hiring plan—including more than 15 full-time faculty positions (inclusive of substitute appointments) is robust—particularly at a time when many campuses are not just imposing hiring freezes but are actively laying off faculty and staff. As we look to stabilize and expand our enrollment (early projections indicate that our goal of 11,500 students for the fall is within reach) we are leveraging our advisement centers to maximize their impact (and thank you to Interim Assistant Provost Carey Manifold and CAAS Director Jen Durando for yesterday’s Advisement Retreat where members of the campus community brainstormed ideas and shared best practices around student engagement and retention). Members of the administration also participated in a two-day long symposium at CUNY Central where we learned how to facilitate difficult conversations and foster productive, constructive dialogue. Others will undergo similar training in the coming months as we look to enhance our reputation as a campus that welcomes difficult conversations so as to advance our commitment to transparency, trust, and shared governance. We also have an ambitious series of summer refresh projects planned (some are already underway!), enhancing and beautifying our campus, and Keith Pisons, Patty Kahn, and their teams will be hard at work over the coming months as they prepare the campus for the onslaught of summer campers, visiting students, and all those with whom we are privileged to work every day in furtherance of our mission.
I do hope that you get some time to recharge your individual and collective batteries over the next few weeks and months, and I remain grateful and appreciative of all that you do, each and every day. My regular communiques may be less frequent over the next few months as I plan to take some of my own advice and get some much-needed time off. I promise to pass along timely information that I receive about issues of relevance and salience. I wish you a restful and restorative summer! Sending joyful Eid wishes to all who celebrate.
Until next time,
Timothy G. Lynch, Ph.D. (he/him/his)
