I hope that you had a wonderful start to the fall semester, and a relaxing Labor Day holiday. I write with updates and information that you may find of interest.
As the term begins, I am pleased and proud to report that our enrollment is strong. Although there are still some things that need to shake out, we anticipate slightly more than 11,000 students, our largest number in many years! This would not have been possible but for the concerted efforts of those in Recruitment and Admissions, Advising, Enrollment Services, and many other student-facing offices. Outreach from academic programs enhanced our retention efforts, and we are well-situated for the academic year. Many thanks to all who played a part in these efforts! And why wouldn’t students want to attend CSI, an institution recently ranked by Forbes as a top 25 college nationwide for return-on-investment!
Since my last communication, our team and I have been busy meeting with various stakeholders to advance our collective mission. Last week, I attended an event hosted by the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to honor and recognize the “Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year” in a ceremony attended by local elected officials. The work that the SBDC does to support enterprises such as that owned by Mark Adaji (USMC, Ret.) demonstrates the impact that CSI has beyond its campus confines. Congratulations to the honoree and many thanks to the SBDC for the invitation to speak and, especially, the work that they do on a daily basis. That evening, other campus leaders and I participated in a wide-ranging Zoom call with Governor Hochul and others to discuss campus preparedness for the Fall term. I am confident that we will have a successful semester marked by civil discourse, empathy, respectful dialogue, and mutual understanding.
The next day, I attended a meeting with Department of Transportation officials (and my Wagner College counterpart, President Jeffrey Doggett) at Borough Hall to discuss ways to improve transportation on and around our campus. This was followed by conversations with the MTA to address transportation challenges in the light of our discontinued Ferry Shuttle. I am hopeful that these conversations will result in both increased and improved service for our community, and am working tirelessly with local elected officials to have our concerns addressed. I also had a pair of evening meetings with the CSI Foundation where we reviewed our financial statements, approved our fiscal audit, and planned for the upcoming year. It was an encouraging start to the term. I was also pleased to see so many of you at the Staten Island FerryHawks game, where we celebrated our Third Annual “CSI Night” and I avoided embarrassing myself while throwing out the ceremonial first pitch!
This week, I attended the monthly Council of President’s meeting at CUNY Central where we discussed, among other things, lobbying strategies, research activity, enrollment projections, fundraising/philanthropy, and the state of our budget. On those last points, there are encouraging signs, both for the system and for our campus. First, I would like to announce the appointment of Ms. Dana Trimboli as Associate Administrator in Charge of Business Development at CSI. As a seasoned CUNY leader (with prior roles at John Jay and York College), Dana brings a proven track record of successful fundraising and will be responsible for overseeing all entrepreneurial initiatives on our campus: the Center for the Arts, camps and clinics, major gifts, alumni relations, and annual giving will all reside in her portfolio. As our nascent Strategic Plan calls for increased revenue-generation, this addition to our team shows a commitment to implementing the recommendations of that document.
I am also pleased to report that due to our improved enrollment, we are making a substantial reinvestment in our faculty and add—between the start of the Fall 2024 and Fall 2025 semesters—upward of 15 full-time faculty lines, the majority of which will be tenure-track professorial appointments. The Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs will continue to work with the Deans and the lines subcommittee of the Personnel and Budget (P&B) Committee to make recommendations about how these will be apportioned and allocated: it is worth noting that some ads for these positions are already active (indeed, some of these lines have already been filled). I am excited to make good on my promise to invest in our faculty once we had stabilized our enrollment and look forward to the contributions that these new colleagues will make to our institution and its mission of teaching, service, research, scholarship, and creative activity!
The week ended with our first Institutional Planning Committee of the year, where we discussed proposed revisions to our mission, vision, and values in support of our forthcoming Strategic Plan. The conversation was, as expected cordial and productive. I look forward to the results of this work and to continuing the collaboration that has marked our approach to shared governance over the past few years. Here’s to a great 2024-2025 academic year!
Until next time,
Timothy G. Lynch, Ph.D. (he/him/his)
