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SUNY Canton faculty join chorus calling for ‘one college, one president’ standard

Posted 10/7/11

CANTON -- The SUNY Canton Faculty Assembly has passed a resolution opposing the proposed appointment of SUNY Potsdam President Dr. John F. Schwaller or any other individual as an interim or permanent …

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SUNY Canton faculty join chorus calling for ‘one college, one president’ standard

Posted

CANTON -- The SUNY Canton Faculty Assembly has passed a resolution opposing the proposed appointment of SUNY Potsdam President Dr. John F. Schwaller or any other individual as an interim or permanent president of SUNY Canton without democratic input from their campus and stakeholders.

The voting members, which include SUNY Canton’s vice-presidents, deans, teaching faculty and professional staff, also resolved to endorse state Senator Patty Ritchie’s bill requiring one president at each SUNY college.

The resolutions were passed within a week of joint resolutions put forth by the Canton College Foundation and the SUNY Canton Alumni Association stating that “...The Office of the College President should never be identified as a shared administrative function nor should any decisions that affect the recruitment or retention of students be impacted.”

“SUNY Canton Faculty are responding to the way in which top SUNY Officials set the end goal of a shared presidency in motion. The entire plan was set forth with a distinct lack of democracy,” said Presiding SUNY Canton Faculty Assembly Officer Dr. Charles R. Fenner.

“This resolution represents their opinions on sharing a president with SUNY Potsdam. Particularly troubling is the timetable put forth by the Board of Trustees, that without challenge, would ensure that SUNY Central could appoint a president at SUNY Canton by simply letting ‘the clock run out’ between the May meeting of the Board of Trustees and the departure of President Kennedy soon thereafter.”

The resolution further states that “SUNY Canton and SUNY Potsdam are philosophically different,” and “...each must have their own president who represents the best interests of their respective campuses,” which mirrors Dr. Schwaller’s own publicly reported sentiments, as cited in the Aug. 12 Watertown Daily Times article, ‘SUNY Canton and SUNY Potsdam have looked at sharing services in the past’.”

The resolution states that the principle of one president for each campus must be maintained.

Faculty cited the successes of the college of current SUNY Canton President Dr. Joseph L. Kennedy as justification for continued singular leadership. Those achievements, according to the faculty panel’s statement, include “the college’s successful transition to a four-year college offering 21 baccalaureate degree programs, 21 associate degree programs, and 7 certificate programs, and three master’s degree programs in conjunction with SUNY IT. College enrollment has increased 48 percent over the last five years and Canton College Foundation assets have increased from $1.5 million to more than $36 million in 18 years. Further, the college’s online branch has become a leader throughout the SUNY System with a total of 562 online course offerings in 2011, with academic year, summer and winter term courses.”

In explaining the faculty’s endorsement of Sen. Ritchie’s bill, Fenner said, “Typically, the Faculty Assembly and Faculty Affairs committee would not endorse legislation from elected officials, but all those in attendance felt strongly that this legislation would help maintain SUNY Canton’s democratic autonomy.”

“The faculty felt that their opinions and collective voice had not, and would not, be heard without this action,” said Fenner.