suny excels cobleskill · 12/23/2015 · our vision as premier stewards of sustainability keeps us...

1 | P a g e : S U N Y E x c e l s N a r r a t i v e

SUNY Excels 2015 Performance Improvement Plan Attachment 1: Narrative Template

CAMPUS INFORMATION

Campus: Cobleskill

President: Dr. Marion Terenzio

Chief Academic Officer: Dr. Susan Zimmermann

Chief Financial Officer: Ms. Carol Bishop

SUNY EXCELS – COBLESKILL STYLE

Section 1: Campus Alignment with SUNY Excels Cobleskill’s current strategic plan, the Second Century Enterprise (http://www.cobleskill.edu/strategicplanning/documents.asp) covers the period of July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2016. While the plan has provided solid guidance for nearly five years, a new strategic vision is emerging which aligns with both the priority areas of SUNY Excels and the Chancellor’s completion goals. While only in its conceptual phase, the campus vision described below will provide the basis for the development of a new strategic plan to lead Cobleskill toward a bright future. As SUNY Cobleskill celebrates its centennial year, we look to our past to design our future, to create a modern curriculum that addresses the needs of an agrarian –focused milieu. The difference is that we are preparing students to succeed in a more complicated, diverse and globally dominated context. However, one constant in SUNY Cobleskill’s approach that has remained relevant for the past 100 years is our emphasis on applied learning. More than ever, this approach is critical if our students are to find solutions to the vexing issues of world hunger, vanishing food supplies to sustain the world’s population, and replenishing the destruction of natural resources, to name a few. The metrics noted in this report demonstrate our ability to embed our mission of “Real Life Real Learning,” into our SUNY Excels plan using the five foci of Access, Completion, Success, Inquiry, and Engagement. SUNY Excels provides the foundation and goals, while our vision sets parameters and direction to realistically achieve those goals, staying on course with student expectations while avoiding mission creep. Our vision as Premier Stewards of Sustainability keeps us grounded in our connection to agriculture and related disciplines that support a sustainable agrarian economy and community vitality as reflected in social‐cultural attributes. To produce stewards of sustainability, namely our graduates, we must develop programs that educate and train designers of future environments encompassing more than just agricultural features, using transdisciplinary approaches and managing unpredictable events through acquired skills and novel, adaptive thinking. To accomplish this plan, we will redesign our infrastructure through three overarching domains and align with the Power of SUNY while accomplishing SUNY Excels performance targets. The chart below


shows the connections between these domains and SUNY’s initiatives. It includes examples of assessment metrics, the action steps necessary to fulfill our vision, and the potential impact this work will have on our campus.

SUNY Cobleskill Performance Improvement Plan 2020

DOMAINS Mission Real Life Real Learning

Institutional Aptitude Community Vitality

Possible Metrics # of students engaged in service learning and internships NSSE and SOS results and benchmarks Student Learning Outcomes

Strong financial base to support programs and resource allocation practices Ample funding to support innovation Increase student performance Compared performance with aspirations institutions

Increased giving across the internal college community Ambitious Advancement Plan that aligns with Strategic Plan and enrollment projections College proactive role in economic revitalization a community development

Action steps High Impact Practices

Applied Learning Service Learning Plan General Education revision Student Tool Box

Articulation chart Enrollment Plan linked to resource allocation Financial Aid matrix Joint on‐line programs with Empire State

Economic Summits Internal audit of Advancement practices and goals Benchmarks engagement and giving

Campus Impact

Increased student participation in civic engagement Increased student satisfaction

Higher retention & graduation rates

Increased enrollment Increased alternative forms of education (early high school, post baccalaureate) Increased micro‐credentials Increased agreements

Increase in planned giving

Increase in partnerships

Increase in Foundation funding

SUNY Excels

Access 2.1 (1‐4)

Completion 2.2(6) 2.2 (5‐8)

Success 2.3 (9) 2.3 (10)

Inquiry 2.4 (12) 2.5(14,16,17) 2.4(13) 2.4 (11)

Engagement 2.5 (14‐17)

POWER of SUNY SUNY Advantage Civic Engagement

Cradle to CareerOpen SUNY

START‐UP NYDiversity

The following diagram outlines the three major domains (Mission, Institutional Aptitude and Community Vitality) that define PIP direction and identify the primary initiatives that will fulfill the plan. The first domain is Mission (SUNY Excels: Completion, Success, Inquiry), which refers to our commitment to educate students, ensuring that they not only gain knowledge and skills, but use information responsibly, applying it in unpredictable and complex settings. Mission also extends to the entire


institution, serving both internal and external communities through stewardship of institutional resources, and an active role in nurturing innovation and facilitating problem solving through example. Cobleskill will become the lead organization in regional economic revitalization in an area devastated by Hurricane Irene and a social system severely affected by a downturn in growth and opportunity.

Student Learning Outcomes

College‐ Wide Learning Outcomes Institutional Aptitude (SUNY Excels: Access, Completion, Success, Inquiry) represents SUNY Cobleskill’s road map for institutional capacity and effectiveness in creating infrastructure to support desired outcomes. The central feature is an assessment protocol that answers the following questions: Are we doing what we said we would do? Have we achieved our outcomes? And, do we have the adequate resources in place? We plan to employ two essential tools: our strategic positioning vision, and our strategic enrollment diversification plan that reflects new program direction and offerings. Each tool has two separate tactics that are more fully described in the document that follows.

Community Vitality (SUNY Excels 2.4 and 2.5) is the third domain. It represents our commitment to build a diverse community, and foster a culture that respects and utilizes different opinions,

Mission

Real Life/Real Learning

Instituion‐wide Community Engagement

SLO•Academic Service Learning

SLO•Internships

SLO• Student Engagement

Institutional Aptitude

Strategic Positioning

Premier Stewards of Sustainabilty

Resource Allocation

Plan

Program Capacity Review

Strategic Enrollment

Diversification

Presidential Retention Task Force

Student Tool Box


perspectives and world views to create a vibrant learning milieu. SUNY Cobleskill will become the gathering place for those who seek to explore alternative forms of pedagogy, experiment with innovative methods for sustaining the environment, engage in opportunities to discover knowledge through action, and collaborate with others to find mutually agreed upon solutions to community issues. Partnerships and alliances will be formed with supporters and advisors who will become engaged with our work, leading to more sustained commitment and involvement.

Community Vitality

These three domains are the pillars of our Performance Improvement Plan and reflect our ability to become the Premier Stewards of Sustainability.

The following pages detail the specific strategies SUNY Cobleskill will employ to create the infrastructure necessary to support our vision and fulfill our mission. Section 2: Specific SUNY Excels Priority Areas and Metrics 2.1 Access (Institutional Aptitude) 1. Full Enrollment Picture ‐ SUNY Cobleskill has plans for aggressive growth of approximately 550 (23%) additional degree seeking students by 2020, reaching a headcount of 3050. This will be accomplished through offering additional baccalaureate degrees and creating more deliberate and defined seamless internal and external transfer paths for associate degree students. Cobleskill will continue to offer associate degrees, serving as Schoharie County’s de‐facto community college, providing workforce‐ready two year graduates and preparing students for transfer to baccalaureate programs. Micro‐credentialing programs, including early college, professional certification and post‐baccalaureate offerings will serve an additional 1500 students. The current paramedic and canine training programs will be expanded and new initiatives such as the Farmers Market Managers’ Certificate, in partnership with the Farmers Market Federation of NY, NYS Economic Development, and Cornell Cooperative Extension will be launched. Workshops in relevant environmental areas such as Raw Milk and Bee Keeping, programs focused on waste management and clean energy production, and meat and dairy processing will be offered. “SCHOOL” (Schoharie County Home of Ongoing Learning), a non‐profit, participatory organization committed to life‐long learning, will also be expanded. In total, student enrollment beyond census is expected to reach 5000 by 2020 (see Tables 1, 2 and 3, Attachment 2).

Mission

Institutional Aptitude

Community Vitality


The proposed program mix, including an innovative program that recruits veterans into the agriculture industry, represents our desire to diversify our enrollment and draw different student cohorts, ranging from high school students enrolled in early college programs to professionals who would benefit from advanced credentials such as supply chain management, to campus. Our first‐time transfer student population will increase by 100 students over five years as we continue to develop our degree completion programs. Currently, we have degree completion programs with Jefferson, Rockland, and Fulton Montgomery Community Colleges, where we offer bachelor degree programs on the community college campus, providing access for place bound students. Growth in baccalaureate degree seeking students will have an impact on continuing student numbers, as a larger proportion of the student population will remain longer than two years. A retention program that is currently being created by a newly formed Presidential Task Force (RTF) will stabilize retention rates, implement plans for growth and improve graduation rates, assisting in reaching SUNY’s overall goal of an additional 60,000 degree completions by 2020. We plan to reach a 70% retention rate for first‐time full‐time freshman by 2020 and an 80% retention rate for first‐time transfers. (Table 8) 2. NYS Residents Served by SUNY: Approximately 90% of Cobleskill’s total student body are residents of New York State. As enrollment grows, the non‐NYS resident target will remain at 10%, while the total student census grows. However, far more NY residents are currently served than what is reported in the SUNY student data submissions. More than 700 area high school students participate in College in the High School programs, over 400 additional students are enrolled in non‐credit programming and summer conferencing and we propose to reach out to area home school associations to further engage those students. We plan to increase articulation agreements with NYS High Schools by 2%, increasing early access. By 2020, Cobleskill plans to serve 700 students through non‐credit instructional activity, 750 through College in the High School and 100 through professional certification programs. While there is tremendous potential to increase the international and out‐of‐state population, our desire is to first serve NY residents through our degree and micro‐credentialing offerings. Table 4 reflects our goal to keep our international and out‐of‐state population at 10%. 3. Diversity (Community Vitality): SUNY Cobleskill has enjoyed a 28.6% increase in its under‐represented minority faculty and staff since 2009. We expect to continue this trend with the purpose of creating a more diverse and inclusive campus community which mirrors the diversity of New York State. Planned actions to increase faculty/staff minority representation include: outreach to search committees regarding affirmative action goals, recruitment of minority doctoral candidates from SUNY University Centers, shared services with SUNY Delhi in hiring a Chief Diversity Officer and piloting a dual career assistance program for under‐represented minority candidates in partnership with SUNY Delhi. Cobleskill will create an Agriculture Immersion Program for urban high school students to provide exposure and assist students in their transition to a rural setting. Granting prior learning experience credit to high school students who have extensive knowledge of farming is being explored. Tables 5‐7 contain our diversity goals. We plan to have a diversity officer in place by 2017. 4. Capacity (Mission and Institutional Aptitude): The first step in achieving these goals is a program capacity review, based on evidence gathered by the faculty and resulting in recommendations regarding program viability. Cobleskill faculty are currently engaged in an academic review to determine program strengths and weaknesses and recommend the level of support for each program, including potential program elimination. Addendum 1 contains the survey that the Fiscal Affairs and Strategic Planning Committee sent to the faculty to assist the Committee in assessing progress achieved regarding program viability. Concurrently, the Administrative Council will be reviewing administrative areas and identifying


strengths and weaknesses. That work will commence shortly and will include review of the Middle States recommendations as we plan for our 2017 PRR. Both studies will produce recommendations that will be used to develop the next strategic plan, determine the allocation of institutional resources and identify projects for fundraising and a capital campaign. Noted later in this report is the plan to build the infrastructure for a future campaign. In addition to program review, each academic department will be creating an articulation chart that maps program levels for all incoming students. It will provide each student with an academic plan that includes all levels of education, starting with middle school and extending to doctoral programs. Faculty will “plot” the programs, including non‐credit certificates, offered by Cobleskill and identify program levels that will require the creation of articulation agreements with other institutions. For example, it is unlikely that we will offer a graduate degree in Psychology, but we would create an articulation agreement with another SUNY institution that offers such degrees. We think that this approach will safeguard mission creep and minimize competition among SUNY institutions. Level Middle

School High School

BOCES Associates Degree Completion

Graduate or transfer

Bachelors Masters/Doctorate Non-credit certificates

Program

As part of SUNY’s seamless transfer process, the campus has diligently reviewed our curricula to ensure alignment with seamless transfer pathways. Through degree completion programs, several courses are offered on‐line and shared among the cohort sites to ensure that course capacity and demand are well‐managed and that there is course availability sufficient to meet student demand. We have also articulated eight community college catalogs in our system so that students accessing Degree Works can easily view the transferability of courses and estimate their time to degree completion. In addition, we plan to grow our on‐line programs in partnership with Delhi and explore expanding our network resources with SUNY Empire State, and jointly‐offering programs through their infrastructure. Our current offerings are limited and we plan to expand first by offering completely on‐line certificate programs and then expand to hybrid degree offerings in selected programs. 2.2 Completion (Mission and Institutional Aptitude) 5. Completions: The President recently convened a Retention Task Force (RTF) that has representation from across the campus to identify barriers to student completion and develop remedies, setting measurable outcomes and putting research‐based initiatives into action. Several initiatives have already started, including the creation of a student tool box, noted below in section 8. SUNY Cobleskill has aggressive goals to improve completions – projecting a nearly 60% increase by 2020 (Table 13, attachment 2). Information embedded in the mandatory freshman seminar assists students in laying out a clear path to graduation. Work is also being done on reverse transfer to assist students who have met their graduation requirements after leaving SUNY Cobleskill in being granted their degree. Baccalaureate degree students will be granted associate degrees ‘en passant’ once they have met all the requirements for the associate’s degree. 6. Student Achievement/Success (SAM) SUNY Cobleskill serves as the de‐facto community college for its region, as well as serving an increasingly mobile and diverse student population. SAM will help Cobleskill better track student accomplishments and movement toward completion and will more fully reflect all facets of student achievement. The data from SAM will inform the Retention Task Force (RTF) regarding individual student progress, particularly concerning the associate degree completers who transfer out through our articulation


programs and those who transfer into our completer program. SAM data will capture the actual student trends at institutions such as Cobleskill who provide diverse student learning opportunities. Retention, persistence, graduation, and transfer rates are noted in accompanying tables. To address these, SUNY Cobleskill is implementing the following initiatives:

Establish the RTF comprised of faculty, staff, and students and co‐chaired by the College President and Chief Enrollment Officer;

Participate in the Reverse Transfer Initiative, whereby students within 6 credits of completion are contacted and provided academic and financial aid advisement to facilitate completion;

Enhance academic advisement through the establishment of Master Faculty Advisor positions; these were increased from 2 to 4 positions as of fall 2015;

Increase communication to students regarding the opportunity to earn an associate’s degree along the way to completing a bachelor’s degree;

Students complete the graduation application process, a part of which is the completion of a degree evaluation for students, one semester prior to their proposed graduation date; and

Enhance academic programming and support for high risk student populations. This includes modification of summer EOP programming to allow students to focus on successfully completing one course prior to the start of the fall semester; the establishment of summer orientation programs for MERITS students and students with disabilities; and the development of a “Second Opportunity for Success” program for returning students on academic probation.

7. Graduation Rates: SUNY Cobleskill has been on par with and exceeded the national three year graduation rates for associate degree seeking students (33% vs 19.5%). The associate degree graduation rate will increase to 35% by 2020 (Table 9, Attachment 2) through increased retention, reverse transfer and awarding degrees ‘en passant.’ Baccalaureate graduation rates will stabilize and increase through initiatives being developed by the RTF. Transfer graduation rates at the bachelor level will increase to 60% as more students enroll in degree completion programs and are part of a cohort with a defined set of courses and a clear path set toward graduation. 8. Time to Degree: Finish‐in‐4 or finish‐in‐2 programs are not currently in place, however, a number of initiatives are designed to expedite completion. Special 12 and 8 week courses, which have later start dates, allow students who may have dropped classes to enroll so that they do not delay degree completion. The graduation application is filed a semester ahead of projected graduation, helping students graduate on‐time by ensuring that they are enrolled in the appropriate courses during their final semester of study. A recent curricular review has reduced the credits required to 60 for associate programs and 120 for baccalaureate programs wherever possible. A supported and engaged living and learning community that includes academic, social and financial supports facilitates student success. The chart below displays the many ways in which Cobleskill supports students, including the unique populations we serve. While the list is not exhaustive, and additional initiatives are in progress, this “toolbox” provides students with the tools they need to meet their degree requirements, as well as their social and economic needs, while at SUNY Cobleskill.


Services & Programs

Freshman

Continuing / Returning

Transfer

Special Cohorts

Accepted student day X Student Ambassador Program X X X X First Year Seminar X College in High School X Orientation program X X Campus Scholarships X X X X Gap funding support (financial aid) X X X X Writing Center X X X X Master Faculty Advisor Program X X X X Intercollegiate Athletics with mandated study hours X X X X Internship search & advisement X X X X Club & intramural sports X X X X Job search & preparation support X X X X Center for Academic Support X X X X FOCUS – Career/Major assessment X X X X Campus leadership positions X X X X Student conduct mentoring X X X X Wellness & personal counseling X X X X Health services & educational programming X X X X Academic program advisement & career preparation X X X X Student employment X X X X Information technology help desk X X X X Library support services X X X X Designated group study space X X X X Degree Works X X X X Graduation application process support X X X X STAR NY on-line tutoring program X X X X Study abroad opportunities X X X X International internships X X X X Living-learning environments X X X X E portfolio development & support X X X X Mock interview & resume workshops X X X X Summer & winter session courses X X X X Service learning/community service engagement X X X X Graduate school articulations X X X X On-campus employer recruitment X X X X Alumni guest lecturers X X X X Mid-term intervention X X X X Commuter appreciation & outreach programs X X X X Exit interview counseling for withdrawals X X X X Financial literacy outreach X X X X Transfer advisement & orientation program X X X X 12 month housing X X X X Evaluation of CLEP X Community college degree completion programs X X ACE transcript evaluations & credit awards X Veteran’s lounge X Veteran’s Services Coordinator X Summer transition program X EOP counseling & support programs X Scholarship application completion days X X Peer mentoring X SOS (Second Opportunity for Success) program X ‘Strengthquest’ assessment & action planning X ESL tutoring & support X Dual degree partnership programs X


Each student is trained on how to utilize his/her “tool box,” and encouraged to take responsibility for their own success. This proactive approach empowers students to control their own learning through diverse resources, rather than a more passive approach in simply providing services to our students. We will review the tool box to address items on the SOS forms that were ranked low by students. Tables 14 and 15 contain the results of the SOS. Please note that the data reflects 2012 trends. Our 2015 trends already demonstrate improvement in 90 individual items. The institution has not, however, made strides in creating a culture that embraces diversity, and the President, through the RTF, will address that short‐coming in the months ahead. 2.3 Success – (Mission and Institutional Aptitude) 9. SUNY Advantage: Internships are the hallmark of a SUNY Cobleskill bachelor’s degree and exemplify the institution’s focus on “Real Life. Real Learning.” In addition to pursuing internship opportunities with local, state, and national business and industry partners, students may engage in international opportunities available in eleven academic program areas and in nine countries through SUNY Cobleskill’s partnership with CIS Abroad. Applied learning opportunities are constantly being expanded through undergraduate research, entrepreneurship, and service learning. The campus will be hosting the 2016 SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC) and is working to expand the Schoharie Fresh Online Farmers’ Market to include Otsego County in 2016. SUNY Cobleskill was awarded $10,000 through the 2015‐2016 Explorations in Diversity & Academic Excellence initiative to support extending the benefits of international experiential learning to EOP students. This pilot program will take place in spring 2016 and will provide a model that can be replicated in the future and serve as an important tool in expanding cross‐cultural awareness. Supplemental programming includes speaker series, Agricultural High School Day, Green Industry Day, and College Information Day. The campus is also planning to host a symposium regarding cutting edge technology and new initiatives in sustainability. The faculty has just begun exploring the possibility of creating a service learning program that will be embedded in general education requirements. A town hall meeting will be held in October to present a general thesis outlining a definition, parameters and key features. The intent is to create experiences that provide for a deeper exploration of community issues and address more underlying causes. While it is important to offer the direct‐service student engagement experience, students will gain greater insight and skills through service learning embedded within the curriculum. 10. Financial Literacy: Financial literacy is a high priority for the SUNY Cobleskill financial aid office, and our goal is to provide our students with the fundamental skills and resources necessary for them to develop responsible money management practices. Our financial literacy program places particular emphasis on increasing our students’ knowledge and understanding of their student loan obligations. Through the use of SUNY Smart Track initiatives as well as a series of alternative and less‐traditional educational delivery methods, we have achieved a 50% decline in our 3 year student loan default rate (16.9% in 2010 to 8.9% in 2015). Noted in Addendum 2 is the Student Government’s strategic plan, which serves as an excellent example of how students are taking the initiative to increase financial literacy. Prior to her arrival, President Terenzio asked the Student Government to create a strategic plan which includes a section on how SGA will assist their peers in becoming more financially literate. In addition, SGA developed their own


strategic allocation of funds to support their plan (contained in Addendum 2). This is an exemplary model and completely student‐initiated and monitored. Another way the campus plans to help students be successful as well as better meet their needs and strengthen recruitment efforts is to evaluate our current campus based aid awarding process. The total cost to attend SUNY Cobleskill, like all SUNYs, has increased 30% in the past five years. Unfortunately, federal and state financial aid programs have not increased accordingly. More and more middle class families, whose stagnant income levels prevent them from both affording college and qualifying for need‐based grants, are particularly burdened by the rising costs of higher education. As a result of these trends, the average college student borrows twice as much today as they did ten years ago. While SUNY Cobleskill continues to offer tremendous value to our students, the competition for quality students is more profound than ever before. Scholarship opportunities are growing in importance to our students and are therefore playing an increasingly significant role in our ability to retain and attract quality students from competing institutions. By developing a formal scholarship matrix, scholarships can be awarded systematically as part of the financial aid process. In addition to academic performance, an effectively designed matrix will augment program growth, stimulate out of state enrollment, or address financial need more effectively. Using scholarships to promote on‐campus housing by designating a portion of the award contingent upon residential housing is just one way to better utilize our limited resources. The establishment of an internal formula will also prevent excessive refunds to students whose bills are covered in full by both state and federal grant funds. This formula would allow us to offer a larger number of scholarship awards targeting students with greater financial need: estimated college bill minus total state and federal grants equals maximum amount of institutional scholarship eligibility. 2.4 Inquiry (Community Vitality) 11. Total Sponsored Activity: SUNY Cobleskill is in the process of implementing a five point plan to increase total sponsored program activity, including growth in industry sponsored projects and grants in high‐priority areas. The Office of Grants and Sponsored Programs will soon be re‐structured to allow more time to focus on grant development and writing. These changes will create an opportunity for novice faculty and others to receive hands‐on, grant proposal development assistance. The Grants Director will dedicate one day per week toward grants outreach and education with faculty who display promise and interest in successfully pursing external funding. Outreach and development assistance will increase both the number and quality of grant proposals submitted. Policies are currently being developed to allow faculty who are successful in obtaining grant funds to share in Cobleskill’s indirect cost‐recovery allocation. Faculty and their departments will be eligible for a portion of recovered indirect funds when specific criteria are met. The campus will continue its successful Grant Professional Development program that provides funding for faculty and staff to attend grant writing and development workshops. The program also provides opportunities for select faculty who are asked to write specific grants that provide support to the college’s strategic plan. SUNY Cobleskill is in the process of identifying and defining several “umbrellas” or areas in which grant efforts will be focused. This concept will permit multiple industry and government sponsors and others to contribute to growing, high‐priority areas. Focusing on distinct “umbrellas” will ensure ongoing program consistency and underscore the effectiveness of administrative capacity and capability. SUNY Cobleskill currently measures grant activity by tracking the number of proposals submitted and funded, by department and school, as well as the number of grants funded and indirect funding


recovered. The number of new investigators submitting proposals and those submitted in collaboration with another SUNY institution are also measured. The Research Foundation for SUNY is in the process of implementing a Pre‐Award Compliance System (PACS) and OM Dashboard that will enable each campus to track its sponsored program activity in detail. 12. Student hands‐on research, entrepreneurship, etc.: Opportunities for hands‐on research and entrepreneurship are embedded in academic coursework at SUNY Cobleskill. Students conduct field research, present at state and national conferences, and participate in state and national business plan competitions. Students and faculty mentors participated in SUNY Cobleskill’s Undergraduate Research Showcase and in the inaugural SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference in 2015 and SUNY Cobleskill will host the event in April 2016. The first SUNY Cobleskill STARTUP NY partnership to launch emerged from student participation in the state business plan competition. The College has established an Applied Learning Alliance, under the direction of which data is being collected to more effectively catalogue applied learning experiences in all programs; a survey instrument was developed and results will be shared at the Applied Learning Summit in November, 2015. 13. Scholarship, Discovery, and Innovation: The Van Wagenen Library serves a major conduit of scholarly activity for the entire region. Viewing scholarship as communication, we build our services with the purpose of providing for the intellectual growth of our students and to the community at large. The library has the physical space to share with members of the region for creative intellectual endeavors – it is an environment that keeps itself adaptive to foster scholarship and create activity of all members of the surrounding community. Our most recent on‐loan/acquisitions are the archeological and printed materials from the Iroquois museum, providing access to historical information about the Iroquois nations. SUNY Cobleskill recognizes scholarship, discovery, and innovation in the following ways: through the creation of an annual “Orange Carpet Awards” recognition event for faculty and staff; by encouraging self‐reporting by faculty and staff, including annual reports, sabbatical reports, and grant reporting; and by including these items in the reappointment, promotion, and tenure/permanent review process. Additionally, the College provides funding for strategic initiatives and incentivizes cross‐disciplinary collaborations. One of our white papers contains a plan to build our patent‐pending gasifier and bio‐digester technologies that will convert bio‐waste and plastics into clean energy with the goal to provide power to the campus and eventually to supply power to other rural areas in surrounding communities. Students will work with faculty to build, run and maintain this state‐of‐the art technology, research its impact and create programs to bring the project up to larger scales. Similar applied‐research projects are being developed in the areas of technology through which students, staff and faculty are developing next generation products that will help sustain clean environments and community access to other forms of technology.

2.5 Engagement (Community Vitality)

14. START‐UP New York and beyond: Experiential learning is the cornerstone of SUNY Cobleskill’s academic mission and, as such, the college’s programs have depended on relationships with industry for decades to ensure program relevancy and to provide valuable internship and employment opportunities for students. Credit‐bearing, semester‐long internships are required of all students graduating from Bachelors of Technology (BT) programs. Further, programs are informed by advisory committees


comprised of industry leaders that convene to receive program updates and to advise faculty on developments in the marketplace that could impact program design and learning outcomes. SUNY Cobleskill has been a “pace setter” in the START‐UP NY program. In October, 2014, Empire State Development (ESD) approved SUNY Cobleskill’s amended START‐UP NY campus plan which designated one on‐campus and three off‐campus properties as tax‐free zones. To date, six START‐UP NY business applications have been submitted by SUNY Cobleskill and approved by ESD. Currently, one of those business partners, Royal Meadery, is up and running and will soon be hiring SUNY Cobleskill students as interns. For the Fall 2015 semester, the Meadery’s production space is being utilized by a variety of academic programs as an external laboratory and the business’s owner is serving as an “entrepreneurship mentor” for individual students interested in the fermented beverage industry. Unfortunately, progress toward business launch and property rehabilitation for SUNY Cobleskill’s other four business partners has slowed due to difficulties with the property acquisition process. However, we continue to interact with the owners of these businesses and are working diligently on their behalf to expedite the real estate transaction process. Once all of these partnerships have executed, approximately 30 new internship opportunities will be available for SUNY Cobleskill students annually, some of which will include “management training” components. Further, over 500 new jobs will be offered in Schoharie County, an area devastated over the last 15 years by the exit of its manufacturing sector and by natural disaster. There are currently two additional businesses in talks with the college about becoming START UP NY partners and utilizing already‐designated tax‐free zones. Notably, the college will submit a campus plan amendment to ESD in the next few weeks to designate additional on‐campus space to accommodate the significant expansion of Royal Meadery. 15. Alumni/Philanthropic Support: The mission to be Premier Stewards of Sustainability will be compelling in our philanthropic efforts. Our newly launched branding campaign demonstrates that we know who we are and where we are going. Our constituents can be confident in their investments. Alumni, emeriti, community, corporate, faculty and staff donors will want to invest in SUNY Cobleskill’s future growth. With our volunteer boards at 100% participation, the internal campus community will focus on achieving the same goal. SUNY Cobleskill’s leadership in economic revitalization with community leadership will motivate corporate partnerships.

SUNY Cobleskill has not had much success in mounting a capital campaign and there is limited infrastructure to support a program. It is our intent to build our capacity to mount a modest and realistic campaign of $5 million that will become the foundation for more ambitious campaigns in the future. Our first step is to launch our SUNY Excels plan and create a comprehensive strategic plan that has wide‐spread support and clearly articulates our top three or four initiatives. The president has created an action plan template that has already been reviewed by faculty governance leaders and administrators that will serve as the first step in our multifaceted approach. The template is contained in addendum 3. Once the community has engaged in this process, the Advancement Office will evaluate the outcomes using the Dove Preparedness Index (DPI). The self‐study will identify areas of enhancement for a successful campaign. A proposed gift pyramid below outlines the type of distribution that represents a realistic approach to our campaign. The president will be hiring consultants to perform an audit of the Advancement Office to determine our level of capacity in this work.


SUNY Cobleskill 5 Million Dollar Fundraising Gift Pyramid

16. Civic Engagement (Mission and Community Vitality): SUNY Cobleskill aspires to be a Premier Steward of Sustainability. In order to achieve that vision we must immerse ourselves into the workings of our local community. We also understand that the role of the mission fulfillment cannot be limited to one cabinet area, but must be embraced institution‐wide; therefore it is administered directly from the Office of the President. Embracing the idea of ‘Real Life Real Learning,’ community engagement incorporates three specific institution‐wide, student learning outcomes – service learning, internships, and student engagement. Most of the current student engagement work is short term and direct‐charity focused. There are presently no student learning outcomes associated with this work, but there is an increasing interest in service clubs and organizations through student government. The number of students, faculty and staff that participate in service projects is recorded, along with a brief description of the project and number of hours served. In addition, the number of internship hours dedicated to non‐profit organizations, municipal governments, government agencies, and public schools are also tracked, as well as the number of hours students volunteer through service learning based courses. We have created an applied learning alliance and service learning task force to create a new civic and community engagement program. While we offer the direct short‐term charity‐focused program and created a service society, we are working to better connect student engagement in community well‐being to the curriculum in order to address deeper and more sustainable features. 17. Economic Impact: Faculty and staff at SUNY Cobleskill are engaged in new and exciting discussions about the role that the college should and will play in regional economic development. President Terenzio will convene a second summit in November 2015 to begin the discussion of how SUNY Cobleskill’s assets, including physical spaces, students and intellectual capital, can be brought to bear in coordinating effective economic development efforts. Just in the last year, the college has played a crucial role in developing the regional strategy for the Mohawk Valley’s “MV‐500” plan to compete for one of Governor Cuomo’s Upstate Revitalization Initiative Awards. “Consolidated Funding Application” economic development proposals have been submitted annually to the Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) and the campus has hosted a number of REDC events. Recently, SUNY Cobleskill agreed to be a pilot site for the SUNY Research Foundation’s forthcoming “SalesForce CRM” virtual tool, designed to capture and synthesize data related to START‐UP NY and its campus‐specific academic and development impacts. Shared Services, primarily with SUNY Delhi, has also been a


significant financial benefit to the campus, while improving services through sharing best practices. Since shared services was started in 2011, Cobleskill has enjoyed more than $1.1 million dollars in savings and cost avoidance. This has been achieved through shared positions (currently 10), joint procurement, Delhi hosting Cobleskill’s learning management system and other shared activities. The College will work with community stakeholders to develop methods for comprehensively measuring its impact on regional economic development. This will be a focus of the President’s inaugural economic development summit. It is not enough to rely only on metrics that measure the College’s economic impact through a knowledge‐based workforce enhancement orientation. Our metrics must take into account our unique geographic region and our contribution to building capacity that addresses food security, networks that maintain and protect water systems and other natural resources and ensure the health and wellbeing of seasonal workers and their families. That is why the focus of the majority of our white papers are on turning waste into clean energy and working to increase farm to table and food production that directly benefits food insecure populations and provides students learning opportunities to address future food supply issues as well as the related socio‐economic and health of communities. We plan to use a variation of the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) approach to measure the impact of our work in agriculture and related industries, which includes the role of technology. We also plan to measure our impact on the community well‐being through models such as Most Significant Change (MSC) that focusing on socio‐educational‐cultural features of communities. Section 3: Conclusion and Expected Impact on Campus Within a few short months, the SUNY Cobleskill community created this plan under the leadership of our new president. The plan is based on six major initiatives that will: 1. create more intentional pathways for student enrollment, progress and completion through better

articulated program outcomes and credentialing‐level transitions (program review and articulation charts);

2. provide more diverse offerings through non‐credit and credit micro‐credentials (including on‐line) that build upon current degree programs;

3. remove barriers to student momentum (RTF); 4. develop a more robust financial support program for students (financial aid matrix); 5. enhance opportunities for real life real learning (service learning model/ general education review); 6. build a stronger financial‐base for institutional stability (sponsored programs, capital campaign, new

strategic plan that is more outcomes oriented).

The relevancy of a SUNY Cobleskill education (Real Life‐Real Learning) has been apparent for 100 years and will continue to be meaningful, even in the Information Age. Students must be able to test the accuracy and usefulness of knowledge, learn to rely on other attributes such as instinct or intuition, and engage in information gathering from sources such as social intelligence, while navigating and interpreting massive amounts of data. Our programs tap into students’ multi‐faceted learning styles and provide living laboratories through which students develop and hone skill sets that transcend disciplinary boundaries. Through this plan, SUNY Cobleskill will emerge as a well‐positioned institution with a bold approach that has been shaped by a century of innovation, now mapped through our SUNY Excels PIP. The college community embraces the merging of our mission with our visionary desire to be Premier Stewards of Sustainability.

suny excels cobleskill · 12/23/2015 · our vision as premier stewards of sustainability keeps us...

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