Board Report: February 2006
by Stephen J. Ciesinski '70, Chairman, Board of Trustees
Dear Friends of Union:
Several special athletic events -- including wins by men's hockey over RPI and by women's and men's swimming over Ithaca -- marked the regular winter meeting of the Board of Trustees on campus Feb. 2 through 4.
We saw the dedication of the John E. Kelly III '76 Digital Arts Lab, where students are truly exploring the intersections of art and technology. John, a trustee who is senior vice president for technology at IBM, has been an architect and strong supporter of the College's Converging Technologies initiative. After a ribbon cutting, we were treated to a tour by Prof. Fernando Orellana, who uses the lab to teach his very popular course in digital arts. One of his students, Oliver Majer, said, "I'm a mechanical engineer, but I love the arts."
We held the dedication of Sorum House, a Minerva that honors the memory of Christina Sorum, dean of faculty and vice president for academic affairs. Paul Sorum shared remarks about Christie to an overflow crowd of Christie's friends. Christie, who died suddenly last spring, would have been pleased that what she worked so hard to create -- a blending of the intellectual, social and residential spheres -- is thriving at Sorum House and the six other Minervas. Junior Matt Roginski, the Sorum House Student Representative to the Minerva Council, reported on a number of activities at the house including student-faculty book groups and a popular coffeehouse for student and faculty performers that has been re-named Christie's Coffeehouse. I am personally touched that the Class of 1941, which included my late father, Adam, has generously donated the den in Sorum House that bears the name of the class.
The Board was pleased that the college received a wonderful gift of $5 million from the estate of William Denison Williams '32. Mr. Williams, a longtime resident of Scotia, N.Y., died October 15, 2005 at the age of 95. He earned his B.S. from Union in electrical engineering, and was a member of Eta Kappa Nu. He also studied at Duke and Cornell. He went to work for General Electric, where he was manager of the Magnetics Section and an engineer with the engineering laboratory, retiring in 1954. His generous gift will be used for renovation of Butterfield Hall among other projects.
The Board approved a comprehensive fee of $44,043 for 2006-2007, a 5.9 percent increase over the current year. The comprehensive fee -- tuition, room, board and other fees -- allows students to take extra courses at no additional cost provided they meet academic prerequisites. The College remains committed to keeping Union accessible to all students. Toward that end, the Board also approved a financial aid budget of $28.5 million, which will be about 25 percent of this year's total budget. This financial aid budget is the highest in school history.
Union has worked hard to keep fees at or below those of other selective, liberal arts colleges. But while we remain vigilant to saving costs wherever possible, there are some costs -- energy, medical benefits and books and publications -- that remain beyond our direct control.
The Trustees learned that the College is sharing a grant of $500,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for the Upstate New York Four-College Consortium Faculty Enhancement project. This is a two-year renewal grant for a program that helps faculty with planning and research after they reach tenure. Other colleges in the consortium are Colgate, Hamilton, and Skidmore.
The Christina Elliott Sorum Guest Professorship in Classics had been established with an anonymous gift. Each year's Sorum Guest Professor, selected from among those who have gained highest distinction in the field, will generally spend three to five days on campus doing public lectures, classroom visits, workshops and a seminar paper for faculty.
The first group of 10 Posse Scholars has been selected from a high school in Boston. Posse is a highly successful national program which recruits and supports minority students in college. Robert Hislope of political science will serve as faculty mentor. Kimmo Rosenthal, dean for undergraduate education, will serve as the College's liaison with Posse.
Undergraduate research is alive and well. Mary Carroll '86, professor of chemistry and a longtime faculty mentor of student researchers, has been named director of this important initiative. Union expects to send 22 students to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, there have been a record-high 85 applications to the Internal Education Fund to support student independent research, and we are developing student research internships with Ted Berger '72, a USC researcher who leads a team developing "bionic" replacement parts for the human brain.
In Converging Technologies, the College has received several significant grants to support bioengineering, nanotechnology and aerogels. They include a grant of $150,000 from New York State Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR) to support faculty and student research. A National Science Foundation grant is support the ongoing research in the College's Aerogel Lab. Directed by Profs. Mary Carroll and Ann Anderson, the team will compare their fabricated aerogel platform gas sensors with those fabricated using conventional methods. Prof. Andrew Rapoff of mechanical engineering has received an NSF grant to foster interdisciplinary thinking and excite students with the possibilities in bioengineering.
Student Support Services has developed the successful Peer Assistants for Learning (PALs) program in which three PALs logged over 200 hours in 80 individual advising sessions. Plans are to expand the program into the Minervas and to add one or two PALs for the rest of the year.
Among faculty recognitions, Stacie Raucci of Classics, and Channette Romero of English were named John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Assistant Professors, a fellowship that supports new and promising faculty members. Jill Suzanne Smith of Modern Languages won the Coalition of Women in German's annual dissertation prize. Seth Greenberg, the Gilbert Livingston Professor of Psychology was elected a fellow of the American Psychological Society, a prestigious honor that recognizes outstanding contributions of the field's most prominent psychologists.
The board approved tenure and promotion of five very worthy faculty to associate professor. They are Michele Angrist, Political Science; Kara Doyle, English; Andrea Foroughi, History; Christine Henseler, Modern Languages; and Rebecca Koopman, Physics and Astronomy.
The College mourned the loss of Kevin Patrick Lamon '06, who died Nov. 24 at his home in Laguna Beach, Calf. He was remembered at Jan. 4 service organized by students who held candles, listened to some of Kevin's favorite music and recalled his life at Union with a photo presentation. Dean Tom McEvoy arranged to have a professional counselor visit campus to speak with some of Kevin's friends.
Student Affairs staff, led by Viki Brooks-McDonald, campus Protestant minister and interfaith chaplain, and Todd Clark, director of residential life, organized an "alternative winter break" trip to provide relief to victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. From Nov. 29 through Dec. 6, 29 students and two staff worked to repair schools near the home of Laura Eyman '06. They painted classrooms and a cafeteria, cleaned desks and lockers, rebuilt the school library and gutted a house. The program generated considerable media interest, and the group was cited upon their return by the Schenectady City Council. This was truly a life-changing experience for the students, and I am delighted to report that plans are under way to form a student group that would make regular trips to help those in need. The presentation to the Board of this experience was truly touching.
The Kenney Community Center had a very busy first term with all 10 programs filled to capacity, and two programs had waiting lists. The VITA program (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) began in January with economic majors providing free tax preparation for local families. Derek Weyman '06, this year's Obenzinger Scholar, offered both the Red Cross Disaster Training Course and Red Cross CPR. This year, his efforts will focus on eating disorder awareness.
Thanks to efforts by Residential Life staff, vandalism in fall term was down some 38 percent from fall term last year, and 58 percent down from Fall term 2003. Factors contributing to the improvements likely included strong coordinated training of residential advisors, a new course on alcohol and abuse, strong College sanctions and efforts led by Interim President James Underwood and student leadership to create a more civil community.
Admissions reports an "industry standard" applicant pool for the Class of 2010. At the deadline, the College had received 4,000 applications, with more on the way. Perhaps nor surprisingly, there has been an upsurge in on-line applications; about 80 percent of applications were on-line, compared to 30 percent just two years ago. This comes as the office has instituted a highly-personalized e-push to encourage applications from prospects. A number of tactics are under way to improve our position including more resources dedicated to increasing applicants from demographic growth areas and among women, students of color, transfers and those interested in dual-degree programs.
To meet the current energy crisis, the board authorized a $2.8 million capital investment in energy savings projects that will result in a payback of about 4.5 years. Among the projects is the installation of building management systems that will more precisely control temperatures, analyze building operation from a central computer, implement energy savings programs such as night temperature setback in academic buildings.
Work continues apace on renovations to Alumni Gymnasium, with a spectacular new fitness center to be open in the beginning of spring term.
Construction is to begin as soon as possible on a new music building with renovations to North Colonnade and the Arts Building. Both projects will greatly enhance our music and arts programs.
Renovations to Butterfield Hall for the new Center for Bioengineering and Computational Biology are nearly complete, with the cost of the project funded by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
We are creating an additional 5,000 square feet of teaching, laboratory and instrumentation space to accommodate programs made possible by a state grant to Union, Schenectady County Community College and Superpower Inc. to research efficiency improvements in electrical transmission. Part of the grant funds a new scanning electron microscope that would benefit 10 faculty and their students. The Superpower grant and an NSF grant to Prof. Brad Bruno have allowed renovation of Potter Laboratory, part of which will be used to study improved efficiencies of the internal combustion engine.
Thanks to many generous members of the Union family, the College's "You Are Union" campaign is more than halfway toward its goal of $200 million. The campaign is key to advancing the College's priorities. On behalf of the Trustees, I thank you for your continued support.
Beginning in mid-March, President-elect Stephen Ainlay will be visiting campus to work closely with Interim President James Underwood during the transition, orienting himself to Union affairs and traditions. Jim, who has served the College so well since last July, will continue as interim president through Commencement and all operations will continue to report to him. We will welcome Stephen as officially as President on July 1, and celebrate his arrival with a spectacular inauguration on the weekend of September 15-17. More about the inauguration ceremonies will be issued shortly.
This is an exciting time for Union; as you can see from this report, we have much to celebrate. I hope you can join us on campus at ReUnion, May 18 through 21.
Steve Ciesinski '70
Chairman, Board of Trustees