Board of Trustees

Welcome

On behalf of the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York, I welcome you to SUNY’s website. The Board of Trustees has a shared vision with the Governor and the Chancellor that the State University can and will harness academic excellence as a catalyst for the economic revitalization of New York. We’re committed to putting New Yorkers back to work—not only preparing them for the jobs of today, but for the opportunities of tomorrow.

As Chairman, I believe SUNY must focus on three priorities. The first is that we must provide a quality education. Just having a degree no longer makes the grade—we have to ensure that New Yorkers will be the best at what they do in a changing workforce and an increasingly competitive knowledge economy. Second, a quality education must be accessible and affordable for students across the state. No New Yorker should have to make the choice between going to college or supporting themselves and their families. And last, we at SUNY must hold ourselves accountable. We are the people’s university, and as we ask the people and their state government to invest more in the future of SUNY, we, too, must do so with transparency and efficiency. These three priorities are clearly reflected in every fiber of our strategic plan, The Power of SUNY, and our commitment to the citizens of New York. 

As SUNY’s governing body, the Board of Trustees sets these priorities and works with the Chancellor to make them happen. The Board is comprised of 18 members, 15 of whom are appointed by the Governor, with consent of the NYS Senate. The president of the Student Assembly serves as a voting member, and the presidents of the University Faculty Senate and Faculty Council of Community Colleges serve as non-voting members. We also expand that diverse representation to include you, the public, holding open forums twice a year so that constituents have the opportunity to interact with the Board and provide input.

The Board meets nearly every month of the year, and all of our meetings are webcast live and open to the public so that anyone in the world with an interest in SUNY can listen in and have a front-row seat to how the University operates. We have eight committees that allow the trustees to engage in more detailed discussion of their responsibility to manage different aspects of the University.

I want to thank you for taking the time to visit our website. If you are unable to find the answers to your questions, please contact us at by phone at 518-320-1157 or email at trustees@suny.edu, or use the SUNY Contact Us form available online. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,