State University of New York
Minutes of a Briefing of the Academic Affairs Committee
of the Board of Trustees
of the State University of New York
May 10, 2011



The committee meeting was convened by Chairman Carl Hayden at 10:00 A.M
Members present were Trustees, Marshall Lichtman, Cary Staller, Ronald Ehrenberg, John Murad, Julie Gondar and Ken O’Brien 

	Others present:

       Nancy Zimpher, Chancellor
	David Lavallee, Senior Vice Chancellor, Provost
	Pedro Noguera, Trustee
	Johanna Duncan-Poitier, Vice Chancellor for Community Colleges
       William Howard, Vice Chancellor and General Counsel
	Aimee Bernstein, Associate Vice Chancellor
	Elizabeth Bringsjord, Vice Provost 
       Tina Good, President Faculty Council of Community Colleges
	Marti Ellermann, Deputy General Counsel
       Carlos Medina, Assistant Provost
       Robert Kraushaar, Associate Provost
       Gary Blose, Assistant Provost for Institutional Research
       

Chairman Hayden greeted the committee members and guests.
		
The Committee agenda included: 
1. Meeting minutes were passed for review at a later time
2. Resolutions  
* Awarding of Distinguished Professors
* Awarding of Honorary Degrees
 
           The Resolutions were approved.
           
3. Community College report

Johanna Duncan-Poitier provided high-lights but requested to defer the main text of the report until Trustee Warren-Merrick was able to attend the meeting. Some priority items her office has been working on are:

    * Multibillion dollar effort to Community Colleges for career training programs;
    * Applied for a $50 million dollar grant that includes 30 campuses to train 6,000 	displaced New York workers due to foreign trade;
    * Working with the Lumina Foundation on an $880,000.00 grant through 2025 to 	increase the number of degree holders.










4. Diversity Report

		Gary Blose provided information on Graduation Rates by Racial/Ethnic Group and 			Income. His presentation included:

           * Graduation Rates for Associate & Baccalaureate Degrees
              * Median time for a Baccalaureate degree is 4.6 years
              * Graduation rates for minorities have increased significantly over the last 20 	years.

           * Associate & Baccalaureate Full-Time Transfer students
* Our Associates Degree rates seem to be down, however, these numbers 	include those students that transfer to a four year school prior to obtaining 	their two year degree.
* SUNY’s Associate Degree rate is higher than the national average.

	In reviewing the data provided regarding graduation rates there was also significant 	discussion regarding the trending of 3 year graduations for Associates Degrees and 6 	year graduations for Baccalaureate Degrees. Also for Community Colleges we need to 	determine the needs of the students as they enter college. Does the student intend to:

           * Get a degree
           * Transfer to another college
           * Participate in a training program
           * Personal enrichment

Additionally we are still seeing a significant difference in graduation rates as it relates to family income. There is a 20% difference in graduation rates between the highest income and lowest income levels. This year we are tracking income more closely to better develop this information.

The EOP program also plays an important role in graduation rates. The program helps to prepare students prior to entering college for the college experience and then continues the mentoring program throughout their time at college.

SUNY has made a commitment to work with our campuses to narrow the gap for minority and low income students.  One avenue to this goal is SUNY’s participation in a national program sponsored by The Education Trust and NASH (National Association of System Heads) called Access to Success. With this program we are working with campuses nationwide to develop programs and set goals to provide greater access and the support services necessary to have a positive outcome.

5. Report of the Provost 

University-wide Programs

During the June Board meeting we will be discussing several budget issues. Included in this will be the forty plus University-wide programs administered through the provost office. These include such programs as scholarship, faculty diversity, Office of Diversity and EOP. In the past these programs has been part of the across the board reduction in budget. Should this method be used again the impact on the students will be too great. This will impact the very areas where we are trying to show improvement. At this time we are proposing to hold some of the programs harmless and take reduction in other programs that are not University-wide programs. 




Strategic Planning

	More detailed information will be provided at the June meeting, however, we have had great success with the implementation that affects the academic programming. There has also been significant progress in the areas of:

* Learning commons,
* Leadership development,
* Capacity

Staffing

Promotion: Effective May 12, 2011 Carlos Medina will be the Associate Provost for the office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. This is a change of name for this office which will more appropriately reflect the functions performed by this area.

Interviews: We are actively interviewing and have a wonderful pool of candidates in the office of Program and Assessment for the Teacher Education position.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:16