Association of Council Members and College Trustees

ACT President's Message

Pierre Alric

There has never been a more exciting time to be a part of the Association of Council Members and College Trustees of the State University of New York, let alone to serve as its president!

This fall, SUNY embarks on its implementation of The Power of SUNY, a strategic plan that provides a roadmap for the system for the next five years and will guide its development for the next decade.

On May 17, 2011, SUNY and Chancellor Nancy Zimpher launched the SUNY Report Card, an unprecedented evaluation tool that will publicly track the university’s system-wide performance as educator, job creator, community partner, and generator of boundary-breaking research.

The Power of SUNY is geared toward harnessing the 64 SUNY campuses toward driving economic recovery in New York and creating a better future for our communities. The plan puts forth six big ideas and details 18 initiatives within each big idea that will further SUNY's impact on environmental sustainability, research and innovation, collaboration with K-16 education, health and wellness and distance learning, to name a few.

The ACT has been a part of SUNY’s strategic planning process since its inception and, as the members of the SUNY college councils statewide, it is our duty to continue to support that effort and be a part of it at every opportunity.

It’s also imperative that the ACT remain focused on the elements of our core mission – to serve as advocates for quality public higher education by advising presidents on important campus issues, and encouraging inter-campus discussion and awareness of substantive issues at individual institutions and system-wide.

It’s also important that ACT continue to expand its impact. By communicating more as a group and providing more support to our colleagues within ACT, we will all have greater clarity on council responsibilities and objectives and be in a better position to do more to help ACT realize those objectives.

One area where our voice needs to be louder is in support of budget initiatives that SUNY will put forth in the coming year. SUNY has seen unbearable cuts in state support in recent years and the system, as well as our individual campuses, will need our help bringing any new initiatives to light.

As council members, part of our role is to advocate on behalf of SUNY and our campuses with the state legislature and within our campus and local communities. As council members, we know that SUNY campuses in our regions are growth industries, and their presence and their potential to be economic drivers in New York State is being under-utilized.

As an organization, we have the access, the connections and the influence to help make these monumental changes happen for our campuses and our state. And we have the best tools to make that argument.

Council members can significantly influence the direction and plans of SUNY and of the ACT. Please be sure to attend our meetings and continue your close coordination with your partners across SUNY.

Please feel free to contact me with any suggestions or comments.  You can also contact our SUNY staff liasion, Stacey Hengsterman.

I look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

Pierre Alric
ACT President