SUNY Board of Trustees Names Dr. Nancy Kleniewski President of the College at Oneonta

New York City – The State University of New York Board of Trustees today voted unanimously to name Nancy Kleniewski the permanent president of the College at Oneonta. Kleniewski will take office on July 14, 2008.

 

“The Oneonta College Council and the Presidential Search Committee have done outstanding work in recruiting such an accomplished, talented and experienced educator as Dr. Nancy Kleniewski,” said SUNY Board of Trustees Chairman Carl T. Hayden.  “Welcoming Nancy back to SUNY is a pleasure.  She has some very large shoes to fill, but I am confident she is more than up to the challenge.”

 

“I congratulate Dr. Nancy Kleniewski on becoming president of the College at Oneonta,” said SUNY Interim Chancellor Dr. John B. Clark.  “Nancy’s experience and skill in leading public institutions of higher education in New York and Massachusetts will help her to successfully lead the Oneonta campus community.”

 

“I want to thank Chairman Hayden, Interim Chancellor Clark, and all of the members of the Oneonta College Council and the Presidential Search Committee for placing their trust me,” said Kleniewski. “Having the opportunity to lead the students, faculty and staff of the College at Oneonta is an honor and a privilege and I look forward with great anticipation to beginning our work together.”

 

Kleniewski succeeds Alan B. Donovan who is retiring after 20 years of distinguished service as president of the College at Oneonta.

 

“I have known and admired Alan Donovan for nearly twenty years.  During that time, I have watched him quietly and relentlessly reshape SUNY Oneonta into one of SUNY's pre-eminent comprehensive colleges,” Hayden said of Donovan. “Because of his work, the Oneonta brand is stronger, the students are better prepared and the admissions process is markedly more competitive.  Alan has been a great SUNY president.”

 

Interim Chancellor Clark also praised Donovan’s leadership. “Alan Donovan’s leadership of Oneonta has resulted in sustained progress during an extended period of time, which is the hallmark of excellence.  Alan has been a source of wisdom, experience and good judgment not only for me, but for so many campus presidents throughout the years.  SUNY is a stronger institution because of his long and distinguished service.  Our best thoughts and wishes go with Alan as he begins an exciting new chapter in his life.”

 

Enrollment at Oneonta increased 9 percent to more than 5,800 students in the last 10 years.  Sponsored research activity grew from nearly $3.5 million in 1999 to more than $5 million in 2004. SAT scores for incoming freshman class improved 122 points to 1106 compared with the fall of 1996.

 

Nancy Kleniewski

Currently, Kleniewski is provost and vice president for academic affairs at Bridgewater State College.  In addition to her experience at Bridgewater State, Kleniewski has held important academic and administrative positions at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and at SUNY Geneseo.

 

As provost and vice president of academic affairs, Kleniewski administers an annual budget of $35 million and oversees all academic services including libraries, admissions, financial aid, and learning support. She manages nine academic research and outreach centers in a public college of 9,900 students and 675 full-time equivalent faculty and staff.

 

While at Bridgewater State, she coordinated the development of the institution’s strategic plan; initiated a program of service-learning and civic engagement including new courses, new pedagogies; increased faculty collaboration with the Massachusetts Campus Compact; emphasized student engagement in learning through a nationally recognized undergraduate research program; established an Office of Undergraduate Research; increased funding for the Honors Program, and collaborated with Student Affairs to strengthen the Internship Program.

 

Kleniewski served as dean of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and was a professor of sociology.  She led a unit of 12 departments, three research centers, and a community arts center with an enrollment of 2,900 students and 180 full-time equivalent faculty and staff; and administered a budget of approximately $9 million in a Doctoral Research Intensive institution of 11,000 students. 

 

Her many accomplishments at UMass Lowell include the creation of a new interdisciplinary Department of Regional Economic and Social Development and master’s degree in regional development.

 

Kleniewski began her professional career at SUNY Geneseo, where she won promotion to associate and then to full professor.  She earned positions of increasing responsibility and complexity and became chair of the Sociology Department, where she increased the number of sociology majors by 40 percent during a two-year time period after a decade of declining enrollments.

 

In addition, she earned the prestigious SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

 

Kleniewski has won many awards and grants, has been widely published in books and scholarly journals and held important posts in community and professional organizations.

 

She earned a doctorate and a master’s degree in sociology from Temple University and a Bachelors of Arts in sociology and behavioral sciences from Emmanuel College

 

Kleniewski will earn a salary of $205,000 per year, the use of a vehicle and a monthly housing allowance of $4,500.

 

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating more than 427,000 students in 7,669 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu 

 

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