Chancellor Zimpher Announces Steps to Strengthen Academics and Athletics at Binghamton University and Across the SUNY System

New York City – Following the report of former Chief Judge Judith Kaye, State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher today announced SUNY will take steps to strengthen the relationship between academics and athletics at Binghamton University and across the SUNY System.

 

“SUNY's ongoing commitment to intercollegiate athletics is important and meaningful to the total student experience and the life of our campuses,” said Chancellor Zimpher. “Accordingly, we have taken proactive and deliberate steps to ensure that the academic integrity of the Binghamton campus and the system overall is maintained, while providing our student athletes the opportunity to compete at the highest levels.”

 

Those steps include ensuring that academics, the core of SUNY’s mission, are seen as the highest priority.  To that end, the chancellor has asked SUNY Provost David K. Lavallee to lead the effort for System Administration.

 

Westgate Named Special Advisor

 

The Chancellor has appointed Binghamton University Professor Charles (Roger) Westgate to serve over the next months as special advisor for academics and athletics for the SUNY System.

 

“I am delighted to help the SUNY System and this very fine campus in any way that I can,” said Westgate.  “I appreciate the confidence of Chancellor Zimpher and Provost Lavallee and my colleagues at Binghamton University.  I am confident we will successfully move forward together.”

 

Westgate will play a role that moves the Binghamton issues to a system-wide review.  Accordingly, he will assist with the identification of outstanding issues and possible remedies on the Binghamton campus - and he will work to take the issues identified in Binghamton as a starting point for developing policies and guidelines across the system, at every level of intercollegiate athletics and in every sector.

 

He will meet with campus leaders across the system and at other systems to give SUNY the best possible comparative guidance. This will be extremely useful in applying lessons learned for the entire system.

 

The issues that face all campuses playing Division I athletics include admission standards, review of transcripts and awarding of transfer credits, flexibility in schedules to allow for athletes to take exams at different times because of their schedules, independent study and grading.

 

SUNY to Seek Athletic Oversight Officer

Judge Kaye recommended that “SUNY should consider the appointment of a SUNY Athletic Oversight Officer who will report only to the Board of Trustees and the Chancellor.”

 

Among other duties the Oversight Officer will:

• Oversee NCAA compliance,
• Monitor the admission and academic progress of student athletes, and
• Make recommendations to the SUNY Board and the chancellor regarding intercollegiate athletic policy and procedure.

 

Provost Lavallee, SUNY Deputy Provost James Ketterer and Dr. Westgate will carry out these functions on an interim basis until funding for this position can be secured and a search completed.

 

SUNY System Support for Academics & Athletics

 

SUNY and the chancellor will make certain that each campus has clear and consistent guidelines and policies in place that are appropriate to its level of athletics.  In addition, SUNY will ensure proper governance and oversight structures are in place, those policies are adhered to and that there is an open channel to voice concerns on each campus.

 

SUNY will work closely with the NCAA to not only resolve whatever outstanding issues might exist at Binghamton but to also ensure that the SUNY system is in the best possible position to continue to place athletics in the context of our academic mission.

 

The chancellor will regularly convene campus presidents, athletic directors and FARs to discuss cross system interests, guidelines and benchmarks. SUNY will use the principles and guidelines developed from those meetings to hold presidents accountable for campus activities.

 

By partnering with the NCAA on this and presenting findings to the Board, SUNY will show academic progress, athletic success and costs of programs.

 

SUNY will also develop stronger relationships with various athletic conferences and build a great collegiate athletics reputation for all of the campuses.

 

Search for New Campus Leadership to Commence

Chancellor Zimpher has designated Provost Lavallee to serve on the search committee for a new president at Binghamton as President DeFleur prepares her departure in July.  That committee will meet on April 15.  The chancellor will participate in that meeting to give the committee its formal charge.

 

The goal of the search is to get the right person to make the decisions about personnel and policies that will maintain the highest standards at Binghamton.  

 

Meanwhile, SUNY is working to identify candidates to serve as Binghamton’s interim president.

 

About Roger Westgate

Charles (Roger) Westgate served as Dean of the Watson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences from 2001-2007.  His accomplishments included dramatic growth in tenured/tenure track faculty, externally funded research, and in enrollment.

 

He is currently Bartle Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and teaches courses in Circuits and Electromagnetics.  He conducts research in electronic materials and devices with a special focus on high frequency characterization and modeling.  He also serves as an associate director for the Binghamton University's Center for Autonomous Solar Power.

 

Before coming to Binghamton, he held the William B. Kouwenhoven Chair of Electrical Engineering, served as department chair, associate dean for academic affairs and interim dean for Whiting School of Engineering.  He also led a program in part-time graduate engineering education that enrolled more than 2000 students.  He was awarded the Johns Hopkins Heritage Award for Exceptional Devotion. 

 

A grateful alumnus donated $5,000,000 to endow the Westgate Scholars Program at Johns Hopkins, the largest endowed scholarship program for undergraduates at the university.

 

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating nearly 465,000 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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