2010 News
| 2010 Annual Conference Photo Galleries | Alumni Confederation Grant Recipient | SUNY CUAD Hall of Fame | Buffalo State President Honored | SUNY CUAD Board Members | Honors/Awards | Appointments/Promotions |
Members Vote on Constitution Changes
Changes allow for flexibility
SUNYCUAD members voted during the organization's annual conference inBuffalo to amend the organization's constitution and allow greaterflexibility in the election of board members.
The assembled membership voted positively on three changes to theconstitution, which include allowing the board makeup to include up to25 members and the creation of a nominating committee of board membersto seek out new members from across SUNY institutions.
In 2009, a subcommittee on the assessment of the makeup of the SUNYCUADBoard of Directors was established to evaluate key issues and makerecommendations to the board regarding composition and representationof the board. In March, the board reviewed the subcommittee'srecommendations and agreed to bring them to the full membership for avote...
"These changes allow the board of directors to effectively seek outSUNYCUAD members to fill board seats and it gives them some flexibilityin finding candidates to fit roles that are currently needed on theboard," said board president Patrick Hennessey of Westchester CommunityCollege. "Ultimately, we want to be a more inclusive board and allowgreater opportunities for SUNYCUAD members to get involved in theorganization. We think this will make that happen."
Looking back on the 2010 Annual Conference
View photo galleries from the 2010 Annual Conference
Alumni Confederation Grant Goes to Adirondack Community College
An application submitted by Joseph Cutshall-King, the vice-presidentfor Institutional Advancement at Adirondack Community College, waschosen from among 12 submissions for the 2010 Alumni ConfederationGrant.
The grant is offered through SUNYCUAD to sustain and highlight theimportant work alumni volunteers do for our SUNY campuses. SUNYCUADmembers with new and emerging alumni volunteer programs are eligible toreceive a grant up to $1,000 to support their alumni volunteer program.
The grant funding will help launch ACC’s first official alumniorganization, which is being organized to assist the AdirondackFoundation, in conjunction with faculty, staff and student groups, inplanning the school’s 50th anniversary throughout 2011. The neworganization will have the lead in planning ACC’s first-ever Homecomingin the fall.
“This new group will become engaged with the school and its foundationto provide alums more opportunities to participate in campus events andfundraising activities, act as a bridge to the local community, toallow alums easier capabilities of connecting with each other andcreate a new tradition .. . Homecoming,” stated Michael Jankowski ofthe University at Buffalo, one of the judges for the AlumniConfederation Grant. “Our thoughts were that this endeavor provided themost significant opportunity (in terms of sheer number of involvement)to create a long-lasting impact on/of engagement between the collegeand its alums and among alums and provided an excellent foundation fora formal alumni program at the school.”
The 12 applications for the Alumni Confederation Grant this year was up from just two submissions last year.
You can take advantage of this funding to advance your alumni volunteerprogram. Look for the grant application next spring on thewww.SUNYCUAD.org web site.
FIT’s Loretta Lawrence Keane named to SUNYCUAD Hall of Fame
Loretta Lawrence Keane, vice president for advancement and external relations at
Fashion Institute of Technology, was named to the SUNYCUAD Hall of Fameduring a ceremony at the 2010 annual conference in Buffalo. She wasintroduced at the ceremony by Art Page, a colleague from Buffalo whoworked with Keane during her early involvement in the SUNYCUADorganization.
Keane served as president of SUNYCUAD from 2007 to 2009. As a boardmember and board president, she was involved in planning and hostingthe first-ever SUNYCUAD annual conference in New York City (2008).
She has been a member of SUNYCUAD since 1985 and previously served onthe board from 1992 to 1994. Keane coordinated the Awards forExcellence twice during her tenure on the board.
She joins 60 other current and former SUNYCUAD members in the organization’s Hall of Fame.
Former Buffalo State President Dr. Muriel Howard Honored
D. Muriel K. Howard, the president of the American Association of StateColleges and Universities, and the former president of Buffalo StateCollege, was the 2010 recipient of the SUNYCUAD Educational AchievementAward.
The Educational Achievement Award is presented to an individual who hasmade significant, broad-based contributions to public higher educationin New York. Although currently serving on the national education stageas head of the AASCU, she was well known in Western New York as aleader in higher education for more than 20 years.
Dr. Howard spent 10 years in various administrative positions at theUniversity at Buffalo before being named president of Buffalo StateCollege in 1996. She led that institution for 13 years of growth andincreasing capability. During that time, she oversaw the developmentefforts for and construction of the Burchfield Penney Art Center, whichopened in 2008. It therefore was fitting that Dr. Howard was recognizedfor her service to education in New York State at a ceremony held inthe Burchfield Penney during the 2010 SUNYCUAD annual conference.
Meet Your New SUNYCUAD Board Members
Connie Herrera, Director of Marketing Communications, MonroeCommunity College, will fill a Publications slot from June 2010 throughJune 2013.
Michael Frame, Director of Federal Relations, BinghamtonUniversity, will be our Government Relations Track representative fromJune 2010 through June 2013.
Michael L. Jankowski, Associate Director, Alumni Relations, University at Buffalo, Alumni Track, serving through June 2011.
Patricia Prunty, Foundation Executive Director, Director ofInstitutional Advancement, Dutchess Community College, will be a newDevelopment Track representative, June 2010-2013.
Michelle Tackett-Spinner, a current board member, will now serve a June 2010 through June 2013 term in the Alumni Track.
Honors/Awards
Adirondack Community College completes capital campaign
Adirondack Community College recently completed a $2.5 million capitalcampaign for its new building, the J. Buckley Bryan, Jr. ACC '87, '94Regional Higher Education Center. The campaign exceeded its goal. Inaddition, the Kresge Foundation awarded ACC a Kresge Challenge Grantfor capital projects, making ACC the first of three community collegesin the nation to receive one. Because our capital campaign committeemet its goal by the date Kresge had set, ACC received an additional$350,000 from Kresge.
“We are particularly proud of the "firsts" the new Regional HigherEducation Center has garnered in the SUNY system. It is first buildingin the SUNY system solely dedicated to housing upper level partnersthat offer baccalaureate and master's level programs,” said JosephCutshall-King, the vice-president for Institutional Advancement atAdirondack Community College. “Currently SUNY Plattsburgh, Empire StateCollege and Paul Smith's College are partnering with ACC. Also, ACC isnow a branch campus of SUNY Plattsburgh, making ACC the first communitycollege within the SUNY system to be so designated.”
The largest benefactor in the college’s history, Bryan is an ACCalumnus, the ACC Foundation president and an adjunct faculty member inthe school’s Business Division.
Alfred State College’s Communications Office Captures Bronze in National Competition
Alfred State College’s Communications Office captured a bronze medal inthe Higher Education Marketing (formerly Admissions Marketing Report)Report’s 25th annual national competition for its total recruitmentpackage, which includes the ASC Viewbook, Applied Technology Viewbook,Road Piece, Campus Life, Financial Aid, and Athletics pieces.
SUNY Oswego Wins CASE Award
The Oswego Alumni Association won a Silver Award in the Council for theAdvancement and Support of Education's international Circle ofExcellence Program.
The award, for the 2009 "New Year's Flash" e-mail, came in the AlumniRelations Programs: Creative Use of New Media category. Judgesconsidered 33 entries in the category and gave one gold and two silverawards.
The greeting, sent to all alumni for whom Oswego had e-mail addresses,conveyed OAA's holiday greetings with candid video of Oswego students,faculty members and staff of the alumni and development operation, allwishing alumni "Happy New Year!"
Appointments/ Promotions
SUNY CortlandRichard T. Coyne, a SUNY Cortland graduate with 10 years of hospitalityexperience, has joined the Cortland in the newly created position ofalumni house director. He began managing the Lynne Parks ’68 SUNYCortland Alumni House in March.
Coyne, who reports to Stacey Goldyn-Moller, executive director ofalumni affairs at SUNY Cortland, will expand on duties previouslyhandled by a part-time special events manager and administrativeassistants. He undertakes the strategic planning, marketing andpromotion of the alumni house, both on and off campus. He isresponsible for creating and managing the facility budget andsupervising the house maintenance and upkeep staff, as well asintroducing internship and work-study opportunities.
Dutchess Community College
Judi Stokeshas joined Dutchess Community College as director of communityrelations and graphics. The office is responsible for DCC’spublications, web content, advertising, media relations and relatedinitiatives.
A Town of Poughkeepsie resident, Stokes has 25 years of experience incommunications and marketing. She comes to DCC from St. Luke’s CornwallHospital in Newburgh, where she was director of communications,marketing and media relations. She also has held positions with CentralHudson and the Poughkeepsie Journal, and volunteered with several localorganizations, both at the board and member levels. She is a member ofthe Public Relations Society of America.
Stokes holds a bachelor of science degree in journalism from SyracuseUniversity’s S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and anassociate degree from Nassau Community College.
Empire State College
David M. Henahanhas been appointed director of communications at Empire State College,effective July 13. Henahan was formerly director of media relations atSUNY System Administration.
His primary responsibility will be the development, implementation andmanagement of an integrated communications plan. Henahan will report toSUNY Empire State College Vice President for Communications andGovernment Relations Mary Caroline Powers.
Among other duties, Henahan will serve as college spokesperson,establish strategic media relations, and work with various collegeconstituencies and colleagues in the Office of Communications andGovernment Relations to create publications and events to support andincrease recognition of the college.
He began his SUNY career January 1998 in the System Administrationpress office and earned increased responsibilities in media relationsand issues management and became the primary spokesperson for the SUNYchancellor.
Previously, Henahan served as a media coordinator for the New YorkState Assembly's Communications Services and prior to that producednews and documentaries for Broadcast News Networks. He holds abachelor's degree from the State University of New York College atPurchase.
Casey Lumbra has been appointed web designer/developer at SUNYEmpire State College. In this new position, Lumbra will serve as thein-house graphic design resource for marketing campaigns. In addition,he will create mock-ups, storyboards, initial graphic concepts andfinal deliverables. He will monitor trends in online design to ensurethe college’s site keeps up with the latest methods and techniques inuser-centeredness, as appropriate.
Lumbra comes to the position from the New York State Division ofVeterans’ Affairs where he served as assistant director ofcommunications. His primary responsibilities were designing, developingand producing the division brand, including logo redesign, web siteredesign and maintenance, as well as the design and production of threeoutreach programs revolving around recently discharged veterans.
He also worked for Manchester Newspapers, out of Granville, N.Y., as aweb designer, where he designed and produced ads for the weeklynewspapers, and designed and maintained the Manchester Newspaper’swebsite.
Lumbra graduated from Alfred University in 2005, with a bachelor of fine arts degree in graphic design.
Fashion Institute of Technology
Allison Oldehoff hasjoined FIT and the Educational Foundation for the Fashion Industries asthe first manager of Alumni and Faculty Relations. She will beresponsible for developing and managing alumni relationships by growingprograms, enhancing communications, and providing services in supportof FIT’s mission. As liaison between the faculty and the Foundationoffice she will marshal faculty, parent, and alumni resources in orderto identify and cultivate volunteer and philanthropic leadership,provide opportunities for networking and lifelong learning, enhancealumni/college relationships, and engage students as future alumni.
Allison comes to the Office of Development and Alumni Relations fromColumbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health where she wasassistant director of development/manager of annual giving. There, sheoversaw all aspects of the school’s annual giving campaign,reinstituted a graduating class gift program, and directed alumniaffairs during a search for a new director. Also during her tenure atColumbia, Allison was the coordinator of individual giving and specialgifts for the School of Business. From 2004 to 2006, she was adevelopment assistant at Poughkeepsie Day School.
While attending Vassar College, Allison spent four years in thedevelopment office as a development relations intern and freelancewriter.
SUNY Fredonia
Award-winning graphic designer Patricia Herkeyof Buffalo has been named communications designer at SUNY Fredonia.Herkey has been head of Herkey Design for the past year, and prior tothat served as senior art director for several Buffalo-basedadvertising agencies, including The Martin Group, Quinlan &Company, The Wolf Group, and Travers/Collins/Partners. She hasperformed work on behalf of such clients as HSBC Bank, Kodak, RichProducts, Fisher Price, National Fuel Gas, Constellation Brands,Orville’s Home Appliances, Ted’s Hot Dogs, and Irish Classical Theatre.
Herkey will work as part of a team within the division of UniversityAdvancement in the strategic planning and creation of a variety ofcommunications for SUNY Fredonia that are aimed at prospective andcurrent students, parents, alumni, business, government and communityleaders, and SUNY Fredonia faculty and staff. Additionally, she willhead a publications team that manages nearly 600 projects per year.
Herkey is a 1984 graduate of the graphic design and advertising program at Buffalo State College.
SUNY Oswego
Laura Pavlusis the new associate director of alumni and parent relations at SUNYOswego. A 2009 graduate of Oswego, she coordinates all alumnirelations' student and GOLD (Graduates Of the Last Decade) programs.These programs include Alumni-In-Residence and New York City CareerConnections. She also advises the Future Alumni Network (FANs) and theSenior Class Planning and Gift Committee.
Dominick Whiteis the new Telefund Manager at SUNY Oswego. A 2008 graduate of Oswego,he manages every aspect of the Telefund calling center. Dominickinterviews, hires, trains and supervises the 40 students who contactmore than 60,000 Oswego alumni, friends and parents annually to solicittheir support of the college.
Westchester Community College
Robert A. Schlesinger hasbeen hired as Westchester Community College’s vice president ofexternal affairs and the Westchester Community College Foundation’sexecutive director. Schlesinger, who has more than 25 years of externalaffairs, development and legal counsel experience, started in his newrole in June.
Schlesinger will oversee marketing at the institution and lead thefundraising team. He also will oversee various areas includingscholarships, special events, grants, alumni relations, and communityand government relations.
Most recently, Schlesinger served as vice president for instituteadvancement at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and was chief endowmentofficer and director of advancement and alumni at Singapore ManagementUniversity in Asia.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
CORRECTION:In the Appointments/Promotions/Kudos section of the last issue ofDIRECT, Patti Bailey Grace, director of recruitment for BinghamtonUniversity was misidentified in a photo. Grace is responsible for thedevelopment and implementation of the annual recruitment plan forundergraduate admissions. Her previous 15 years of experience in highereducation included the role of Senior Associate Director ofUndergraduate Admissions at Cornell University