President's Task Force on Sweatshop Labor Makes Progress
By Greta Petry
The President’s Task Force on Sweatshop Labor met on Tuesday, Sept. 5, to review progress on work completed over the summer months.

Task force Chair Katharine Briar-Lawson said, “With the approval of the President and task force, a Request for Proposals will go out this fall to qualified licensing agents which might be selected to represent the University with firms desiring to manufacture merchandise bearing the University at Albany logos. It will incorporate a statement of principles developed by the task force for ensuring workers’ rights and humane workplace practices. The statement of principles is the byproduct of a lot of hard work on the part of the task force. Once the University’s collegiate licensing contract is in place, it will be a major step in the University’s effort to ensure, at some level, integrity in the process by which products bearing the University’s logos are manufactured. This integrity is one major form of assurance that our products are sweatshop-free.”

University at Albany President Karen R. Hitchcock said, “I applaud the effort and commitment of the task force in its continuing effort to examine this complex issue, and I look forward to its recommendations on how the University can ensure that products bearing its logos are manufactured under safe and humane working conditions.”

Appointed in May by President Hitchcock, the task force was given the following charge:

• To determine the most effective mechanism to ensure that workers’ rights and humane working conditions are upheld in the production of University at Albany apparel;
• To address barriers to achieving those goals by analyzing the legal and contractual obligations that affect the University, and to determine effective action steps for addressing these obstacles;
• To detail appropriate steps which members of the University community can take to understand and promote effective and responsible citizen and consumer advocacy;
• To recommend educational strategies which address workers’ rights and humane working conditions in an increasingly interdependent world.

Briar-Lawson, dean of the School of Social Welfare, said there were task force meetings on June 5, 26 and July 21, and that subcommittees had additional meetings.

“First, we want to acknowledge the effort on the part of several students on the task force who continued to stay involved in the process over the summer even when they had outside employment. They contributed to this product and, in one or more cases, drove long distances in order to work with us,” she said. In addition, Briar-Lawson recognized the faculty members of the task force for volunteering their time over the summer.

From May to August the task force stayed on course in meeting the goals defined in the charge to the group. To determine the most effective method for ensuring workers’ rights are protected, the group has been developing a statement of principles to which the University expects those companies manufacturing products bearing the University’s logos would adhere; learned about which national organizations are aligned with these principles; and considered how other institutions have addressed the issue.

On the second charge, to address barriers, the task force reviewed and explored obstacles to implementing UAlbany’s principles with respect to vendors and continues to explore the possibility of state legislation to address the conduct of manufacturers.

On the third charge, the task force is working to develop a series of educational initiatives to advance knowledge of the current harm suffered by workers laboring in sweatshops.

Finally, on the fourth charge, the task force will foster outreach and an array of related educational initiatives for the University and community.

SUNY Awards UAlbany $1.5 Million in Mission Review Funds
By Christine McKnight
The State University of New York has awarded the University at Albany $1.5 million in Mission Review funds to further strengthen UAlbany’s successful efforts to recruit a larger number of highly sought-after students.

The grant money, which will be distributed to the campus over three years, will help the University develop a merit scholarship program for high-achieving students who are “very near, but not quite at,” the Presidential Scholars level, according to Sheila Mahan, assistant vice president for academic affairs. UAlbany’s highly successful Presidential Scholars program is designed to attract the very best students in the state and the nation.

“We want to be more competitive in attracting the outstanding students at that tier,” said Mahan, describing the level just below that of Presidential Scholar.

She said that, while most of the Mission Review funds from System Administration will go for scholarships, a portion would support marketing and recruitment activities aimed at both Presidential Scholar candidates and other high-achieving students. UAlbany will also use the funds to work toward increasing the number of students of color in these two groups, she said.

President Karen R. Hitchcock said she was excited about the opportunity the grant presents.

“It affirms our goal of moving further into the company of the nation’s most select undergraduate institutions,” she said. “We want to build on the momentum we established this year in the recruitment of a class with a higher academic profile.”

The University received the second largest Mission Review award given to any campus in the SUNY system as a result of a system-wide review that considered programs for their impact on academic quality, use of institutional strength, and effect on the community. In all, 33 State University campuses are receiving a total of $12 million in Mission Review grants. The funds are being used to enhance academic quality and refine campus missions through hiring new faculty, developing innovative academic programs and by attracting more highly qualified students.

The Mission Review process is a two-year, ground-breaking academic planning process in which each State University campus clarifies its goals and takes steps to improve the quality of its academic programs.

“We are extremely proud that our Mission Review process has resulted in this unprecedented grants program,” said SUNY Chancellor Robert L. King. “Strengthening research and both undergraduate and graduate education are top priorities for the University, and these funds go a long way to support the necessary refinement of individual campus missions.”

State University campuses were invited to submit applications for Mission Review grants. More than $45 million in proposals was received. Proposals underwent a rigorous review by a 10-person System Administration committee, and were then forwarded for evaluation to the University’s top executives and to Chancellor King, who announced the awards in July.

UAlbany Welcomes Record Number of Presidential Scholars
By Greta Petry
This week the University at Albany welcomed a freshman class of 2,300 high-achieving students to campus for the Fall 2000 semester. Classes began on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

The average GPA of accepted students is one point higher than last year, at 89.8, while Scholastic Aptitude Test scores are 20 points higher than the average of students accepted by the University in Fall 1999. The middle 50 percent of the accepted students for Fall 2000 scored between 1100 and 1250 on the SAT-I exam.

This year UAlbany attracted more freshman applications than any other campus in the 64-unit State University of New York system. The University drew 16,550 applications, compared to 15,100 last year. Albany also enrolls a larger number of out-of-state students than any unit in the SUNY system.

“The reason for the growth in the number of freshman applications this year is the increased awareness on the part of prospective students, their families and high school counselors of the high-quality program offerings and the nationally recognized faculty teaching at the University,” said Harry Wood, director of Undergraduate Admissions and Recruitment. “Also, recent graduates have been gaining admission to some of the nation's most prestigious graduate and professional schools, including New York University, Duke, Michigan, M.I.T., Columbia, Northwestern, Yale, Stanford, and others. Many of these graduates have been nominated for the Rhodes scholarships, the Wilson scholarships, the Mellon Foundation Award, the National Science Foundation scholarships, Fulbright fellowships, and more.”

In addition, a record number of Presidential Scholars - 254 - have enrolled at UAlbany this fall. That represents a 59 percent increase over last year and brings to 762 the total number of Presidential Scholars this year.

Wood said college-bound seniors are finding that “Albany fills their expectations and responds to their requirements in very qualitative terms. At Albany, students and their families recognize that you can get a great education and save some money for your graduate degree without saddling yourself with enormous amounts of debt.”

There are 17,000 students - both undergraduate and graduate students - enrolled at the UAlbany campus.

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