In an Oct. 15 editorial, the Syracuse Post-Standard called the State Education Department plan to issue report cards on New York State colleges a good idea. “Such scrutiny” would encourage colleges to “find ways to better meet the needs of students,” said the newspaper. It further cited Oswego’s new guarantee that students will get the classes they need, that classes will be small, and that prices will be stable, as an example of a college meeting a challenge, rather than “shirking from it.”
Up to 100 students occupied the lobby of the administration building at Binghamton from Oct. 15 to 21. The occupation followed an incident on the evening of Oct. 15, in which a group of students tried to force their way into a meeting of the Student Assembly.
Following verbal warnings, pepper spray was discharged by campus public safety officers to disperse the crowd. One public safety officer suffered a severe sprain. Three students were treated and released at area hospitals. Ten student protestors and their attorney met with Binghamton President Lois De Fleur and other campus officials Thursday and again on Friday. The student occupation continued as of Monday afternoon. Classes have not been interrupted by the incident.
In an Op-ed in the Oct. 11 Chronicle of Higher Education SUNY Trustee Candace de Russy said she is “pleased to be counted among the activists,” in connection with a previous Chronicle story on activist trustees in public university systems.
De Russy stated: “in my view, the proper role for trustees rests between overly detailed management of their institutions and total delegation of their obligations to campus administrators. Trustees should not undermine their administrators through micro-management, but neither should they buffer administrators from public accountability. Trustees should insure that administrators are properly carrying out the policies established by boards, and that the institutions they oversee are publicly accountable.”
A graduation ceremony for 29 new State University Public Safety Officers was held in Albany on Oct. 18. The officers, who will be assigned to 15 University Campuses, successfully completed a 15-week program at the State Police Academy on administration of justice, basic law, campus police procedures, firearms, defensive tactics, criminal investigations, special patrol topics and human relations in a campus setting. The program is taught by State University and State Police instructors.
The Senate Health and Higher Education committees held a public hearing on Oct. 17 at the SUNY Stony Brook campus on the subject of SUNY’s hospitals and medical education. The chairs of the two committees, Senators Kemp Hannon and Ken LaValle, heard from representatives of System Administration, the Brooklyn and Stony Brook Health Science Centers, and presidents of the Community Hospital Association of Suffolk County. The latter group has developed a concern over the potential impact of passage of the University’s hospital authorization legislation.
The Suffolk community hospital coalition is concerned that University hospital at Stony Brook may enter into a network with health maintenance organizations outside the county that would ultimately draw patients away from the community hospitals.