President’s Monthly Message to the College Community
January 2024
Dear Campus Community,
This week we begin the countdown to one of my two favorite times of the year: the first day of classes! Seeing students come through our college doors knowing they are actively pursuing their goal of earning a college degree will never get old for me. I know many of you share in the excitement of the first day of the semester as well. I am also excited to share this message, which is the first of what will be monthly messages from me to the college community. You should also expect to receive monthly updates (e.g., Enrollment, Facilities, Budget, Staffing Updates) from members of the Cabinet as well.
In my first two weeks at York, I’ve already met students, faculty, staff, alum, community partners, and a number of elected officials who are deeply supportive of York College. I plan to continue to make my rounds to meet with key bodies and individuals so that I can gather as much information about the College’s brightest spots as well as its most pressing challenges. I have never been one to be content sitting in my office all day, so you should be prepared to see me walking the halls, and popping into your offices (and on the first day of classes greeting students at the door). My meetings, walk arounds and the plethora of data provided by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning will provide me- and therefore all of us -with an even clearer understanding of our strengths and areas of concern.
A lot has already been communicated to me, to the campus, and publicly. I understand the concerns as it pertains to shared governance, the budget deficit, facilities, staffing, course cancellations, low course enrollment, declining enrollment, college morale and other areas. As we all know, these issues are interrelated and were not created overnight; nor will they be similarly resolved. However, what these issues and our approach to addressing them does do is impact the mission and business of the College which is to enrich lives and enable students to grow as passionate, engaged learners with the confidence to realize their intellectual and human potential as individuals and global citizens.
It is completely within our control (each of us) to decide if our impact will be positive or negative. I can tell you that the latter does not bode well for turning the tide on enrollment, our deficit and many of the issues I have heard about. It is my intent to engage in robust dialogue and strategic action through inclusive leadership and shared governance to address the issues that the College is currently grappling with and build upon and towards our strength as #OneYork.
I can tell you that the students I have met or encountered are so excited about being part of this academic community; about resuming their degrees after a long hiatus; about making progress on attainment of their degrees; about participating in community service (I was excited to see them at Senator Leroy Comrie’s MLK Program); about graduating this year; and about the internships they were completing.
I want more of this and more of them. As such, we must have an unrelenting focus on increasing our enrollment and all that entails: marketing/ advertisement, recruitment, onboarding, retention, and engagement. You can expect a more comprehensive report on Spring 2024 enrollment in the coming days as well as increased strategic planning for the summer/ fall 2024 and spring 2025 semesters. Every member of this college community has a role to play in this effort. Enrollment and retention do not belong to any one department or one division. The Communications team might do an amazing job attracting students through advertisements, but it takes only person’s poorly-considered actions to potentially to redirect students to one of the other 40 or so 4-year colleges in NYC. Our Welcome Center is a fitting introduction to our campus, but we must ensure that the entire physical plant says we value your presence. So too do we need to continue to demonstrate excellent business operations, customer service, advisement, student services, mentoring and teaching.
I know that this work is underway as I was excited to learn about the impending implementation of a College-wide Early Alert system which will enable faculty to sound early alarms of concern regarding a student’s performance, the establishment of an Advisement Council, robust assessment efforts, a long-discussed proposal for a Food Forest on the campus in the midst of this thriving urban community and multiple capital/facility-related projects in progress.
Like you I am a York Cardinal now and I understand what that means. For one I know it means that I get to continue to be a part of a university system committed to the upward mobility of New Yorkers of all backgrounds. It means I am a part of New York City’s most diverse borough. I learned that that according to Native American lore seeing a Cardinal means that good fortune and sun are on the way. Well fellow York Cardinals … here comes the sun. I am honored and looking forward to working alongside all of you to ensure the brightest future for York College and all those who choose it as their academic home.
Thank you for the warm welcome to York and for all that you do to fulfill our mission.
CVSchrader