President Quentin Wheeler stresses need to increase revenue in ‘state of the college’ address

SUNY-ESF President Quentin Wheeler, in his “state of the college” address Thursday, stressed the university’s urgent need to increase income and shift to a stable financial model as the university confronts an ongoing budget deficit and a reduction in state aid.

“We need reliable, recurring revenue to first balance our budget and then accumulate the funds we so desperately need,” Wheeler said in his roughly 25-minute address, delivered in SUNY-ESF’s Gateway Center.

In a Wednesday Board of Trustees meeting, SUNY-ESF Vice President for Administration Joseph Rufo said the university’s unrestricted reserve funds could be depleted within 18 months if SUNY-ESF doesn’t make changes to spending and income.

Student population increases – particularly from out-of-state and international students – is one way the university plans to bump up revenue, Wheeler said. He acknowledged that the details of the enrollment jump had not previously been clear, causing frustration among some in the campus community.

Wheeler said the university is working with a hypothetical enrollment model that would include a population increase of about 1,000 students. That increase would allow SUNY-ESF to balance its budget, the president said.

Online courses will also continue to bring in revenue, Wheeler said. And he added that Provost and Executive Vice President Nosa Egiebor was helping to launch a SUNY-ESF program at a university in China. The income from that program would go directly to SUNY-ESF.

While also looking to increase revenue, Wheeler said the Board of Trustees approved $300,000 in additional funding for graduate student stipends.

During his speech, Wheeler addressed an Undergraduate Student Association resolution passed in January, which called for campus-wide reconciliation in the wake of increased tensions between faculty and administrators in recent months. He said he wanted to be part of the reconciliation and would be releasing his response to the resolution on Thursday.

“Our undergraduate students have called for campus reconciliation so that ESF can take advantage of our environmental expertise to make a difference in the world now,” Wheeler said. “The question is whether we are willing to come together to seek common ground and to make primary the common welfare of the college.”

The president said the university is working to increase the diversity of students, faculty and staff, but added that progress is not being made fast enough. He called on SUNY-ESF to establish “pipelines” to reach and recruit students from underrepresented groups.

Wheeler said he had recently approved an expanded partnership with the Sponsors for Educational Opportunity program, which helps students from underserved and underrepresented communities graduate high school and get accepted to college.

The president said he was also pushing to make SUNY-ESF the flagship SUNY school for environmental sustainability. The university had slashed its utility bill in half and plans to source 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources as soon as possible, he added.

Despite the multiple challenges facing SUNY-ESF, Wheeler said the state of the college is “fundamentally strong.”

“We can be certain the future will be a sustainable one if we resolve to be a leader in its creation,” the president said.