A Tale of Two Colleges
Joe Marotta, Reporter
November 14, 2011
Filed under News
As part of a new experiment, both SUNY Delhi and SUNY Cobleskill will be sharing one president, Dr. Candace Vancko. The concept of sharing a president between two SUNY schools is new and is only used by Morrisville State and SUNY IT and in the future, SUNY Potsdam and Canton.
Running two colleges is a time-consuming process. President Vancko stated, “My time on each campus is very compressed. I tend to spend my time running from meeting to meeting.” Before having joint responsibility, President Vancko said she could walk around campus and talk to students and staff. She works long hours, well into the night reading emails, no longer enjoying the luxury of getting to know students and faculty. “The truth of the matter is that I can’t give it my full time, energy and effort because there is only so much of me to go around,” Vancko said. “Because Cobleskill has had a void in leadership for quite some time, it could probably take up all my time and energy if I allow it.” She says must spend her time focusing on what is the highest priority on each campus.
President Vancko plans to continue to support increasing sustainability on campus by seeking Federal funding and further sustainability projects. “I think the whole energy sustainability is a thing of the future,” she mentioned. “Cobleskill has done remarkable research with biomass projects.” As for other projects, there are a few on the list. One project is improving the aesthetics around campus, specifically the concrete patio between Bouck and Knapp Halls. Improving the landscaping in the Old Quad, as well as remodeling the remaining buildings is also on the list. President Vancko mentioned, “The single biggest priority for me is a student and community center.” This would be a place in addition to Brickyard Point for students to hang out. Potential problems with this include finding the money and space for the building.
As for the ski lodge there are currently no plans. The president plans to bring a group together including alumni to have a brainstorming session on what the best uses for the area will be. Originally the ski lodge was going to be turned into a residence hall, but the president is not in favor of that. Some possible ideas that were brought up in the interview include making it into a conference hall or continue to use it for educational purpose with the outdoor classes. At this time there is no real decision or idea for the ski lodge.
The president also wants to check and review all of the current programs. She wants to see if the curriculum is up to date, state of the art and preparing students in the best possible way. “We will do a major review of the programs offered here that is slated to be done by the end of the year,” Vancko said. After the review the president wants to cut programs with poor enrollment and invest in and improve the stronger programs. At this time there is no decision on any specific programs.
The president stressed that the goal of her presidency is not to make Cobleskill similar to Delhi but rather for her to jointly administer both colleges. “My goal is to help move Cobleskill forward in its program offerings, forward in terms of its enrollment, and forward in terms of how this campus looks,” President Vancko stated. Part of the plan is to hire a joint webmaster as well as sharing IT solutions and combining purchases to save each college money. “Each campus will keep its own identity, its own mascot, its own colors and its own faculty. The goal is not to merge colleges; it is to share expensive administrators,” President Vancko stated.
When asked how she feels this experiment will work the president responded by saying, “I didn’t say I would do it with the expectation that it wouldn’t work, but I would not be honest with you if I didn’t tell you it’s been personally very difficult.” The long hours make home life a little difficult for the president. She has very little time for things she enjoys like leisure reading because of answering emails. “I hope that at the end of that time when I retire that Cobleskill will be a much stronger institution, with programs that are stars, so you say if you want to study this, you ought to be going to SUNY Cobleskill,” she noted. “And I am going to work real hard to make that happen, so that whatever happens when I leave, whether the experiment succeeds or fails, Cobleskill will be a much better place.”
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