SUNY New Paltz: Student's State of the College

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Over a period of several months, SUNY New Paltz students came together to write this address to our college president, Donald Christian.

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The State of Our College 2013

Dear President Christian, An international student movement is growing; from Mexico, to Montreal, to Chile and Turkey. These students are drawing attention to the increasing commercialization and privatization of public education, and fighting for free and emancipatory education. We will not tolerate policies that diminish the potential of the many in exchange for maintaining the prosperity of the privileged few. We will not be relegated to the margins or labeled a small, vocal minority. We will rise up and seek out solutions to the daunting challenges left unresolved by the previous generation. Last semester, New York Students Rising recognized the ‘Global Day of Action to Reclaim Education,’ in solidarity with campuses statewide and universities around the world. We spent several hours outside the Humanities building talking to students and asking them to write down anything that they wanted the administration to know. We received a diverse set of responses from the student body; particularly from those who feel that their concerns have not been incorporated into the campus’ existing systems of representation. We understand that the concerns of our campus community exist in the broader context of state, federal and international politics. At a time when public higher education is under attack, governments all over the world are shifting towards a model that favors corporate interests over those of students. In New York, this means that the responsibility of paying for rising tuition costs at public universities falls disproportionately on the students and families least able to afford it. As a result of this trend, the SUNY system functions more like a business and less like an educational institution, leaving many of us with unmanageable debt after graduating. While we realize that many of our struggles ultimately reside in Albany and Washington, there are immediate steps that can be taken on this campus and by your administration to address a number of pressing concerns.

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The State of Our College 2013

Women’s Studies: One of the most popular courses on this campus is the introductory course, “Women: Images and Realities,” which is taken mostly by non-Women Studies majors. Students from all academic areas recognize the importance of this interdisciplinary study, and how it affects them in understanding the social world around them. The popularity of this course indicates that students are interested in the material and, therefore, the subject area deserves to be given the utmost amount of support from our administration. Unfortunately, Women’s Studies lacks the benefits of department status, rendering it unstable. The program’s stability is put further at risk because the administration has failed to replace the single full-time faculty position since the retirement of Amy Kesselman. Now, Women’s Studies majors and minors must cope with the fragility of the program by having it overseen by someone in two different disciplines. Employing one individual from two different disciplines to complete one position is not only more work for that individual, but it also doesn’t give that person the opportunity or time to give their full attention to a popular and vital program. Employing at least one full time faculty member would improve the position of the Women’s Studies Program. In order for Women’s Studies to reach its fullest potential of educating, empowering and inspiring students to take action against social injustices, it is imperative that Women’s Studies be granted department status. In order to grow and develop rather than stagnate and decline, our non-traditional areas of study need the autonomy to appoint and dismiss their own faculty, determine what courses are to be taught and by whom, under the direction and guidance of a full-time department chair. These are prerequisites for fostering a sustainable program that will enrich students’ lives for decades to come, as well as facilitate the realization of the discipline’s infinite possibilities. Under the right conditions, Women’s Studies has the power to transform many of our society’s ills. The granting of department status to the program will ensure the stability and continuity of this critical area of study.
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The State of Our College 2013

Gender-Neutral Housing: Gender neutral housing is necessary on campus if SUNY New Paltz wishes to be a welcoming environment for transgender and gender nonconforming students. Currently, we have a system of very few “co-ed” suites, in which each individual bedroom is still divided up based on legal binary sex. This system is largely ineffective in accommodating transgender students. SUNY Albany has properly defined gender neutral housing on their website as follows: “Students signing up for these areas will be permitted to have roommates and suitemates from across the gender spectrum. Gender Inclusive Housing will allow for an environment where student housing is not restricted by traditional limitations presented by our current system, which is based on the gender binary.” Therefore there would be no living restrictions based on gender(s) of students involved. SUNY New Paltz students are autonomous adults capable of making their own decisions about whether or not they want to live in dorms with members of the same gender or of different genders. Many schools, including SUNY Albany and Vassar College, have effective gender-neutral housing programs that have not led to conflict. The transition to gender neutral housing will have little or no fiscal impact and will serve only to affirm SUNY New Paltz as a progressive and inclusive environment that prioritizes the safety and comfort of SUNY New Paltz’s most marginalized and disenfranchised populations. Transgender students who are forced into living situations that do not align with their gender identities are at risk for harassment, discomfort, physical danger, and psychological and emotional harm due to the constant invalidation of their identities. There is currently no information about gender-neutral housing and bathrooms on our website. With the college’s constant need to present our campus as attractive in recruiting students, this lack of resources and subsequent lack of information can only paint SUNY New Paltz in a negative light and reflect apathy towards an oppressed group. We call for a specific section of the college website to be dedicated to making public the college’s
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involvement in fighting transphobic violence through providing safe housing options. We are calling for the SUNY New Paltz administration to understand the urgency and necessity of gender neutral housing and designate one full suite-style building to be entirely gender neutral (as defined above) with priority given to transgender and gender nonconforming students, including incoming freshmen, as a permanent fixture beginning with the start of the Fall 2013 semester. Admissions According to the 2011 Middle States Self-study report, the number of entering freshmen who identified as African-American in 2010 was down to 6 percent as compared to 12 percent in 2000. This is an unacceptable and deplorable trend in first-year admissions and is reflective of a culture that conflates college rankings and selectivity with educational success. At the same time, 20 percent of students who are accepted to New Paltz but choose not to attend cite lack of scholarships as the reason. 40 percent find it hard to afford tuition. The SUNY New Paltz Foundation, tasked with administering scholarships, gave out fewer than ten last year. This is the same Foundation that has taken the lead in developing the Park Point housing complex, where rent will likely range from $600 to $1,400 per student a month. Rather than seek to address the demographic and economic imbalances that plague our student body, the Foundation and the college administration have forsaken the students whom New Paltz is intended to serve. These practices are shameful and do a disservice to the college and its students. We are a public institution and must not further degrade the social responsibilities that define the core of our mission. Campus Marijuana Policy: We are an outlier among similar SUNY colleges in the sense that SUNY New Paltz’s ‘No Second Chance Policy’ marijuana policy is one of the harshest in the SUNY system. SUNY New Paltz’s policy does not align with that of other SUNY colleges because expulsion is
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possible on the first strike, even for a student never before charged with marijuana possession. Why are we subject to a more restrictive policy when other SUNY students are not? Is this policy serving the interest of our students? Why are we being targeted for the perceived reputation of previous generations of students, even though this reputation is no longer representative of our current student body? Administrators may use the excuse that our reputation is at stake, therefore we must keep the current drug policy, specifically marijuana policy, intact. We cannot accept this argument because it is subjective and not driven by facts, or data, and is not reflective of present-day realities. SUNY New Paltz also has a reputation as an open-minded, and progressive institution. Let us not stifle our positive reputation in fear of progressive reform of outdated drug policies. In its 1977 Marijuana Reform Act, our state legislature wrote: “The legislature finds that arrests, criminal prosecutions, and criminal penalties are inappropriate for people who possess small quantities of marihuana (sic) for personal use. Every year, this process needlessly scars thousands of lives and wastes millions of dollars in law enforcement resources, while detracting from the prosecution of serious crime.” And yet today, on our campus, about 25 percent of the University Police Department’s activities are marijuana enforcement-related, according to UPD logs available online. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that he wishes to legalize marijuana in New York State. We may soon follow Washington and Colorado’s lead in. You must ask yourself as an administrator, why would you wish to keep SUNY New Paltz stuck in the failed marijuana policies of the past? We call upon the SUNY New Paltz administration to understand the urgency and importance of this situation and the failed logic of the current SUNY New Paltz policy. SUNY New Paltz should emulate the marijuana and drug policies of the other SUNY
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colleges, in which a three strike system is in place as soon as possible. Sustainability: As a public university that has been an integral part of the Village of New Paltz community, we have a responsibility to protect and sustain the surrounding environment. This University is rapidly expanding to meet the demands of our modern society, but with this expansion comes the need for conscious and sustainable planning. This means a commitment to achieving carbon neutrality and improving the environmental curriculum. In 2008 SUNY New Paltz signed on to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). This agreement strives for the ultimate goal of carbon neutrality through waste reduction, energy conservation, and the implementation of the most sustainable building practices available. In accordance with this commitment every new structure built or renovated on campus must be LEED Silver certified, however, as demonstrated with the renovation of Crispell Hall we have the capacity to build to LEED Gold standards. It is important that our commitment to sustainability not be guided by convenience, but instead demonstrate our capacity to be environmental innovators, surpassing even the benchmarks set out by the ACUPCC. As a large scale institution the amount of energy we consume is incredible. Although this cannot be remedied immediately there are long term conservation efforts that can be enforced. Simple steps such as installing lighting, heating, and cooling controls along with reduced building use can mitigate energy waste. Steps towards these goals have been made, but need to be further improved upon. Our campus has also made significant progress in the areas of recycling and composting. However, there is an inadequate commitment to making these processes as efficient as possible. There is a lack of education about proper recycling and composting practices as well as an unwillingness to commit to on-site composting by your administration. Environmental Studies is one of the most potentially valuable programs at SUNY New
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The State of Our College 2013

Paltz. Many students are engaged in environmental clubs and internships to substitute for the lack of an Environmental Studies major. Although the Environmental Geochemical Science major offers environmentally focused curriculum, it is not a substitution for the interdisciplinary depth of the Environmental Studies major. Green jobs are in high demand and, as a university committed to preparing students for the workforce, it is imperative that an inter-disciplinary environmental curriculum be available to students. An Environmental Studies minor is clearly not sufficient to supply students with the competitive expertise to enter this new sector of the economy. Not only is environmental sustainability incredibly important to the student body, it is clearly an image that the administration is looking to promote. However, superficially branding ourselves as “green,” as demonstrated on the campus website, is not sufficient. We hope that these suggestions, further addressed in the Sustainability Plan, become an integral part of the SUNY New Paltz community’s future planning. Local Foods: Steps towards incorporating more local food options on campus have not gone unnoticed. The campus Farmer’s Market and the completely sustainable and organic campus garden have been incredibly successful student initiatives. However, the lack of administrative support for these initiatives has deterred continued progress. The greater Hudson Valley has displayed a commitment to promoting small agricultural projects and, as a member of this community, SUNY New Paltz has the potential to become a leader in the local food movement. Local food is grown, processed and distributed within a 75-mile radius and supports local economies. It also takes into consideration farming practices. Sustainably grown and distributed foods factor into the idea of local food. Sustainable food mitigates the harmful effects of agriculture on the environment, is humane for workers, respects animals, provides a fair wage for the farmer, and supports and enhances struggling rural communities. SUNY New Paltz is situated in one of the most fertile farming regions in the Northeast,
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making it very feasible to incorporate a local food system. The Campus Auxiliary Service Board has worked to incorporate local foods into the food system on campus, however the standards, definitions and measurements of local food in the context of food services is currently too broad and unrefined to be effective. Misrepresentation of what actually constitutes local foods has allowed for Sodexo to claim Pepsi products as local food product due to their distribution center being in Newburgh, N.Y. Now that the contract with our current food provider is being renegotiated, we have the opportunity and responsibility to take a firmer stance on this subject. Much of the food supplied to students on campus is made up of mass produced, genetically engineered, and pesticide laden produce, as well as processed foods. Such food holds less nutritional content than organic and unaltered fruits and vegetables and greatly contributes to the degradation of our dwindling stock of natural resources. As meal plans are mandated for all students living on campus and a single corporation holds a contractual monopoly on food service, SUNY New Paltz has an obligation to provide a healthy and sustainable diet to its students. Your administration must take it upon itself to create a more sustainable and regionally engaged campus with regard to food policy. Let us take a leadership role among SUNY institutions in purchasing and providing an abundant selection of local and sustainably sourced foods. Worker protection must also be a priority while transitioning providers and entering into contract negotiations with vendors. You must make it clear to companies doing business with New Paltz that we want living wages and adequate healthcare for all our workers, who are themselves members of the New Paltz community.

Class Size and Adjuncts: Last year, the Petition for Educational Quality, Fairness & Equity was widely distributed at SUNY New Paltz, gathering over 2,000 signatures from faculty, students, and other staff. To refresh your memory, it called on the administration to do the following:
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1. Recognize publicly the enormous contributions of contingent employees at SUNY New Paltz. 2. Support the UUP’s efforts to ensure that part-time adjuncts have appropriate working conditions and are compensated equitably, so that they receive compensation comparable to lecturers per course. 3. Strengthen academic freedom, educational quality and stability of the faculty by increasing job security. 4. Eliminate the arbitrary minimum and maximum number of courses that may be taught by part-time adjunct and full-time contingent faculty. 5. Institute hiring practices that reward the competency and years of service of contingent employees. 6. Establish class sizes that support quality teaching and learning for all teaching faculty. 7. Preserve and protect existing personnel, programs and services at SUNY New Paltz. To date, the issues presented here have not been adequately addressed. We cite a letter that you posted on December 16, 2011 to support this assertion. In this letter you acknowledge the United University Professions’ petition, but you do not address all of its points. In the second paragraph, you express your appreciation of the contributions that adjunct faculty bring to this school. However, after acknowledging these invaluable contributions, you go on to downplay their importance by stating that adjunct presence here is “substantially less than national averages,” and that this will be decreased further after. After this, you spend the rest of your letter refuting claims made by a regional newspaper and presenting facts and figures to support your denial of a pay raise for adjunct professors. If this were going to fit under any of the demands made above, it would probably be the second one. However, the language of the petition calls for fair and equitable pay, which upon examining some statistics that you failed to mention in your letter, is an important demand that needs to be met.

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The State of Our College 2013

Between 1970 and 2008, adjunct professors’ rate of pay rose from $1,000 for a three-credit course to about $3,000. Adjusted for inflation, this is a 49 percent decrease, according to the UUP. This means that a professor who may teach four 3-credit courses would earn $12,000, or just ten percent above the federal poverty line. The rest of UUP’s demands go virtually unacknowledged. Adjuncts do not have the job security they deserve after giving years of their time, expertise and unique knowledge to the campus community. Many have already lost their jobs and more positions may be cut. We are already seeing the consequences of these actions. When discussing adjunct pay, you emphasize that the administration makes their decisions based on baseline and comparative data. Indeed, you draw statistics regarding adjunct pay rates from multiple unnamed colleges in the area. Why then are decisions regarding overall adjunct presence at this school not subject to the same scrutinous consideration? You’ve already stated that adjunct presence is well below the national average, and that it will decrease even further. In your letter, you state: “As the College continues to move ahead in enhancing academic quality and opportunity for students, it is essential that we invest resources in those initiatives and programs that most clearly advance our goals and our vision points.” In fact, the campus’ own self-study, conducted as part of the Middle States accreditation process, states: “...continuing to hire new permanent faculty in lieu of adjuncts may not be fiscally sustainable.” Cutting adjunct professors may not enhance academic quality and opportunity for students if the number of full time professors can not be maintained at adequate levels. Over the last six years, the availability of smaller classes has decreased, while the number of larger sections have increased, based on the Office of Institutional Research’s Common Data Set. For example, there was a 12 percent increase in the number of sections consisting of 20 to 29 students between 2009 and 2010, while sections of 2 to 19 students declined over the same period. Using ‘average class size’ as a measure does not adequately reflect this shift toward larger class sizes.

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You state that any arguments regarding adjunct compensation should be targeted regionally, statewide, and nationally, and not specifically toward New Paltz. While we agree with you on this point, we feel that it is necessary to simultaneously address these issues at the campus level as many of the choices regarding faculty retention and compensation are made at the discretion of your administration. We call on you to acknowledge these issues and make a statement in support of the contingent employees of SUNY New Paltz, specifically recognizing each of the seven demands made in the UUP Petition for Educational Quality, Fairness & Equity. Transparency: SUNY New Paltz, a public institution of higher education, has an obligation to maintain a spirit of transparency, especially when decisions are made with significant repercussions on student’s lives. Last semester, the Student Association introduced and approved legislation calling for more transparency with Campus Auxiliary Services in its process of seeking vendors for campus services. This semester, students were shut out of a set of presentations delivered by the companies bidding on our food service contract by CAS’ Executive Director. We acknowledge that transparency can sometimes be an uncomfortable thing, but would like to emphasize how essential it is for there to be fluid communication between the administration and the larger SUNY New Paltz community. Easily accessible, unbiased information must be available to those who seek it. For example, few students were aware of the fact that $300,000 was spent on the vending machine that has been placed on the Student Union Building Concourse or that 70% of the revenue from that machine will go to PepsiCo. It will take over ten years to pay back the initial cost of the unit. Fifty students could have had their tuition paid for an entire year with the $300,000 spent. To date, the machine has been out of order and inoperable for a substantial period of time. Clearly this isn’t something that we can reverse now, however we must point out the irresponsibility of this decision. The Park Point housing development is another example of the lack of transparency on
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campus. The project itself causes a disturbance of 36 acres of land, including near old-growth woodlands. It will be built directly adjacent to wetlands, threatening the local ecosystem, including vernal pools that are part of our unique local character. We are concerned about the potential health effects of herbicides and pesticides currently in the ground at the proposed site and those that will be used on landscaping in the new development. No renewable energy systems will be included in the development. In fact, the heat and hot water will rely on natural gas, directly contributing to demand for hydrofracking; a process for extracting natural gas with documented detrimental effects to the well-being of humans and the eco-system. We call for increased communication between the administration and the larger student body as well as more broad-based input from students at large in decision-making processes. Such communication will benefit the decisions the administration carries out, as well as meet the needs of the larger New Paltz community creating a stronger administrative-student relationship.

We are calling on you to release a statement by March 13 outlining how your administration plans to address each of the aforementioned issues.

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