Students’ Arrival, President’s Welcome Herald SUNY Plattsburgh Fall ’26 Opening

While students were immersed in Welcome Week activities and moving into residence halls, SUNY Plattsburgh President Alexander Enyedi welcomed nearly 300 faculty and staff back to campus, updating them on successes of the past year as well as plans for the coming year.

Welcome Week began with orientation, move-in day, and a matriculation ceremony for new students on beginning Wednesday, Aug. 19, with returning students arriving throughout the weekend.

The annual President’s Welcome event for faculty and staff, held the Friday before the start of classes next Monday, gave colleagues the chance to meet and mingle over a buffet breakfast in the Angell College Center’s Warren Ballrooms.

Enyedi then opened his address with a land acknowledgement that recognizes that the university is situated “on the traditional lands of the Iroquois, Western Abenaki, Mohican, and Mohawk people.”

“We honor the original caretakers of this land and offer our respect to the Haudenosaunee, who are still here. This history reminds us of the importance of respectful relationships with our Indigenous neighbors and with the land itself,” he said.

Opportunity to Pause, Come Together

The university president then told the gathered that the fall welcome is “an important tradition that provides us an opportunity to pause and to come together to recognize exceptional people, welcome new colleagues, and to celebrate our progress and accomplishments.”

Most importantly, he said, it’s a chance to look forward at the work ahead, building on what the university has achieved over the past year, including the task of assisting Clinton Community College get ready to welcome its students last fall to its new location on campus.

Enyedi introduced Dr. Dottie Morris, new vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion, who joined the campus community July 6, coming from Keene State College in Keene, N.H., and Garrett Ashley, interim vice president for institutional advancement, who replaces Anne Hansen, who retired as vice president for Institutional Advancement in June.

Commitment to Access, Educational Opportunity

In introducing the new vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion, Enyedi said that he reaffirms his promise that SUNY Plattsburgh will continue to uphold SUNY’s commitment to access and educational opportunity for all.

“We will continue to support, celebrate and advance diversity, equity and inclusion across our campus. No debate. No ambiguity,” he said.

Enyedi said that Morris will take the time during her first months on campus to “listen, learn and work with our community to understand the progress we have made and the work still before us. That foundation will help guide the division’s priorities and strengthen our collective efforts.”

“The goal is not simply to express our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, but to make it visible in the daily experiences of our students and employees,” Enyedi said. “When people know they belong, when their perspectives are valued and when they have equitable opportunities to succeed, our entire university becomes stronger.”

New Employees, Longevity Recognized

Highlighted at the gathering were also the 69 new employees on campus since Jan. 23 as well as the 161 employees who have achieved 20 or more years with the university.

“Every new colleague strengthens our capacity to serve students. The expertise and energy you bring will shape their classrooms, their support systems and their sense of connection to this university,” he said.

In recognizing those employees who have served more than two decades, Enyedi said the years of service “represent an extraordinary collective contribution to this institution. Through changing times, you have shared your knowledge, supported your colleagues and helped generations of students learn and succeed,” he said.

Enyedi then reported on enrollment, saying that the university has as of Aug. 20 1,958 net-new student deposits against a goal of 1,760, which represents 11.3 percent above target.

“This is a significant accomplishment,” he said. “Undergraduate enrollment includes 1,432 net deposits, with 1,049 main-campus students, 345 online students and 32 Queensbury students.

“Our largest gain this recruitment cycle has been in graduate admissions. We currently have 532 new graduate students, with 26 percent studying on the main campus and 74 percent online.”

To support SUNY Plattsburgh’s students, the university is investing an additional $175,000 in targeted student-success initiatives, Enyedi said.

“These resources will strengthen tele-counseling and mental-health capacity, tutoring and supplemental instruction, intramural and club sports, food-security efforts, advising, career development, academic onboarding for students in all learning modalities, transfer-student programming and academic planning.

“Student success is not a slogan on a billboard or website,” Enyedi said. “It is built through timely support, trusted relationships, clear academic pathways, meaningful involvement and the confidence that someone will notice when help is needed. Enrollment becomes meaningful when a student stays, progresses toward a degree and leaves SUNY Plattsburgh prepared for a fulfilling future.”

University ‘Well-Prepared to Meet Obligations’

Preliminary year-end data show that SUNY Plattsburgh concluded fiscal year 2025–2026 with a total cash balance of $39 million, ranking fifth among SUNY’s 13 comprehensive colleges in cash position. Unrestricted operating reserve remains strong at $15.7 million.

“These results leave the university well prepared to meet its current obligations while planning responsibly for future needs,” he said.

For 2026-2027, the university’s financial plan includes $700,000 in additional state support above 2025–26 levels, an $826,000 university investment in its bachelor and master of social work programs, and contractual salary increases.

Capital improvements total about $60 million in projects in design or construction. Major work includes:

• Renovating the former Algonquin Dining Hall, the new Undergraduate Admissions Center
• Roof replacement on the Student Health and Counseling Center, service building and garage and Beaumont Hall
• Improving outdoor athletic facilities including the track and field, which will allow hosting of NCAA competitions
• Upgrade of campus building-management and control systems
• Completing targeted classroom renovations
• Accessibility improvements in Kehoe and 102 Broad Street
• Masonry repairs to Myers and Yokum halls
• High-temperature hot-water system repairs
• The new Myers recording studio
• Planning for the demolition of Banks and Adirondack halls

Other projects include entry repairs to the Angell College Center; softball-field bleacher improvements; replacement of the Sibley Hall parking lot; a Champlain Valley Hall mechanical-system upgrade; and window replacements in Champlain Valley, Ward and Hawkins halls.

“These are more than construction projects. Welcoming, accessible and well-maintained spaces influence whether prospective students can picture themselves here and whether enrolled students feel this is a place where they can learn, connect and thrive,” Enyedi said.

New Clinton Correctional Program

“I am also happy to report that we are preparing to launch a higher-education-in-prison program at Clinton Correctional Facility. We received approval this summer from the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, and our initial program will focus on arts and sciences and an in-facility bachelor’s completion degree.

“This initiative reflects the public mission of SUNY and our belief in the transformative power of education. This program will reach students for whom geography and circumstance have placed higher education beyond reach,” Enyedi said. “By creating a credible path to a degree, we extend enrollment opportunities and the life-changing benefits of education to a population too often excluded from both.”

Enyedi also recognized the shared opportunities brought about through the university’s partnership with Clinton Community College, which welcomed its first students last fall in the newly dedicated George Moore Building — previously known as Redcay Hall.

“On Aug. 3, we launched expanded access to SUNY Plattsburgh services for registered Clinton students, including ID cards, parking, the Fitness Center, career services, student health and counseling, housing, meal plans, library and technology services, and other campus resources,” Enyedi said. “This matters because students should experience clearer pathways, fewer barriers and more opportunities as they pursue their education in the North Country.”

Chancellor’s, Alumni Awards

As is custom, the fall welcome includes presenting the Plattsburgh Alumni Association’s Faculty/Staff Impact Awards as well as the Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence, announced earlier in the spring.

Nominations for the impact awards come directly from the university’s more than 76,000 alumni and are reviewed by a committee of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. This year’s awards went to Allison Swick-Duttine, director of student leadership, and Dr. G. Olivia O’Donnell, emerita lecturer in political science.

Swick-Duttine joined the staff at SUNY Plattsburgh in 1998, providing leadership to the university’s fraternity and sorority community, advising organizations, governance councils and honor societies, among many other responsibilities, including overseeing student volunteerism programs such as Project HELP, the Empire State Service Corps, and the Contribution Project.

O’Donnell joined the faculty in 1994. Over the years, she developed courses in gender and politics, domestic public policy, education, environmental policy, health care and budgeting. She established a teaching assistant program, advised student organizations, supported first year students, worked with international and Upward Bound students, and participated extensively in programs focused on gender, diversity and inclusion.

Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence recipients, who were given medallions and certificates, were:

• Mary Alldred, associate professor — soon to be full professor — in the Center for Earth and Environmental Science: Excellence in scholarship and creative activities
• Michelle Bonati, associate professor of teacher education and co-chair of the education department: Excellence in faculty service
• Zakir Gul, professor and chair of the Department of Criminal Justice : Excellence in teaching
• Sarah Reyell, assistant vice president for Human Resource and Payroll Services: Excellence in professional service
• Kristie Stanton, administrative assistant 2 in Feinberg Library: Excellence in classified service
• Liou Xie, professor of geography and environmental science: Excellence in teaching

Visit https://www.plattsburgh.edu/news/news-archive/suny-plattsburgh-faculty-staff-recognized-for-excellence-with-chancellors-awards%20.html for more information on this year’s Chancellor’s Award recipients.

Distinguished Librarian

Additionally, Holly Heller-Ross was recognized for her promotion to the rank of Distinguished Librarian, one of the highest honors that the State University of New York confers upon faculty and staff. Over more than three decades, Heller-Ross has served as a Feinberg librarian, associate dean, interim dean, and dean and chief information officer for Library and Information Technology Services.

She has helped shape the ways library and technology services supports access, teaching, learning and student success. Her scholarship has advanced effective models for information literacy, embedded librarianship and support for students learning in online and hybrid environments.

Her influence also extends across the SUNY system. As founder and program administrator of SUNY Women in Technology, Holly has created opportunities for mentorship, professional development and greater mobility for people identifying as women in technology and their allies throughout SUNY.

Opening Week

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

— Story, Photos By Associate Director of Communications Gerianne Downs