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Zimpher unveils SUNY strategic plan
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“This strategic plan will enable the state university to drive New York’s economy through our size, scale and the capacity of the system as a whole.”
SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher on Tuesday unveiled “The Power of SUNY,” the strategic plan that will serve as the “roadmap “ to guide SUNY for the next five years and advise the system in its development over the next decade.
"We see ‘The Power of SUNY’ as a testament to what public higher education can do for the State of New York," Zimpher said in introducing the plan at the New York Academy of Sciences in Manhattan. "This strategic plan will enable the state university to drive New York’s economy through our size, scale and the capacity of the system as a whole."
The plan is the result of a 10-month effort that included a tour by Zimpher of all 64 campuses in the system and 10 conversations and symposia across the state that solicited input from SUNY stakeholders.
The plan identifies six "big ideas" that represent areas in which SUNY can have the greatest impact on the State of New York. They are:
• SUNY and the Entrepreneurial Century
• SUNY and the Seamless Educational Pipeline
• SUNY and a Healthier New York
• SUNY and an Energy-Smart New York
• SUNY and the Vibrant Community
• SUNY and the World.
Within each idea, the plan outlines three specific initiatives. Among those initiatives are:
• SUNY Startup, in which successful local entrepreneurs serve as advisor and mentors for students and professors. New entrepreneurship courses will “create a cadre of idea generators and job creators.”
• SUNY-INC (Incent New Companies), which will help researchers market their ideas by creating a fast-track link among all the players in the research and development chain—“from concept all the way to commercialization.”
• SUNY Urban-Rural Teacher Corps, which will revamp teacher education by offering “real-world experience akin to the clinical training that medical professionals undergo.”
• Ensuring that students from two-year campuses can easily continue their education at four-year institutions by establishing SUNY-wide transfer agreements.
• SUNY Works, which will establish a co-op model across the system.
• Open SUNY, which would build on the system’s current online initiatives to make SUNY the most extensive distance-learning university in the country.
• Citizen SUNY, which would position SUNY as a national model for service learning and volunteerism.
• Reducing SUNY’s system-wide energy consumption by at least 30 percent over the next decade by becoming the nation’s first system of “energy smart” campuses.
Zimpher is traveling across the state to present the plan. She is scheduled to come to Buffalo on April 28.
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