BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week
POTSDAM — A framework for improving SUNY Potsdam’s flagging fiscal health will presumably be revealed by college President Dr. Suzanne Smith in her first campus address Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 10 a.m.
This event is open to the campus community and members of the press.
The address will be delivered in Sara M. Snell Music Theater at Crane School of Music, 44 Pierrepont Ave.
SUNY Potsdam is staring down a “conservative” $9 million deficit and will be implementing some changes to deal with the gap.
The college has not released many details on what these strategies mean up to this point, but previously confirmed that four programs with low or no enrollment will be dissolved. Students enrolled in those courses will be able to complete their academic tract to get degrees.
A recent leaked internal email among members of the college’s faculty senate from Prof. Greg Gardner, faculty senate president, expressed concerns about potential restructuring or personnel cuts and painted a dire picture. Gardner’s email predicts program and personnel cuts “beyond anything we have seen on the campus in living memory.”
State University of New York Chancellor John B. King, Jr. will join Smith as she delivers her first campus address.
