DRAFT
757th Regular Meeting Minutes of the SUNY Adirondack Board of Trustees
Thursday, August 28, 2025
Bishop Community Conference Center 640 Bay Road
Queensbury, NY 12804
A Regular Meeting of the SUNY Adirondack Board of Trustees was held on Thursday, August 28, 2025 at 3:30 pm. Chair A. Gonzales called the meeting to order at 3:31 p.m.
- Other Board members present were: B. Judge, E. Fitzgerald, D. Palmer, C. McDonald, J. Nolan and M. Davidson. Also, in attendance were President A. Urtz, VP J. Jablonski, VP K. Kaplan, CIO M. Hand, Chief Human Resources Officer M. Wilson, Budget Analyst E. Conduzio, Executive Director of Facilities M. Morin, Attorney L. Paltrowicz, and Recording Secretary J. Chase.
- Remote attendees: Trustee T. Collins, Director of Compliance and Risk Management, L. Jameson, Principle Typist, R. Debnam.
- Absent: Student Trustee M. Langford
Chair Gonzales, on behalf of the Board, expressed sincere condolences to the family, colleagues, and students of Associate Professor of Mathematics, Paul Bouton, who passed away last week after 30 years of dedicated service to SUNY Adirondack.
Chair’s Report
L. Paltrowicz, Counsel to the College, administered the sworn oaths of office to Anastasia Urtz, President, and Keith Kaplan, VP for Administrative Services and Treasurer.
Chair Gonzales recognized and honored the following SUNY Adirondack retirees with a formal resolution of appreciation.
- Rachael Patten, Chief Advancement Officer and Executive Director of SUNY Adirondack Foundation
- John Jablonksi, PhD., Vice President for Academic Affairs
On a motion made by Trustee B. Judge and seconded by Trustee J. Nolan, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the resolutions for R. Patten and J. Jablonski.
Consent Agenda
Chair A. Gonzales presented the following Consent Agenda items for Board approval.
- 5.0 Consent Agenda
- 5.1 Adoption of Minutes
- 5.1.1 Adoption of June 26, 2025 756th Annual & Regular Meeting Minutes….
- 5.2 Personnel Committee
- 5.2.1 June and August 2025 Committee Report……………………………………….….
- 5.2.2 Revised Committee Meeting Dates 2025-2026(Action)…………….…….….
- 5.2.3 Interim Organizational Strategy(Action)………………………………………………
- 5.3 Audit & Finance Committee
- 5.3.1 July and August 2025 Committee Reports……………………………………………
- 5.3.2 Revised Committee Meeting Dates 2025-2026 (Action)……………………...
- 5.4 Academic and Student Affairs Committee
- 5.4.1 July and August 2025 committee reports…………………………………………….
- 5.5 By-Laws, Policy and ERM Committee
- 5.5.1 June Committee Meeting Report……………………………………………………………….
There being no additional items requested to move to the floor, a motion was made by Trustee
M. Davidson and seconded by Trustee J. Nolan to approve the consent agenda.
President’s Report
President Urtz reported that SUNY Reconnect, despite a challenging rollout, has positively impacted enrollment, with 593 adult learners enrolled and 60 percent of these anticipated to qualify for free tuition due to their enrollment in a SUNY Reconnect-eligible program. We will celebrate these students on September 18.
She confirmed that current DEI programs remain in place under state guidance and that SUNY is seeking opportunities to develop shared services as a strategy to reduce operating costs to the colleges. She highlighted the upcoming Student Academic Momentum Campaign, which will launch with the fall 2026 cohort and noted that SUNY Adirondack has already been implementing some of the best practices that this campaign will seek to encourage.
Key Performance Indicators (also known as Early Momentum Metrics) monitoring is among those best practices for identifying leading indicators of student success. KPIs showed stable credit completion for full-time students, improvement among part-time students, and notable gains in math and English success rates, including in developmental education courses.
As of August 28, enrollment was essentially flat, with declines in full-time and increases in part-time enrollment; residence halls remain below target despite having more than enough applications in progress to fill all available beds. Student applicants who have not completed the registration process cited cost concerns as the principal reason why they have not committed to live in college housing.
Organizationally, the College Executive Team has been expanded to include a senior representative from Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and re-accreditation and strategic enrollment management planning to ensure stability and continuity of operations despite key executive vacancies. A search is underway for a Chief Advancement Officer. A search for a Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs will commence shortly. Campus and community listening sessions will continue with upcoming faculty and all-college meetings, continuing meetings with individual Trustees, and broad collection of written input.
A complete copy of the President’s presentation is available in the office file.
New Business
On a motion made by Trustee D. Palmer and seconded by Trustee J. Nolan, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the Annual Goals for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Executive Session
On a motion made by Trustee B. Judge and seconded by Trustee M. Davidson, the Board of Trustees unanimously agreed to move into Executive Session at 4:06 p.m. to discuss collective negotiations and the acquisition, sale or lease of real property as specified under New York State Public Officers Law, Article 7, Section 105.
101795 Return to Regular Session
On a motion made by Trustee J. Nolan and seconded by Trustee M. Davidson, the Board of Trustees moved back into regular session at 5.46 p.m.
New Business
Resolved that the terms of the Memorandum of Agreement between the College and the Educational Support Personnel dated August 18, 2025 are hereby approved and that the President of the College’s Board of Trustees is hereby authorized to sign the Collective Bargaining Agreement incorporating the terms of the Memorandum of Agreement.
On a motion made by Trustee C. McDonald and seconded by Trustee B. Judge, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the Memorandum of Agreement between the College and the Educational Support Personnel.
Adjournment
On a motion made by Trustee E. Fitzgerald and seconded by Trustee M. Davidson, the Board of Trustees moved to adjourn the August 28, 2025, 757th Regular Meeting at 5:47 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Jennifer Chase,
Recording Secretary to the Board of Trustees
