Academic Excellence will meet the 21st century poised as a standard “ We bearer of excellence, the epitome of a college faithfully committed to having our students take their place among the best educated in the world. Why would we undertake less? We have been forging this path all along. Your efforts from across this college have converged to define this destiny.” —President Deborah F. Stanley, 1996 Better Than We Dared Believe
In 1995, at a time when New York state had fewer high school graduates, the public sentiment was critical of higher education and SUNY campuses were increasing enrollments to help balance their decreasing budgets, Deborah F. Stanley accepted the responsibility to lead SUNY Oswego. She supported the college as it made the strategic decision to accept fewer students, become more selective and build the student profile.
the percentage of freshmen with a high-school GPA of 95 or higher rose 22 points and the percentage of students with a GPA of 90 or higher increased 37 percentage points. (See related information on pages 32-33.) In 1996, President Stanley initiated the Presidential Scholars program, using private funds raised from the Oswego Fall Classic, to help recruit the best and brightest students to enroll at SUNY Oswego by offering a generous scholarship to the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class. She worked with faculty and staff to develop a program to support first-year students to succeed academically and personally in the college environment.
“There is an element of risk in the path we have chosen; decreasing bids is certainly not a choice most other institutions are making at this time,” President Stanley said in her August 1995 Fall Opening remarks to faculty and staff. “Clearly, we are at a crossroads for higher education and we have no choice but to shoulder the great responsibility to maintain the quality and vitality of SUNY Oswego: not just in the short run, but for the next generation.”
She oversaw the development of four strategic plans to guide SUNY Oswego to unprecedented success as a highly regarded academic institution for students from all backgrounds with grand aspirations to change the world.
The calculated risk paid off. During her 26-year tenure, the average high school GPA of an incoming SUNY Oswego student rose more than 5 percentage points, the increase in
1995
Additionally, President Stanley has overseen substantial growth in the number of full-time faculty over the past decade. As a
1996
2000
Quest cemented as an annual celebration of campus-wide scholarly and creativeactivity. Today, Quest draws more than 350 participants.
Engagement 2000 strategic plan published 2007 School of Communication, Media and the Arts founded
2001 2007
1996
Engaging Challenge: The Sesquicentennial Plan strategic plan published
Engagement In Learning strategic plan published
2002 School of Business earns AACSB international accreditation
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