President Unveils 10 Goals at Fall Convocation
August 28, 2017
A more-than-full house welcomed President Nader at Fall Convocation last Thursday, as the campus community came out to hear about everything from new faculty hires to the president’s vision for the future.
Dr. Nader opened the event with tongue-in-cheek remarks about “Powered by Optimism,” the slogan he launched when he joined the College last year. He tested “Exhausted by Optimism,” but not a person in the room voted for the revision. Instead, “Selective + Inclusive + Thriving” won the day.
After recognizing new faculty and staff and announcing promotions and new appointments, Dr. Nader covered a wide range of subjects,, including:
- A look back at 2016-2017 initiatives, such as campus-wide aesthetic improvements and residence hall upgrades. He also mentioned plans to increase student engagement, including a 9/28 Pep Rally and the launch of a student newspaper.
- Organizational Changes, such as the transfer of responsibility for Athletics to Institutional Advancement, and the Alumni Affairs Office to the Office for Development and Philanthropy.
- Academic Initiatives, including the development of six new BS degrees, and the launch of the BT in Interaction and FSC’s first Master’s degree in Technology Management.
- Enrollment, including news that fall numbers have exceeded those of Fall ’16 and that 300 Excelsior awards are anticipated this semester.
- Athletics, whose teams won seven conference championships last season.
- College Rankings, including a spot in the top 35% of a New York Times’ list of America’s Great Working Class Colleges.
President Nader concluded his remarks with a look at FSC’s “10 for ’20” goals. They are:
- Sustain enrollment growth, and increase selectivity and diversity
- Increase the number of full-time faculty
- Add “niche” programs at the graduate, undergraduate and certificate levels
- Promote FSC as integral to LI’s future
- Increase student engagement in campus life, applied research, and service learning
- Earn recognition of applied and experiential learning programs
- Aggressively increase external support
- Increase campus aesthetics
- Expand facilities, and upgrade technology and infrastructure
- Address space constraints through partnerships and online/hybrid opportunities
Convocation came to a close with recognition of FSC’s most recent Chancellor’s Award and CARES winners.
