SUNY at Sixty: The Promise of the State University of New York

by Clark, John B.; Leslie, W. Bruce; O'brien, Kenneth P.

• ISBN13: 9781438433028
• ISBN10: 1438433026
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-02-01
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Summary

This is a fascinating history of the State University of New York, America’s largest comprehensive university system. As such, it incorporates community colleges, colleges of technology, university colleges, research universities, medical schools, health science centers, and includes specialized campuses in fields as diverse as optometry, ceramics, horticulture, fashion, forestry, and maritime training. Originating in a conference held in spring 2009 to mark SUNY’s 60th anniversary, the book covers the system’s origins, political landscape, varied missions, the different types of institutions, international partnerships, leadership, future directions, and more. Other state systems have been studied more closely and in depth (California, Michigan, Texas), and this book is a long overdue effort to bring New York into that conversation. Edited by a past interim chancellor of the system, and two SUNY history professors, and with a foreword by current chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher, this book is essential for anyone who has a stake in public higher education in New York state, or indeed, public higher education anywhere.

Author Biography

John B. Clark is Acting Executive Director of the City University of New York's Office of Business and Industry Relations, former interim chancellor of the State University of New York, and was Interim President of four of SUNY's colleges: Plattsburgh, Brockport, Alfred State, and Optometry. W. Bruce Leslie is Professor of History at the College at Brockport, State University of New York. He is the author of Gentlemen and Scholars: Colleges and Community in the Age of the University and State University of New York at Brockport (with Mary Jo Gigliotti and Kenneth P. O'Brien). Kenneth P. O'Brien is Associate Professor of History at the College at Brockport, State University of New York and President of the SUNY University Faculty Senate. He is coeditor (with Lynn Hudson Parsons) of The Home-Front War: World War II and American Society.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Foreword	p. xiii
Introduction: Taking Stock of New York's State University after Six Decades	p. xvi
A Guided Tour through SUNY's First Six Decades	p. xvii
Twenty-Seven Ways to Understand SUNY	p. xxi
The Empire State Creates a University	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
Shared Goals, Different Politics, and Differing Outcomes: The Truman Commission and the Dewey Commission	p. 3
Forging SUNY in New York's Political Cauldron	p. 15
The Temporary Commission Surveys Bias in Admissions	p. 29
The Building Blocks of SUNY	p. 39
Introduction	p. 39
SUNY Oswego: From Recovery and Refugees to Re-Invention and Revival	p. 41
Rescuing the State Teachers College from History's Scrapheap	p. 54
“A Touch of New England in Western New York”: The Transformation of SUNY Geneseo	p. 63
From Schools of Agriculture to Colleges of Technology: A Century of Evolution	p. 77
Varied Missions in America's Largest “Comprehensive University”	p. 88
Introduction	p. 88
The College of Environmental Science and Forestry and SUNY: A Unique Relationship	p. 90
SUNY Maritime College: A History	p. 98
Why a University Press Should Be and Must Be and Relevant	p. 109
Community Colleges: Emergence of an Educational Giant	p. 114
Introduction	p. 114
A Retrospective View of the Westchester Community College Experience	p. 116
The Pioneers Speak: Voices from the Early Years of the SUNY Community Colleges	p. 128
SUNY Strides onto the National Research Stage	p. 141
Introduction	p. 141
Presidential Leadership, Change, and Community: SUNY Buffalo from 1966 to 1981	p. 144
Documenting Research at SUNY University Centers: A Comparative Approach	p. 159
Better Late Than Never: Intentions, Timing, and Results in Creating SUNY Research Universities	p. 171
The Best Laid Plans	p. 184
Introduction	p. 184
James Bryant Conant and the Limits of Educational Planning in California and New York	p. 190
Three Historical Moments: Contested Visions of the State University of New York	p. 199
An Assessment of the Recommendations of the NYS Commission on Higher Education	p. 213
“Diversity”—Demography, Culture, and Education for a Changing New York	p. 225
Introduction	p. 225
Changing Demographics and Representational Dilemmas: Latinos at SUNY and CUNY Meeting the Diversity Challenge	p. 228
Creating Educational Equity: A Brief Look at the History and Development of the SUNY EOCs and EOP	p. 243
SUNY in and of the World	p. 255
Introduction	p. 255
SUNY's Strategic Role in International Higher Education	p. 256
SUNY from an English Perspective	p. 268
The View from the SUNY Tower: Two Chancellors Look Back	p. 281
Historical Vignettes of SUNY: A Personal Sampling	p. 281
The State University of New York: Memories and Perspectives	p. 290
Telling SUNY's Tale: Historians Look Back and Forward	p. 298
Introduction	p. 298
The State of Archives on SUNY Campuses: The Good, the Bad, and the Unaccounted	p. 300
Pride and Identity: The College Histories of the SUNY Campuses	p. 309
The Strange Career of SUNY's History	p. 314
Conclusion: Some Concluding Thoughts about SUNY and the Promise of Public Higher Education in New York	p. 321
Appendices	p. 326
Presidents and Chancellors of the State University of New York	p. 326
Governors of New York State in the State University of New York Era	p. 327
SUNY Campus List by Alphabetical Order/Institutional Sector	p. 327
Bibliographies	p. 330
The History of SUNY & of Higher Education in New York State	p. 330
SUNY Campus Histories	p. 332
Histories of State Systems of Higher Education (except SUNY)	p. 340
List of Contributors	p. 342
Index	p. 357
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