On Thursday, Oct. 17, Stony Brook University’s Interim President Richard L. McCormick addressed the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Senate, presenting new initiatives aimed at enhancing diversity and supporting both commuter students and non-STEM academic programs.
McCormick emphasized the University’s commitment to increasing diversity. He noted that 50% of undergraduates come from economically disadvantaged families, which he said underscored the University’s long-standing dedication to inclusivity.
“I am strongly supportive of having more international students and more students from out of state. I think it’s wonderful,” McCormick said. “They bring a diversity of ideas, perspectives, and backgrounds, we otherwise wouldn’t have. So the University has devoted a lot of effort in recent years for enhancing our recruitment, particularly in China, but also expanding out-of-state recruitment, as well.”
At-large Senator Ryan Iqbal asked McCormick how his experience at Stony Brook differs from his time spent at Rutgers University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“I felt immediately that this is a place on the move. … I wanted one more shot at providing academic leadership to a great institution,” McCormick said.
While Stony Brook is known for its strong STEM programs, McCormick also highlighted the importance of non-STEM disciplines, addressing concerns that other academic areas may not be receiving the same level of support.
“I remember hearing that for the first time in many years, we actually saw an increase in non-STEM enrollment and overall enrollment increases,” at-large Senator Peter Joyce said. “What would you do here? To make non-STEM students feel more connected and their voices more current, as opposed to STEM students?”
“We are a university that’s proud of our STEM programs, and many of them are very, very distinguished. But you can’t have a great university without excellence in history and music and English and languages. I want to make sure that those departments, even if they’re losing enrollment — and some of them are — … have adequate faculty and adequate resources to teach their students so that students in history get just as good an education as students in electrical engineering. That’s a really high priority,” McCormick responded.
Commuter student issues were another key topic. The interim president acknowledged the challenges commuters face, such as limited parking options and inadequate study spaces.
McCormick continued by mentioning ongoing negotiations to adjust parking fees to better serve the campus community while still maintaining campus conditions using those fees.
“We do need to raise parking fees in part so we can pay to improve the lots we have and expand the number of parking spaces we have. It’s a problem in most universities. It’s a bigger problem with Stony Brook than I’ve ever seen. We are in nuclear negotiations now in some of our unions about the issue of parks and fees that would directly affect students. I’m going to do what I can to fix it,” McCormick said.
Furthermore, he discussed the University’s plans to collaborate with local school districts, particularly in economically disadvantaged areas, to support early college readiness programs. These initiatives aim to provide mentoring and academic assistance to middle school students, setting them on a path to success in high school and beyond.
In closing, he stressed the importance of engaging students in governance and expressed his willingness to meet with the USG Executive Council to support student government operations.
Simeon Ananou, vice president for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, and Martin Tessler, senior director of financial operations, also joined the Senate to discuss the University’s technology Fee.
One of the main issues raised during the meeting was the compatibility of the University’s SOLAR website with various devices. Senator Emilio Harris reported problems with the site’s functionality, particularly on mobile devices.
“We hired a consulting firm that came in, and they conducted 10 different focus group sessions. They interviewed 88 people at this execution, including some students. And they have now proposed to us a roadmap to be able to change the SOLAR interface. So as I tell you this, we are in favor of making that change,” Ananou said.
The conversation shifted to the availability of software, particularly Adobe Creative Cloud and Canva, which are widely used by students. Senator Taher Motiwala inquired about the challenges in procuring these software licenses.
“Adobe is, I’ll say, a greedy company and that makes it very difficult for us to buy software at a reasonable price and also to virtualize or to distribute it easily for students,” Tessler said.
Senator Kaylen James asked about cyber security and the suspicious emails that are often sent to students.
“If it looks too good to be true, it probably is,” Tessler said. He mentioned that, for this exact reason, programs like two-factor authentication programs like Duo are important to the University, as they can prevent students’ information from being accessed by unwanted external sources.
Ananou also discussed the implementation of a new strategic fund aimed at enhancing teaching, research and work processes across campus. He also said the University is in the process of creating an equitable technological ecosystem while addressing concerns about transparency, digital equity and the involvement of students in decision-making.
A key point of the meeting was the introduction of a new digital governance structure, which aims to align technology initiatives with the University’s strategic goals. He explained that the governance system is built around five guiding principles: alignment, involvement, transparency, partnership and simplicity.
To oversee this new governance model, Ananou said three committees were proposed: an operations committee to evaluate the technical and financial feasibility of projects, a campus stakeholder committee that would include student representatives and an executive committee composed of University leaders.
These committees would monitor projects that exceed $100,000 in cost, require more than 160 staff hours or pose significant risks to the institution.
The Senate discussed the possibility of having a student representative for technology, tabling the discussion for a later meeting.