After using the summer to acquaint himself with the campus, its faculty, and its students, President Stanley seems well apprised of the current situation here at Stony Brook. Though approachable and unassuming, Stanley is possessed of the gravity and aplomb that inspires both confidence and productivity. Impressive academic credentials notwithstanding, he seems well-equipped to deal with the administrative and economic concerns of the ‘everyday’ ins and outs of student life at Stony Brook with genuine interest and a manner of responsibility, balance, and directness.
President Stanley outlined his administration plans to the student press in a meeting this afternoon. His responses to a wide range of questions centered on one key theme: what he very eloquently described as the ‘optimization’ of ‘use and impact’ of the resources such as intelligent and physical capital that Stony Brook has in abundance. He intends to improve the Humanities departments and to remedy class size problems with an increase in faculty members, on whom he also intends to economize; he mentioned multidisciplinary academics as attractive to students and other professors. He describes a few developing areas of the University, including the professional relationships with Brookhaven and Cold Spring Harbor National Laboratories and the ancillary Southampton and Manhattan campuses, as ‘untapped,’ but full of potential he intends to ‘exploit.’
In short, his plans are ambitious, considering his intended improvement of the reputation and resources available to Stony Brook, but conservative considering his limited commitment of University funds and the refreshingly unspectacular nature of his plans. With the oscillating overhaul of the national situation, it’s a relief to see a balanced but assertive take on making the best out of we have; through the application of common sense and a reluctance to appease, his effort holds its directionality.
It’s clear that President Stanley has a solid, practical vision of the University’s future; an improvement in our national status and prospects due to actual improvement in the work done here. He recognizes Stony Brook’s strenghts, which are manifold. We are diverse in the traditional sense of having different backgrounds, but also in the sense of having vastly differing prospects for our graduates. It stands to reason that the new president will prove most helpful to the University if we choose to make best use of his individual interests and capabilities.
At the meeting, President Stanley emphasized that he plans to remain accessible to students by occasionally eating at the SAC and attending sports events. He insisted that the students themselves are his best resource for finding out how the administration can improve their time at Stony Brook. Stanley has made progress in uniting the administration and academic portions of the University; we reciprocate by presenting a unified student body.
A university presidency is a job like any other. President Stanley has to represent us to his superiors, and our funds and reputation is at stake. It’s therefore the responsibility of every student organization to voice its collective concerns to his staff.
We can use our new suffrage to take better advantage of University research departments (in both the social and the hard sciences) and other resources uniquely available to Stony Brook undergraduates as inspiration and preparation for higher education.
But the greatest contribution that Stanley can and intends to make is to the faculty at Stony Brook. If cultivating a better reputation for advancement attracts more high-profile and accomplished professionals to add to our already capable and passionate existing members, who will in turn attract motivated and intelligent undergraduates, the University will have a resource that lasts longer than the administrative accomplishments of any president.
