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Summary
A close examination of the history, accomplishments, and potential of the State University of New York system.
The State University of New York is America’s largest comprehensive public university system, with sixty-four campuses, including community colleges, colleges of technology, university colleges, research universities, medical schools, academic medical centers, and specialized campuses in fields as diverse as optometry, ceramics, horticulture, fashion, forestry, and maritime training. Despite its reputation for wide access, demanding academic programs, vital public services, and cutting-edge research, little has been written about its fascinating history.
Originating in a lively conference held in spring 2009 to mark SUNY’s sixtieth anniversary, the book’s authors examine SUNY’s origins, political landscape, evolving mission, institutional variety, international partnerships, leadership, and more. Taking its place alongside studies of state systems such as those in California, Michigan, and Texas, this book is a long overdue effort to return SUNY to the national conversation about public higher education during the last half century. Edited by a former interim chancellor of the system and two SUNY history professors, and with a foreword by current Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the problems and promise of public higher education in New York State, or, indeed, anywhere.
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
Foreword Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher
Introduction: Taking Stock of New York’s State University after
Six Decades
I. A Guided Tour through SUNY’s First SixDecades
II. Twenty-Seven Ways to Understand SUNY
1. The Empire State Creates a University
Introduction Sanford H. Levine
I. Shared Goals, Different Politics, and Differing Outcomes:
The Truman Commission and the Dewey Commission Philo Hutcheson
II. Forging SUNY in New York’s Political Cauldron Tod Ottman
III. The Temporary Commission Surveys Bias
in Admissions Harold S. Wechsler
2. The Building Blocks of SUNY
Introduction Douglas R. Skopp
I. SUNY Oswego: From Recovery and Refugees to
Re-Invention and Revival Tim Nekritz
II. Rescuing the State Teachers College
from History’s Scrapheap Kenneth P. O’Brien & W. Bruce Leslie
III. “A Touch of New England in Western New York”:
The Transformation of SUNY Geneseo Wayne Mahood
IV. From Schools of Agriculture to Colleges of
Technology: A Century of Evolution Joseph Petrick
3. Varied Missions in America’s Largest “Comprehensive University”
Introduction Christopher C. Dahl
I. The College of Environmental Science and
Forestry and SUNY: A Unique Relationship Hugh O. Canham
II. SUNY Maritime College: A History Maryellen Keefe
III. Why a University Press Should Be and Must Be Relevant Gary Dunham
4. Community Colleges: Emergence of an Educational Giant
Introduction Dennis Golladay
I. A Retrospective View of the Westchester Community
College Experience Marjorie Glusker
II. The Pioneers Speak: Voices from the Early Years
of the SUNY Community Colleges Benjamin J. Weaver
5. SUNY Strides onto the National Research Stage
Introduction John W. Kalas
I. Presidential Leadership, Change, and Community:
SUNY-Buffalo from 1966 to 1981 Patricia A. Maloney
II. Documenting Research at SUNY University Centers:
A Comparative Approach Nancy Diamond
III. Better Late Than Never: Intentions, Timing, and
Results in Creating SUNY Research Universities Roger L. Geiger
6. The Best Laid Plans
Introduction John Aubrey Douglass
I. James Bryant Conant and the Limits of Educational
Planning in California and New York Wayne J. Urban
II. Three Historical Moments: Contested Visions
of the State University of New York Henry Steck
III. An Assessment of the Recommendations
of the NYS Commission on Higher Education John B. Clark
7. “Diversity”—Demography, Culture, and Education
for a Changing New York
Introduction Pedro N. Cabán
I. Changing Demographics and Representational Dilemmas: Latinos at SUNY and CUNY Meeting the Diversity Challenge José E. Cruz
II. Creating Educational Equity: A Brief Look at the
History and Development of the SUNY EOCs and EOP Carlos N. Medina & Jeffrey Scott
8. SUNY in and of the World
Introduction James Ketterer
I. SUNY’s Strategic Role in International Higher Education Karla Back
II. SUNY from an English Perspective John Halsey
9. The View from the SUNY Tower: Two Chancellors Look Back
I. Historical Vignettes of SUNY: A Personal Sampling Clifton R. Wharton Jr.
II. The State University of New York: Memories and Perspectives D. Bruce Johnstone
10. Telling SUNY’s Tale: Historians Look Back and Forward
Introduction Chris Ward
I. The State of Archives on SUNY Campuses:
The Good, the Bad, and the Unaccounted Geoffrey Williams
II. Pride and Identity: The College Histories of the SUNY Campuses Joel T. Rosenthal
III. The Strange Career of SUNY’s History W. Bruce Leslie
Conclusion: Some Concluding Thoughts about SUNY and
the Promise of Public Higher Education in New York
Appendices
Appendix 1: Presidents and Chancellors of the
State University of New York
Appendix 2: Governors of New York State in the
State University of New York Era
Appendix 3: SUNY Campus List by Alphabetical
Order / Institutional Sector
Bibliographies
The History of SUNY & of Higher Education
in New York State
SUNY Campus Histories
Histories of State Systems of Higher Education
(except SUNY)
