CCC faculty, staff share concerns about relocation plan to SUNY Plattsburgh

Jan. 11—PLATTSBURGH — Faculty and staff filed into the Stafford Theatre at Clinton Community College Wednesday afternoon anxious to learn more about the institution's plan to relocate their campus to SUNY Plattsburgh by 2025.

Many shared their questions and concerns about how the move will affect them, the students and the institution as a whole.

Though it was made clear during this meeting that Middle States Commission on Higher Education — CCC's accrediting agency — still has to approve of the plan, which will be discussed at a meeting on Jan. 16.

WARNING

Middle States placed CCC on a "non-compliance warning" in June of 2022 for insufficient financial resources for maintaining desired educational quality. The college has remained on that designation ever since.

Through this relocation plan, CCC is hoping to eliminate the risk of worsening their status to probation or even potentially having their accreditation terminated, which would potentially force the college to close its doors.

While still early in the process, President John Kowal and CCC Board of Trustees Chair David Favro remained optimistic that the plan would move forward and answered several questions about it to the best of their ability Wednesday.

One faculty member had asked about their job security when the campus is relocated. Kowal said they'll address those fears in their planning.

"I don't have any crystal ball that can predict how well this is going to work," he then told her.

However, their previous plan to simply focus on improving enrollment would not fix the dire financial situation CCC is in, he said. They needed another plan and this was it.

Kowal candidly said he was told by a colleague who deals with Middle States regularly that if things remained "status quo" the college would be done.

"We're putting our eggs in the safest basket for the betterment of the college," Favro added.

"You are all an integral part of the betterment of the college, and that is our mission moving forward ... if we do nothing and say we're going to increase enrollment, I can't guarantee your future. and look what's happened — 51 positions in five years that had to be cut from the facility — that's not fun ... so we don't want that. That's not part of the mission; that's not part of the goal."

A FUTURE

Kowal said this plan will ensure CCC continues to exist. Others were not so lucky.

The College of St. Rose in Albany was given the same non-compliance warning designation from Middle States and recently announced they'd be closing this year.

Kowal said he got scared when he learned St. Rose had previously been instructed to create a teach-out plan for its students to give them an opportunity to complete their program elsewhere if the college were to close.

"The absolute worst three words that we could hear is 'teach out plan.'"

State Sen. Dan Stec (R,C-Queensbury) also felt CCC's plan was a good one.

"All over New York State, we're seeing higher education institutions struggle with rising costs, declining enrollment and financial instability," Stec said in a statement.

"I'm glad to see Clinton Community College put together a proposal to work with SUNY Plattsburgh and find a solution that allows the school to continue serving a unique role in our region. Because of CCC's administration, the college is able to avoid program cuts and re-alignment. If enacted, the school will be able to retain its autonomy and just as importantly, students, faculty and staff can continue to be a part of their community."

As previously reported by the Press-Republican, the relocation plan will include a shared services agreement between the two institutions, which will be worked through during the coming spring semester. This could mean CCC students will be able to take advantage of several of SUNY Plattsburgh's amenities such as housing and meal plan options.

Another faculty member had shared her concerns at Wednesday's meeting that the relocation may result in CCC students being forced to pay additional fees for athletics, library or parking for using SUNY Plattsburgh's services.

She speculated this may harm CCC's reputation as being a more affordable option for students.

"So I think and I can't speak for them and we don't have numbers yet, so to sit here and say, what's gonna cost us 20% more or 20% less? I don't know," Favro said.

"We have full support of SUNY through the state of New York, and we have support from our partners at Plattsburgh State ... that's the kind of thing that we want to bring back and say, 'Hey, we have to preserve this for our people.'"

UNION SPEAKS

Several faculty members also expressed their disdain with the lack of communication on the college's end regarding the relocation plan. They hoped moving forward, they would be involved more in the planning process.

Additionally, prior to this meeting with faculty and staff, Darcy Purick and Angela Kelley, who represent CCC's Coalition Union, sent an email to its members early Wednesday morning about the situation.

In the email, they took issue with the way the college's plans to relocate were released and reiterated their lack of trust in the president's leadership.

"September 15, 2023, we informed the Board of Trustees of our lack of confidence in President Kowal. We waited patiently for them to address concerns brought forward and what we would do if they didn't. This announcement doesn't change any of that and we already had sent a letter to Chancellor King. Whatever the future holds, there is no confidence that President Kowal is the leader we need to bring us into this new vision. The Faculty Association continues to support their lack of confidence in President Kowal. There are now two unions that have expressed this," the two Coalition leaders wrote in an email.

"We weren't trusted to handle the issues our college was facing, when in actuality we weren't invited to the conversation. Now more than ever, Strategic Planning needs to be involved, but with President Kowal at the helm, there will be continued dealings behind closed doors. You deserve better. Our students deserve better. Your leadership team will continue to ask the tough questions and be your advocate."

FINDING ANSWERS

Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateauguay Lake) also said after the meeting that he was surprised to hear about the news Wednesday morning.

"Like everyone else, I came here to find out some answers. I guess I would say I have more questions and answers and came here to find out what's going on. My biggest concern is the faculty and the staff here and the students and how we continue to push that mission forward for the Clinton community," Jones said.

"I've invested some sort of money that I allocated to this campus, so I have concerns as well, but there is an outline of a plan to move forward. As you heard, this was the only feasible way to move forward ... and I think the most important part of moving forward will be information and informing the people."

Kowal assured those during the meeting that the campus community would be more informed and involved in the process as it progresses.

Email: cnewton@pressrepublican.com

Twitter: CarlySNewton