SUNY Poly Hosts Town Hall

KUNSELA HALL – AUDITORIUM. SUNY Poly held a Town Hall covering campus updates on Thursday, October 1. Attended by students, faculty, and administrators alike, the presentation covered a wide range of topics: newly upgraded campus infrastructure, upcoming software overhauls, enrollment statistics, a look at SUNY Poly’s budget deficit from last year and institutional adjustments going forwards.

SUNY Poly President Dr. Winston Soboyejo was the primary speaker for the Town Hall, which ran from 1pm to 2pm. Beginning with the recent Wildcat Homecoming Weekend, President Soboyejo noted the success of the 60th Anniversary Gala – which had raised over $27,000 for student scholarships – and thanked Aramark and Auxiliary Services for their support with The Gathering Place (formerly The Dish) renovations at the Campus Center. In addition to the newly renovated dining hall, the Campus Center’s renovations include new classrooms, more athletic-designated areas, improved accessibility, and geothermal energy systems.

President Soboyejo went on to detail news from SUNY Poly’s four colleges. From the College of Arts and Sciences: a recent Art and Tech Symposium discussing the arts in the context of artificial intelligence, a paper published by faculty member Dr. Margarita Orlova, and research published by Dr. Shing Chi-Leung and Quintin Weigand, a senior majoring in Computer Science.

In the College of Business, Dr. Yasser Alhenawi was named Dean of the College this past July. Several faculty members – Katie Matt, Lisa Berardino, and Angelica Castro – had published research on ethics education in August. President Soboyejo also highlighted student achievement from the College of Business, including a top-eight finish in the Lockheed Martin Ethics in Engineering Competition, a top-six finish in the Africa Business Concept Challenge, and senior Computer Science student Simeon Boucher’s first-place finish in the FMA Student Investing Challenge.

Dr. Zhanjie has been appointed as the interim Dean of the College of Engineering; Dr. Jasim Uddin is now chairing the Civil & Mechanical Engineering Department within the college. President Soboyejo also mentioned that the interim provost, Dr. Abdullah Eroglu, is partnering with semiconductor company Xallent to develop a non-contact, terahertz-based semiconductor inspection platform. Also in the realm of grants, Drs. Aarthi Sekaran and Ahmed Abdelaal have received $15,000 to develop a mechanical lung model. President Soboyejo made note of the many presentations and publications – 47 and 32 respectively – contributed by members of College of Health Sciences.

The Town Hall also highlighted the success of the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) which saw close to thirty students participating and researching topics ranging from engineering to artificial intelligence. President Soboyejo made a point of mentioning the significant jump in summer course enrollment as well: 704 students registered for summer classes, up over 20% from 2025.

Beyond just summer course enrollment, the 2026 fall semester saw enrollment stay steady overall, with close to 2,900 students registered. First-year student counts stayed about the same, increasing by five students from last fall, with a total first-year class of 462 – just one student shy of SUNY Poly’s all-time first-year enrollment record. New transfer student registrations dropped 15% from last year, falling to 287 overall. While new graduate student registration increased slightly (six students more than last year, for a total of 211) the overall graduate student population fell by 8%. Most notably, international student applications have decreased by 40%, leading to a shrinking international student population as current international students graduate.

President Soboyejo next reviewed an economic impact study that had been performed by Lightcast, analyzing the economic impact of SUNY Poly as an institution. Lightcast found that the impact of student and alumni spending added up to over $278,000,000 of added regional income, or the equivalent of 2,200 regional jobs supported. All spending as a result of SUNY Poly totaled over $350 million in total income added, equivalent to 0.4% of regional gross regional product, or the equivalent of 2,900 regional jobs supported. From the student perspective, Lightcast determined an averaged 21.5% rate of return when weighing the cost of attendance versus the benefit in future earnings.

President Soboyejo next welcomed Vice President for Finance and Administration Mary Ellen Burdick to provide updates on the institutional budget. Vice President Burdick first outlined the primary cause for the almost $2,500,000 deficit that occurred in 2025-2026. Actual revenue was $2 million short of revenue projections, mainly due to a $750,000 shortfall in expected tuition/fees and over a million dollars more than expected transferred between funds. (Disbursements, or expenditures, stayed within expected levels.)

In light of this significant deficit, Vice President Burdick presented the two-pronged approach to ensuring a balanced budget for this year: expenditure reductions and revenue increases. Expenditure reductions are being driven by a 15% reduction in temporary services and non-payroll budgets, saving $1.1 million. Also included is a new policy of holding non-essential positions vacant for a year before hiring replacements; this action has reduced expenditures by $1.5 million. Increasing revenue is through higher summer enrollment, expansion in on-campus events & conferencing with outside partners, and additional grants – primarily research – that have been awarded.

The Vice President for Research Finance and Business Administration Susan Head presented briefly on the Office of Research. Vice President Head provided a picture of the Research Foundation’s five year plan, highlighting the projected multi-million dollar increase in direct federal grants. These increases allow for the Research Foundation to contribute up to half a million dollars to the campus, in addition to subsidizing costs for students and faculty performing this research.

All told, the 2026-2027 budget has a year-to-year increase of $1.3 million to $49.7 million, while revenue projections are $4.2 million higher than actual revenue from last year, totaling just shy of $50.2 million.

President Soboyejo returned to the podium to close out the Town Hall with updates on SUNY Poly’s 2024-2029 Strategic Plan. Pillar 1: Student Success listed accomplishments ranging from the advent of TimelyCare (a 24/7 health, wellness, and counseling service for students) to formalization of internship-for-credit procedures (including stipend funding for 25 students). Areas of focus for this pillar included strengthening student engagement (described as Student Government participation and student leadership) and continuing improvement on year-round support for the Poly Pantry and other basic needs.

Pillar 2: Brand & External Partnerships highlighted partnerships with other universities (SUNY Optometry, Purdue University, Rice University), a record-setting Day of Giving that raised over $300,000, and a strong marketing campaign from last spring. Noted areas of improvement described expanding awareness of graduate programs, building engagement in the various college advisory boards, and moving forwards with a long-planned website redesign.

Pillar 3: Campus Infrastructure covered improvements made to Donovan Hall’s labs, an extensive replacement to the exterior lighting around Kunsela Hall completed over the summer, and overhauls to campus grounds (gardens, bench areas, several fields). Along with further work that’s been planned for Donovan Hall, outdoor lighting at Mohawk Residence Hall and Hilltop Drive is being replaced, expected to be finished by next summer. Kunsela Hall C-Wing, long slated for renovation, will begin construction next spring and is expected to be completed by the fall semester of 2028.

The fourth and final pillar of the Strategic Plan, Academic Excellence, highlighted increased retention rates: over 80% in first-year retention, and almost 90% in fall-to-spring retention. A new graduate program for Civil Engineering has been approved and several proposed graduate programs are under review. Given declining graduate enrollment, a primary focus in this area is improving graduate recruitment. More details about the Strategic Plan can be found on SUNY Poly’s website.

Although nothing has been confirmed, it is expected for another campus-wide Town Hall to be hosted midway through the Spring semester. Town Halls are typically announced through the Campus Announcements email, a week or so before the event.