The Honorable the Members of the Board of Regents

SUMMARY:

The University of the State of New York (USNY) includes thousands of educational and cultural institutions.  Each one pursues a mission to serve the people of New York – in some cases statewide, and in others, in the immediate neighborhood.  When we consider them together, these institutions represent an extraordinary capacity to confront the most important challenges facing New York.  Increasingly, these educational and cultural institutions are aware of opportunities for joint venture. Some of them have worked together as a matter of course for generations, while other partnerships are just forming, and still others remain only a potential. The opportunities are great. For example, Regents are aware of efforts involving many parts of USNY to confront the gaps in student achievement.

Regent Cohen and I will lead a discussion about strategies to strengthen USNY and the member institutions, and also to encourage existing and potential relationships among them.  We will illustrate ways to make USNY institutions and the relationships among them more visible through GIS mapping technology.  We will suggest how Regents can engage leaders of USNY institutions in selected regions to strengthen and expand connections to address important problems.  We will point to ways the Regents and the State Education Department can bring still greater attention to the potential of USNY.

Later in the meeting, when we hear briefly from the graduates of the first class of the Leadership Academy, we will learn how one team as part of the training completed a paper on partnerships among USNY institutions.  The second class at the Leadership Academy has just begun this week and one of their team projects will build on their work with USNY.