What's New?

Core campus hours change

This serves as a reminder that core campus office hours will be 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. with the exception of certain departments that may also have extended hours. This change is effective Monday, Sept. 26.

However, in response to a request from union leadership, an additional transition period of up to two weeks (to Oct. 10) may be provided to offices where staffing questions remain.

The changes being made reflect our commitment to serve our students and the public in the best way that we can, in a manner consistent with existing SUNY employment guidelines.

In addition, we now offer more evening classes than ever (25 percent of classes are held after the traditional end of the school day) and we have many non-traditional students who are trying to balance work, education and family obligations. Having offices close at 4:30 p.m. or earlier does not serve these individuals well.

Our peers in the region and across the nation also offer more evening classes and extended hours of service.

Prospective and enrolled students, parents of students and the general public reasonably expect that the campus offices will be open until 5 p.m. We are simply trying to meet their needs.

Information on the flexibility options can be found by visiting www.newpaltz.edu/campusupdate/hoursmemo.cfm.

The president and vice presidents appreciate employees' cooperation in helping to meet the needs of students with this change in campus operating hours.

Academic Senate to meet Oct. 7

The Academic Senate will meet on Friday, October 7, at 3 p.m. in the Coykendall Science Building auditorium. As a handy reminder, the meeting schedule for the semester is posted on the Faculty Governance Web site: www.newpaltz.edu/governance. In addition, messages with agendas and minutes are sent out in advance of the meetings. For further information, phone the Faculty Governance office at x2891 or e-mail marcotta@newpaltz.edu.

Asian conference offers variety of events

The annual meeting of the New York Conference of Asian Studies will be held on campus Sept. 30 - Oct. 1. This multi-disciplinary conference will include more than 50 panels focusing on Asian-related culture, politics, art, economy, society and history. The conference is open to the public. The plenary speaker for the conference will be the acclaimed Chinese-American author Da Chen, who will speak on "From China to Wall Street to Random House." For registration and fee information, and to learn more about the conference and view the complete schedule, please visit www.newpaltz.edu/nycas05.