University President Stephen Kolison welcomed Judith Horowitz, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, and Wayne Lynch, the vice president for finance and administration, during his report. Horowitz and Lynch later offered some insights during their own reports.

The most noteworthy bit from Horowitz is that she’s committed to an update of the campus academic master plan — which includes a new use for the Fenner House, a 19th-century Central Avenue structure loved by local preservationists.

Horowitz wants to turn the house “into a family support center that would serve Dunkirk and Fredonia with low cost, no cost counseling services,” she said. “Our students can have a live learning lab right there — they can do the work, they can see counseling happening in the moment, and have an opportunity that other campuses do not provide. Those are the kinds of clusters that we want to go after, those are the kind of centers of excellence we want to propose to grow our campus.”

The idea is not new — it first came up last June at another College Council meeting. “We were taking a look at razing the building… now we think we have a use for the building,” said Markus Kessler, campus director of facilities planning.

He said SUNY Fredonia officials hoped the Fenner House could be revamped into a counseling site for students who are prospective psychologists. A $200,000 study was to look into putting the student counseling program at several places, one of them the Fenner House, he said.

Lynch’s main point was simple: SUNY Fredonia officials need better day-to-day data on university finances.

He said revenue is “not just a bucket where everything dumps into and we can’t segregate out.” State aid must be projected against the budget on a regular basis, he added.

“You’re going to start to see that done monthly, almost a cash flow statement, so we can understand exactly where we’re at — month to date, year to date, and what the available balances are for the rest of the year,” Lynch said.

“This format provides control, visibility and… what I could consider a communications piece, that we’re not searching for information, but it’s actually at our fingertips and we know the financial health monthly,” he added.

College Council President Frank Pagano asked him, “Are you indicating that our deficit is now going to be larger?”

Someone, it wasn’t clear who, laughed at the question. “No, I’m not indicating that,” Lynch said. “I’m indicating that the current reporting structure doesn’t give us visibility or tools to see if” the campus is not on target with financial goals.

He said that though the university is moving in the right direction, currently “we are not able to fully articulate the position of the (university) on a real time basis.”

Kolison said SUNY’s goal for the Fredonia campus is that by the 2027-28 school year, “we will be putting the deficit behind us. That is going to require very difficult decisions and really tough decisions.”

Kolison wants Lynch to “move us into a place where budgets are not suggestions. It is that kind of discipline that will get us out of the situation we are in today.”

It was noted that a retirement incentive program for professors is open for applications until the end of this school year. However, officials acknowledged there has not been significant interest yet.

Horowitz and Lynch came to their new jobs from different directions: Horowitz has worked at SUNY Fredonia for years, while Lynch last worked at Niagara Community College after a career in the health care indutsry.

“I’ve been at the campus for 11 years in two different roles, one as an associate provost and one as vice provost,” Horowitz said. “We moved from our greenhouse in Lewiston 11 years ago to take my dream job in Fredonia. We live a couple of driveways up from the campus.

“My husband is having the experience of finding out whether or not Fredonia is one of the best places to retire,” she added. “I have a 16-year-old who has gone through our school system here and had phenomenal teachers, every single one of which graduated from our campus. This is a wonderful campus.”

Kolison said an “extensive and intensive national search” led to Lynch’s appointment. Lynch touted his stabilization of Niagara Community College’s finances during his six years there.

“I come here with open eyes on what some of our challenges are, and we’re going to begin to put the tools in place and the processes in place to both comply with the needs of the organization, as well as the fiscal plan we submitted to SUNY,” he said.