SUNY Potsdam officially inaugurates President Smith

Speakers at the inauguration praised Smith’s willingness to confront campus challenges and make difficult decisions that may be unpopular.

“We needed someone who was going to lead us somewhere we didn’t necessarily want to go, but somewhere we absolutely ought to be,” said Amy Kellogg, president of the Potsdam College Foundation.

Potsdam Town Supervisor Marty Miller took the podium and said he recently met with Smith and was impressed by her off campus work as well.

“We all have the same goal: to see students come to Potsdam for a quality education, both in the classroom and in life,” Miller said. “We want to offer them an experience off campus to make them want to call Potsdam their future home.”

Lynne Durant, president of CSEA Local 613, said she was happy to see Smith taking an interest in the needs of the physical plant staff. They work behind the scenes to keep necessities heating, cooling and running water functioning properly. Durant also lauded Smith’s interest in making sure the custodial staff, also represented by the union, have everything they need to properly do their jobs.

Prior to Smith’s speech, Broadway star Lisa Vroman sang “Ordinary Miracles” from “Sister Act.”

“Musical theater prepared me to be the president of SUNY Potsdam because both theater and campuses are all about bringing a group of people together around a common goal and doing something to make other people happy,” Smith said during her speech.

She dedicated a sizeable portion of the speech to talking about figuring out where SUNY Potsdam will go from here.

“As we’ve heard everyone’s ideas and contemplated the road ahead, for me, the hopes and dreams that come across coalesced around the idea of elevating engagement: lifting each other up and raising the bar for what we can accomplish together,” Smith said. “This radiates through four areas of focus: student success, applied learning, community engagement and building a culture of inclusion.

“It’s an interesting time to be in higher education. Student enrollment is declining across the country, and will decline even worse when we hit the demographic cliff.”

“Yet for those of us here, those that have chosen to work in work in this field, we know the satisfaction we feel when we see that ‘ah ha’ moment in the classroom, or have students share their success stories with us,” Smith said. “I have always said my favorite day of the year on a college campus is commencement, because that’s when we celebrate the amazing work of our students, and the time and effort our faculty and staff have invested in their success.”

Recent times have been turbulent on campus due to having to stave off a $9 million budget deficit with no hope of aid from the state.

In September 2023, Smith announced a series of tough measures in response to financial woes, which include discontinuing 14 degree programs and considering the closure of two campus buildings.

Enrollment at SUNY Potsdam has seen a dramatic decrease from 4,098 students in the fall of 2012 to 2,515 students in the fall of 2023.

This decline has placed immense financial strain on the institution and has contributed to a $9 million deficit. Smith has said that last year the college took in revenue of $38 million, but spent $47 million.

The programs being cut include bachelor of arts programs in both theater and dance, both of which used the $60 million performing arts center that opened on campus 10 years ago.

Other programs slated for cuts are art history (bachelor of arts), chemistry (bachelor of science), French (bachelor of arts), music performance (master of music), philosophy (bachelor of arts), physics (bachelor of arts) and Spanish (bachelor of arts). The school will keep the biochemistry (bachelor of science), chemistry (bachelor of arts) and the public health bachelor and master of science.