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The president of the College of Saint Rose and the new chair of its Board of Trustees called for unity on campus Monday, writing in a message sent to employees that the campus will not flourish without unanimity of purpose.
The letter comes days after word of leadership discord and board resignations jolted the small private college in Albany, N.Y. The former chair of the college’s Board of Trustees resigned at the beginning of December amid board divisions and disagreements with its president. Several other trustees have resigned as well. The Albany Times-Union published excerpts from trustees’ resignation letters in which they called an October board meeting unprofessional and embarrassing.
In Monday’s message, the college’s president, Carolyn J. Stefanco, and new board chair, Sister Mary Anne Heenan, wrote that disagreements aired in the media are a distraction from taking on financial challenges.
“Neither of us are going anywhere, and the challenges that face higher education and Saint Rose are present with or without our leadership,” they wrote. “Together, we are committed to working with you.”
Without unified purpose working toward innovation and creating a campus for the future, Saint Rose will not flourish, they continued. The college will not be able to take desired actions like bringing back matches to retirement plans, increasing budgets, raising salaries or adding faculty lines.
Higher education’s paradigm has changed, the college’s leaders wrote, specifically referencing New York State’s new program offering free tuition to many students attending public colleges -- a program that many private colleges say hurts their enrollment prospects. The leaders also said that they are saddened to see the recent divisiveness associated with the college’s name.
“We are called to move beyond these feelings and work together,” they wrote.
The college has scheduled a “community conversation” for January about the issues raised.
