1.0 Campus Role and Distinctiveness

Founded in 1889 as a State Normal School, the College at Oneonta is now a comprehensive, Carnegie Master’s I, largely residential institution providing a high-quality liberal arts education that maintains an appropriate balance of liberal arts and professional studies programs. Distinctive programs include NCATE-accredited Education programs; the nationally-known Cooperstown Graduate Program in History Museum Studies; and, undergraduate majors such as Music Industry, Human Ecology, Computer Art, and Environmental Sciences. Oneonta is also known for its commitment to educational technology; the volunteer Center for Social Responsibility and Community; its emphasis on a student-centered environment; and, very good facilities on a geographically centrally-located campus.

During the past five years and since Mission Review I (MRI), Oneonta has become a college of choice within SUNY due, in large part, to adherence to the seven major goals of the Comprehensive College Plan (CCP), to which repeated reference will be made throughout this document. The College has been particularly active during this time in promoting the goals of academic quality, admissions selectivity, and retention.

For the future, the College will continue to promote academic excellence and enhance its reputation. Its mission will continue to be centered on fostering the individual student’s intellectual development through an emphasis on excellence in teaching…and with a concern for students’ personal, cultural, and ethical development. Oneonta has, for example, been named to the last two Templeton Honor Rolls of Character Building Colleges.

2.0 National Context: Peer Institutions

Comparisons to other, similar institutions provide useful benchmarks for campuses, reinforce an institution’s confidence in existing practices, and can lead to new ideas for improvement. In terms of overall academic characteristics, Oneonta’s current peers include SUNY Cortland and SUNY Fredonia; aspirational peers include Bloomsburg, Millersville, and Shippensburg Universities in the Pennsylvania system. During the Mission Review visit, it was agreed that SUNY Geneseo and The College of New Jersey would be added to the list of aspirational peers for Oneonta. Table 1 below includes comparative data for these seven institutions.

SUNY College at Oneonta Peer Analysis

3.0 Economic Impact

One of the goals of Mission Review II is to compile an accurate account of SUNY’s impact on the New York State economy. To this end, System Administration has standardized employment and fiscal data across the 64-campus system and will use U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis multipliers to calculate the total regional and state-wide impacts.

The College at Oneonta, located in Otsego County, contributes in many ways, both economic and social, to the rural central southern tier of New York and to the State as a whole. The city of Oneonta is located 60 miles or more from the larger upstate cities of Albany, Binghamton, and Utica. The College is, therefore, a major source of educational, cultural, and economic opportunities for its students, its employees, the city of Oneonta, and the surrounding communities.

The most recent economic impact study, conducted in 2003, shows that the College directly employs 1,600 people and that its activities lead to the employment of another 2,975 people. Direct expenditures amount to $168 million, with additional indirect expenditures amounting to $50 million, accounting for total expenditures of $218 million (based on U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis methodology).

4.0 Enrollment and Admissions

4.1 Enrollment growth

Oneonta anticipates that its total AAFTE enrollment will increase slightly (just over 5,600 AAFTE by 2010 is indicated in the table below) over the next five years, and that enrollment will continue to be managed on an institutional rather than a programmatic level. Decisions on expansion or contraction of programs will continue to be based on factors such as market conditions, congruency with the CCP, and institutional resource allocation analyses. Oneonta anticipates a slight decline in the cohort of continuing/returning students in the out-years because of an anticipated increase in graduation rates, current student mix, and anticipated smaller average inputs of new students than for the period 1999-2005.

The College’s actual Fall 2004 and Fall 2005 enrollment and out-year projections are detailed in Table 2 below.

Table 2

Oneonta Planned Enrollment – Fall Headcounts and Annual Average FTE

	Fall 2004	Fall 2005	Fall 2006	Fall 2007	Fall 2008	Fall 2009	Fall 2010
Student Group	(Actual)	(Actual)	(Planned)	(Planned)	(Planned)	(Planned)	(Planned)
Undergraduate
First-Time FT	1,075	1,156	1,105	1,105	1,105	1,105	1,105
Transfer FT	480	501	495	495