From NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/30/education/30SUNY.html


Purchase College Interim Leader Is Formally Appointed President

By KAREN W. ARENSON

When Thomas J. Schwarz, a New York lawyer, became acting president of the
State University of New York's Purchase College in January 2001, the
college was running a $5 million deficit and morale was low.

In 16 months, he has managed to close the budget gap and win broad campus
support. And yesterday, SUNY's trustees approved his formal appointment as
president.

After a national search for a president, the Purchase faculty backed Mr.
Schwarz in a vote in March. Deborah P. Amory, an associate professor of
anthropology who is the faculty's presiding officer, said that he had been
innovative and respectful of faculty prerogatives like curriculum, and that
faculty members appreciated both traits.

A longtime partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York
City, Mr. Schwarz, 58, was an unconventional choice when he was named
interim president. His own education had been at private institutions
Hamilton College and Fordham University Law School and he had little
involvement with SUNY or other public universities.

But he earned high marks during a six-month term as acting president of
Hamilton College, where he had been a trustee since 1987. As acting
president, he initiated a long-term planning process, raised money for the
college and worked on "town-gown" issues.

He has been similarly activist at Purchase. Besides erasing the budget
deficit, he has initiated a monthly faculty colloquium and backed the
introduction of learning communities to develop closer bonds between
students and professors.

He also eats lunch once a week in the student dining halls, and has begun
regular meetings with alumni. He has already made two trips to California
and held one regional alumni gathering in New York, and has made plans for
additional sessions in Chicago, Washington and Boston.

Purchase is also renovating a building for a new student union. "That was a
student proposal that came to me and I endorsed," Mr. Schwarz said.

Probably the most controversial action he has taken, Mr. Schwarz said, was
to impose a $5 parking fee for people who attend cultural events at the
college, which is known for its emphasis on the arts. But he is also
working on bringing in other revenue, and the campus is thinking about
raising its capital campaign target beyond $25 million. It has already
raised $21 million, he said.

He would like to see Purchase expand its endowment. Hamilton, he said, has
1,700 students and a $426 million endowment. Purchase has about 3,800
students and a $31 million endowment.

"It is a different world," he said in a telephone interview. "But what
impresses me most about this school is what a wonderful job it does,
especially with first-generation college students and the value added to
their lives. I've become a convert to public education."



- - - - - - - - - -
Jillian Murray
Vice Chairperson
Hunter College Senate
http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/senate
- - - - - - - - - -