Message from the Foundation Chair

January 1, 2024

Dear Friends,

The Ulster Community College Foundation is vital to the SUNY Ulster Family, and I am honored to serve as chair of this wonderful organization.  

My journey with SUNY Ulster began in 2001 as a student, where I had the opportunity to utilize the resources I needed to be successful in the pursuit of academics.  In 2016, I returned to SUNY Ulster with the opportunity to give back when I was appointed to serve as a Director on the Foundation Board.  Since that time, the Foundation has grown and evolved in many wonderful respects.  The number of board members has increased, thereby giving us a more expansive reach throughout the community.  We are a more diverse board comprised of talented and thoughtful people who are dedicated to the mission of SUNY Ulster.  Our list of generous donors continues to expand due in considerable measure to the success of our President’s Challenge Scholarship Program (PCS), which is discussed in more detail below.  Our Foundation is growing financially with endowments and investments of $16.4M and a fund balance of more than $18M on December 31, 2023 - all for the benefit of SUNY Ulster and its students.

Over the years, I have personally witnessed the outpouring of support by our donors and alumni.  Their generosity has funded our scholarship award programs.  Proof of the Foundation’s commitment to SUNY Ulster students can be seen in the growth of annual scholarships granted.  In 1989, the Foundation awarded $15,000 in scholarships.  The awards grew to $700,000 in 2022-23, with a budget of $1,000,000 in 2023--2024, a record high, all because of the generosity of our donors and alumni.

The donations of our generous donors also help to support the Foundation’s emergency fund program, Community Cares In Memory of President Emerita Barbara A. Adams. This program is critical to the Foundation’s mission to support its students toward academic success. In 2022-23, we awarded over $50,000 in emergency funds to students in need at SUNY Ulster. SUNY Ulster’s President, Alison Buckley, Ed.D., created the Campus Cares Faculty/Staff Emergency Assistance Fund in Spring 2023 to provide support for colleagues in need to help see them through hardship, recognizing that they, too face unforeseen personal hardship that could adversely affect them and their families. This academic year, $9,000 has been raised and $1,500 has been distributed to faculty and staff to help see them through hardship.

President Buckley also launched the President’s Fund, Commit to Complete, to provide critical financial support to increase the number of Ulster County residents aged 24-50 with a post-secondary degree or credential in a way that at least mirrors the county demographics and leads to successful employment in careers with family-sustaining wages. In 2023, $151,600 was raised for the Commit to Complete initiative.

The President’s Challenge Scholarship (PCS) was founded by SUNY Ulster President Emeritus Dr. Alan P. Roberts for Ulster County 8th graders who aspire to be first-in-family college-bound high school students. The PCS program provides coaching and academic enrichment to high school students to better prepare them for a two-year tuition-free college education at SUNY Ulster upon completion of high school. Please join our donor community and support a student with a tuition-free scholarship to SUNY Ulster - I invite you to support a President's Challenge Scholarship student in one of nine school districts in Ulster County.

The upcoming years 2024-2025 look strong from my perspective.  The U.S. economy and labor markets have shown resilience and inflation has seemed to stabilize.  These are good, positive indicators for our SUNY Ulster graduates who will be entering the workforce.  Moreover, the stock market has recently begun to show signs of recovery and strength, which will further solidify the Foundation’s financial stability.

My fellow board members and I are more committed than ever to ensuring that SUNY Ulster students succeed in their educational goals and objectives.  Our goal this year is to award more than $1 million in scholarships to deserving students.  This will be an extraordinary milestone for the Foundation and the students we serve.  

As a board, we are constantly striving to connect with new donors and members of our community who might be able to help our students, whether through mentorship or otherwise.  This year, we will strive to engage with government officers, community leaders, educators, and people in all corners of SUNY Ulster to ensure that we are truly representative of Ulster County’s diverse and culturally rich populations. 

We strive to connect our community and college alumni to SUNY Ulster, our students, and to each other. 

If you think you can help or support the Foundation in any way, please do not hesitate to contact us.  We will be glad to listen.