MARCY, N.Y. (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) – New SUNY Chancellor, Dr. John King Jr. visited SUNY Poly on Thursday as part of a 64-campus tour that he has embarked on to get to know students and staff a little bit better.
As we’ve previously reported, local officials were not happy when Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) would move back to SUNY Albany.
However, new SUNY Chancellor, Dr. King, says this move makes sense geographically, and that it doesn’t take away from SUNY Poly’s ability to thrive.
“You know, CNSE, their main facility is in Albany, and so that there’s a logic to their close partnership with the University at Albany,” explained King, “But, it doesn’t change our conviction that SUNY Poly will lead the way, including in the semiconductor industry.”
He continued, “The partnership with Wolfspeed is a good example of that, and it will be engineers trained here at SUNY Poly who will fill many of those jobs, and it’ll be folks trained across disciplines at SUNY Poly who will help ensure the success of that industry.”
“We at SUNY believe that New York can be the Silicon Valley of the semiconductor industry, and SUNY Poly will play a key role in that.
County Executive Anthony Picente adds that while he’s still not entirely pleased with the outcome, he feels more confident about the future of Oneida County after speaking with Chancellor King.
“While I can still stand and say we were not pleased, and not walk back on the loss of CNSE, the commitment though is important that this college continue the way it has been, and even grows even more,” said Picente, “And that’s what we heard from the chancellor in our meeting prior to today, and including today, and I think that’s important as we move forward.”
“You know, we still got a little angst about what took place, but we are moving forward.”
He continued, “We have a commitment, and we have a chancellor who’s been here and who has seen – and he didn’t just breeze in and out – and I think that’s an important aspect.”
“He’s been here multiple times and he’s been here and spending time talking to students, which is more important than anybody else, to talk to them, and really hear from them what they have to say about this institution and why they’re here.”
And as for a permanent SUNY Poly President, King says the search is still underway.”
“The search has begun,” explained King, “The search committee has received their charge, they are now in the process of gathering candidates, and I expect the search to move efficiently.”
“I don’t want to set an arbitrary date for the search to be completed because the key is to find the very best person to lead SUNY Poly into the future.”
