The final two presidential search open forums were held on March 30 and April 3 with the fourth and fifth candidates, respectively. 

David P. Jones, the fourth candidate for the SUNY Oswego presidency, spoke at his community open forum on March 30.

The forum lasted approximately an hour and provided time for students, faculty and community members in attendance both in person and via Zoom to ask questions of the candidate. 

Jones currently serves as vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at Minnesota State University, Mankato, according to his profile on SUNY Oswego’s presidential search website. He has also worked at the University of Alabama, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, College of William and Mary in Virginia, University of Nebraska at Kearney, North Carolina State University and North Carolina Central University, serving in various teaching and residential life positions. Jones is also a SUNY Oswego alumnus and graduated with a B.A. in secondary education.

He was asked a variety of questions from those in attendance in person and online at the forum, relating to specific aspects of campus, diversity and community impact.

Jones described the importance of knowing what is happening in the community and being connected to the campus and said that “a president can’t be everywhere, but a presidential representative should be.”

Another element that he emphasized related to diversity. He discussed the push to hire diverse faculty and then told a story from another institution, where they were working to hire a woman of color to work there, but there was no accessible location for her to get her haircut. He emphasized the importance of ensuring that not just the campus, but the entire community is a safe place for diverse faculty and students.

In connection to this, he discussed the fact that as president, he would be responsible for supervising University Police and security. He discussed that many students may have had a previously negative experience with law enforcement and how he would aim to acknowledge students’ past experiences with law enforcement and work to make campus police feel like a positive resource.

Other topics discussed included enrollment, Greek and social life, working with state governments and college affordability.

The final candidate, Peter Nwosu, spoke at his open forums on April 3 and focused his discussion on the importance of education. As a first generation college student, Nwosu said he understands “the power of education to transform lives” and is hoping the SUNY Oswego community will trust him to take over where former President Deborah Stanley left off. 

Nwosu is the provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs and Student Success at Herbert H. Lehman College, a CUNY college in New York City. Prior to that, he was the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta. At both positions he managed the schools’ academic and student affairs, enrollment and research and sponsored programs. 

Nwosu also is a journal editor, reviewer and author, with his name attached to over 100 scholarly articles and three books. He also serves on many boards of directors, including CUNY Institute for Health Equity, the CUNY Mexican Studies Institute and the Institute for Higher Education Policy. 

Nwosu said that he first applied for the presidency at SUNY Oswego because of the demographic of students on campus.

“I’m attracted to [regional comprehensive universities] because of the students they serve,” Nwosu said. “First generation students, low income students, underserved populations, that’s been the prime of my life [in academics]. I am the first in my family to go to college, I’m an immigrant, that’s what you have here as well.”

Due to recent controversy surrounding an event on campus, a speaker sponsored by the College Republicans, one question asked was about free speech on campus. Nwosu responded with two personal anecdotes from situations he has dealt with in the past. 

“The university or the college is a place where ideas meet one another and then where ignorance confronts truth and ultimately the institution grows from that,” Nwosu said. “If you work to shut that down, then we’re no longer an institution.” 

Other questions included topics of diversity, inclusivity and the role of the president within the campus community. Nwosu stressed how important it is for the president of any institution to be visible on campus and to interact with students and faculty. 

“I will be an actively engaged member of the campus community but also will engage with external partners because that engagement is equally important in terms of advancing the mission of the college,” Nwosu said. 

The next step in the presidential search process is for three of the five candidates to be chosen as finalists by the College Council and will be then reviewed by SUNY Chancellor John King Jr. and other members of the SUNY leadership team. The final candidate chosen by King will be referred to the SUNY Board of Trustees for an interview. 

Photo via oswego.edu