[CHPFacultyStaff] Message from Dean Beissner

[Mary Dimura]

Happy New Year CHP! I hope you all took some time to relax and refresh over the holidays. Here we are, back at it again.

When reflecting back on the key achievements of 2025 I stop at my first thought - the people of CHP. We did some great hiring in 2025, and we are enriched by the talents and energy of our new faculty. I am so grateful that they are being guided and supported by our fabulous continuing faculty and staff. Thank you all for being part of what makes CHP a great place to work.

Other critical efforts in 2025 include programmatic accreditation work - self-studies and site visits required a great deal of our time and effort. Positive accreditation decisions were received for Radiation Therapy and Respiratory Therapy - congratulations to faculty and staff involved. In the next few months we anticipate positive news on the Radiography accreditation; that site visit completed in December. In 2026 we will continue to work on accreditation matters, both programmatic and institutional, with the PAS and Middle States self-studies underway and site visits planned. The process never stops (!) and while it can feel burdensome, the benefit of careful programmatic review and external feedback is insight into possibilities for curriculum and program improvement.

As we look toward welcoming a new CHP Dean this summer my thoughts move to how to best prepare the College for this transition. With the varied curricula and 6 (moving toward 7) accrediting bodies defining our differences, it is important to support common operational processes to the extent possible. By doing basic things the same way across departments we are better able to focus on the strategic issues that should guide our work, rather than fiddling with operational differences. Let's begin with scheduling. An inordinate amount of time is spent figuring out when committees (or people) can meet. This would be much easier if we all used Outlook to keep our schedules. I know some of you are groaning, but this is the institutional platform and using it will increase efficiency across CHP. Let's set a goal of January 31 for everyone using Outlook calendar. If you need help figuring out how to use it there are excellent online tutorials that will ease the process.
Other operational alignment efforts are underway, including

  *   A consistent format for CHP Student Program Guides that is not redundant with the Upstate Student Handbook.
  *   Use of a common folder structure, retention and archive process aligned with IMT's changes to the shared drives. This should help us find important documents more quickly.
Mary is working with program assistants and department chairs to review and implement these processes.

In addition to these operational alignment efforts, I am working with each Department Chair to identify priorities that can be addressed in the short term and those for which we can outline a clear plan for implementation under new leadership. Let's set your next dean up for a smooth transition to the role!
I wish you all the best in 2026.
Katherine
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