By: Sydney Umstead, News Editor
The Griffin had lunch with President Stoute on Oct. 10, 2024. While some questions were submitted ahead of time, Stoute allowed the staff to ask any questions they had.
On the topic of the State of the University, The Griffin inquired as to what made the event different this year. Stoute responded, “I wasn't expecting students at all because students have never been invited to the State of the University.” He continued, “The invitation wasn't open to students and so I was surprised. I wasn't expecting it. It's not a conversation that we have with students.” When public safety’s presence at the event compared to previous years was brought up, Stoute told the staff, “I think it's because of the venue that it appeared drastically different but it has nothing to do with me,” he said, adding “they've always been present.” He continued, “You don’t notice them at Montante,” which is the venue where the address was held in previous years. Stoute noted, “The public safety is always there,” and stated that he has “never asked for it but it is just our emergency response preparedness.”
There is more in that regard in our article this week dedicated to the State of the University.
On the topic of communication from his office, which has been a concern among many in the Canisius community, Stoute told the present reporters that “I’m the last word when I speak, it's not my opinion, I speak for the institution, and that institution is the people.” Moreover, “there are many things that somebody in our community, somebody in that 60,000 will want the university to take a stance on, and ultimately, my decision is no, because 60,000 people rarely agree on anything,” the 60,000 people representing the current Canisius community as well as alumni. Stoute also added that “me and my team get a lot of credit for how much and how clearly and how transparently we communicate,” from other school presidents.
When the topic of the 4/4 course load was brought up, Stoute stated, “The teaching load is 24 undergraduate credit hours so it doesn't even say four classes it says verbatim 24 undergraduate credit hours which equates to four classes per semester,” with no increase in pay. He continued, mentioning that the “faculty senate is our elected governing body and the document that articulates the relationship we have in leading the institution says the teaching load is 24 undergraduate credit hours.”
When asked about the public AAUP letter which this paper covered last week, Stoute began with a clarification, saying that “We have an elected student governing organization, right? USA. We also have an elected faculty governing organization, Faculty Senate and so my responsibility to the organization, to those constituencies, and we have a developing Staff Council.” Stoute also made a point to say, “The AAUP has no formal place in our governance process, nowhere in the Faculty Handbook does it point to the AAUP.” Stoute also mentioned that there are 13 spots on the faculty senate and only seven of those have been filled.
One staff member mentioned that the lack of participation in senate is also present in the United Students Association. Stoute expressed concern, stating “It is hard to move the university forward when people are opting out of engaging in the work for whatever reason, and everyone's busy and everyone's stretched and working really hard and studying. But these are the agreed upon channels through which we work together to move the university forward, and I would love to see them more robustly engaged.”
Stoute stated that he encourages people to schedule time with him via his office hours which are public knowledge and, “when I'm not here, I'm still doing the work of the university,” explaining that “unfortunately I'm not always here and always available to meet with Senate or anyone else,” but that he enjoys spending time with faculty and staff. “I think I’m relatively approachable,” Stoute added.
The news of the Buffalo Promise Scholarship was announced on Oct. 10, a few hours before the lunch. In regard to these scholarships, The Griffin asked Stoute about the financial aspects given that this announcement came among news of the $15 million cut. The question stated was, “Some may find it kind of counterintuitive that we’re in this financial stress, yet we’re giving the scholarship program,” asking Stoute “how [he] would explain that perceived discrepancy?”
Stoute stated, “The Buffalo Promise Scholarship and our modeling of it will be net tuition revenue positive.” Moreover, “If we drive the number of applications we anticipate and we yield the same percentage of students as we have over the last couple years, they will lead to an increase in undergraduate enrollment, increased net revenue.”
One student asked, in light of the school’s precarious financial situation, if they would be able to graduate with their Spanish degree that they were promised. Stoute responded “You will graduate from Canisius University,” going on, “Canisius University is not going anywhere, not while I’m president, and my goal is to make sure that remains the case for every successor that follows me for the next hundred years,” concluding, “So, yes, you will graduate from Canisius University.”
The student then asked what documentation they will be provided that proves that they will graduate with their major and their program will not be cut, to which Stoute said that Canisius is not closing and suggested to “Pull our 990s we’ll see what our financial situation looks like.”
When asked about the $15 million in cuts, and what that would mean for Canisius, Stoute said that he did not have much specifics now, and that there would be a more defined plan after it goes through the new Staff Council.
The lunch ended at around 3:30 after Stoute took three more questions despite some of the deans arriving for a meeting with them.
The Griffin thanks President Stoute for taking the time to answer our questions, and even staying past our scheduled time to answer a few more. While we could not fit all of the questions and answers into one article, we will use the information he shared with us as appropriate over the next few weeks and months in our publications.
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