Taking Calculated Risks & Designing for Flexibility at SUNY Oneonta

In an era where program cuts and faculty layoffs are daily news, it’s easy to assume that retrenchment is one of the most strategic levers an institution can pull. However, the quiet work that rarely makes headlines often has the greatest impact. At SUNY Oneonta, located in upstate New York, the response to changing conditions is rooted in agility rather than austerity. Dr. Enrique Morales-Diaz, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at SUNY Oneonta, argues that now is the time to innovate institutional frameworks before the window of opportunity closes.

Dr. Morales-Diaz explains that innovation can encompass both academic rigor and new flexibility needed to meet student needs. This philosophy is built on the conviction that once an institution accepts a student, it assumes a fundamental responsibility to adapt its systems and supports to ensure the student’s ultimate success.

Pivoting to Meet an Evolving Student Profile

Any teaching professional will tell you that students fundamentally engage differently in the classroom than they did pre-pandemic. Learning loss occurred during school closures and attention spans grew shorter. As a result, Dr. Morales-Diaz notes that faculty often feel pressure to lower standards, but he views the challenge differently. “How do we meet them [students] where they are without sacrificing the rigor and the expectations and the quality of the education that we provide? That could be challenging for some folks because they may think: ‘The expectation is I have to dumb down what I do.’ No, you don't. You just have to know that how you got a student to enter your subject 10 years ago is very different today,” he explains.

This shift requires institutions to move away from the traditional "sage on the stage" model toward a more facilitative approach. It also means acknowledging that student needs are in constant flux, requiring the institution to remain agile. Dr. Morales-Diaz explains that institutions must acknowledge that “whatever we do this year can't remain the same next year because it's going to be a differently prepared group of students. And we have to be able to pivot.”

To effectively reach students and remain flexible, Dr. Morales-Diaz offers the following advice:

• Encourage faculty to experiment with engagement techniques that cater to shorter, digital-age attention spans.
• Identify small faculty wins to build momentum for larger institutional changes.
• Prioritize capacity management to ensure that new initiatives do not overwhelm staff or detract from the core mission.

Leveraging a Budget for Failure to Drive Innovation

In a period of declining enrollment, many institutions look to contract or merge programs. However, this approach is meant to maximize savings and not necessarily encourage growth. At SUNY Oneonta, they made a strategic decision to buck this trend by splitting growing departments and launching specialized graduate programs. This approach is rooted in the belief that institutions have a short window of opportunity to try new things. Dr. Morales-Diaz shares: “My president likes to say we should have a ‘budget for failure.’” This mindset removes the expectation that all experiments must succeed. Experimentation is encouraged while also setting an expectation that not every project will be funded indefinitely.

When leaders launch new initiatives, they discuss the possibility of sunsetting from the outset. “By being upfront in saying, ‘if it doesn't work out in whether it's three years or five years…we're going to look at it, assess it, and make the decision.’ They need to know that that's a reality. And it is a chance that we're taking,” he says. This transparency helps manage expectations and ensures that resources can be repurposed if a pilot fails to meet its goals.

Narrative-Driven Data to Bridge the Gap Between Faculty and Administration

An effectively run institution requires more than just administrators who are business savvy. Increasingly, faculty need to understand the operational mechanics of running a university, from compliance to facility maintenance. Dr. Morales-Diaz believes that many challenges arise because faculty see the outward-facing aspects of the university but not the mechanics that "keep the lights on." By bringing faculty into conversations about why certain decisions are made, such as hiring in one department over another, the administration can foster a more collaborative environment.

Data plays a central role in these conversations, but it must be presented with context to be meaningful. While SUNY Oneonta is increasingly tying assessment measures to every project to provide evidence of success or failure, Dr. Morales-Diaz, a literature scholar by training, insists on a human element. “It's having the clear data and knowing what it means, not simply saying, ‘Oh well, this is the number.’ No, really give it life. And as a literature person, I will say you got to have a narrative with it,” he asserts. This narrative approach helps faculty understand  how operational decisions directly impact the budget and outcomes.

Navigating Institutional Change with Authenticity

Ultimately, the success of any change depends on the trust between leadership and the "people on the ground." Dr. Morales-Diaz advocates for a leadership style that is professional yet "very real," emphasizing that administrators should make changes based on student needs rather than personal legacy or arbitrary mandates. He embodies this approach by continuing to stay connected to students in the classroom. He models the care he expects from his team by actively asking students for their feedback and inquiring about student disengagement from a place of curiosity, rather than blame.

When leaders are willing to admit that they don't have all the answers and that failure is an acceptable part of the process, it creates a safer environment for institutional evolution. As Dr. Morales-Diaz concludes, “whatever we do is a chance we're taking and we need to be okay with it. And that maybe takes the boss above you to tell you it's okay if you fail. If it doesn't work out, what did you get out of it? What can we do better the next time? Where can we pivot in the midst of a pilot?”

This authentic leadership and willingness to experiment is aimed at steering the institution toward a future where institutional care is a functional framework rather than just a sentiment.