Senate Bill S5591

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S5591

SPONSOR: LIU
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to establishing an Asian
American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) leadership institute
within the state university of New York

 
PURPOSE:

To create an Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI)
leadership institute within the State University of New York to foster
the success of AANHPI leaders at the university president and presi-
dent's cabinet level.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 directs the Chancellor of the State University of New York to
create an Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) lead-
ership institute, and tasks the AANHPI leadership institute with imple-
menting programs and measures deemed necessary to support AANHPI leaders
              

at the state university of New York.

Section 2 establishes the leadership institute's structure and
appointment/reappointment procedures for members. It will have an execu-
tive director and eight advisory council members who will serve for no
compensation for their work in conjunction with the institute.  It
describes their initial appointment procedure and manner of reappoint-
ment.

Section 3 describes the factors the institute must use while evaluating
measures and programming

Section 4 tasks the executive director with communicating the leadership
institute's work in a report to the Governor, Assembly Speaker, and
Senate Majority Leader at the beginning of each regular session of the
legislature.

Section 5 sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The State University of New York hosts over 30,000 students of AANPHI
Backgrounds. (1) Supporting the diversity within SUNY's executive lead-
ership is crucial for serving these students and ensuring that SUNY does
not miss out on a new wave of potential leaders. A 2020 study by the

College and University Professional Association for Human Resources
found that more than 80 percent of higher education administrators are
white, and only 13 percent of top executive officers are people of
color. While universities and colleges have worked to address this gap
following the killing of George Floyd, those efforts have not necessar-
ily flowed to AANPHI leaders and educators. For example, Inside Higher
Ed found that there was no change in the representation of Asian or
Native American presidents between June 2020 and November 2021.(2)



SUNY has a long history of developing and providing cutting-edge leader-
ship and professional development training to faculty and staff across
its 64 campuses.

In 2017, SUNY formed the Hispanic Leadership Institute to foster the
next generation of Hispanic and Latinx leadership in the SUNY system
through professional development training and specialized program-
ming.(3) In the more than five years since its creation, the program has
enjoyed marked success, graduating 51 fellows with backgrounds from more
than a dozen countries, and who come from 27 of SUNY's campuses.(4)

In 2023, SUNY's budget provided first-ever funding to create the Black
Leadership Institute to support Black leaders in the SUNY system, which
is poised to provide the same critical support.(5)

Moreover, the City University of New York currently has such a leader-
ship institute for Asian American leaders, which began operating in
2015.

In an age of increased discrimination and bigotry against Asian Ameri-
cans, it's time for SUNY to provide its Asian American faculty and staff
with that same level of support, which is a natural outgrowth of its
current efforts.

An AANPHI Leadership Institute would help to create a more diverse SUNY
culture and foster the next generation of SUNY's leaders. It's an
investment in education today, and an investment in education tomorrow.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2024: Passed Senate

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

TBD

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date
which it shall have become a law.