John B. King, Jr.

The State University of New York Board of Trustees has announced the appointment of John B. King Jr. as the 15th chancellor of SUNY.

King’s selection was the result of a year-long global search. He replaces Deborah Stanley, former president of SUNY Oswego, who has been serving as interim chancellor since December 2021. Stanley had been serving as interim Chancellor following the resignation of Jim Malatras.

King is currently the President of The Education Trust, a nonprofit organization that promotes high academic achievement for all students in early childhood, K-12 education, and higher education. He also served as U.S. Secretary of Education under President Barack Obama.

King will begin his new role in January.

Deborah Stanley

The State University of New York Board of Trustees has appointed SUNY Oswego President Deborah Stanley as interim chancellor.

Stanley will replace current Chancellor Jim Malatras who has submitted his resignation. Her term begins January 15, 2022.

Calls for Malatras’ resignation began following the release of transcripts from the investigation into sexual harassment allegations against former Governor Andrew Cuomo. The documents show text messages from Malatras mocking one of Cuomo’s accusers, Lindsey Boylan, in 2019.

Stanley brings nearly 45 years of campus leadership to SUNY, having spent 25 of those as President of the State University of New York at Oswego. She earned her baccalaureate degree with honors and juris doctor degree from Syracuse University.

The SUNY Board of Trustees will begin a search for a permanent Chancellor in January 2022.

Jim Malatras

SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras is resigning effective January 14th.

Malatras sent his resignation letter to SUNY Board of Trustees Chairman Dr. Merryl Tisch Thursday.

WNYT reports this comes after several members of the New York State Assembly, including the Higher Education Committee Chair, called for his resignation after reports of disturbing text messages and emails sent by Malatras were made public last week.

The messages were a part of the New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation into sexual harassment allegations against former Governor Andrew Cuomo.

On Thursday, the SUNY Board of Trustees held a special meeting virtually. They showed appreciation for Malatras’s efforts, while the SUNY Student Assembly believes this was the best way to move forward.

Jim Malatras

State University of New York Chancellor Jim Malatras has told reporters he has no plans to resign after investigations have cast more light on the role he played in Governor Andrew Cuomo‘s inner circle.

According to a Spectrum New Report, transcripts and supporting documentation released by Attorney General Letitia James included an email from Malatras in which he was critical of Lindsey Boylan, a staffer who would later accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment. Boylan at the time was knocking the Cuomo administration for having a toxic work environment.

In an text message chain with other Cuomo aides, Malatras suggests releasing some of Boylan’s “cray emails” and used a swear word.

Boylan was one of 11 women included in a report released in August by the attorney general’s office detailing allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct by Cuomo, who resigned August 24.

Cuomo aides last year after Boylan’s initial harassment claims leaked the details of her departure from the administration to the media, including complaints by those who worked in Boylan’s office.

Malatras has been a key advisor to Cuomo over the years, serving as the director of state operations and was later appointed to the SUNY chancellorship in 2020 as the pandemic was bringing mounting challenges to the state university system.

A state Assembly report released last month following a lengthy investigation provided more details on how Cuomo used state resources to help him write a book about the pandemic, which was part of a $5.1 million contract. Malatras had helped Cuomo with the book, and Malatras has said he volunteered his time to help with it.

But other aides in the governor’s office have refuted claims made by Cuomo’s team they had volunteered their time to work on the book, calling it a central focus of the governor’s office at the time.

Malatras also helped with the production of a report in July 2020 seeking to refute allegations of how nursing home residents died during the pandemic and whether a hospital discharge order was at fault. How the state reported fatalities of residents is being investigated by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn.

State University of New York Chancellor Jim Malatras (center) with Jamestown Community College President Daniel DeMarte (right) and North County Center and Career Advantage director Beth Starks. (Image courtesy of SUNY)

JAMESTOWN, NY – Jamestown Community College had a special visitor on Monday with an appearance by Jim Malatras, Chancellor of the State University of New York.

Chancellor Malatras was at JCC to meet with college administration and discuss a new program that would improve childcare opportunities for students and faculty at SUNY schools across the state, including here in Jamestown.

As part of the new program, Malatras said $625,000 will be dedicated to a paid internship program for students seeking a career in childcare, while also focusing on “childcare deserts” – communities that have a shortage of childcare and can’t keep up with demand. Specifically, the state funding will be used to identify and tap into an estimated two billion dollars in federal funding to help establish programs in over 40 different communities across the state that have a shortage of childcare options.

Jamestown is one such childcare desert community, which is why Chancellor Malatras felt it was important to make the announcement while visiting the Jamestown campus.

JCC Career Advantage program coordinator Beth Starks noted there are many families in the county who are wrestling with childcare challenges and who are unable to attend school because they are unable to find childcare providers. She said that one local accredited childcare provider has a waiting list over 40, with the earliest opening for new children not expected to be available until the spring of 2022.
Chancellor Malatras also said that once SUNY expands childcare options in a community, it would also be available to members of the general public, regardless if they are students or employees.

While talking with the press, Chancellor Malatras also commented SUNY’s effort to get students vaccinated for COVID-19, explaining that a month-long vaccination campaign effort is now underway and is showing signs of success. He added that SUNY can mandate to faculty and staff to get vaccinated, but is working with labor groups to identify ways to get all employees vaccinated before the fall semester begins. And he said the system is also ready for any challenges, including an increase in community caseloads due to the Delta variant.

Former Jamestown City Council President Gregory Rabb, was named the executive director of the New York Municipal Clerks Institute in March 2018.

JAMESTOWN – The Rockefeller Institute of Government has named former Jamestown City Council president and current city planning commission chair and Board of Public Utilities Chair Greg Rabb as the new executive director for the New York Municipal Clerks Institute (NYMCI).

NYMCI is a collaborative educational initiative to enhance the skills and performance of the state’s front-line government administrators. It involves a three-year training program offering the 120 credit hours required to become a Certified Municipal Clerk (CMC) from the International Institute of Municipal Clerks.

City, town, and village clerks, deputy clerks, and clerks of county legislative boards, as well as other municipal officials who seek professional development may register.

“The Rockefeller Institute of Government welcomes Greg Rabb to the team. His academic experience as well as his vast experience as a local elected official will be invaluable to the Municipal Clerks training program,” said Jim Malatras, president of the Rockefeller Institute of Government. “I could think of no better person to run this critically important local official management training program.”

In addition to his work with the city, Rabb is also a political science professor at Jamestown Community College, and is coordinator of JCC’s International Studies and Study Abroad programs. He is also a former national mentor and current consultant to the college in Advance Placement U.S. and Comparative Government and Politics. Rabb also is an adjunct lecturer in political science at Buffalo State College.

He has been a councilman at large of the Jamestown City Council and a City of Jamestown marriage officer since 2011.