Abstract
John A. Van de Wettering was President of SUNY Brockport from 1981 to 1997. Van de Wettering was the fourth president of the college. During his time as President Van de Wettering implemented an idea of “streamlining” administration and faculty to form better relationships with the college’s students. He also had to deal with letting faculty go due to budgetary restraints; during his presidency there were many times that the college was affected by its budget. There was also an increase in students coming into the college during his time in office. There was an increase in full time and part time enrollment as well as large increases in transfer students and graduate students. During his time as President, Van de Wettering made himself as available to the students as he could. He frequently participated in interviews for the Stylus, sometimes visited the dining halls and residence halls to visit with students and even made appearances on the College’s television show. Also during his presidency, the international education program was greatly expanded making it the largest in the SUNY system. He helped introduce Brockport to multiculturalism, global issues and cultural diversity. Dr. Van de Wettering expanded the campus by opening the MetroCenter in downtown Rochester before he retired.
