Candace Vancko
Candace Vancko was named the ninth president of the State University College of Technology at Delhi in June 1999.
The primary factor for her appointment to SUNY Delhi was that she and the college were a ``good fit,'' Vancko said. Unlike many presidents chosen based on academic backgrounds, she said, her appeal to SUNY Delhi was her knowledge of enrollment management.
SUNY Delhi has 2,971 students in two- and four-year degree programs, officials said. The college has 350 full-time employees, including 121 full-time faculty, and an operating budget of $20 million.
Vancko, 64, said when she was growing up, women traditionally went into teaching, nursing or secretarial careers.
Before joining SUNY Delhi, Vancko was vice president for enrollment services at Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio. She also was an enrollment management consultant for more than 10 two-year colleges. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees in speech from Pennsylvania State University. She received her doctorate in higher education administration from Ohio University.
Vancko is married to Robert Vancko, a retired mathematics professor. They have three adult children, Kathy, Melissa and Rob, and six grandchildren.
Vancko said while working as a consultant, she was asked by a college president to speak to trustees about fundraising. At that point, she said, she had ``an epiphany'' that she do the job of a college president. A colleague showed her the advertisement for the SUNY Delhi job, and she thought, ``What harm would it do to apply?''
After joining SUNY Delhi, she joined the staff on ``move-in day'' to help new students arriving at the campus. She was wearing jeans and a staff shirt, and a parent told her he would write a letter to the president about how impressed he was with the move-in effort.
``I just smiled and said, `I can save you a letter,''' said Vancko, who introduced herself. ``It was a very nice moment.''
Margaret L. Drugovich
Margaret L. Drugovich started as Hartwick College's 10th president on July 1.
Hartwick in Oneonta is a private liberal arts college with 1,480 students. Officials said the college has 96 part-time and 309 full-time employees, including 117 faculty, and an operating budget of $45.7 million.
She was vice president for strategic communications and university enrollment at Ohio Wesleyan University. Before that, she was at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island, serving in several roles. Earlier in her career, she served as a researcher in health-care policy at the Brown University Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research.
Drugovich, 50, earned an executive doctor of management degree from Case Western Reserve University. She received her master's degree from Brown University in medical sociology and her bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Conn.
Drugovich and her partner, Elizabeth "Beth" Steele, who works at the New York State Historical Association in Cooperstown, have two children. Their daughter, Elizabeth "Liz" Kelly, is a freshman pre-med student at Ohio Wesleyan University, and their son, William "Billy" Kelly, is in the eighth grade at The Albany Academies.
Drugovich described her rise to a college presidency as an evolution and said a fascination with theoretical puzzles led her to ask herself, which ``next step would be intellectually challenging?''
``I have always seized opportunities that have interested me,'' Drugovich said. ``I also benefited greatly from having mentors who have had a great influence on me personally and professionally.''
Drugovich said her approach at work is to be ``gender neutral,'' and she encourages students to follow their interests.
``All work is good work,'' Drugovich said. ``Pick something you love and dedicate yourself to it. It won't really matter if you're a man or a woman.
``I will look forward to the time in the United States when the fact of being a woman leader won't be interesting,'' she said.
Nancy Kleniewski
Nancy Kleniewski was appointed as the seventh president of the State University College at Oneonta in July.
SUNY Oneonta has about 5,800 students, including about 175 graduate students, officials said. The college has 1,265 employees and has a total spending plan of $100 million, including a core operating budget of about $46 million, according to college report.
Throughout her career, Kleniewski said, she has been learning about higher education and its institutions, and preparing herself for the next step. Her views probably were shaped starting in college, where she said she learned the idea ``that leadership and knowledge weren't owned by men.''
Before joining SUNY Oneonta, Kleniewski was at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts, serving as provost and vice president for academic affairs. Previously, she worked at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.
From 1981 to 1996, she worked at the State University College at Geneseo in administrative and faculty positions. She received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching while at SUNY Geneseo.
Kleniewski, 60, credited Carol Harter, former president of SUNY Geneseo, with encouraging her to ``leave her comfort zone.
``I'd still be teaching sociology at Geneseo if it weren't for her influence,'' Kleniewski said.
Kleniewski holds a doctorate and master's degree in sociology from Temple University and a bachelor's degree in sociology and behavioral sciences from Emmanuel College in Boston. She is married to Bill Davis, a management and information technology consultant.
Kleniewski said experience as a dean taught her _ to her surprise _ that she could raise money. Top administrators also must be able to energize people around a project, said Kleniewski, who was a finalist in three other presidential searches.
``It's work to move up,'' she said.
Kleniewski said she developed a leadership style that is collaborative, team-building and consultative rather than issuing decrees. Those characteristics may be descriptive of a woman who is a ``people person,'' she said, but many men also have those traits.
Sometimes, women must assert themselves or face being overlooked, Kleniewski said.
``A lot of women don't challenge themselves to try something because they're afraid of failure or they don't think it's for them,'' Kleniewski said.
``One thing I think I can do on campus here is be a strong role model for women students,'' she added. ``It's good for them to see me doing things and taking risks.''
