Within the next few weeks James Van Voorst, Binghamton University’s vice president for administration, will vacate his position at Binghamton University and take a position at the State University of New York headquarters in Albany. Van Voorst has worked closely with students over the past few years on campus construction projects, and has run town hall forums on both the Old University Union and Newing/Dickinson renovations.
Interim SUNY Chancellor John B. Clark appointed Van Voorst to serve as the vice chancellor for finance and administration for the entire 64-campus system. BU President Lois B. DeFleur has appointed Michael McGoff, vice president for Strategic and Fiscal Planning, as interim vice president for administration.
“With everything going on in the state, the commission report and the SUNY compact, I thought that this might be something that I could bring some expertise to,” Van Voorst said.
Van Voorst will fill the position while a permanent SUNY chancellor is sought. After that, he said, someone will be sought to fill the role of vice chancellor for Finance and Administration permanently.
While he is excited to take on the position, Van Voorst said he remains dedicated to BU and has limited his stay at the SUNY position to no more than a year. He said he plans to return to BU for at least two days every other week.
“Next year’s going to be an extremely big year for BU,” he said. “One of the areas I’m going to stay particularly involved in is the construction.”
Van Voorst said his new position will be extremely similar to his job at BU, just on a much larger scale. His new job will involve “working with all the campuses on their budgets, taking the state budget and allocating it out, all the controller functions, working with the other vice chancellors as well as the board of trustees,” he said.
McGoff brings a 40-year BU career and a positive attitude to his new position.
“The president knows I know the campus very well and I’m certainly excited,” he said. “I love this University. I’ve been here for a long time and I’m happy to help.”
McGoff said that he’s worked closely with Van Voorst over the years and feels Van Voorst was a good choice for the new job.
“[James] is very knowledgeable. He knows the system and campus very well,” he said. “It was very wise of them to ask for his help.”