Empire State University’s New VP of HR Works to Uplift Employees

(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – MAY 15, 2025) As a human resources professional, Sharon Butler abides by a simple philosophy. 

“I’m built on a foundation of believing in people and their intended purpose to do great work,” she says, adding that she’s most interested in “enabling people to rise to the best version of themselves.”  

It’s an ethos Butler brings to Empire State University as the new vice president of HR—a role she began in late March. Joining the SUNY Empire team is a bit of homecoming for the Albany native, who earned her bachelor’s degree at the university in 2005 before later completing a master’s at Sage Graduate School and now pursuing her Doctor of Business Administration. Returning to SUNY Empire in a leadership position is “incredibly humbling and an honor,” she says. 

“I feel like my education gave me keys to a really cool vehicle to take me on an incredible life journey, and now it brings me to a place where I could potentially add value and serve the organization back,” says Butler, who most recently worked as the senior vice president of HR at Magellan Rx Management. “It’s a great feeling.” 

As she settles into her new role, Butler’s list of goals for SUNY Empire has started to take shape. For one, she hopes to implement initiatives around employee learning and development, efforts which the seasoned pro connects to her deep interest in talent management. Butler envisions “an HR service model where it’s possible to meet people where they are—whether that’s geographically, physically, emotionally, or intellectually—and empower innovative and creative solutions in their work while navigating the complex challenges of a technology-enabled university that strives to be accessible to all,” she says. “Everyone should have access to their own set of keys to launch their own amazing journeys.”  

“HR is a microcosm of an organization, so the team is charged with setting the tone on professionalism, experimentation with technology, resiliency, and persistence to continually rise to challenges,” she continues. 

To that end, Butler says it’s important to note that she approaches her role from the perspective of restorative HR practices, which she defines as strategies and approaches that emphasize relationship-building, accountability, and inclusive decision-making. These techniques create more equitable, respectful, and collaborative work environments by focusing on correcting problems, but also restore trust and community after each instance of conflict or harm, she says. 

“It is natural in complex human systems for challenges, conflicts, and misunderstanding to exist. We should embrace these moments and make them matter,” she says. “We must ensure issues are respectfully resolved and that individuals are acknowledged so [they are] restored and poised to excel at putting our students first and at ensuring access to education is available at the exact moment a student knows they are ready.”  

Right now, though, Butler says she is “laser-focused” on getting to know the university and the “great team that’s here.”   

“I’m so eager to engage and positively impact this institution, and I’ll have to really lean on my nature as a curious learner to understand the inner workings of higher education from an institutional perspective in order to do just that,” she says.