If September is providing any indication of how the rest of this year will be heading, it’s going to be a truly remarkable year! Sometimes, things fly by so very quickly that we don’t have time to put them together in a way that reveals the big picture. Here’s one attempt at linking some of these pieces into a whole:
--Our Transitional Studies faculty crafted a Title III Strengthening Institutions application that will provide $2M over the next five years to redesign these courses and improve student outcomes. Their grant was one of just 14 awarded.
--Our Career and Technical Education programs and Grants office provided statewide leadership on a $14.6M grant to train dislocated workers and returning service members for jobs in the advanced manufacturing sector. MCC will also coordinate the effort across all 30 SUNY community colleges, which resulted in a visit from US Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis (who remarked to me during her visit, “We need to have more people from the administration see what you’re doing here!”)
--Our Administrative Services division, with clearly voiced input from faculty and staff, worked with both our Master Planning consultants and RGRTA to relocate the bus service to the Flynn Campus Center area at the rear of campus as part of the front loop project. RGRTA has also committed to rebuilding the shelter on East Henrietta removed during the road work project several years back.
--Our Academic Services division worked with offices across the college on the inaugural “Essential Discussions” colloquium, which attracted national leaders in higher education as speakers and an over-capacity list of attendees from across the state—all focused on the topic of college completion. Evaluations from participants were outstanding—and we’ve already booked one of our keynotes for the spring event highlighting the importance of STEM: UMBC’s remarkable president Freeman Hrabowski III.
--Our Radiology Faculty received word that 100% of their students from the Class of 2012 passed the national certification exam … for the third consecutive year!
--Our students registered 150 new voters as part of our Constitution Day activities, and our Democracy Commitment team in partnership with Diversity and Community Studies, and Campus Life and Leadership Development hosted the executive director of Democracy Matters on National Voter Registration Day.
--Our newest leaders, Todd Oldham and Clayton Jones, were named to the Rochester Business Journal’s “40 Under 40,” making MCC the only local institution doubly represented on the list. And, our DCC Executive Dean, Pete Otero, received the United Way’s Circulo Latino’s Community Leadership award.
--Our trustees and community partners were recognized by the New York Community College Trustees, as John Bartolotta, Howard Konar, Alumni Hall of Fame member John Smith, Xerox, and the Nursing Expansion Alliance were all honored for their support of MCC.
--Our latest class of Alumni Hall of Fame members was named: Mount Holyoke College Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of the College Cerri Banks; Ovation Payroll Vice President and CFO Richard Brienzi; Monacelli Enterprises President and CEO and MCC Adjunct Peter Monacelli; and Stefan Sydor Optics President James Sydor. As the breadth of experience and depth of accomplishment of these honorees shows, a start (or re-start) at MCC can make all the difference.
So, the question is how do these individual pieces fit together? From my vantage point, seeing that is easy: each success has occurred because our faculty and staff put students and their success at the center of our college. That focus makes magic happen. It drives funding, it corrals 30 diverse colleges for a common goal, it spurs discussion AND action, it forces all of us to step up our game—my goodness, it even moves buses! Our students’ stories make us want to be better so they can better their futures: they give our community a purpose. And, it’s not even the end of September. Wow!
Where do you see MCC putting students at the center? Share your observations on the blog.
Anne Kress
President's Office
09/26/2012 |