TO: The College Community
FROM: R. Thomas Flynn, President
DATE: March 7, 2005
2004-05 has been a busy year and a number of projects have moved forward since my last update to you on All College Day. Before we head into the home stretch of the academic year, let me take a moment of your time to update you and share some thoughts on our progress.
FACILITIES
Renaissance Square remains the most significant capital project on our agenda. If you are following news media reports, you know that the choice of an architectural firm is imminent. This choice will be made with input from all of the project partners – MCC, Monroe County, City of Rochester, Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority and the performing arts community. Valarie Avalone (Planning) and Bob Cunningham (Enrollment Management) recently traveled across the country with other project team members to view firsthand projects designed by the two architectural finalists. Both finalists are experienced and capable of designing Renaissance Square. When this decision is behind us, you will see more visible momentum, including the formation internally of a variety of planning and “user group” teams to provide input and guidance as we move toward planned occupancy of our new campus in Fall 2009.
A second set of residence halls on the Brighton Campus will become a reality sooner than Renaissance Square. We are working our way through county approvals and town questions, and hope to begin construction by June. Our plan is to build a 360-bed complex east of the Alice Holloway Young Commons, on the other side of parking lot R. We expect that students will be moving into these halls in Fall 2006.
With the growing demand for classroom space on the Brighton Campus, we are looking for ways to begin the $12 million renovation of Building 9 and other buildings sooner rather than later, hopefully in the next 12-18 months. The challenge lies in relocating offices, classrooms and labs during the construction. We have talented people on this project and will need the input of the faculty affected by the renovation. We will keep you posted.
Finally on the facilities front, construction of a new synthetic-turf soccer and lacrosse field will get underway this spring. I expect we will be seeing our nationally ranked women’s and men’s soccer teams playing on this field in the fall. As for the proposed field house, we continue to seek private funding and I am encouraged by the positive feedback we have received. The timeline for field house construction will depend on the availability of the private funding. As soon as we have a firm commitment, I will let you know.
TEACHING AND LEARNING INITIATIVES
Lest you think building projects are the only thing on my mind, rest assured that teaching and learning remain my prime focus. There are a number of important projects underway that have nothing to do with bricks, mortar or artificial turf.
Our faculty, as a whole, has fewer and fewer years of experience with MCC. The turnover in our faculty, due primarily to retirements, is not news to any of us; in fact, we saw it coming and prepared for it. Those of you who are new to MCC are familiar with our first-year-faculty series and our EDU 500 program. You may also be familiar with the Faculty Mentoring Program, which pairs new faculty with senior faculty from another department. Both programs are designed to introduce new faculty to our college culture and expectations, to create a support system, and to ensure long-term success. In fact, Board Chair John Parrinello recently shared our new-faculty programs at a League for Innovation in the Community College meeting of board chairs and presidents; his presentation and the programs were very well received by these higher education leaders.
Are these programs helpful to you? What more can we do to support new faculty? I want to know what faculty members’ first years are like and so I am planning a series of small-group breakfast forums to hear from our new faculty. I hope I will be able to talk with many of you and I ask for your honest and constructive feedback. This dialogue is important to the long-term health and quality of our college.
While I watch new faculty carefully to see how they are fitting in, I also observe with pride and interest our senior faculty who are role models and leaders in their fields. Our Math Department, led by Professor Emeritus of Mathematics Bob Johnson, has been organizing a statistics conference for high school and college statistics professors for nearly a decade. The ninth conference is set for August 4-5, 2005. Last summer, high school science teachers benefited from Instructor Bill Ryan’s leadership and a $746,000 National Science Foundation grant at Workshops for the Improvement of Science Education (aka Project WISE). Project WISE helped high school science teachers develop lesson plans using new technology, some of which they took back to their high schools. This summer’s Project WISE workshops, set for August 15-19 are already in demand. On March 19, writers and aficionados of children’s literature will come to our Brighton Campus to learn about and discuss the craft – all thanks to Instructor of English Maria Kendig. These kinds of leadership and involvement enrich teaching in our classrooms and tell our academic peers and our community that we are committed to good teaching. I thank everyone for this leadership.
Speaking of good teaching, we are finally on our way to preparing the next generation of good teachers. Our proposals for associate degrees in early childhood, childhood and adolescence teacher education finally earned the approval of the State Education Department and we are ready to enroll future teachers in the fall. While I am certain the delay at the state level was frustrating for the MCC team that put our proposal together, their statewide leadership on the issue of teacher education programs at community colleges was unwavering and much appreciated by me.
INSTITUTIONAL INITIATIVES
At All College Day last August, to make a point I asked those involved in the Middle States Self-study and those involved in the Banner implementation project to stand: a glance around the theatre made clear that these two projects would consume a significant percentage of our college community in the coming years. That has certainly been the case this year. Every time we turn around, there is another Middle States question to ask or answer, or a new Banner process to adapt to. These projects have been all-consuming, but they are so important.
Middle States committees are finishing their interim reports and the Steering Committee is getting its first look at our progress. We are on track to be ready for our Middle States chair visit at the end of this calendar year. Those involved in the self-study tell me that they have learned a great deal about our college, found many examples of things we do exceptionally well, as well as some things we can improve upon, and are enjoying the camaraderie of the teams. As I've said before, without accreditation, little else matters; the work of our Middle States team is that important.
On the Banner front, we have successfully implemented two modules – finance and human resources – of our new information management system. Our early assessment indicates that the transition went smoothly and that end users like the functionality of the new system. The work continues, as the finance and human resource teams work on next phases of implementation and the remaining modules – advancement, registration, financial aid and other student-focused functions – are implemented over the next 12 months. Banner will be a much-stronger backbone for the college than SIS, bringing us greater efficiencies and functionalities.
For many years, MCC has had a strong Workforce Development program. However, we are at a crossroads and need to move our efforts into a position that is more visible and comprehensible to our community. To that end, I have charged a committee led by Executive Assistant Dick Degus to develop a plan and case for support for a corporate college. At community colleges across the country, corporate colleges are physical and organizational structures that meet the education and training needs of employers, workers in transition and emerging workers (i.e. senior high school students). A corporate college at MCC can be an important community resource and another avenue for us to meet our mission. There is early interest from funders; I will keep you posted as we move forward.
Our Homeland Security Management Institute (HSMI) continues to build momentum. U.S. Congressman Tom Reynolds and New York Senator Joe Robach have helped us secure $500,000 and $25,000 grants. The federal funds will support curriculum development and training resources. The state funds will support a homeland security conference that we are planning for July. And while our Prepare America proposal did not receive federal support, MCC continues to lead the national community college movement in the area of homeland security training.
A few words on our CSEA. I commend the CSEA as it has worked through the process of creating a new local representing only college employees. I am pleased that we were able to negotiate and approve an interim agreement. Work now begins on a new contract which we hope to have in place by September.
Finally, we have our eye on state and federal budgets. At the state level, we are urging our legislative delegation to increase base aid to $2,385 per full-time equivalent (FTE) student, a $150 increase over this year. Doing so will bring community colleges to a three-year average of $2,300/FTE, the same funding level that community colleges had in 2002-03. Proposed restructuring of the Tuition Assistance Program and proposed cuts to the Educational Opportunity Program are unlikely to find support in the legislature. On the federal level, President Bush’s $250 million Community-based Job Training Grants will make funds available this summer for employers to seek training at community and technical colleges. However, his proposed 2006 budget calls for the elimination of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act (Perkins) funds, which has brought $12.9 million to MCC since 1980. We are vigorously opposing this cut and Congress seems to be in our corner.
As you can see, it is another full year in every corner of our college. More students. New programs. Institutionally imperative initiatives. Thank you to everyone who is working so hard to move us forward.
R. Thomas Flynn
President
03/07/2005 |