new furniture and window treatments were installed. A new playground was installed
at the Campus Kids Children’s Learning Center on the Ammerman Campus.
in May, over 125 people attended the groundbreaking ceremony hosted for the new
Learning resource Center taking shape on the Michael J. Grant Campus, including
members from our Board of Trustees, and student body. Congratulatory remarks
from the Suffolk County Legislature were delivered by Sarah Anker, omas Barraga,
Monica Martinez, robert Trotta, and Leslie Kennedy. e community was also well
represented, with the invocation being delivered by reverend Daris Dixon-Clark,
Pastor of the first Baptist Church of Bay Shore and concluding remarks from
richard o’Kane - President, Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau
and Suffolk Counties. in attendance were community leaders, including Mary reid
and representatives from the Brentwood Library and eastern Suffolk BoCeS. it is
estimated that construction will take 18 months to complete.
i believe our teaching and learning environment is important to student success.
By investing in new buildings and renovating our existing infrastructure, we are able
to maintain a setting where faculty can comfortably engage our students.
Advocacy
is year, much of my time and focus were dedicated to leading advocacy efforts on
behalf of the College, its students, and SUNY. in addition to speaking in support of the
College’s operating and capital budget efforts detailed in earlier sections of this report:
• i was heavily engaged in emphasizing to members of the State Assembly and
Senate the importance of enhanced State Aid support for community colleges in
general and Suffolk County Community College, specifically.
• i was one of the College Presidents invited by the New York State United
Teachers’ (NYSUT) to attend their annual Community College Conference to
further develop the strategy for an advocacy launch associated with the
“reclaiming the Promise” effort across New York State. is effort was aligned
with the American federation of Teachers (AfT) nation-wide campaign of the
same name, seeking additional investment in public education. By uniting
students, parents, faculty, and staff, the community organizers hoped to
positively influence the level of funding received by community colleges.
• in october, i was invited to join New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
at Mineola Middle School as he received the final report from the Smart Schools
Commission. e Commission is an advisory board established by the Governor
to gather information on strategies that will help schools to effectively invest
proceeds from the proposed $2 billion Smart Schools Bond. e Commission’s
findings focused on expanding robust broadband and wireless connectivity for
schools and communities across New York to support technology-enhanced
learning environments.
• e College supported the Save Student Aid campaign. Under the leadership
of the American Council on education (ACe), this campaign was designed to
increase awareness and spur action against congressional threats to curtail federal
student aid programs. one proposal currently under consideration would freeze
the Pell Grant maximum at $5,775 for the next 10 years. Students were
encouraged to respond digitally to the Save Student Aid website, and to ‘Like’
the Save Student Aid campaign on facebook or Twitter. e College’s office of
Central financial Aid sent a mailing to almost 9,000 currently enrolled Pell
Grant recipients to support the campaign.
• At the invitation of Duwayne Gregory, the County Legislature’s Presiding
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2014-2015 Review of Accomplishments
Our students attended Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory’s
press conference to highlight the need for Pell Grant funding.
Suffolk student advocacy included a 4 a.m. bus ride to Albany
to encourage enhanced funding for community colleges.
Students engaged in direct conversations with State elected officials.
