Message from Dr. Belinda S. Miles: Winding Down and Gearing Up
May 4, 2018
Colleagues,
It has been a real pleasure to join you at various events celebrating our students and campus members as the spring semester winds down.
The Athletics Department hosted their annual awards banquet recognizing the outstanding achievements of our student athletes including 41 named to the Athletic Honor Roll! Student Involvement hosted another successful Late Night Breakfast event with over 150 students enjoying food and activities. I am proud to report that more than 20 faculty, staff, and administrators assisted in serving our students, some who face food insecurities. Today, we hosted our 44th Academic Recognition Ceremony, celebrating scholastic achievement. In addition, members of our campus community received Chancellor Awards. I thank all who were involved in the planning and execution of these important events for our college community.
Amidst these end of semester celebrations, there are many new and exciting activities launching around us! This week I attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Million Air’s new hangar at Westchester County Airport. This global enterprise, so close to our Valhalla campus, is a potential employer for many of our graduates and a likely partner in offering applied learning opportunities to our students. Also this week, I met with members of our Foundation board and community to discuss their interest in investing in supporting students and in our teaching and learning work. I attended a Youth Shelter Program of Westchester (YSPW) event celebrating 40 years of transforming lives. YSPW, the Greenburgh and County Courts, and the Westchester-Putnam Workforce Investment Board are our community partnerships working to engage academic programs as preventions and alternatives to incarceration. It is most gratifying to share the community college mission and the Westchester Community College story with those whose ideas and passions align with our work.
Our 2014-2019 Strategic Plan serves as a centerpiece that connects our institutional priorities and meaningfully engages us in our work. It is also a tool that helps us document annual progress as we experience the natural rhythms of the academic year and plan for a vibrant and relevant institution for the future. I attach our Strategic Plan so that we can assess work already completed and work that still needs to be done as we prepare for our next round of planning. I look forward to working with our college stakeholder groups to ensure a broad and inclusive process that integrates our new values statement as well as tactical plans from our various divisions and departments.
Dr. Belinda S. Miles
President