Message from Dr. Belinda S. Miles: Viking Pride
Colleagues,
The pride I feel as I witness and learn about the work so many of you do at SUNY Westchester is immense! I see daily all that you bring to the college and our students. I see how your work is transforming lives.
Enrollment
Our fall semester is off to a very strong start. Preliminary data that our Institutional Research team is analyzing shows a 2.0% increase in FTE. Dr. Liza Adams reports that SUNY WCC has not experienced a fall increase in FTE in more than 10 years! We continue to update fall enrollment data and, in the meantime, please alert students that there is still time to register for fall classes. Instruction for the 12-week session begins tomorrow, September 23 and on October 29 for the second 7.5-week session. Looking ahead, registration for Winter and Spring 2024 begins on October 30.
Convocation
Kudos to Faculty Senate Presiding Officer Kamil Hamaoui and all who planned this year’s Convocation for a wonderful welcome to new and long serving colleagues. Please join me in helping our newest employees get off to a running start at SUNY WCC. Encourage them to seek out ways to connect with our college community through service to the college and invite them to attend the myriad cultural and education programs planned throughout the academic year. Our Event Calendar is a great place to keep up with what is happening in Valhalla and at our extension locations.
Congratulations to the following colleagues who were recognized at Convocation:
WCC Foundation Awards
- Elizabeth Miller – Excellence Award in Teaching
- Heather Ostman – Excellence Award in Service
- Kalsi Johnson – Endowed Chair
25 and 50-Year Service Awards
- 25 – Robin Graff
- 25 – Richard Rodriguez
- 50 – Meralee Silverman
SUNY Chancellor Awards
- Patrick Barrett – Excellence in Teaching
- Naomi Dogani – Excellence in Classified Service
- George Keteku – Excellence in Faculty Service
- Maria Stalias-Mantzikos – Excellence in Scholarship & Creative Activities
- John Watkins – Excellence in Faculty Service
Advancement Update
Our evidence-based, high impact, nationally prominent work to improve student outcomes and success continues to be recognized through the award of several federal and state grants that are expanding our capacity to provide high quality programs and services that benefit our students and community. Kudos to Dr. Laurie Miller McNeill, our Advancement team, and all members of the college community who have collaborated across departments to prepare and implement grant proposals.
Here is a sample of recent awards received by the college:
- $3M National Science Foundation award to establish the New York HSI Hub, which will build community college capacity to improve the quality of undergraduate STEM education by establishing a community of practice among 14 SUNY and CUNY HSIs in the greater NY area and expand faculty learning opportunities in culturally responsive STEM instruction and grantsmanship training to increase the number of NSF awards at the 14 colleges.
- $3M US Department of Education Title V award to expand enrollment in Viking Roads, enrich support for onboarding students to academic and career pathways with “Welcome, Continue, and Complete” workshops; and support “just-in-time” interventions that help students stay on track with their learning through Starfish expansion and support for Program Navigators.
- $1.3M NYSED Perkins award to more fully develop the academic knowledge, technical and employability skills of career and technical students, provide counseling and outreach to help students achieve their college goals, and support internships with a new Internship Coordinator position. This year’s program includes a Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment to take stock of our CTE programs’ alignment with industry, transfer, and major trends.
- $1.2M SUNY Transformation Grant award that will help the college expand its Viking ROADs program and provide support for the Disabilities Service Office. Our college is now nationally prominent for its successful student outcomes related to VIKING ROADS, which replicated with fidelity the only community college reform proven to double community college graduation rates (ASAP-the Accelerated Studies in Associate Degree Programs).
- $662K SUNY Future of Workforce Center award to develop construction trades and advanced manufacturing programs and expand non-credit short-term health care training.
- $310K SUNY Internship Grant award to increase the number of credit bearing internships at WCC and provide student internship stipends, transportation aid and leveraged childcare for student interns.
SUNY Westchester Community College would not receive regional, state, and national attention or recognition of achievement AND this level of investment in our ideas without your participation in fulfilling our mission. If you are not yet engaged in one of these initiatives, check with your dean or VP to explore available options to connect.
Finally, as we continue our celebration of Latin American Heritage Month, I hope to see you at a few upcoming events!
Thanks for making this college a great place to be!
Dr. Belinda S. Miles
President