Page 18 - Annual Report 2012-2013

Studies. e award recognizes individuals whose leadership, both in the legal
profession and in the community, has had a positive impact on Long island.
e College received honorable mention as a finalist for the 2013 AACC Awards of
excellence in the emerging Leadership category. is honor puts our institution in
the vanguard of community colleges nationwide, distinguishing Suffolk County
Community College as a model of progressive practice and innovation. e program
was established to recognize exceptional achievement and leadership among
community colleges and to increase national visibility for exemplary practices that
will ultimately benefit all community colleges. our application focused on the
implementation of the Leadership Academy.
Adjunct instructor of Philosophy, omas Curtin, was recently announced as the
winner of the 2013 Colin and Ailsa Turbayne international Berkeley essay Prize
Competition for his essay “Berkeley’s Conception of Causal Power.” only one winner
was selected.
e College’s Ammerman Campus student newspaper, CoMPASS NewS, placed
second as overall Best College Newspaper at the 2013 Press Club of Long island’s
annual award banquet in June. e Press Club of Long island is the local chapter of
the Society of Professional Journalists.
e College’s Long island Shakespeare festival offered free public performances
of an abridged version of Shakespeare’s “romeo and Juliet” during July. e 13th
season performances were presented outdoors on the Ammerman Campus in Selden.
Advocacy. Last August, the College’s Board of Trustees adopted a resolution urging
the United States Congress to reject the House Budget Committee’s proposal to cut
funding and eligibility for Pell grants in fiscal year 2013. e federal Pell Grant
Program provides need-based grants primarily to low-income undergraduate students
to promote access to postsecondary education. Pell grants help more than 9 million
Americans attend and complete college. Approximately 9,000 of our College’s
students rely on Pell Grants to pursue their studies.
once again, i was invited to join SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, Chairman of
the SUNY Board of Trustees Carl McCall and select presidents from other SUNY
institutions in meetings with state legislators during SUNY Day in Albany. for the
second year in a row, the Chancellor asked me to take the lead during these meetings
in advocating for institutional support for community colleges. included in my
appointments were meetings with State Senate Coalition Majority Leaders Dean
Skelos and Jeff Klein, Senators Kenneth Lavalle, John flanagan, Charles fuschillo,
and Lee Zeldin, Assemblymen robert Sweeney and Steven englebright and Counsel
to Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver. e priority initiative for SUNY’s
community colleges, was to advocate for a second year increase to base state aid. for
the College, we took this opportunity to also speak about our plans for the renewable
energy and STeM Center, seeking State support for this important capital project.
After departing Albany, i went on to washington, D.C. to participate in the 35-
member American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) 21st Century
initiative–implementation Steering Committee. over the coming year, this small
group will expand on the work of the 21st Century Commission on the future of
Community Colleges by focusing on the implementation Strategies outlined in the
Commission’s report: Reclaiming the American Dream. is group will generally
oversee the implementation recommendations set forth in the report. is work
18 ❘ 2012-2013 Review of Accomplishments