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WESTCHESTER COMMUNITY COLLEGE STATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESS 2017 Dr. Belinda S. Miles, Ed.D. PRESIDENT
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STATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESS · 2017-04-26 · STATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESS 2017• 1 WESTCHESTER COMMUNITY COLLEGE STATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESS BELINDA S. MILES, ED.D., PRESIDENT

Jun 03, 2020

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Page 1: STATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESS · 2017-04-26 · STATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESS 2017• 1 WESTCHESTER COMMUNITY COLLEGE STATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESS BELINDA S. MILES, ED.D., PRESIDENT

W E S T C H E S T E R C O M M U N I T Y C O L L E G E

STATE OF

THE COLLEGE

ADDRESS• 2017 •

Dr. Belinda S. Miles, Ed.D.PRESIDENT

www.sunywcc.edu

Page 2: STATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESS · 2017-04-26 · STATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESS 2017• 1 WESTCHESTER COMMUNITY COLLEGE STATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESS BELINDA S. MILES, ED.D., PRESIDENT

Dear Reader, It is with great pleasure that I bring to you my first State of the College Address. It has been a transformative 24 months at the college and we would not have had the many accomplishments without our dedicated faculty who are the ultimate stewards of teaching and learning, and our administrators and staff who work earnestly to keep all aspects of the college running. And most importantly, our students – they are the primary focus of our attention. We are here because they are here. There is nothing connected with this college more valuable than the people. The people who work here, the people we serve, and the people in the community who benefit from our graduates. Westchester Community College continues to be a vital institution for the Hudson Valley Region and beyond in workforce development and curricular innovation. As SUNY’s first Hispanic Serving Institution, we are now more than ever focused on inclusive excellence and access. Our award-winning faculty and students cultivate an atmosphere of academic excellence and rigor. Our Student Success initiatives, further outlined within the address, have built momentum with the 2016 graduating class – the largest in the history of the college. Our community is focused on student success as we strategically invest our time in Building Minds and Building Futures. This is only the beginning. Sincerely,

Belinda S. MilesPresident

WESTCHESTER COMMUNITY COLLEGESTATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESSBELINDA S. MILES, ED.D., PRESIDENT

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

“”

There is nothing connected with this college more valuable than the people.

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WESTCHESTER COMMUNITY COLLEGESTATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESSBELINDA S. MILES, ED.D., PRESIDENT

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

INSIDE2 Our Mission

4 Challenges & Opportunities

6 Resources & Stewardship

8 Student Success & Academic Excellence

10 Innovation & Program Expansion

12 Community Partnerships

14 Workforce Development & Community Education

16 Increasing Diversity

18 Forward Together

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W E S T C H E S T E R C O M M U N I T Y C O L L E G E2

OUR

mission

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OUR MISSION OF ACCESS, STUDENT SUCCESS, AND ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE IS NOW MORE CRITICAL THAN EVER AS WE FACE THE GLOBAL CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY.

Our work here is not only for the Lower Hudson

Valley region or even for New York State. Our work

transcends these borders with our graduates

spreading out across the United States and even

further, as they work in industry and transfer to

four-year colleges and universities.

Our purpose is clear. The need for us to succeed

has never been greater. As the world changes—in

technical, political, social, and economic ways—we

adapt to those changes while remaining grounded

in our mission and confident in the strength of our

collective ability to build what is needed to advance

this mission on behalf of our students.

This is an exciting and dynamic institution, and our

dynamics are rooted in how we honor tradition as

we manage continuous change. I sometimes marvel

at how a place so established and familiar can be

simultaneously new and uncharted… but that’s who

we are; that’s where we are.

As you may have already learned or noted, I am

personally committed—not just professionally—but

personally—committed to the community college

mission. Like many of you, I’ve seen, firsthand, the

power of transformation that takes place in our

students’ lives as they embrace their education.

This is not just a noble profession for many of us.

It’s a calling. And we are united in our purpose which I

believe is a shared purpose…to provide an accessible,

high-quality, affordable education to meet the needs

of our diverse community… and we do so with a

shared commitment to student success and

academic excellence. We share this affinity toward the

mission of the college while we value, embrace, and

celebrate differences among us.

This is a very special place where all are welcomed

and valued equally.

“ I've seen the power of transformation that takes place in our students' lives as they embrace our education.

mission”

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AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, OUR SINGLE GREATEST ASSET AT THE COLLEGE IS OUR PEOPLE. WE’VE HAD A LOT OF HIRES IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO A FEELING OF UNCERTAINTY.

Many employees spend decades at Westchester Community College. What an incredible testimony to have such a dedicated workforce! This also means that we’ve reached the point where we are experiencing regular entry of new talent when eligible employees retire and others leave for new experiences.

Turnover can be very challenging, especially with interim appointments. These appointments are crucial to ensure continuity in operations and provide leadership to maintain momentum, and I thank those of you who have taken on those challenges. These roles also provide a way to build skills and try out new positions as part of talent development and inevitable succession planning. But as much as interims contribute, we are always serious about finding and appointing permanent replacements. These search and screen processes that the college engages in give us the opportunity to highlight our excellent programs, faculty, and students and the exciting opportunities ahead for the college as we move in new directions with new leadership that will expand opportunities for our students. When you are invited, please participate in these searches—by evaluating candidates, providing input, and especially in showcasing the high quality of our programs. It is critical that we each do all we can to attract the best talent for our college.

Last fall, we shared the results of the Chronicle’s Great Colleges to Work For survey, and recently we’ve begun a process to gain a better understanding of these findings and how we can create an environment that will best

contribute to the outcomes we seek for our students.

In some ways, some of the negative results of the Great Colleges survey are no surprise given the status of the staff and faculty contract negotiations and our ongoing work to improve our shared governance practices. I’m open to all ideas of how to improve our collective experience at Westchester Community College, especially those focused on improving student success and academic excellence.

Part of this effort to improve is the ongoing negotiation at the table to achieve a contract with our faculty. Our Board of Trustees has asked for assurance that our negotiations are continuing in earnest and a report is being developed for their review.

We did reach an agreement on a staff contract, which our Board approved but the County did not. We advocated for that contract on behalf of staff, and we have taken a position in support of CSEA’s filing with PERB. We await the PERB judge’s opinion, and we will share new information when it is available. While we resolve this, we thank our staff for their dedication in their roles in supporting student success. Please join me in recognizing our staff and our faculty during these processes.

Unrelated to those negotiations, we have brought our non-represented managers on par with our faculty and staff by instituting a merit step increase program. This program is separate from cost of living adjustments. This Board action was an important step to ensure equity in our human resource practices and to recognize the valuable contributions of our non-represented managers.

“We thank our staff for their dedication in their roles in supporting student success.

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CHALLENGES &opportunities

We thank our staff for their dedication in their roles in supporting student success.”

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WE INVEST IN PEOPLE AND CULTIVATE TALENT BECAUSE THE CHALLENGES AHEAD REQUIRE OUR BEST MINDS WORKING TOGETHER.

Historically, colleges and universities have relied on public funding and student tuition and fees to comprise much of our operating budgets. In the past, that was a pretty safe bet. Not so much anymore. Public policy has supported the rapid expansion of higher education… families could, at one time, manage to afford college costs among other household priorities without a very significant burden.

That was then; this is now. Today, we experience the implications of shifting dynamics in both areas. Public funding for higher education has been diminishing in states across the country, and affordability has become one of the most important considerations for families as they contemplate college. Even though it has never been more important to have a college education, increases in college costs are putting a degree beyond the reach of more and more families.

In this context, we can be encouraged by actions within our county and state in addition to our own commitment to that part of our mission that promises an affordable higher education. We are, of course, sponsored by Westchester County, which provides about $30 million to the college’s operating budget annually without which we would not be able to extend our access to opportunity for 24,000 students every year. We appreciate the great support we receive from our elected officials. They are as proud of this institution as we are, and ours is a great partnership that benefits the whole community. It’s a great source of pride to go down to the County office and to receive the smiles and the accolades for the work that we do.

Over the past few years the County has maintained effort on behalf of the college and we’re very appreciative of that support. But of course, more support for our operating budget would allow us to expand services and programs and instructional support to our students. The only actual increases the college has received have been in support of debt service and costs for capital improvements on campus. And

again, we’re thankful for those.

With respect to the state, our ongoing advocacy efforts have actually been effective. Over the past few years those efforts have led to the restoration of $575 per FTE and millions of dollars of state aid for the college and our students.However, this restoration has only brought us back to reimbursement rates of 2008 and 2009, so we continue to advocate for additional funds from both the county and the state to support our mission and provide the resources necessary to ensure student success well into the future.

Earlier this year, Governor Cuomo announced his plans for an Excelsior Scholarship eventually covering tuition and fees at SUNY and CUNY institutions, community colleges included. It is an ambitious plan, one which has support from SUNY and many of our college presidents, myself included. The proposal is an unprecedented pledge of support across all public institutions within the state.

Yet, we know that we have students and families whose needs exceed even the resources provided through this proposal. About 40 percent of our students receive Pell Grants, and continuation and expansion of this federal program should be a priority for our lawmakers in Washington, D.C. We are advocates for year-round Pell for students taking courses during the summer, since research shows that community college students who enroll continuously have higher completion rates. And while many of our students benefit from the New York State Tuition Assistance Program (or TAP) this resource is shared with those attending private schools, who actually receive 40 percent of this valuable educational assistance.

Many of our students are recipients of generous support, as we saw from Ashley, from the Westchester Community College Foundation, which is on track to award a record-setting $2 million in scholarships this academic year. Those scholarships are invaluable for what they make possible among our students. Even with Pell grants, the TAP Program, and the potential for an Excelsior Scholarship, there is still so much unmet financial need that support from all sources remains a critical necessity.

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Diligent stewardship of our resources, highlighted by a balanced budget, has moved us from the second highest in tuition among SUNY’s community colleges to the bottom third. That’s one list I don’t mind being toward the bottom. For four years, we have not increased tuition at Westchester Community College. And that is a remarkable and rare accomplishment for any college or university today.

Even while we have held the line on tuition and promoted college affordability for our community, we have expanded investments in the college’s mission. Here are some examples:

• Our recent enrollment efforts and analysis indicate that we are positioned for growth even amidst a national decline in high school graduates and community college enrollments as individuals spend more time at work and take fewer courses and credits during a low unemployment phase.

• Our implementation of the Strategic Enrollment Management Plan, Saturday enrollment days, the addition of alternative semester start dates, and more targeted recruitment promises to yield positive results.

• Other growth areas being explored are curriculum changes such as industry-recognized certifications, stackable credentialing, and broadening our online education offerings. Rethinking how we serve students is continual.

• We’ve invested more than $138 million in infrastructure, supporting nearly 20 capital projects. This spring we’re conducting a careful examination of our campus sites through a campus master plan study, and more announcements on that are forthcoming.

• We’ve invested almost $19 million in technology, including key software like DegreeWorks, Blackboard, and ETS Success Navigator that enhance the student experience.

& STEWARDSHIPresources

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ALL OUR DECISIONS MUST BE GUIDED BY HOW BEST TO SERVE STUDENTS AND WE ARE ANSWERING THAT CALL. WE ACHIEVE THIS THROUGH VARIOUS STUDENT SUCCESS INITIATIVES LIKE:

• Multiple Measures—conducted with the Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness at the Community College Research Center at Teachers College Columbia;

• ALEKS and Quantway are two innovative developmental instructional approaches our math faculty members are using to improve outcomes for students in Mathematics;

• the investment in our Coaching Connection program funded through our Perkins grant and Wallach grant is connecting students closest to graduation to key support services to help them to finish;

• a revamped First Year Experience that requires orientation and a freshman seminar;

• a new early warning system will identify students heading for danger points which will provide our staff the information they need to provide support at critical stages;

• And new approaches to maximize learning – like applied learning, project-based learning, and theme-based learning such as the food theme that we’ll be focusing on for the next three years through our general education initiatives.

Guidance received during our successful Middle States Commission on Higher Education accreditation and Achieving the Dream visits last fall reaffirm that we are on the right track in our collective work to improve our programs, policies, and systems.

Last commencement represented our largest graduating class in 70 years with more than 1,800 graduates! In a little more than 20 months, we greatly increased the three-year graduation rate of our students by five percentage points as part of our completion focus.

Our cross-functional Strategic Enrollment Management Team, curriculum chairs, faculty, and staff, stand at the ready to further move that needle another 15 points in the next five years.

Our highly successful fall 2016 Student Success and Academic Excellence Summit outlined new opportunities for improvement. Among the most highly valued ideas is the creation of a cohesive first year experience where a comprehensive Viking experience – a signature experience – is clearly defined and offered to incoming students. When we applied to the Arnold Foundation for a $1 million grant, we had the audacious idea that we could also double our graduation rates as was done in the City University of New York through the Accelerated Study in Associate Program model – the ASAP Model – and we wanted to adapt that kind of learning to our institution and give that opportunity to our students. But

STUDENT

& ACADEMIC EXCELLENCEsuccess

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when we took a deep dive into our data, as required for the application process, what we saw very clearly was that the greatest area of reform for this institution will be in the area of college readiness, and that’s because more than 80 percent of the students who come to us need at least one remedial course. It’s imperative that we evaluate and strengthen how we serve students in our developmental courses. In the past year we’ve seen increased numbers of students getting into their gateway college math and English courses and those courses serve as the prerequisite for them to experience their major course of study more fully. I am encouraged by the work many of our faculty members are doing in mathematics and English and see that our forthcoming application for the Hispanic Serving Institution Title V grant as another way to add resources to the college to help students navigate these academic and career pathways. The grant could help us to support faculty in developing new strategies to help students successfully complete developmental education courses.

This grant can also help:

• assist us in incorporating innovative IT resources to help us track and support students on their academic journey

• expand professional development for faculty and staff, and provide more student support such as more hours for tutoring and counseling services, and

• offer more specialized transfer and articulation agreement work.

So I want to give a special thanks to the cross-functional team that’s working to prepare our application, which we will submit to the U.S. Department of Education in just a few weeks. If you see any of them, please say thank you.

But readiness is only one piece of the student success equation. For those who run marathons or watch them (like I do) readiness represents just the first few miles of a marathon. How we retain and serve students throughout their academic journey – the full marathon – is also critical to our work.

SUNY’s goal of 150,000 degrees more per year provides the impetus for bolstering the work we do in graduating community college students. Each of our academic schools – The School of Arts and Humanities, The School of Business and Professional Careers, The School of Mathematics, Science and Engineering, and The School of Health Careers, Technology, and Applied Learning, provide clear pathways for students in cohesive frameworks. Faculty across the schools are working to align their curricula with some of our emerging signature experiences.

A refreshed marketing campaign for our extension sites, where we work to offer the right classes at the right times, will also be a part of our new approach to engaging students in quality learning experiences.

& ACADEMIC EXCELLENCEsuccess

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OUR INNOVATION IN TEACHING AND LEARNING, THROUGH HIGH IMPACT INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES, NEW PROGRAMS OF STUDY, AN EXPANDED HONORS PROGRAM, AND INCREASED ONLINE AND BLENDED LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES, EXEMPLIFY A RICH AND VARIED CURRICULUM THAT ENGAGES AND EXPANDS THE CAPACITY OF OUR LEARNERS.

Our Phi Theta Kappa (Honor Society) continues to

grow providing experiences where our students excel

– including participation at regional and national

competitions. Data from our transfer and career

center also illustrate how our students and graduates

are advancing.

Faculty continue to produce scholarship, participate in

local and regional conferences, consult with regional

business and the private sector, and garner new resources

for teaching and learning. The successful faculty effort

to secure a National Science Foundation grant to further

grow our Photonics program, especially with an eye

on increasing the number of female and underserved

students in the major, is only one of many college-wide

initiatives to bolster our academic offerings and ensure

their ongoing relevance to the community and the needs

of employers. We have added other new programs

this year: Personal Training Certificate, Environmental

Studies, and refined Medical Billing and Coding options.

Transfer Articulation Agreements grew from 84

agreements in 2015 to 304 current agreements,

including pathway options to two Historically Black

Colleges and Universities. These articulations provide

individualized pathways from our curriculum to area and

regional colleges and universities creating tremendous

opportunity for our students who want to study at the

baccalaureate level.

And the good news keeps coming. We’re part of a

$700,000 Hispanic Serving Institution collaborative grant

with Mercy College to support Hispanic and low-income

students completing degrees in STEM fields. We also

have a renewed Con Edison Bright Future Partnership

to prepare students for careers in the energy field. Our

& PROGRAM EXPANSIONinnovation

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cybersecurity team is the only community college team

breaking barriers and representing our college and region

at the regional level. They will be competing later this

spring. We wish them much success. Our work with Stony

Brook University in the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority

Participation continues to garner critical praise. And these

are only a few of our academic achievements in the last few

months and they’re still not an exhaustive representation of

our collective work.

We’ve been having great success in

our Athletics Department with our

teams winning many competitions

and our student athletes garnering

recognition not only for their athletic

abilities and achievements but also

for their academics. And this year,

basketball makes a comeback at our

Valhalla gymnasium as we host the

NJCAA Region XV Men and Women’s

Basketball Championships next

month. We invite you to come

and participate.

& PROGRAM EXPANSIONinnovation

“ Faculty continue to garner new resources for teaching and learning. ”

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WE’VE DONE A STELLAR JOB IN THE DUAL CREDIT ARENA, WHERE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKE OUR COURSES TO FULFILL THEIR DIPLOMA REQUIREMENTS.

This enables them to graduate from high school already

having earned college credits. Our revamped Office of High

School Partnerships has been developing and supporting

these partnerships, now with 32 partner high schools and

2,850 students, which represents an increase of 11 percent.

We have six partner high schools with more than 500

students participating in our WCC Foundation funded

StepUP Transition to College Program and nearly half of the

students in the 2015-2016 cohort are matriculated with us.

And in our PTECH & SMART Scholars programs, we have four

partner high schools with more than 300 students engaged

in this important opportunity to provide STEM pathways

to our most underserved students. These are recent

developments that show our continuing commitment to

provide access and clear pathways into the institution.

COMMUNITY

partnerships

“ Our revamped Office of High School Partnerships has... 2,850 students.”

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COMMUNITY

partnerships

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IN THE WORKFORCE ARENA, WESTCHESTER COMMUNITY COLLEGE IS A VITAL CONNECTOR IN THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY FOR TRAINING IN A WIDE RANGE OF HIGH DEMAND OCCUPATIONS AND JOBS.

By 2020, 69 percent of jobs in New York State will require at least some college education. Many of these jobs are in “middle skill”—jobs that require formal education beyond high school but less than a bachelor’s degree. The study, coordinated by our Workforce and Community Education unit with funding from the JP Morgan Chase Foundation, and conducted by the New York City Labor Market Information Service, is being widely cited and used by workforce training programs in the region as well as employers as they contribute to closing the skills gap and the employment gap in our region. We are having initial conversations with 1199 SEIU regarding developing new curriculum for upgrading skills for the healthcare technician fields, many of which are in this middle skills category.

Other ways we are engaging with the local business community and employment sector include a new partnership between the college and White Plains Hospital. Collaborating with hospital administration, we identified almost 100 hospital employees eligible for tuition benefits, of these, 38 have enrolled for the spring 2017 semester. This partnership serves as a model that we look to expand with other employers in the region.

Our role in the community extends well beyond providing accessible, high quality, and affordable certificate and degree programs.

• Since 2015, we’ve added 15 new noncredit workforce programs in areas like healthcare, digital media, real estate, and travel and tourism.

• Our renewal of Project Transition, which provides support for men and women in need of career entry due to loss of income of a supporting person at home and is funded through the New York State Department of Labor, has more than doubled its capacity this year to more than 60 students.

• And we create jobs! Not just within our institution by attracting resources to the college through public and private grant funding, but also through programs like the award winning Just Add One. In this partnership with the Workforce Development Board, we’ve helped small businesses hire at least one new employee within 12 months, and in just six months, 30 new jobs have been filled by small businesses participating in this program.

Our English Language Institute (ELI) is a mainstay of Westchester County and the largest ESL program in the SUNY system. It’s not just one of the college’s signature programs; it’s an incredibly important gateway to opportunity for immigrants and others in Westchester County whose native language is not English. We’ve partnered with the National Immigration Forum and the National Council for Workforce Development to create

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNITY

education

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new ESL programs specific to retail and healthcare job opportunities. One of those was with Whole Foods Markets. The partnership helped participating employees develop their skills and enhanced the cultural competency for others at the company. Students who come from the English Language Institute often transition to the college, and they do so effectively. Of those who transitioned from 2014 to 2015, we found that 97% of them were able to complete college-level courses with a grade of A, B, or C, and that shows that they have a strong foundation in language skills, which is preparation and also gives them a pipeline to the college.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNITY

education

“ Our role in the community extends well beyond providing accessible, high quality and affordable certificate and degree programs. ”

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ONE OF THE REGION’S GREATEST ASSETS IS THE GROWING POPULATION AND DIVERSITY. OTHER AREAS OF THE STATE ARE SHRINKING IN POPULATION, AND LAST YEAR NEW YORK STATE LOST MORE THAN 1 MILLION INDIVIDUALS WHO RELOCATED TO OTHER AREAS. THAT’S NOT THE CASE IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY WHERE WE ARE EXPERIENCING POPULATION GROWTH.

In 2016, we educated 5,021 students through non-

credit ESL, and this serves as a great employment

pipeline as well as an education pipeline. Local

demographics make New York State’s DREAM

Act even more important for regional economic

development. We join our colleagues in SUNY in

expressing our commitment to diversity, equity and

inclusion. As an inclusive community of scholars,

we provide a welcoming and safe environment that

nurtures individual talent and promotes intellectual

growth. We recognize our ability to attract and

maintain a diverse community as one of our

greatest strengths.

This spring we will be hosting our first ever Diversity

Forum, which will bring us together to create a holistic

strategic diversity plan. We are especially proud of

these efforts and would like to thank the Faculty

Senate Diversity Committee, the Achieving the Dream

Equity Committee, and the campus Diversity, Equity,

and Inclusion Committee for merging their talent and

their vision into one cohesive effort.

diversity“We join our colleagues in SUNY in expressing our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. ”

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INCREASING

diversity

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W E S T C H E S T E R C O M M U N I T Y C O L L E G E1 8

FORWARD

together

“ Every student who enters the college is on a path that we directly impact – and we do this best when we do it together. ”

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S T A T E O F T H E C O L L E G E A D D R E S S • 2 0 1 7 1 9

WE CANNOT ACT UPON OUR MISSION WITHOUT EACH OF YOU. OUR COLLECTIVE IMPACT IN SERVING STUDENTS RELIES ON OUR ONGOING COMMITMENT TO SHARED DECISION MAKING, WHICH SETS THE STAGE FOR THE TYPE OF CROSS CAMPUS AND CROSS DISCIPLINE DIALOGUE THAT STRENGTHENS HOW WE SERVE STUDENTS.

This cross collaboration is not without its areas of

growth. Our President’s Communication Council,

which has representations from Faculty Senate, Staff

Council, and the Student Government Association, is

only the beginning.

Many of our recent student success initiatives

have emerged from the ground up through

the individual efforts of faculty members,

departments, interdisciplinary groups, and

industrious campus-wide teams. Our most

promising student success initiatives fall into

just a few key categories:

• increasing readiness for college

• successfully transitioning into college

• supplementing student services and student

learning at all levels by providing counseling

and tutoring

• providing rich, dynamic, and state-of-the-

art learning experiences — in and out of the

classroom

• supporting completion

• enhancing our knowledge and skills continuously.

Support and funding received through our various

grant initiatives and our various compliance agencies

– the ASAP grant, the Title V proposal, Achieving the

Dream, the Middle States Accrediting Commission,

Multiple Measures, and others – provide resources and

technical assistance to help us shape these efforts and

execute our work in these key areas.

So I’m committed to continuing a collaborative

approach to all of this work and ensuring that this

institution has the resources and the expertise to

support the creative ideas that continuously emerge.

Your ideas are critical to how we shape our work

together – work that is all about the student journey

and their success. Every student who enters the college

is on a path that we directly impact – and we do this

best when we do it together.

Our students need us to fulfill our commitment

to our mission.

Our communities need us to reshape the workforce

and prepare learned individuals for our society.

Our nation needs us to transform lives and build minds

so that ALL of our students can develop their potential

and contribute meaningfully to our society.

We need each of us to always bring the best of

ourselves to this work every day so that we can achieve

the outcomes that we seek for our students and fulfill

the very compelling mission of the community college

to provide an education that transforms lives.

I believe that together our best is yet to come.

together

Every student who enters the college is on a path that we directly impact – and we do this best when we do it together. ”

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W E S T C H E S T E R C O M M U N I T Y C O L L E G E

STATE OF

THE COLLEGE

ADDRESS• 2017 •

Dr. Belinda S. Miles, Ed.D.PRESIDENT

www.sunywcc.edu