GCC Board of Trustees Approve a Modest Tuition Increase

College Continues Fiscal Restraint to Remain Among NYS's Most Affordable Options in Higher Education

BATAVIA, NY (05/21/2018) In continuing its long-running mission of making a college degree both affordable and accessible, Genesee Community College's Board of Trustees approved a very modest tuition increase of $50 per semester. This will make GCC's 2018-2019 full-time student tuition $4,150 for a full year of study for New York State residents. For part-time students, the cost per credit hour will increase to $170 per credit for New York State residents. The Board will continue to review the College's overall operating budget in the coming weeks while waiting as the Genesee County Legislature reviews the County Budget which includes an appropriation for GCC.

In other business last Monday evening, the Board of Trustees:

Approved the 2018-2023 "Framing Our Future" five year Strategic Plan which included revisions to both the College's Mission and Vision Statements, and the development of five Strategic Priorities and related Core Objectives. This document will guide all facets of the institution throughout the coming five years from budget requests to decisions on new structural and curricular changes. "This plan will guide everything we do," President James M. Sunser stated. In the coming weeks, the Strategic Plan will be become an integral new page on the College's website but a PDF of the plan is available here: http://marketing.genesee.edu/images/FramingOurFuture_GCC2018-23_Strategic_Plan.pdf

Approved the granting of 583 academic degrees or certificates to Genesee Community College students who will complete their studies this spring or have completed in the previous 2018-2019 academic year. The award of each degree or certificate is subject to the students' satisfactorily completing all of the course requirements. The College anticipates awarding 13 Associate in Arts (A.A.) degrees; 269 Associate in Science (A.S.) degrees; 277 Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degrees; and 24 certificates.

Approved the promotion of nine faculty members, upon the recommendation of the Board's Personnel Committee. Faculty members promoted from associate professor to full professor include: Maryanne Arena, Heather Jones and Candice Vacin; faculty members promoted from assistant professor to associate professor include: Dr. Carolyn Caccamisse, Cynthia Hagelberger, Dr. Teresa Sukiennicki, JoNelle Toriseva and Joseph Ziolkowski; and instructor Dr. David Johnson has been promoted to assistant professor.

Approved three Resolutions of Appreciation for three distinguished members of the College community who are either retiring or graduating. Dr. Virginia (Ginny) M. Taylor, who served the College with distinction for 19 years in the Office of Student and Enrollment Services with the most recent title of vice president, will be retiring this summer. In addition, Kevin P. Hamilton, who served as the vice president of Finance and Operations for the past ten years, is also retiring from GCC this summer. And finally, Benjamin B. Martis, the student representative on the Board of Trustees will be graduating this weekend and transferring to SUNY Fredonia.

Appointed more than 420 business and professional leaders to 25 GCC community advisory committees. These committees provide guidance to college administrators and faculty members about curriculum, internship opportunities, and workforce needs and trends. Advisory committees include: Accelerated College Enrollment (ACE); Albion and Medina Campus Centers; Business; Criminal Justice; Dansville Campus Center; Digital Art; Fashion Business; Food Processing Technology; Health and Physical Education; Human Services; Information Technology; Lima Campus Center; Nursing; Office Technology; Paralegal; Perkins Grant; Physical Therapist Assistant; Polysomnographic Technology; The BEST Center-Precision Agriculture; Respiratory Care; Teaching Assistant; Theatre Technology; Tourism and Hospitality Management; Veterinary Technology; and Wyoming County Campus Centers.

Welcomed the three new staff members. Dr. Monica Romeo will serve as the assistant dean for Student Services starting on June 5, 2018. This position illustrates how GCC carefully monitors and reviews each new vacancy at the College looking for ways to better serve the changing needs of students and also being mindful of budgetary restraints. The function of a former disability services coordinator are being rolled into this new title which will perform additional duties and more adequately address an increase of student requests. Dr. Romeo holds two Master's of Science degrees from Niagara University in Education and Mental Health Counseling. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences and her doctorate from the University of Buffalo. She has nearly 20 years of experience in higher education. She resides in Niagara Falls. Teresa Van Son is the new program coordinator and technical specialist in The BEST Center responsible for creating and managing non-credit programs in business, industry, technical, agricultural and entrepreneurial fields. She earned an AAS degree from GCC, and a BA in Communications and Human Services from Empire State College. She resides in Darien Center. Chelsea M. O'Brien is a new tutor and academic support coordinator. She previously worked in RIT's Software Engineering Department and School of Photographic Arts and Sciences. She earned her Master's of Science in Higher Education from the University of Rochester Warner School of Education and her Bachelor of Arts in Politics from Ithaca College. She resides in Rochester.

  • Dr. Monica Romeo will serve as the assistant dean for Student Services starting on June 5, 2018. This position illustrates how GCC carefully monitors and reviews each new vacancy at the College looking for ways to better serve the changing needs of students and also being mindful of budgetary restraints. The function of a former disability services coordinator are being rolled into this new title which will perform additional duties and more adequately address an increase of student requests. Dr. Romeo holds two Master's of Science degrees from Niagara University in Education and Mental Health Counseling. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences and her doctorate from the University of Buffalo. She has nearly 20 years of experience in higher education. She resides in Niagara Falls.
  • Teresa Van Son is the new program coordinator and technical specialist in The BEST Center responsible for creating and managing non-credit programs in business, industry, technical, agricultural and entrepreneurial fields. She earned an AAS degree from GCC, and a BA in Communications and Human Services from Empire State College. She resides in Darien Center.
  • Chelsea M. O'Brien is a new tutor and academic support coordinator. She previously worked in RIT's Software Engineering Department and School of Photographic Arts and Sciences. She earned her Master's of Science in Higher Education from the University of Rochester Warner School of Education and her Bachelor of Arts in Politics from Ithaca College. She resides in Rochester.

Heard Student Trustee Benjamin Martis report on several different Student Government Association initiatives including programs to mitigate end of the semester stress, the Peer Support Project and an end of the year report as well as guidelines that will help the incoming SGA representatives next year.

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