GCC's Two New Facilities Entering Final Construction Phase

BATAVIA, NY (05/15/2017) (readMedia)-- Genesee Community College's Board of Trustees were given a tour of the new Student Success Center and Richard C. Call Arena before the May 2017 meeting, and were impressed how the new facilities are nearing the final stages of construction. In a report presented by William Emm, executive vice president for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness, GCC trustees learned that both the 18,478 square foot Student Success Center and the 45,000 square foot Richard C. Call Arena are on schedule and on budget. Additionally, there have been no safety issues throughout the duration of the project.

The dual construction project of the two new facilities began last spring with the official ground breaking ceremony on April 28, 2016. The Student Success Center is a two-story facility connecting to the existing Conable Technology Building through a second story bridge. It will soon become the new "front door" of the Batavia Campus providing a permanent home for GCC's success coaches. These staff members are specially trained and are assigned to designated students to assist them throughout their entire academic experience from the first phase of admissions, financial aid and academic advisement, through to earning their degrees, graduation and helping them transfer or secure career placement.

The Richard C. Call Arena is the located on the west side of the Batavia Campus and is a free standing facility not connected to the main building. The new field house will be the largest open, flexible floor space in the GLOW region (Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming Counties), while the adjacent building that is attached through a common lobby and concession stand area will feature classrooms, coaches offices, a fitness center, meeting rooms and a press box overlooking the Turf Field.

Both facilities will be occupied this summer with more than 100 staff members who currently work in the main building. A second phase of planning and renovation will be to transforming the vacated office space in the existing main building into new classrooms, laboratories and offices in the coming year under a separate plan.

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

• Approved the promotion of six faculty members, upon the recommendation of the Board's Personnel Committee: Ruth Gliss, from associate professor of Nursing to professor; Charles Scruggs, from associate professor of History to professor; Dr. Karen Huffman, from assistant professor of Biology to associate professor; Brian Fraser, from assistant professor of Chemistry to associate professor; Jennifer Sisbarro, from instructor of Music to assistant professor; James Myers, from instructor of Human Services/Alcohol and Substance Abuse to assistant professor.

• Approved the granting of 585 academic degrees or certificates to Genesee Community College students who will complete their studies this spring or have completed in the previous 2016-2017 academic year. The award of each degree or certificate is subject to students' satisfactorily completion of all course requirements. The College anticipates awarding 13 Associate in Arts (A.A.) degrees; 283 Associate in Science (A.S.) degrees; 243 Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degrees; and 46 certificates.

• Approved the granting of professor emeritus status to two dedicated, long-serving GCC employees who have announced their retirements. During his more than 30 years of service to the College, Rick Dudkowski, professor of Fashion Merchandising, has earned numerous awards and helped make Fashion Business one of the College's signature programs. He is a well-respected faculty and community member serving on numerous committees through the years, including co-chairing GCC's 50th Anniversary Steering Committee.

In her 25 years of service to GCC, Nina Warren, director of the Alfred. C. O'Connell Library has worked tirelessly to ensure the College's library was not only inviting and student-centered, but progressive with state-of-the-art research and study capabilities. She too has received collegiate and industry awards, and she served on the "Community Reads" project helping bring numerous authors to campus and to local libraries. Among her many committee assignments was serving on the Middle States Reaccreditation Steering Committee that resulted in GCC's successful report just last month.

• Appointed 472 business and professional leaders to 27 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; Computerized Drafting and Design; Criminal Justice; Dansville Campus Center; Digital Art; Distributed Learning; 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; Precision Agriculture; Respiratory Care; Teaching Assistant; Theatre Technology; Tourism and Hospitality Management; Veterinary Technology; and Wyoming County Campus Centers.

• Approved the deactivation of the Golf Management Concentration, which is part of GCC's Fitness and Recreational Management program. Despite collaborative efforts with Monroe Community College and extensive marketing, enrollment in the program has remained low and necessitated cancelling many upper level courses.

• Welcomed the following seven staff members who were appointed to GCC positions in recent months: Tammy L. Arneth, director of Development and Alumni Affairs; Leandro De Andrade Pereira, technical specialist for Nursing; Erin Edwards, technical specialist in Student Support Services; Leigh Hamilton, technical specialist in Student Financial Services; Kamilla Kabel, enrollment specialist for International Admissions; Adrian Milroy, financial operations specialist in the Business Office and Jennifer Zambito, assistant director of Alumni Affairs.

• Applauded Student Trustee Jenna Curcio for her service as the student representative on the Board of Trustees during the 2016-2017 academic year. Ms. Curcio will complete her studies at Genesee Community College this month.

# # #