Genesee Community College Announces May Employee and Student of the Month

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President Steiner (left), Employee of the Month Connie Boyd (middle) and Student of the Month Ben Bakos (right)

BATAVIA, NY (05/24/2010)(readMedia)-- Genesee Community College is pleased to announce Connie Boyd has been named Employee of the Month for May. Since assuming her current position as director of Human Services, Connie has committed herself to the success of her students, making herself available to them, and continually demonstrating her compassionate and caring spirit. Her colleagues continually see how much respect her students have for her. Not only does she make time for the students, but her commitment to visiting the 42 external internship sites for the program covering six counties is astonishing. In addition to her work at the College, Connie also finds time to be a devoted volunteer for the Volunteers for Animals shelter. She is a great role model and teacher.

As director of the Human Services program, Connie coordinates and supervises all aspects related to Human Services courses and curricula, teaches field experience courses, monitors student internships/field placements in the community, conducts program assessments, serves as a liaison to the HUS Program Advisory Committee, and works on various college committees and community based initiatives.

Connie came to Genesee as an adjunct instructor and became a full-time faculty member in 2006. Before working at Genesee, Connie worked for over 30 years in the human services field as Co-Executive director of the YWCA, director of the Office for the Aging, Genesee County Legislator for six years, branch director of Planned Parenthood, and in the past also worked as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, Child Protection caseworker, and Community Educator. She holds an Associate's degree from Genesee Community College and a Bachelor's and Master's degrees from SUNY Brockport.

"My favorite aspect of working at the College is the opportunity to work with students who are enthused and passionate about the Human Services field and want to make a positive difference in people's lives," Connie said.

Connie resides in Batavia with her husband Charley. She has two daughters, Sasha Boyd and Ashley (Dave) Bateman and one granddaughter Emmeline. Her hobbies include working at the animal shelter, teaching belly dancing, motorcycling, volunteering as a Ghost Walk guide and as a cemetery character for the cemetery tour (fundraisers for the Genesee County History Department, Batavia Cemetery Association and the Holland Land Office Museum), as well as gardening and reading.

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Batavia, NY- Genesee Community College is pleased to announce Ben Bakos has been named Student of the Month for May. Ben is a hardworking student in the classroom and out. He is actively involved in campus activities including the Campus Activities Board and the Student Development Series. Additionally, he served as webmaster for Genesee's chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) this year and completely revamped the chapter's website, as well as the New York State PTK website. Ben has used his creativity to create flyers and posters for PTK activities and designed the logo "Think Green" for the New York State PTK t-shirt. He has been an active officer in PTK and was one of the volunteers who went to New Orleans to help rebuild homes. Ben has been a great ambassador for Genesee's chapter of Phi Theta Kappa.

Ben, 19 graduated from Elba Central School in 2008. Ben is an avid member of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO Club) where he developed the CEO Club website. He was also a part of a select group of students who traveled to Chicago for the CEO club. Ben is also a proud member of Christian Students United. He is currently a Computer Information Systems major and plans on graduating at the end of this semester. His future plans include transferring to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh to study web design and interactive media.

Ben is a resident of Batavia, NY and is the son of Bernard and Mary Bakos. Ben's sister Christina is also a student at Genesee and will join him as they both graduate at the upcoming commencement ceremony on May 23, 2010.

"There are many things about GCC that I love; it's hard to choose just one. But if I had to choose I would say the small class sizes would be my favorite," Ben said. "The small class sizes allow for a better relationship with students and teachers. I am a Computer Information Systems major and I am in my sixth class with the same teacher. I look to him not only as a teacher but a friend as well. I have his cell phone number, home phone number, I have met his two kids, and last spring he invited me to his house to play golf with him. That is the sort of teacher/student relationship you won't find anywhere else but at GCC."

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