Welcome to the Fall 2024 semester!  For those who took time away, welcome back! For those Faculty, Guild, AME and Exempt employees who worked to serve students and our colleagues throughout the summer, thank you for your service, and welcome to a new academic year.

Following are excerpts of some of comments made at Planning Day for returning faculty:

Enrollment

Over the summer enrollment was very strong; we not only hit our goal of 2% enrollment growth, we doubled it, and ended August with a 4% increase for the summer. Combining that growth with the increases from previous semesters, we successfully achieved our goal of 2% enrollment growth (in both headcount and FTE) for the year! Looking next at this fall, our enrollment today is essentially flat compared with a year ago, but when we factor in late-start terms and our high school enrollments over the next two months, I think we’ll be well positioned to continue our growth. As I’ve shared with the Board, this growth doesn’t come easily, and our progress is the result of hard work contributed by every single person who works with our students. I especially want to thank everyone involved with Financial Aid and all parts of student onboarding, as problems with the national FAFSA roll-out made this summer extremely challenging.

Program Updates

Even as we focus on sustainability, we open the fall with expansions in two important programs where there is a significant regional labor shortage, as well as strong student demand. Specifically, our Cybersecurity program expands this semester from its traditional home on the Ammerman Campus to an additional cohort at Grant. At the same time, following last year’s pilot launch of Surgical Technology, the Grant Campus opened a second, full-sized cohort this week. In response to the many students needing a program that allows them to explore possible health sciences fields, the college’s new A.S. pathway for Healthcare Studies has now enrolled over 600 students.

Financial Sustainability

Thanks to all the good financial stewardship work done on every campus last year, including cost-control, stringent management of vacancies, and focus on growing auxiliary revenues, the college is in a much stronger financial position this year. While we are carrying a 2% budget deficit into 2024-2025 and will continue to focus on overall sustainability, a stronger financial position means we can begin returning focus to those areas where additional resources are needed to better serve students and to invest in key areas of our mission.

Education Without Limits Campaign

Also at Planning Day, our Foundation formally launched the Education Without Limits campaign to raise critical financial support for our programs and students. In addition to major outreach to donors, alumni, corporate partners, and other friends of the college, one element of this campaign is an annual appeal to faculty and staff.

SCCC Board of Trustees   

The `Board of Trustees has welcomed two new members, swearing in Jerome Bost, a former student trustee, now a County Legislature appointee, whose term will last until June 2025; John V. Dolan, also a Legislature appointee, whose term will run through June 2030; and our new Student Trustee, Dominic Hardy, whose term will run through June 2025. At its June 2024 meeting, the Board also voted unanimously to approve the following officers for 2024-2025: Shirley Coverdale-Chair; Gordon Canary-First Vice Chair, Gemma DeLeon-LoPresti-Second Vice Chair, and Kevin O’Connor-Secretary.