Press release:
Members of Genesee Community College's Class of 2016, along with family and friends, as well as attending Board of Trustees members, faculty and staff should all enjoy the keynote address by Joshua Fredenburg, a nationally acclaimed speaker, commentator, leadership /diversity consultant, relationship expert and author of five books.
GCC's 48th annual Commencement ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 22. Fredenburg is a dynamic speaker known for inspirational messages that often lead to life-changing and transformational results.
Fredenburg is the president and founder of the Circle of Change Leadership Conference, an award-winning annual leadership development program for college students. The program provides emerging leaders with the skills, resources and access to learn from more than 70 executives from Fortune 500 companies such as Pepsi, Columbia Pictures, Hewlett Packard, CNN, UPS, MTV, Mattel, Starbucks, Verizon Wireless, NBC Universal, IBM and Warner Brothers.
In addition, Fredenburg is a member from the California State University Board of Directors, received an award from the Young Professionals Urban League of Los Angeles, and has been featured on numerous local and national talk shows.
In other news, at the regular Board of Trustees meeting earlier this week, the following staff and students were recognized:
• Judith Littlejohn, of Elba, instructional designer, will receive the FACT2 Excellence Award, honoring superior achievement of State University of New York teaching faculty and technology support professionals at the SUNY Conference on Instruction and Technology (CIT) in May.
• GCC student Erin S. Nesmith, of LeRoy, was honored with a "Rising Star Scholar" award by the Arts Council for Wyoming County.
• GCC students Jessica N. Rush of Rochester, and Amanda A. Starczewski, of Corfu, officers of GCC's Phi Theta Kappa Honor's Society, were awarded the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence, and were also were honored with the Phi Theta Kappa All-New York Academic Award.
In other matters the Board of Trustees:
• Approved the curriculum changes to the College's Liberal Arts and Science Humanities and Social Science Associate in Arts degree. While continuing to review GCC's academic programs under the SUNY seamless transfer initiative, Dr. Kathleen Schiefen, provost/executive vice president for Academic Affairs reported that the College's Humanities and Social Sciences program now includes six concentrations in History, Psychology, Sociology, Spanish, English and Economics to better enable students who are transferring for a bachelorette degree in these areas of specialty.
• Approved the appointment of two new employees:
- Shelitha Williams, Ph.D., of Rochester, will join the College on June 1 as the new associate vice president of Student Success. With a 13-year tenure at Monroe Community College working in residence life and student engagement, Williams is currently the co-chair of MCC's Diversity Council managing enrollment services and coordinating academic advisement services for the Damon City Campus.
- Maureen Welch, of Webster, NY, joins GCC as the director of Clinical Education, Respiratory Care. As a therapist at Golisano Children's/Strong Pediatric Pulmonary Clinic, she brings 25 years of diverse clinical and professional experience in both hospital and industry environments.
• Received the donation of 300 sewing patterns to be used by GCC's Fashion Design students in their efforts to create garments for both classroom projects and the College's annual Fashion Show. The donation was made by Jennifer Newell, GCC's dean of students, and is valued at approximately $6,000.
• Heard Richard Ensman, director of Development and External Affairs report on the ongoing efforts of the College's 50th Anniversary Steering Committee, which is being co-chaired by Board of Trustee Chair Diane D. Torcello and Rick Dudkowski, professor of Business and Fashion Merchandising Management. Organized into four subcommittees, the group is excited to be planning special events and opportunities over the next 20 months that will commemorate significant points in the College's history. Among the events being planned are: a College community Founding Day scheduled April 15th to recognize the day SUNY acknowledged the wishes of area leaders to create Genesee Community College; the Groundbreaking and Anniversary Kickoff Celebration on April 28 at 4 p.m.; development of a new Anniversary Web page featuring the online scrapbook and events calendar; and special anniversary components added to annual events including but not limited to Homecoming, the Fashion Show, Discover the Stars, Encore and the Wolcott Jay Humphrey Symposium for Leadership.
