Press release:
The two new facilities under construction at Genesee Community College are beginning to take shape and both projects are on schedule to be completed next summer, the College's Board of Trustees learned at its monthly meeting following a project tour.
The structural steel is rising on the new 18,478-square-foot, two-story Student Success Center, which will connect to the existing Conable Technology Building through a second-story bridge. As the new "front door" of the Batavia Campus, the Student Success Center will partially enclose the College's central clock tower quad and provide a one-stop service center for students seeking admissions, financial aid, academic advisement, as well as job and career counseling.
The site work for the new, 56,614-square-foot Richard C. Call Arena continues with the structural steel anticipated in the coming two or three weeks. Located adjacent to the Soccer and Lacrosse Turf Field at the far west side of campus, the new facility will be the largest open public space in Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming counties and is expected to draw as many as 500,000 visitors to the campus each year. The large arena will not only accommodate an array of athletic competitions, but all kinds of civic, community, trade, industry as well as college events -- from farm, boat and tractor shows to commencement ceremonies where a whole family can sit together.
Combined, the two projects make up the largest component of a nearly $25-million overall capital project.
In other business, the Board of Trustees:
• Heard a report from Barbara Sadden, director of the Upward Bound program, which is celebrating its 32nd year as part the federally funded TRiO Program. Through a partnership between Genesee Community College and numerous area secondary schools, the program serves students in Genesee and Wyoming counties from low-income families and/or families where neither parent holds a bachelor's degree. Upward Bound provides these students with year-round academic instruction, tutoring, counseling, mentoring, cultural enrichment, work-study programs and other activities all focused on increasing their likelihood of graduating from high school and enrolling in a college or university. Since 1984 when the program was introduced, 1,671 students have been served, and Upward Bound students have successfully enrolled in more than 24 different colleges and universities. In addition, as high school students enrolled in GCC's Accelerated College Enrollment Program, Upward Bound students have taken 324 college credits.
• Approved President James Sunser's report on the reaffirming of the following College policies with minor revisions: Use of Equipment (5006), On-Campus Sales (5007), Parking Regulations (5008), External Support of Research and Development Activities (5010), Process for Independent Auditing Services (5011), Purchasing Policy (5015) and Petty Cash (5016).
• Appointed the Board of Trustee committee assignments as follows: Buildings & Grounds -- Donna Ferry (chair), Peter Call, Maureen Marshall, Laurie Miller and Jacalyn Whiting; Personnel -- Laurie Miller (chair), Benjamin Bonarigo, Robert Boyce, Maureen Marshall, and Diane Torcello; Policy -- Benjamin Bonarigo (chair) and Jacalyn Whiting; Finance -- Peter Call (chair), Donna Ferry and Diane Torcello; NYCCT -- Donna Ferry; Foundation -- Robert Boyce, Peter Call, and Jacalyn Whiting; GCC Association -- Laurie Miller; Nominating -- Donna Ferry (chair) and Robert Boyce.
• Heard President Sunser report on the following new personnel appointments:
- Laurel Sanger, will begin as the new director of GCC's Nursing program on Sept. 5. She leaves Monroe Community College after nearly 20 years of experience as the dean of Science, Health and Business, the chair of the Nursing department and a nursing instructor. She earned two master's degrees, in Gerontology Nurse Practitioner and Public Administration from Nazareth College and The College at Brockport, respectively. She resides in Rochester.
Other new Nursing program instructional staff include:
- Crystal Shelanskey earned her master's degree in Nursing Education from Roberts Wesleyan College, and has been clinical adjunct instructor at GCC for three years and a visiting nurse in the Rochester area performing in-home patient support. She resides in Rochester.
- Beth Felix also earned her master's degree in Nursing Education from Roberts Wesleyan College. She has worked as a clinical instructor for both GCC and MCC and currently works as an intensive care RN in the Rochester Regional Health System. She resides in Rochester.
- Sabrina Schwartz is a 2010 graduate of GCC's Nursing Program and earned her master's degree from SUNY-IT Utica. She has worked in a variety of nursing specialties including clinical teaching, in-service and telehealth, and has three years of maternity experience. She currently is a per diem nurse in maternity and newborn nursing. She resides in Newfane.
- Mary Dixon is a 1984 graduate of GCC's Nursing Program and earned her master's degree in Nursing Education from St. John's Fisher College. She has since served as an adjunct nursing instructor at both institutions. As a certified oncology nurse, she currently practices oncology and hematology nursing. She resides in Batavia.
