Welcome Back 2009

August 25, 2009

Dear Colleagues:

Welcome to the 2009-10 academic year!

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Diane Call to the position of Acting Provost and Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration.   I am grateful that she accepted this challenging assignment.

This year we are facing unprecedented increases in enrollment. Whether it is the economy or the reputation of our University and our College, the impact on our institution has been significant.  The decision was made to close admission to new students on August 14th.   And, we are still processing those who applied prior to the deadline, as well as returning students.

To all administrators, Academic Department Chairs, and classified staff who worked so very hard to preserve as much of the access without sacrificing quality of service, we owe a debt of gratitude.  To the faculty who gave of their time to ready our departments for the new semester, thank you. And, to the faculty who prepared themselves to provide excellent instruction or who conducted research during the summer respite, welcome back.

This year we are joined by 27 new full-time faculty members and 26 Substitutes; 15 new HEOs and 6 Substitutes; as well as 15 classified staff.  Please join me in welcoming these outstanding professionals who are coming to our great College at a most opportune time.

Queensborough Community College is at the head of the class!!

We continue to lead the University in the performance indicators. We are finally making some progress on increasing the passing rate on exit from remediation.  We had a dramatic increase in the writing pass rate from 45.6 to 54.7 and in math from 48.9 to 63.8. The reading scores stayed flat from their improvement the previous year, from 53.0 to 58.5.  We experienced a 58.2 passing rate in this area.   The faculty members of these departments have worked very diligently to address these passing rates.  We congratulate them!!

We have the highest one-year retention rate for full-time, first time freshmen in associate degree programs in the University.  This will improve even more as we institute our Freshman Academies by providing individualized support to this cohort of students. 
While there was a decline in the show rate for the CPE, we continue to score in the top three of the community colleges in the passing rate of the required test-takers (90.6%).  I believe that better monitoring of students progress will address this decline in the show rate. 

Our six-year graduation rate improved to 26.1, the second highest among associate degree programs in the University. 

Our Nursing program continues to be very solid. Of the three largest programs, we have the highest passing rate (Queensborough Community College, BMCC and then CSI).  Also, this year we started a dual-joint baccalaureate program with Hunter supported by the foundation from the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence.   This program is designed to provide a seamless pathway to the BSN for our graduates.

Our Massage Therapy Program attained a 100% passing rate again.  The average passing rate for candidates from a NY State registered program is 73.2%.  We addressed our problem with TIPPS and now have 99.3% of our course evaluations completed.  The rate of non-equivalencies dropped from 80.4% to 19.6%.

This is going to be a great year!

You have read the news.  For the first time in history, community colleges are recognized as serious academic institutions that play an important role in the economic recovery of our country.   The American Graduation Initiative calls for 5 million more associate degrees by 2020.  The Obama administration is pushing for $12 Billion (yes, with a B) allocation for community colleges.  Please go to www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Investing-in-Education-The-American-Graduation-Initiative/

This website will give you all the details of the proposed legislation.

We have a great opportunity!

Every first-time, full-time student has been admitted thorough one of our six new Freshman Academies.  These academies provide enhanced academic and student support to this cohort. They are designed to increase the “connectedness” each student experiences with their major and with their fellow students.

Already, we have the highest fall to fall retention rate in the University.  I believe that soon we will have the highest graduation rate in the University.  My goal is to double the graduation rate of those students who come to us on a full-time basis and whose intention is to graduate in three years.  Right now, we are graduating 11.8 % of this cohort.

We have a great opportunity!

All of last year, the faculty of this College designed an assessment protocol that will stand critical inspection.  In addition to surveys and reports by the Freshman Coordinators, this protocol calls for the use of rubrics designed to test student learning outcomes based on the faculty developed General Education Core. 

Upon the recommendation of the Vice Presidents, I assigned Dr. Victor Fichera to dedicate himself solely to the collection and analysis of the data that will support the assessment protocol.  Dr. Arthur Corradetti, under the supervision of Provost Call, is the administrator-in-charge of guiding the entire assessment of the Freshman Academies.  Dean Cuomo has been facilitating the development of the rubrics aforementioned.

I believe that we have a methodology for assessing the success of the Freshman Academies that should be shared with the rest of our community college sector.  When implemented, the assessment protocol will ensure that our College is recognized as a leader in this area. 

We have a great opportunity!

With the attention extended to community colleges by the Obama administration and the concomitant attention by the press, comes the imperative of public accountability.  Whereas, this college has always been at the forefront of transparency and shared information, the dollars invested by the American people in the community colleges will be accompanied by a demand for documented outcomes.

As a community college with a strong culture of evidence and a strong governance structure, it is important that we assume the responsibility of leadership.  For those faculty members and administrators who have the inclination to conduct empirical studies in pedagogy, there will be grants-a-plenty.  I tasked Vice President Zins and Ms. Christine Johnson to work with whoever steps forward to apply for funding to conduct this type of research.

And, for those who are interested in Workforce Development, we have a tremendous opportunity to obtain funding.  The US Department of Labor is keenly interested in using the community colleges as a national network of workforce development sites to bring America back to being a growing economy.  I tasked Dean Ward, with the assistance of Vice President Zins and Ms. Johnson, to work with whoever steps forward to apply for funding.

We will have a fun year!

The celebrations have begun!  QCC is celebrating its 50th Anniversary.  Many thanks to the committee led by Vice President Zins that has created an exciting program of events.  I am delighted to report that all the activities have been designed by the faculty, administrators and staff.  This is truly a “grass –roots” program, and I am looking forward to a year of celebrations.

Finally, please note on your calendars the following dates:

Once again, I welcome you to what is going to be a banner year at our College.

Sincerely,

Eduardo J. Martí
President

Previous Welcome Back Presentations. These reports are in PDF format and will require Acrobat or equivalent to view.

• Fall 2008 (htm) - PowerPoint (slide-show | web-version)
• Fall 2007 (htm)
• Fall 2006 (pdf)
• Spring 2006 (pdf)

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