May 2024 Winners

Scott Underwood

College Laboratory Technician
Academic Computing Center, and Faculty Advisor for Technology & Gaming Club

It is serendipitous that Scott Underwood is the May winner of the C.A.R.E.S. Award.

It coincides with the opening of the remodeled space of the Technology Support & Service Center (TSSC) to a centrally located space on the first floor of the Library Building within the existing Academic Computing Center.

The ADA-accessible location provides increased resources to students, faculty, and staff by bringing currently dispersed areas under one roof to reduce the duplication of efforts.

This includes bringing together colleagues who are currently supporting the IT Help Desk on the third floor of the Administration Building, as well as adjuncts and ten College Laboratory Technicians (CLT’s) from the departments of English, Foreign Language, Business, Social Sciences, and Math, who provide technical support to college computer labs in academic departments.

“One of the wonderful parts of my job is getting to know people from different departments and to learn more about what they do and how we can support their technological needs to enhance their academic values. I am part of a team that plays a crucial role in these things, and it is great to work with everyone in the campus community.”

“Scott provides invaluable support to the campus administering the server and student lab infrastructure in the Academic Computing Center,” said Mark Chropufka, Director of Queensborough’s Academic Computing Center, who nominated Scott for the C.A.R.E.S. Award. “He provides top notch support to his colleagues and students to ensure they have a positive experience at Queensborough.”

Mark added, “Even during Covid he set-up all 200 lab computers on VPN including four student use lab computers from classrooms across campus.”

Scott also mentors a handful of tech fee students who provide daily service in the lab and participate in special projects.

“In 2006 I began helping students as an assistive technology specialist. I am still working with students in Accessibility Services –in assisting them with all technology matters.”  

“Working with students with disabilities holds a special place in my heart,” said Scott, who was reclassified to a full-time College Laboratory Technician in 2012. In 2021 he was named Faculty Advisor, Technology & Gaming Club.

“My older brother, Jonathan, had cerebral palsy but was fearless and did not let his disability overcome his aspirations or joy of life. We shared a passion for video games and spent hours playing Pac-Man, Nintendo, Mario Bros, and Kong.”

And Scott understands the importance of creating connections for students through gaming. So, when he heard that BMCC was offering CUNY campuses free audio-visual TV carts, he snapped them up and outfitted them with gaming equipment. He then worked with the Student Government Association to create the Technology & Gaming Club for students, faculty, and staff who are interested in basic computer concepts, networking, cyber security, penetration testing, video games, game design and Anime. Two years in, there are weekly open gaming sessions and an active chat platform community to foster communication on and off campus. 

“It is a wonderful way to socialize, to connect," said Scott, who added that the group has grown into a large student following. “I am so happy to see everyone enjoying themselves as well as the smiling faces of students from Accessibility who participate. They remind me of Jonathan and his own joy for life.”

Scott himself has faced personal challenges that left him feeling vulnerable, unmoored. In the foster care system since he was 13, his life was unpredictable, and he stayed with a family for several months and then went back home and was taken away again to another family. It took a couple of years before things settled down.

Scott attended North Babylon High School on Long Island from 2000-2004. In his junior and senior year, he took 16 college credits toward his first semester at Farmingdale State College in Suffolk County. Around this time, his current foster parents in Babylon moved to Florida, and Scott was taken in by another foster family in Riverhead, Long Island.

Scott did not go back to Farmingdale State College in Suffolk County and instead attended Suffolk County Community College where he earned his AAS degree in Computer Information Technology: Network Design and Illustration in 2009.

Scott’s passion for gaming has been passed down to his 11-year-old son Nathaniel. “It is great to spend time with Nathaniel playing the latest Minecraft platform or Roblox, but I lose a lot. These games are designed for a new generation. I cannot keep up!”

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