Unexpected Inspiration

Inspiration often comes at unexpected times, from unexpected sources. I was inspired this week to share these thoughts with the Clinton Community College graduating class and their guests at their commencement ceremony on May 17, 2013.

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Members of the platform party, faculty and staff, family, friends, honored guests, and members of the Class of 2013…

It is an honor for me to welcome you to this commencement ceremony. I have been the President of Clinton Community College for four years; we have two commencement ceremonies per year; so this will be the eighth time that I have delivered such a greeting here. And if the truth be told, I have delivered similar remarks with only minor variations at most of the previous seven commencements. So this time, I thought that I should change things up a bit, but over the last few days, writer’s block has made it hard for me to get out of my rut.

Yesterday, after several unproductive hours of straining to write and then starting over again, I set my writing aside and turned my attention to the mountain of e-mail that was accumulating in my inbox. It was there that I found a message from a dear friend. This friend went out of their way to say a few kind words and to brighten my day. Their e-mail concluded with an uplifting quote from a famous person. The exact quote is irrelevant to today’s ceremony, but my friend’s random act of kindness refocused my attention. As I composed my response to thank them, I looked for a quote to send to them in reply.

An Internet search for -- you guessed it -- “quotes on kindness” returned a long list of suggestions. But as luck would have it, the first one I saw was attributed to Mother Teresa. Without going into too much personal detail, suffice it to say that I never thought I would be quoting Mother Teresa. Most people would think it more likely for me to quote a scientist like Albert Einstein, a statesman like Benjamin Franklin or a visionary like John F. Kennedy. But life is full of surprises.

When I read this particular quote, I knew it was just the right quote to send to my friend, but it also struck me as excellent advice for this year’s graduating class. Let me explain.

Have you noticed anything unusual about this year’s graduating class? Many of them are sporting special-edition Clinton Community College “Be Nice” sunglasses tonight. They are part of a year-long, grass-roots Campus Civility Campaign that has really caught on among our students.

I’m not sure who came up with the “Be Nice” tagline, but it is elegant in its simplicity. It appears on sunglasses, buttons, wristbands and lanyards that people have been wearing around campus. Those gadgets have been a constant reminder to us to… well… to be nice. And Class of 2013, let me applaud you for being one of the nicest classes of students that I have had the pleasure to know. I hope that in some small way, your experience at Clinton has helped you in that regard.

What you have learned in your classes and from your textbooks is excellent preparation for life and career. While it is no guarantee of future success, it will help you to be better prepared for the opportunities that will come your way after you leave Clinton. As important, or maybe even more important, are those lessons that I hope you have learned about your fellow human beings and how we all interact with each other. For therein lies the true power of our human society.

One of Clinton Community College’s Core Values is “Community.” When the College identified that Core Value as part of our 2012-2017 Vision, Mission and Values, the definition of “Community” was deliberately left open to interpretation. To some, and at some times, we think of how we value and serve our external community: Plattsburgh, Clinton County or even New York State and the World. But to others, and at other times, we think of how we value each other within this campus community, and how important it is for each of us to be a productive part of our campus community.

As my friend’s random act of kindness distracted me from my writer’s block, I found that it also allowed me to clear my head and be open to what was already right in front of me. And so, members of Class of 2013, I close by congratulating you on your accomplishments to date and wishing you continued success as you meet the challenges and opportunities of the future. And I leave you with this quote from Mother Teresa:

People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

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That's what I think. Please let me know what you thing by emailing presidentsblog@clinton.edu.

fDi Magazine Puts Plattsburgh on the Map

Plattsburgh's economy is more international than most people realize. Fortunately, "most people" does not include the editors of fDi Magazine (Foreign Direct Investment, online at www.fdiintelligence.com). The magazine, a publication of The Financial Times of London, recently named Plattsburgh #4 on its 2013-2014 list of Micro American Cities for economic potential. The rankings are selected from all North and South American cities with populations under 100,000.

According to Garry Douglas, President of the North Country Chamber of Commerce, "This international review is especially significant and gratifying as it looks for signs and trends identifying Cities of the Future." fDi's Cities of the Future rankings are created by a distinguished panel of judges who review and analyze dozens of data points, including GDP, total inward and outward foreign direct investment, and the number of projects and jobs. (Mountain Lake PBS is producing the "Made in Clinton County" series that highlights the international businesses that are based here in our region.)

In a press release, Mr. Douglas attributes Plattsburgh's high ranking to the area's economic development team, which includes The Chamber, The Development Corporation, local government, the North Country Workforce Investment Board, CV-TEC, SUNY Plattsburgh and Clinton Community College.

It is not surprising that Clinton Community College and other educational institutions are on that list of economic development partners. Paul Grasso, President and CEO of The Development Corporation has often remarked that workforce development and economic development are "two sides of the same coin." Much of what we do at Clinton is related to workforce development, through our credit and non-credit  courses and programs in Electronics, Industrial Technology, Wind Energy & Turbine Technology, Computer Information Systems, Computer Technology and Environmental Technology, to name a few. Underscoring the point that education is an important factor for economic development is the fact that Plattsburgh also scored on fDi's top 10 list for human resources.

Another factor that cannot be overlooked is our geographic location. Clinton is the northernmost county in New York State. It shares an international border with Quebec, Canada. The Port of Excellence at Champlain, New York, is a thoroughfare for commerce between two of North America's most cosmopolitan cities: Montreal and New York. When I first met Garry Douglas four years ago, he provided me with an orientation to the regional economy. It was then that he explained to me that Plattsburgh was "Montreal's U.S. Suburb." At first I chuckled, thinking that he was making a joke. After an awkward pause and a piercing stare from him, I realized that he was dead serious. Now that I have lived in this region for four years, I realize how accurate his description was, and how tightly the Plattsburgh economy is linked to Montreal.

Here at Clinton Community College, Community is our middle name. When we developed our 2012-2017 Strategic Plan, one of our top-level goals was to "create a culture that embraces internationalism and diversity as essential to the economy and the quality of life in our region." As we continue to pursue that goal, fDi Magazine's Cities of the Future List is validation that we are on the right track.

That's what I think. Please let me know what you think by e-mailing me at presidentsblog@clinton.edu.

The Power of Collaboration

Recent events at Clinton Community College remind me of a quote by naturalist Charles Darwin:

"It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed."

Over the last several weeks, members of our Faculty Association (the faculty union), the Administration and the Board of Trustees worked together to adopt a collaborative solution to some of the financial pressures that are impacting next year's annual operating budget. On November 30, those financial pressures triggered layoffs that would have become effective next September, when the College begins its next fiscal year. The announcements were painful and disruptive to say the least.

Many of us at Clinton saw the opportunity for alternative solutions through collaboration. In February, leaders within the Faculty Association proposed a retirement incentive that would help the College to achieve significant cost savings next year so that some of the people who were scheduled for layoffs could be reinstated. The Administration and the Board of Trustees recognized the potential, and they formally adopted the retirement incentive proposal in March.

As a result of the retirement incentive, five senior faculty members have opted to retire from the College in exchange for a cash payout. The College stands to save almost $400,000 next year from the retirements. That savings is an attractive alternative to the layoffs that otherwise would have taken effect. As a result of the retirement incentive, four full-time teaching faculty members have been reinstated, just in time for Fall registration, which begins on April 11.

These recent labor-management discussions have resulted in some immediate relief from the pain that comes with layoffs, but as important, they demonstrate the power of collaborative problem solving. As Darwin suggested, this sort of collaborative problem solving holds our best promise of future success.

That's what I think. Please let me know what you think by e-mailing me at presidentsblog@clinton.edu.

On Janus and January

I was recently reminded that the month of January is named for Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions. Symbolic of his role in the ancient religion, Janus is usually depicted with one forward-looking face and one backward-looking face. In the spirit of the month, I take this opportunity to reflect backward on some of the notable accomplishments of the 2012 calendar year and to look ahead at upcoming events.

The Year in Review

Despite the economic pressures that faced the College, we accomplished much during the past year. We continued to advance the mission of the College as we provided a private good to each of our students and a public good to the community at-large. Our 2012-2017 Strategic Plan was developed with broad input from students, faculty and staff and formally adopted by eight separate stakeholder groups: the Strategic Planning Committee, the Student Senate, the Faculty Council, the Cabinet, the President's Council, the Alumni Board, the Foundation Board and the Board of Trustees. Many of the accomplishments listed below are the direct result of actions taken by our dedicated faculty and staff as we execute the Strategic Plan that we developed:

• A record number of Presidential Scholars (41) enrolled at Clinton in Fall 2012. In fact, the number was almost twice as much as the previous year (22).
• We also set a new record for the number of credits taken by high school students in our College Advancement Program (CAP): 3,306 credits in 2012 vs. 3,197 credits in 2011.
• In 2012, a record number of international students (33) studied at Clinton. By this semester, the number has more than tripled (37) since we began actively recruiting international students in 2010 (12). We are already well on our way to our 2017 strategic goal of 50.
• Sixty-three (63) students were inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa honor society last year, up from 57 in 2011.
• Although we didn't set a new record for the total number of graduates, we came very close at 313. This is especially notable since it was very close to the mark (320) that was set in 2011, when enrollment was at an historic high.
• One hundred percent (100%) of our 2012 class of nurses passed the NCLEX, the national nursing license exam. Our nursing students almost always post scores that are higher than the state and national averages, but a 100% pass rate is especially remarkable.
• Three new academic programs were introduced in Fall 2012: an A.A.S. and a Certificate in Alternative Energy Technologies and an A.A. in Criminal Justice. All three of these programs are built around existing courses, and thus provide additional options to our students without placing an additional burden on the College's operating budget.
• Our Center for Community and Workforce Development (CCWD) received funding to develop training that will lead to industry certification awarded by the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC).
• With our partners in the Workforce Investment Board, CITEC and others, the CCWD also co-sponsored a National Manufacturing Day event at CCC to help to build a ready workforce in support of the region's manufacturing industry.
• The Clearly Clinton Capital Campaign exceeded its first-year goal ($1M in pledges and gifts) in only 11 months, one month ahead of schedule.
• In 2012, the CCC Foundation received the largest gift ever made by an alumnus ($200,000 from Wayne and Sylvia Manor).
• In 2012, we received the largest and most valuable in-kind gift ever made to the College: a 30-ton GE wind turbine valued at $400,000.
• Clinton Community College and SUNY Plattsburgh signed a "shared services" agreement, opening the door to improved student services and increased operating efficiencies on the two campuses.
• For the first time in history, Clinton Community College students were given the opportunity to register online using CAMS, our new Comprehensive Academic Management System.
• Without spending a dime of our operating budget, the College launched its new brand and tagline: Start Up Here. This resulted in a redesigned web site with a more modern look and feel and increased functionality.
• We have completed a comprehensive Institutional Effectiveness Plan that was formally approved by the Strategic Planning Committee, the Faculty Council, the Cabinet, the President's Council and the Board of Trustees.
• As part of our Strategic Plan and our Facilities Master Plan, capital funding for the replacement of the 50-year-old heating plant in the Moore Building was approved by the Board of Trustees and by the Clinton County Legislature.

The Year Ahead

The year ahead (2013) is filled with challenges and opportunities. Economic conditions through the region, the state and the nation are still bearing down on us, but they also provide us with opportunities to serve the needs of the community.

• The Governor's executive budget calls for no change in the base aid rate for community colleges. Funding would remain at $2,272, still 15% lower than the 2009 rate of $2675 per full-time equivalent student.
• Enrollment in local high schools in the region continues to decline, affecting the College's ability to recruit traditional age students. Therefore, we are working to remain competitive as we compete for local and out-of-county students.
• We have established a Budget Advisory Council with representative from all three of our collective bargaining groups. The BAC provides the opportunity for broad input from faculty and staff as we meet our charge to deliver a balanced budget for 2013-14.

• On the bright side, with the support of the CCC Foundation, we have contracted the services of Lighthouse Consulting to help us to prepare an application for a $2-million Title III grant to accomplish many of the items included in our 2012-2017 Strategic Plan.
• Our faculty and staff continue to explore opportunities to increase student retention and to support student success, particularly in math and English courses that so often provide barriers to degree attainment.
• With our newly adopted Institutional Effectiveness Plan and with the Middle States Monitoring Report that is currently being vetted through our shared governance organizations, we are well positioned to be reaccredited for ten more years.
• Our Nursing program is actively engaged in its own reaccreditation process. An accreditation visit is scheduled for February.
• Our Clearly Clinton Campaign continues to receive significant gifts and pledges from businesses and individuals who want to support student success.
• Consistent with our Strategic Plan and our Facilities Master Plan, work on the Moore Building heating plant and the Forrence Center roof is scheduled to begin in 2013.
• We are on-pace to set new records for international students and Presidential Scholars in 2013.
• Under the auspices of our Strategic Planning Committee, we continue to work on the long-term goals and annual objectives that have been developed by our faculty and staff.

At the end of one calendar and the beginning of another, we have a Janus-like opportunity to simultaneously reflect on the past and to look ahead to the future. We cannot change the past, but we can celebrate accomplishments and learn from our experiences. Looking forward, we can see both challenges and opportunities. It is up to us to make the best of both.

That's what I think. Please let me know what you think by emailing presidentsblog@clinton.edu.

Choices in the Face of Adversity

Last week, I attended a luncheon to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the North Country- Plattsburgh Chamber of Commerce. During the event, a number of speakers stepped up to the microphone and talked about pivotal moments in the history of the Chamber and our region. Anyone who has lived here for a while knows that the closure of the U.S. Airbase in the 1990s was one of those pivotal moments. At the time, community leaders rose to the challenge and created PARC, the Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corporation. Through PARC, the community pulled together in the face of adversity. As a result of their resolve and their collaborative and constructive efforts – as a result of their choice – Plattsburgh not only survived the base closure, it became a stronger and more vibrant community.

More recently at Clinton Community College, members of the campus community have been grappling with decreased revenues, especially deep cuts in state aid that have occurred during the Great Recession. Two weeks ago, in our ongoing effort to balance the budget, the Board of Trustees and the Administration made the difficult decision to eliminate certain faculty and staff positions, effective September 1, 2013. Our collective bargaining agreements require early notification of these layoffs, but the agreements leave open the opportunity to explore alternative solutions that may allow for a different final outcome. Like the people of Plattsburgh in the 1990s, we at Clinton have the opportunity to emerge from this pivotal moment, and to become even stronger than before.

As we do, we must take into account certain economic and financial realities. On the revenue side, these are the facts with which we must contend:

• Following the onset of the Great Recession, New York’s community colleges endured the cumulative effects of three successive state aid rate cuts from 2009 through 2011. 
• The cuts totaled $553 per full-time-equivalent student (FTE), a cumulative 21% rate reduction. 
• For Clinton Community College, which enrolled approximately 1,600 FTE at the time, the annual impact was on the order of $800,000. 
• Meanwhile, enrollment at Clinton hit an all-time high (1,627 FTE) in FYE 2011. The enrollment surge coincided with the influx of displaced workers at the height of the Great Recession. 
• On April 1, 2012, $150 of the $553 rate reduction was restored, which has helped, but the College still is contending with the fact that revenue from state aid is $600,000 less than it would have been without the prior rate cuts. Whether we like it or not, it appears that this reduced level of state funding is part of our “new normal.”
• In 2012, most community colleges began returning to pre-recession enrollment levels. Like most community colleges, Clinton budgeted for enrollment decreases last year and this year. This Fall, 26 of SUNY’s 30 community colleges posted enrollment declines. Only one campus (which established residence halls in 2012) posted a sizable enrollment increase.
• In FYE 2012, Clinton’s annual enrollment was 1,563 FTE, still 11% higher than it was in 2007 (1,404 FTE), but lower than our all-time record (1,627 FTE in FYE 2011), further reducing our revenues.

Even with the deep and lingering reduction is the state aid rate, we are faced with these expense-side realities:

• Approximately 85% of the College’s $15-million annual operating budget is spent on our human resources (salary, wages and benefits) – a typical percentage for community colleges, whose major focus is on teaching and learning, as opposed to research. 
• On September 1 of each year, there have been across-the-board raises for all three of our collective bargaining units. On September 1, 2012, the existing three-year contract with our largest bargaining unit resulted in salary increases of 2.25 to 2.50%. 
• The annual cost of health insurance for our current employees has grown to more than $1.3 million, and the cost of health insurance for our retires has grown to more than $600,000 (nearly $2 million per year in all).

Over the last year, the College has taken several steps to deal with the lower level of state aid:

• We have reduced the budget for part-time faculty this year by $100,000.
• We have cut our equipment budget by 35%.
• All of the College’s management-confidential employees have voluntarily gone without a raise this year. (There are only nine management-confidential positions at Clinton. One position has been vacant for six months.)
• From FYE 2011 through FYE 2012, through attrition, we have reduced the number of full-time employees by nine. 
• The number of full-time employees in FYE 2012 was 136, compared to 133 full-time employees in FYE 2007. (We had only 2% more full-time employees in FYE 2012, but 11% more enrollment.)
• The College has taken steps to reduce expenses in other areas including fuel, utilities, supplies and other non-personnel expenses, which constitute only 15% of our annual operating expenses.

Looking forward to next year, we know that the cost of certain contractual obligations will increase:

• On January 1, 2013, we know that health insurance premiums will rise by approximately $66,000. We expect that they will rise yet again (perhaps even more) on January 1, 2014, four months into our next fiscal year. 
• Contributions to the New York State Teachers Retirement System are also slated to increase from 11.84% of salary this year to 15.50-16.50% of salary in 2013. (By contrast, in 2003 the rate was 0.36% of salary.)

Left unchecked, the aggregated cost increases from salaries, wages, health insurance and retirement benefits in 2013 will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. To achieve a balanced budget next year, the College needs to grapple with these new expenses and eliminate its current reliance on fund balance, $436,000 of which is being used this year to absorb the prior cuts in state aid and increasing expenses. (At the end of this year, the College’s fund balance is projected to be about 6% of annual operating expenses, which is lower than recommended by SUNY officials.)

The College’s next fiscal year begins on September 1, 2013. Last spring, we held labor-management meetings to explain the need for cost reductions in the 85% of our budget related to salaries, wages and benefits. Those discussions continued this fall. Several weeks ago, one of our collective bargaining units made a proposal for an early retirement incentive, but the long-term implications for the College (especially 100% health insurance for the retiree and for the surviving spouse for life) made the proposal unacceptable. No other proposals have been received yet.

The Faculty Association’s collective bargaining agreement requires us to give notice by December 31, 2012, if a staff reduction is to take effect next September. With that date nearly upon us, the difficult decision was made to provide notice to four full-time teaching faculty and six full-time non-teaching professionals that their positions would be eliminated as of September 1, 2013. No one on campus, including me, is happy about these reductions and their human impact, but the long-term future of the College depends on balancing our budget next year and in years to come.

Although the announcements have been made, there is still a window of opportunity for ongoing discussions for alternative cost saving measures – and, to be clear, alternative cost saving measures are available through collective bargaining.

Like the people of Plattsburgh in the 1990s, we at Clinton have a choice on how we will spend our time and energy in the months to come. In the best interest of our students and our community, I choose to spend my time and energy constructively on the challenges and the opportunities that lie ahead. I invite every person on campus to make a similar, personal choice. By engaging ourselves in those constructive efforts, Clinton Community College will not only continue to accomplish our mission in and for the community; we will become stronger than ever before.

That’s what I think. Please let me know what you think by e-mailing me at presidentsblog@clinton.edu.

Manufacturing Serendipity

Clinton Community College has been a busy place lately... sometimes a little too busy. Earlier this month, three significant events were booked on three consecutive days. Ordinarily, we try to spread these things out, but the scheduling of these three events was not completely under our control, so we took a deep breath and dove right in. As it turned out, the crowded schedule was a bit of serendipity, a happy accident in which three seemingly unrelated events converged on at least one very important point.

The first event -- Community College Completion Day -- happened on a Wednesday. The Completion Day event at Clinton was coordinated with similar events at other community colleges throughout the state. It was an opportunity to stress the importance of degree completion by community college students. Some of the information that we used here in New York State and at Clinton Community College was borrowed from national sources. In one of those sources was this striking statistic: even with national unemployment hovering around eight percent, there are 600,000 unfilled manufacturing jobs in the U.S. today. In the context of Completion Day, this statistic is important because it underscores the need for job seekers to be appropriately educated for these increasingly technical jobs, and to become community college completers.

The second event happened on Thursday, the day after Completion Day. On Thursday, Clinton Community College hosted the latest edition of the CCC-TDC Economic Development Lecture Series (co-sponsored by The Development Corporation). Our keynote speaker that day was Marc Beauchamp, Vice President and Partner in the CAI Group in Montreal. Marc's topic was Foreign Direct Investment, the capital investment of money from other countries into our economy. As Marc was talking about the current trend for onshoring (the return of jobs that were previously outsourced to other countries with cheap labor), there was that statistic again: in the U.S. today, there are 600,000 good-paying manufacturing jobs that employers are struggling to fill. Hmmm... I'm not usually one to recall random statistics, but I had just seen that figure the day before on one of our Completion Day slides. Marc's point was that communities that have a technically educated workforce have a competitive advantage when it comes to attracting foreign direct investment.

The third event was a celebration of National Manufacturing Day on Friday of the same week. Panelists from local business and industry were on hand to talk with students, teachers and counselors about the career opportunities in manufacturing across the country and right here in Clinton County. Guess what. The keynote speaker that day made it a point to say that there are 600,000 unfilled jobs in manufacturing in the U.S. today. Sound familiar? What was even more striking is that the average annual income of those who work in the manufacturing sector is higher than the average annual income for all U.S. workers. The point this time is that with the proper technical education, these manufacturing jobs can turn into careers.

I am quite certain that the three presenters on those three consecutive days did not consult with each other when they were preparing their remarks. As a matter of fact, they were speaking from three distinct points of view. The fact that they all touched on the same point was a bit of serendipity -- kind of like thinking of someone or something and then hearing from them unexpectedly. In this case of Manufacturing Serendipity, one important point becomes clear: we live in a 21st-Century economy in which manufacturing jobs are no longer the unskilled, underpaid jobs of the past. Increasingly, manufacturing jobs require some sort of post-secondary education or training, and there are opportunities for individuals who have developed those skills and for communities that have developed a technical workforce.

Clinton Community College has several career and technical programs designed to prepare students for these 21st-Century manufacturing careers and for careers in other technical fields, including Industrial Technology, Electrical Technology: Electronics, Computer Technology, Computer Information Systems, Environmental Technology, Renewable Energy Technologies, and Wind Energy and Turbine Technology. Students who complete these programs are likely to find numerous opportunities for a satisfying and rewarding career, and that's not just a happy accident.

That's what I think. Please let me know what you think by e-mailing me at presidentsblog@clinton.edu.

Proud to Be a Community College Completer

I am proud to be a community college graduate. I often point out that my bachelor's degree from Union College (of which I am also very proud) looks just like everyone else's -- but, because I completed the first two years of it at a community college, it cost me only about half as much. However, there was a pivotal moment in time that might have derailed my progress.

I suppose many community college students experience such a moment -- a moment at which we consider the temptation to spend only a semester or two at the community college and then to transfer prematurely, or to leave for other non-academic pursuits. Many of us are eager to "get on with it," to transfer to an upper division program on a bigger campus, or one with more prestige. It's human nature, I suppose. But after some consideration, I chose to stay for the full two years and to graduate with an associate's degree in Engineering Science before I transferred. In hindsight, it was an excellent choice.

Today I can say that "I am a community college graduate," which somehow seems better to me than saying "I attended a community college." On my conscious mind in those days of deliberation was the reality that a bachelor's degree (especially at Union) was expensive, and there was a chance -- at least a chance -- that my family's financial situation and my mother's failing health might prevent me from being the first in my family to earn a bachelor's degree. With those considerations in mind, I chose to complete the associate's degree, so that I would be able to show completion of something, even if I couldn't afford to get a bachelor's degree right away.

Even though my circumstances made the pursuit of a bachelor's degree uncertain, I guess the argument could be made that completing the associate's degree doesn't matter as much if a person is certain that they will go on to pursue a bachelor's degree. But here is what I  now know that I didn't know then: for students who transfer to an upper division college before earning an associate's degree, the likelihood of never earning a bachelor's degree increases. That's right; on average, those who transfer prematurely from a community college are less likely to earn a bachelor's degree -- ever!

Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society of the two-year college, has conducted extensive research on community college completion. Phi Theta Kappa Executive Director Rod Risley is passionate about sharing the research with students, parents, faculty and staff (http://www.ptk.org/news/risley-on-the-road). This summer, I attended a dinner meeting with other community college presidents. Rod Risley was our guest speaker. I was astounded at some of the statistics that he shared with the other guests and me:  

• A person with an associate degree will earn $400,000 more in their lifetime than someone with no credential.
• Unemployment for community college graduates is typically 30 percent lower than for high school graduates with no college degree.
• A student with an associate’s degree, who has to enter the workforce unexpectedly due to life changes, is more frequently placed than persons without a degree.
• If someone transfers from the community college without completing a degree, they are much less likely to complete a baccalaureate degree.

Rod Risley's comments did not fall on deaf ears. As a result of his dinner speech, New York's community college presidents declared that Wednesday, October 3, 2012, will be New York State Community College Completion Day. On that day, Clinton Community College will join with the 29 other SUNY community colleges and the seven CUNY community colleges to begin an ongoing information campaign directed at students, parents, faculty and staff. Our goal is to underscore the importance of degree completion -- especially in the 21st-century knowledge economy.

Therefore, on Wednesday, I will address the campus community here at Clinton to underscore the completion agenda and to inform students and advisors about the importance of program completion. In addition to the points made by Rod Risley at that dinner meeting this summer, I will also point out the following:

• New York State residents who transfer directly from a SUNY or CUNY two-year college with an associate degree are guaranteed entry to a four-year SUNY college.

At the start of this post, I remarked that I am proud to be a community college graduate. That much is true, and I intend to proclaim it again on Completion Day. I also remarked that my bachelor's degree from Union looks just like everyone else's, but that's not completely true. My degree is different in that it contains three words not seen on most of the other degrees: summa cum laude. I will also share that fact on Completion Day, as I encourage others to work hard, to stay focused and to complete their associate's degrees on their way to their own bachelor's degrees.

That's what I think. Please let me know what you think by e-mailing me at presidentsblog@clinton.edu.

My Friend from Greece and the Shrinking Globe

They say the world is shrinking. Geographic barriers are not as insurmountable today as they once were. This has implications for our personal lives and for our economy.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of a visit from one of my old college buddies. His name is also John, but he goes by his middle name, Randy. Randy now lives in Greece, so I rarely see him in person these days. Fortunately, personal business brought Randy and his wife to Montreal last week. With Montreal as close as it is to Clinton Community College, he dropped in for a short visit before he returned home. It was a treat for us to sit on my deck, listened to music, and catch up on current events in our lives.

Randy is a few years older than I am. We first met when I was a traditional-age community college student, and he returned to college as a "non-traditional" student. Randy had already earned a college degree and started a career as a teacher, but he decided to change careers and become an engineer. Ironically, I aspired to be an engineer and later became teacher -- a college professor, to be more precise. Randy and I took many of the same classes at the community college. We graduated together, despite our age difference, and as fate would have it, we both transferred to Union College and earned our bachelor's degrees in engineering there. We became fast friends with common interests in music, sports and humor.

But alas, we went our separate ways after college. He moved to Greece, and after graduate school, I made my home in Amsterdam. We fell out of touch for a time, but the Information Age eventually allowed us to reconnect via e-mail, despite the miles between us. I later moved to Peru, making it even more difficult for Randy and me to keep in touch with each other. (There are no direct flights between Peru and Greece.) Yesterday was the first time I had seen him in years.

Okay, okay... to those who don't know me very well, this essay probably makes Randy and me seem like a couple of cosmopolitan globetrotters. To those who know me better, it's probably already clear that  I live in Peru, New York. My hometown of Amsterdam, New York, is about three-and-a-half hours by car from Randy's home in Greece, New York. Not as cosmopolitan as it may have seemed at first, is it?

But the fact of the matter is that it is almost as easy for me to fly to Europe or South America today as it is for me to drive across New York State. And with modern telecommunications, it is as easy to send text and images across the world as it is to send them down the street. The concept of the shrinking globe is real, and it has changed the world forever.

The shrinking globe has not only changed the way we look at the world through our personal lenses, it has also changed the way that we see the world of economic development. On October 4, 2012, Clinton Community College and The Development Corporation will host the next installment of the TDC/CCC Economic Development Lecture Series. Marc Beauchamp, of the CAI Group in Montreal, will discuss how Clinton County's new EB5 Center is an economic development game changer. Our status as an EB5 Center provides incentives for foreign direct investment in our region. Because the world is shrinking, investors from around the world can now provide capital to help existing businesses to grow or for new businesses to start up here. In either case, jobs are created and the economy is positively impacted.

Foreign direct investment and our new EB5 status truly are game changers for our regional economy. The positive impact comes not only from the direct investment (FDI) in a certain local business, but in the form of indirect benefits to supporting organizations such as accounting firms, architects, construction companies and others who work in support of these new or growing businesses. With the EB5 Center's powerful incentives for FDI now at our disposal, our challenge is to accentuate our competitive advantage. On October 4, Marc Beauchamp will help us to do just that. The TDC/CCC Economic Development Lecture is open to the public. Please join us.

That's what I think. Please let me know what you think by e-mailing me at presidentsblog@clinton.edu.

Start Up Here

"Start Up Here..." It's an invitation. It's a celebration. It's part of Clinton Community College's new brand identity. Also part of our new brand identity is the bright and modern logo that appears at the top of this page, throughout our web site, in our new college catalog and in our admissions materials. All of these are the culmination of one part of our strategic plan.

If you've been following this blog for a while, you may recall that Clinton Community College has spent many months setting a strategic course for the future. It began with updated statements of mission, vision and core values, which resulted in a list of seven strategic goals. These long-range goals are a public statement of our commitment to scholarship and learning, to student access and success and to diversity. They also acknowledge our intention to invest in our human resources and in our physical infrastructure, in support of our lofty aspirations in and for our community. Last, but not least, our strategic plan calls for us to develop a fresh brand identity that reflects our commitment to a bright future for our students and our region.

Our strategic plan helps to drive the allocation of our resources. When the College adopted its 2011-2012 annual operating budget, we included a line for a branding and marketing consultant to help us to meet that strategic goal. But every budget is a plan, not a promise. As our revenue picture took shape this year, we realized that an alternative source of funds would be needed to meet this goal, so that normal operating funds could be conserved for our core academic mission. To that end, private funds administered by the Foundation of Clinton Community College allowed us to achieve our branding and marketing goal. Through the generosity of the Foundation, we were able to achieve our goal without the use of student tuition and without the use of taxpayer dollars.

With the source of funds identified, the College solicited proposals from branding and marketing experts. Responses to our request came from a large number of local, regional and national companies. In the end, the most favorable proposal came from Stamats, a national leader in higher education branding and marketing. Not only had Stamats come highly recommended, they had done work for other SUNY campuses, and they provided additional services compared to other proposals for the same price.

The results include the bright new logo that you see at the top of this page, our new tag line, "Start Up Here," our new web site and a host of other materials that employ this new brand identity. The bright new logo reflects the bold spirit of Clinton Community College and the North Country. Those who already know the campus, will recognize the Adirondack Mountains in the background and historic Lake Champlain in the foreground. The iconic Hotel Champlain, now the Moore Academic and Administration Building, is also immediately recognizable to those who have seen it from the local highways and waterways from miles around. We hope that those who have never been here before will share our sense that this is a special place. In many ways, where we are is who we are. We are in the North Country; we are in the Champlain Valley; and we are very proud of this place and our community!

Although we've only just begun to roll-out the new logo and tagline, initial reaction has been very positive. Like all of us at Clinton, people in this part of the North Country are proud. Start up here in the North Country. Start up here on the Bluff. Start up your education. Start up your career. Start up your life. Start Up Here!

That what I think. Please let me know what you think by e-mailing me at presidentsblog@clinton.edu.

Father's Day, Part II

With Father's Day in the recent past and the Independence Day fast approaching, I take this opportunity to write about one of Clinton Community College's "Founding Fathers." Mark A. Rabin passed away long before I became the President of Clinton Community College, but his impact on the College is felt even today, perhaps especially today.

First, let me confess that when I first came to Clinton in 2009, I had never heard of Mark Rabin. Mark was a local businessman, who by all accounts was as unassuming as he was successful. Nonetheless, as I settled into my presidency, I gradually became aware of the significant role that he played in the early days of the College.

The first time I saw his name was on a bronze plaque that hangs in the Concourse in the second floor of the Moore Academic and Administration Building. Fastened to the plaque is a name plate for each of the people who have served on the Board of Trustees of Clinton Community College, from its founding in 1966 to the present. It is not a long list. Mark's plate is distinguished by the word "Chairman" below his name. Still, I really didn't know much about the man.

Sometime later, I was having a conversation with a prominent member of the community who was involved with the Clinton Community College Foundation in its early days. As he was recounting stories of those early days, he mentioned the name Mark Rabin. It took a moment, but the name had at least a passing familiarity this time. I learned that Mark had been one of the original members of the Foundation Board of Directors. His name appears on the Foundation's original Articles of Incorporation, which were signed in 1973.

Later still, I received a letter and a newspaper clipping in the mail. The newspaper clipping was dated 1978. It contained a photo of a well dressed businessman presenting a check for $1,000 to then College President Al Light. It was a newsworthy presentation because it was the largest gift that had ever been made to the fledgling Foundation. It was made by Mark A. Rabin. Mark was visionary. In a time when it was uncommon for community colleges to raise private funds, he realized that Clinton Community College would never thrive on public support alone. He recognized that Clinton and other community colleges would have to look for other sources of revenue, especially private contribution to help support their mission of access. He also realized how vital the community college was to the local economy. His generous gift was intended to inspire others to become "friends of the College" through their own donations.

If Mark were alive today, he would have every reason to be proud of the example that he set back in 1978. From its humble beginnings, the Clinton Community College Foundation has grown into a major fund-raising arm of the College. In recent weeks, the Foundation received it largest-ever pledge from an alumnus or alumni couple, $200,000 toward the Clearly Clinton Campaign to build a 21st-Century Learning Commons. Shortly thereafter, the Foundation also received an anonymous gift of $300,000 toward the campaign. These gifts helped to push the campaign over the $1-million mark in less than a year!

Some readers might think it a stretch to connect Mark Rabin's 1978 gift to any subsequent donations by others, but I beg to differ. It was only a few months ago, that I was sitting in my office with a local businessman who has made contributions to the Foundation totaling more than $2,000,000. This man is the largest single contributor that the College has ever known. As he was reflecting on his first gift to the Foundation many years ago, he mentioned to me that he had seen a newspaper article back in 1978. With no prompting from me, my guest described the photo of a man who was presenting a check for $1,000 to the Foundation, and how it inspired him to write a check, too. As he was telling me the story, he fumbled a moment for the name of the man in the photo. I jumped in and jogged his memory. By this point in my presidency, I was well acquainted with the photo, and I knew that it pictured Mark Rabin. "Yes, yes," he said. "It was Mark Rabin!" He went on to tell me how that article and that picture made him think about contributing to the Foundation of Clinton Community College. He told me that he said to himself, "If Mark Rabin can do it, why can't I?" And he made the first of what would be many donations to the Clinton Community College Foundation.

Mark Rabin is one of the unsung heroes of Clinton Community College and especially its Foundation. In recognition of his significant and lasting contributions to the College and the community, the Board of Trustees of Clinton Community College recently cast a unanimous vote to honor his memory by dedicating the "Mark A. Rabin Board Room" in the Alumni Cottage. The Mark A. Rabin Board room is a prominent place where members of the Foundation Board conduct business and meet with potential donors. The room now bears a bronze plaque and a framed reprint of the newspaper article that inspired so many others to support the College through private contributions.

Nothing can change the fact that I did not have the honor of knowing Mark Rabin while he was alive, but all of us who are associated with Clinton Community College today will remember his legacy for years to come. He truly is one of our "Founding Fathers."

That's what I think. Please let me know what you think by e-mailing me at presidentsblog@clinton.edu.