For many years, FLCC’s college address was 4355 Lakeshore Drive.  Last spring the Ontario County 911 center determined that it was necessary to name the two roads on our campus, to allow for more precise emergency response. Over the summer, we were very pleased to announce that the road from the main entrance on Lakeshore Drive past the CMAC would be named in honor of a man who gave a great deal to our community, and the college’s address changed to 3325 Marvin Sands Drive.  However, the other campus road remained “nameless” so we decided to tap into the creative minds of the members of our college community to identify just the right name for our second campus road. 

In September, we launched a contest called, “Take Me Home, Country Road” to come up with a name for the second road.  The unnamed road runs from just beyond the child care center, past College Suites, next to the red conservation barn and the Woodsmen’s Team practice lot, past where the new Student Center will be located, beyond the greenhouse and up to the college’s athletic fields.  Students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the college were all invited to submit potential road names.  We received 77 contest entries and it was wonderful to see the creativity and FLCC spirit that was reflected in the submissions.  I was glad that I didn’t have to make the decision!  The potential road names tended to run in several categories:

• Aspirational Names  These names were clearly intended to encourage our students to reach new heights.  Potential names in this category included:  Achievement Avenue, Destiny Drive, Discovery Way, Inspiration Way, Learning Lane, Pathway to Success, Opportunity Drive, Potential Parkway, Road to Success, and Transform Road.
• Historical Names  Entries in this category honored the college’s past.  These included:  CCFL Legacy Drive, Dewey Drive, Founders Way, Pioneer Path and Storefront Days Drive.
• Conservation-related Names  Since the road runs past the Conservation Red Barn and the Woodsmen’s Team practice lot, a number of names focused on this important part of the college’s heritage…  these included names like:  Evergreen Drive, Marty Dodge Drive,  Nature Trail, Red Barn Road and Woodside Drive.
• Athletic Names  The road leads to the college’s athletic fields, so many entries fit into the category of sports-related themes, such as:  Competitor Road, Finger Lakes Champion Road, Finger Lakes Fitness Road and Sportsman Road.
• Interesting Options  A number of entries required pronunciation keys:  Akanehtaiko Avenue (’Green Road’ in the Seneca tribe language); CC-FLCC Circle (’pronounced See-Flick); and Skennon: Kowa (means ‘The Great Peace Be With You’ in Iroquois)
• Deep Options  Some of the road name options were clearly intended to make us think:  Nonlinear Road, Recursive Road, Arc of Destiny, Emergent Way.

Our “Take Me Home, Country Road” contest also inspired one entrant to reference another song title with the suggestion of: The Long and Winding Road.  All in all, our road naming contest was great fun!  The selection committee has completed its work and the chosen road name has been forwarded to the 911 Center to ensure that it is not already in use somewhere in Ontario County.  Look for an announcement soon!

It’s been a while since I’ve added to this blog, but now that the new semester is at hand it’s time for me to get back into my normal routine.  Summer is always a time to breathe just a little more slowly, and that’s wonderful for a while.  Still, there’s something about the day after Labor Day that brings all of us - even people who are not students or working in the education field - back to the familiar “first day of school” feeling.  There’s definitely a certain energy and enthusiasm in the air at the beginning of September each year.  I like to think of it as the week of the fresh start. 

My husband and I recently moved to a new neighborhood, and yesterday the folks across the street stopped over to say hello.  They have three children and while the two older boys are veterans of the first day of school, their five year old daughter,  Campbell, is headed off to kindergarten this week.  She was clearly very excited about the idea of stepping onto the school bus for the first time.  The first day of school clothes, new school supplies, family pictures at the bus stop and the prospect of meeting new friends all add up to a pretty special day.  The amazing thing is that the excitement of the first day of school happens over and over, year after year.  Even though Campbell’s brothers have been through it all before, it’s still that opportunity for a fresh start that makes it tough to get much sleep the night before the first day of school.

A number of years ago, when I was a faculty member at another community college, I took a sabbatical leave in the fall semester to concentrate on a book I was writing.  The project went along well, but that fall was a very tough one for me.  I found myself with a genuine feeling of loss that I couldn’t understand.  One day in early October I stopped by my old office to pick up some mail and I ran into a colleague from the English Department.  He took one look at me and diagnosed my problem immediately.  He said, “Aren’t you on sabbatical this fall?  It looks like you’re struggling with it a bit.”  I admitted that I couldn’t quite put my finger on the problem, but something was definitely wrong.  He reminded me that every fall since I was five years old, I had geared up and gone to school - that was the loss I was feeling.  He was right.  I realized that from kindergarten through senior high school to college to my first job teaching in a middle school to many years teaching at the community college, every fall I went to school.  As soon as he helped me understand what was going on, I was fine.  After all, there would be another year of “the first day of school” the following fall.  Ever since that experience, though, I’ve had a heightened awareness of the importance of those first days of school, and an appreciation of how special they are to us.

There will be a familiar feeling of excitement in the air at FLCC this week.  It’s not just our students who are eager for the fresh start of a new academic year - our faculty, staff and administrators have a spring in their steps, too.  So, a warm welcome to our FLCC students!  Make the most of the semester ahead!

This summer, a number of front page stories in newspapers across the state have focused on the double-digit enrollment increases community colleges are experiencing for fall.  There are a number of economic reasons why this is happening, of course, but I think it’s not just about the bad economy.  It’s more than that and I honestly think community college enrollment would be increasing even if the economy were strong.  Simply put… community colleges have come of age. 

Most community colleges opened their doors forty or fifty years ago.  At the time, they tended to be fledgling local operations, held together by a handful of strong people with a dream and a lot of determination.  Most students leaving high school in the late 50s or early 60s weren’t clear on what community colleges were all about.  At first, community colleges were cobbled together on a shoestring and located in some pretty crazy places.  FLCC (then CCFL) started in storefronts across downtown Canandaigua.  The community college where I worked before I came to FLCC opened its doors in an old, broken-down typewriter factory.  Despite these modest beginnings, the people who were community college pioneers were determined and strong, and they didn’t let anything get in the way of their vision of a local college that would make the dream of a college degree accessible to anyone who was willing to work hard.  They imagined a community-centered college that some day would serve as an economic driver and the cultural hub of the region.  Faculty, staff members and students pitched in to put together desks and bookshelves, and those early students somehow knew they were getting in on the ground floor of something big.  And they were…  Community colleges were built on a special kind of strength and vision.  Anyone who has been associated with a community college will tell you that there is a fierce pride that comes with knowing you’re a part of a place dedicated to making quality higher education accessible to everyone.  There is something uniquely American about the whole concept. 

In the last ten to fifteen years community colleges have emerged as significant players in higher education.  Now the clear first choice for lots of students, community colleges offer an education that is second to none in a welcoming, supportive environment.  Many community colleges (including FLCC) offer residence halls and championship athletic teams.  Now almost half of all undergraduates in the United States are studying at community colleges.  We have definitely come of age.   

I guess another sign that community colleges have emerged from the shadows is that next fall NBC will be launching a new comedy series set in a community college.  “Community” will focus on a study group composed of a cross section of students - some right out of high school, some returning to college, one even an attorney with questionable credentials - all taking Spanish and all supporting each other.  I’m sure that every stereotype that was ever out there about community colleges will come to the surface, but that’s okay.  We can take it.  I look at it this way… nobody really thinks every workplace is like “The Office”.   Just that network television has noticed we’re here is one more sign that community colleges have come of age. 

Here’s a link to the trailer for “Community”:

http://www.nbc.com/community-show/

At FLCC, we’ve always been dedicated to helping our students make comfortable transitions.  Some of our students come to us directly from high school, and we work to help them understand how to handle both the independence and the individual responsibility that characterizes the difference between a college environment and a high school setting.  We also welcome students who have been away from school for some time.  Some of them have been in a job that doesn’t make full use of their capabilities and they know that an education is the key to a new career.  Some have been raising families or were recently laid off from a job.  While many FLCC students come from the local region, some join us from a distance because they are interested in one of our unique academic programs.  Those students often face a transition from an urban setting to our small town in upstate New York that Native Americans called “the chosen spot” because of its natural beauty.   

Transitions are all about adjusting to change, and that’s never easy.  It’s our job to help students develop a skill that will serve them well throughout their lives - the ability to cope with change.  Some people seem to be more naturally resilient than others, and we see that in our students.  When those students arrive on campus, they take in the lay of the land, ask a lot of questions, observe, and do their best to understand their new setting.  They strike up a friendship with someone on campus - an enthusiastic faculty member, a person in the cafeteria who is warm and friendly, a secretary in an academic department who takes the time to ask how it’s going, or a more experienced student.  One way or the other, students who make smooth transitions begin to get connected and to make FLCC their own.  They get involved.  They find a few good friends.  They walk the campus and discover a spot where they can go to think - the gazebo, a bench by a garden, a hallway nook by the science labs, or a table on the quad.  They take the time to understand and appreciate what’s special about their new environment.

I decided to talk about transitions a few days before commencement because 800 FLCC graduates are about to make a new transition.  Many of our graduates will be heading off to a four year college or university in the fall.  One thing is clear - it will be different.  Please remember that you made a successful transition when you first arrived at FLCC, and you can do it again.  Don’t look back and compare your next college to FLCC.  Instead, take the time to discover what’s special and unique in your new setting, and appreciate and enjoy those things.  We also have quite a few graduates who are planning to enter the workforce.  You’ll need to draw on the same persistence that helped you be successful in your classes as you look for a job in a tough market.  Once you get that all-important job offer, it’s time for another transition.  Take the time to get to know your new workplace and what it takes to be successful there.  

At commencement, we’ll be launching a new logo and tagline for the college.  “Success.  It’s In Our Nature.”  Graduates, remember that you take a little bit of FLCC with you when you make your next transition.  We call it the FLCC spirit.  An alumnus of the college once wrote me a letter and said, “everybody would be better off with a little Flick in them…”   Remember, you have a little “Flick” in you and it will help you be successful - next step after next step.  Congratulations!