Last Sunday’s  (July 25, 2010) New York Times’ quarterly supplement, “Education Life”, includes a feature story called, “The Accidental Giant of Higher Education” by Peter Appleborne.  The article presents a well-deserved focus on the potential of the State University of New York, with an emphasis on Chancellor Nancy Zimpher’s ambitious strategic plan to unleash the power of SUNY as an economic driver for the state.  Mr. Appleborne outlines some of the challenges SUNY has faced through the years and notes that while it is the largest public university system in the country, SUNY is a multi-faceted entity that has struggled to find an identity and to garner respect.  With extraordinarily strong state control over the system (the result of the influence of powerful private New York colleges when SUNY was organized), educational needs have often taken a back seat to political realities.  

Mr. Appleborne’s article does a good job of explaining some of the frustrations felt by SUNY’s four-year state operated campuses and university centers, and even highlights unique institutions within the system such as FIT and the Maritime College.  However, there is a glaring omission in this article.  Other than one off-hand reference and noting that SUNY includes 64 campuses, the fact that approximately half of all SUNY students attend one of the system’s thirty community colleges is ignored in this article.  A state map on the first page of the article places each of the 64 campuses, and quite a few of them are highlighted with a pull away note about what makes them unique institutions.  Surprisingly, not one of the thirty community colleges - many of which are quite unique - is pulled out for special attention.  Community colleges are invisible in this article.  They are decidedly NOT invisible in the communities they serve.

There is no doubt that SUNY has the potential to be a powerful driver in New York’s economic recovery.  However, it is the thirty community colleges that are the most powerful economic engines, with the ability to educate the local workforce and elevate the quality of life in their regions.  Community college graduates tend to stay in the area rather than move out of state - at FLCC, 70% of our graduates remain in the region.  The article also made note of the tremendous enrollment growth at SUNY in the past year.  Interestingly, it implied that the growth had occurred at the four year colleges and university centers when, in fact, nearly all of the growth occurred at community colleges.  State-wide, community college enrollment grew by almost 10 percent last year, while the rest of the system grew by only approximately 1 percent.  At FLCC, our enrollment grew 18.4% last year alone.  Community colleges are becoming the colleges of choice for many New York students, and there is no doubt in my mind that our combination of outstanding teaching, supportive atmosphere and high value makes us the true driving force behind the “power of SUNY”.     

http://nyti.ms/edlife-suny

When I saw FLCC for the first time, I was taken back by the beauty of the campus.  The tree-lined roads, arboretum, walking trails through the woods, red barn and even the Woodsmen team’s practice area all made me understand from the very beginning that this is a special place.  The gardens are carefully tended and there are plenty of quiet spots on campus to relax and enjoy the natural environment.  It’s an important part of who we are.

A year from now, we will have added a much-anticipated new Student Center to the campus, the main entrance roadway will be repaved and widened, and there will be new sidewalks in place.  We will have planted many new trees and our gardens will be more beautiful than ever.  In the meantime, we are under construction in a very big way.  I’m not sure anyone anticipated exactly what it would mean for our peaceful campus to undergo this particular transformation.  It started relatively painlessly with some minor road adjustments on the way to the upper parking lot.  But then the chain link fence around the construction site for the new building appeared one day, followed quickly by the construction trailers and then all of the equipment.  It seems like it’s been months of grading and putting in concrete footers.  One day, a line of trees came down along the main road and suddenly the main classroom building seemed much more prominent than in the past.  The entrances to our wonderful walking trails were blocked by construction equipment and piles of dirt for a time.  While on one hand we’re very excited about the momentum we feel on campus and we can’t wait to see the new building begin to rise, on the other hand it definitely isn’t easy to be patient through a very messy construction process.  Where is our beautiful campus? 

We live in an area of great natural beauty, and FLCC’s campus has always reflected the wonderful Finger Lakes region.  What keeps me excited now is the image of what our campus will look like in a year, and what fun it will be to have the opportunity to watch the transformation take place before our eyes.  Down the road, visitors to campus will see our future campus and will take it for granted.  We will never do that.  We’re lucky enough to be there to clunk down every bump in the gravel roads and in the next week or two we will see the steel frame of the building take shape.  The year will go by quickly and I plan to enjoy every messy detail along the way…

Yesterday was a very big day at FLCC!  We announced the largest donation in the history of the college - a gift of land, financial resources and scholarship funds totaling $2.3 million.  The newly donated property in Naples will become the FLCC East Hill Campus and will serve as an outdoor learning laboratory for generations of students at FLCC.  All of this was made possible through the incredible generosity of a man named George Fraley. 

George is quite a man.  At 85 years old, he is of a generation that is defined by integrity and a strong work ethic.  He has a remarkable wit and an incredible sense of humor, and his quick retorts always seem to come out of the blue…then you see the twinkle in his eye and you know he’s getting a real kick out of watching your reaction.  George has been dedicated to conservation and especially to woodland fire suppression for his entire life.  His beautiful property in Naples has a pond that is the site of ice rescue training in the winter and in the summer George stocks the pond with trout so boy scouts can catch them.  The property also includes a campground, and hiking trails adjacent to the Hi Tor NYS Fish and WIldlife Management area. We look forward very much to working with George as we discover the possibilities for the FLCC East Hill Campus and bring his vision to life.

The lesson in humility I mention in the title came from George Fraley yesterday.  To celebrate the exciting announcement of George’s gift to FLCC, we held a large press conference in the morning.  The college was closed for an hour so the members of the campus community could be present for the big announcement, and many people from the community who are good friends of the college were in attendance.  We had kept the news relatively quiet, so there was definitely a buzz in the air.

When I arrived at the CMAC for the event, quite a few people had already arrived.  I looked all around for George, but couldn’t find him.  Finally, someone pointed him out to me.  Here is a man who is being recognized at a large press conference for his incredibly generous contribution to the college, and where was he?  Not at one of the seats reserved for “dignitaries” at the front of the room.  Not walking around, being introduced to guests.  George was sitting in one of the chairs lined up for people attending the event, near the back and off to one side.  He just blended in within the crowd, and that was fine with him. 

George seemed a bit uncomfortable during the program, although he did brighten up during the video - pictures of the new East Hill Campus (and his home).  He didn’t want to give a speech.  He didn’t want to be interviewed by members of the press.  It was very clear that George’s pleasure in making this gift to FLCC would not come from being the center of attention as we thanked him for what he had done.  Instead, his joy will come as he has the chance to help shape the master plan for use of the property and as he interacts with students and faculty who make use of this wonderful learning environment.  For George, yesterday’s event wasn’t about himself - it was about being part of the college’s very bright future.

The other day I was putting gas in my car when a man got out of a large truck and headed into the convenience store.  What struck me right away was his t-shirt.  I’ve seen some pretty unusual t-shirt messages, but for some reason this one caught me off guard.  In fact, it’s still nagging at me several days later.  It was a simple shirt with no artwork…just block letters across the back.  The t-shirt read, “Take the safe choice.” 

It’s a perfectly benign message at first glance.  I’m sure there are plenty of times in life when selecting the safer of two options makes sense.  For example, it’s typically better to view the lions at the zoo from OUTSIDE the cages rather checking them out up close.  Sure, safety is a good thing.  Still, it was an odd enough message that it made me step back and think about the choices I’ve made over the years.  Would I have been better or worse off in the long run if I had let this advice guide my decision-making?  What if at every fork in the road, I carefully selected based purely on safety?  What if I had never taken a risk? 

It would have been safer for me to stay in my first job  - teaching eighth grade English.  After all, I was tenured (doesn’t get much safer than that) and I loved working with kids that age.  Still, when I had the opportunity to move to teaching at the community college, I said, “why not?”.  It was a great decision, although definitely not the safe one.  Here’s another time that comes to mind - it would probably have been safer for me to wait until I was older and more established in my career rather than getting married at twenty years old.  After all, we were very young and the experts probably would have told us to take a more cautious route.  But, thirty-eight years later my husband and I are still going strong and we have a lifetime of shared memories…in many ways, we grew up together.  I wouldn’t trade that for anything, even though it was no doubt not the safe choice at the time.  I think about any number of “unsafe” choices I’ve made - from two trips to Africa (could have caught malaria, after all) to starting a doctoral program at 53 years old (why go through all that in your fifties?) to leaving a “safe” job in Syracuse at a place I had worked for 27 years to move to Canandaigua and become president of FLCC. 

I never really thought of myself as much of a risk-taker, and I’m sure there were times when I took a risk and it didn’t work out so well.  Right now, though, I can’t think of even one time when that happened.  It seems to me that when making life choices, the #1 criterion shouldn’t be which way feels safe.  I’ve had much better luck by taking the route that excites me and just feels right.