BMCC President Antonio Pérez used his State of the College address Wednesday to update students, faculty and staff about the past year at the school and inform them about what’s in store for 2008.
In his annual speech, Pérez hit on a wide range of issues: attempts to address the space shortage on campus; an array of new programs designed specifically for students and teachers; achievements that those students and faculty have made; the welcoming of new faculty and staff; and reasons for optimism at BMCC.
“Together we have helped to change lives, expand horizons, and give hope to thousands of New Yorkers,” he said, “and together we will continue to do great things, as we plan for our college’s future.”
Shortage of Space
With the rebuilding of Fiterman Hall still years away — the college is currently waiting on approval from regulatory agencies — Pérez said the college is looking for other immediate ways to alleviate the space problem.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s Budget allocates roughly $2.7 million for BMCC to rent additional classroom space — an amount the city government would be required to match, bringing the total to $5.4 million for new space if the budget is approved.
New Programs and Funding
The president praised a new initiative, the Faculty Publications Program, which provides competitive grants to full- time tenured faculty, and announced BMCC had been successful in obtaining more than $1 million for faculty research projects over the past year.
Pérez also announced a long list of student-focused initiatives, among them: BMCC’s participation in Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP), a new CUNY-wide program designed to help students graduate with an Associate’s degree in two to three years; how BMCC is working with John Jay College to this fall implement a dual/joint degree program; and a proposal for a Childcare/Early Childhood A.S. program offering courses exclusively in the evenings and on the weekends.
Moreover, Pérez said the University of Science and Technology in Beijing, China, is under close consideration for a permanent BMCC study abroad program.
Pérez also thanked the Miles and Shirley Fiterman Charitable Foundation, which last year made a gift of $5 million to BMCC for endowment and for scholarships.
Support for Minorities, in STEM Areas
“BMCC remains at the national forefront of community colleges in providing minorities with access to careers in Science, Engineering, Computer Science and Mathematics,” Pérez said.
Last spring the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded BMCC $596,000 to continue its highly successful S-STEM (Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) initiative. Recipients of scholarships funded by the money “are showing a graduating rate which is more than twice the national average,” Pérez said.
The president also announced intentions of implementing an A.A.S. in Biotechnology.
Emergency Awareness
Besides training volunteers and staff in emergency procedures, Pérez announced that BMCC on March 1 will activate the CUNY Alert System, an emergency notification system that can warn any registered BMCC or CUNY student, faculty and staff by e-mail, phone, and instant messaging of any emergency while on or before they get to campus. Pérez urged people to sign up.
New Way of Governing
Effective September 1, 2007 BMCC began working under a new charter: the Faculty Council was abolished in favor of a bi-cameral governance body consisting of an Academic Senate, which addresses academic policy matters, and the College Council, which establishes college policy issues.
“The college has just successfully completed our first semester under the new governance charter. and … the system seems to be working well,” Pérez said.
