President's Monthly Report
President’s Monthly Report and Updates - December 2021
Dear College Community,
Last December, in my monthly report to the college community, I wrote: “As we look toward new year, let us all see and celebrate the light in each other and in our work. Here’s to new opportunities to lift KCC higher”.
It is clear that you all understood the assignment. As I look back on the past year, I see and celebrate your light and the work that you have done to fulfill the mission of the college and our promise to students. Like the first eleven months of the year, this past month continues to have bright spots that highlight the many instances and members of the KCC community who have taken the college higher and higher.
Congratulations to Profs. Jennifer Corby and Jeremy Sawyer who have been selected to participate in the University’s Faculty Fellowship Publication Program (FFPP). The FFPP is a diversity initiative is designed to assist untenured faculty with the design and execution of scholarly publications. In the past, participants have produced articles for juried journals as well as books for scholarly presses.
I look forward to the day when we can celebrate the scholarly publications of Prof Corby and Sawyer along with other faculty and staff at our annual Faculty Achievements Recognition ceremony as we did this past month. If you have not had the opportunity treat yourself to the impressive library of publications, awards, performances and other achievements from 2020 to 2021, do so at
https://www.kbcc.cuny.edu/aa/Annual-Faculty-Achievements/index.html. Special thank you to Dean Gordon Alley- Young and his team for ensuring that we revived this important celebration this year.
This past PSC Grant cycle, the college had a total of 31 submissions totaling over $150K. This is an increase from last year’s 28 applications that were submitted. Special thank you to Kathy Giaimo, Mabel Chee, Sarwar Jahangir, Stuart Parker, Wanda Morales and all the faculty and staff who submitted and helped to make this possible.
What would the end of the semester be without a performance from our Theatre Arts students? I along with many others signed on to a live stream of Dead Man’s Cell Phone by Sara Ruhl to get our fix of theatre. Our students rocked! Thank you to Chairperson Scott Cally, Profs. McKinney and Riccardi, and all the faculty and staff in the department who continue to prepare and mentor our students especially in this unprecedented time.
This month we also celebrated the first class of nurses who completed their entire program during the pandemic. Earlier this month, 46 KCC nursing students (soon to be graduates) took the Nightingale Pledge culminating their training as registered nurses. Hats off again to Chairperson Maggie Weeks and all the faculty and staff for their work in preparing these students to take their place on the frontlines and to be of service to their communities.
As you know, for Giving Tuesday KCC raised over $65k to support student success. You will be happy to know that the rest of the month continued to be a time of giving as well. On Stage at Kingsborough received a $90k grant from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs; the KCC Foundation was been selected to be a part of the Stop & Shop Community Bag Program; we were awarded a $10,000 grant from The Venable Foundation for the food pantry; and we were selected be a provider for the Venture V program which means we will be reimbursed for over $200k to provide essential services to help low-income SNAP participants increase their employment skills and obtain jobs.
I am pleased to report that I have received the shared governance report from our consultant Allison Cohen. I will take the next few weeks to review it and share next steps. I know this process has been an intense one, but at the same time and as we look forward to the future, it is one that is very necessary to ensure we function in a way that continues to fulfill our mission. The college is fundamentally the same has it has been since its founding-- committed to the mission of preparing students. At the same time, our college, the University, our community, the world, higher education, and many other facets have changed and will continue to change. As such we must continue to be assessment driven by engaging in processes like the review of our governance plan to ensure that our college is structured/governed in a way that fulfills our mission. I look forward to engaging in this work with you in the coming year.
Current enrollment shows that our headcount for Spring 2022 (3730) is ahead of where we were this time last year (2907). The semester starts in March, but we still have much to do in order to meet our target. Thank you all for your collective and individual efforts to support our enrollment, retention and student persistence. I would also like to extend a special thank you to offices and units of Communication and Marketing, Enrollment Management, and Academic and Student Affairs for demonstrating a true spirit of team work at this critical time.
In alignment with our goal of 70% in-person classes for Spring 2022, it is expected that employees to spend 70% of their time on campus as well. Members of the Senior Staff are working to identify how targets will be implemented in their respective divisions. More information will be shared in January.
Colleagues, if there is anything the last two years has taught us is that things can change at a moment’s notice. We will continue to monitor what is going on, communicate with the college community, and make adjustments in accordance with University guidance.
This month, we gained a new member of the Kingsborough community. Linda McKernan will serve as a Special Project Assistant providing support to presidential initiatives, COVID/LVA related activities, and a host of other college-wide projects. Linda comes to us from Bronx Community College where she served as the Confidential Executive Coordinator for the Vice President of Student Success. Prior to that she worked at SUNY Maritime in various capacities. She is currently working on Advanced Certificate in Project Management. She holds a Master of Ars in Organization and Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science in International Transportation and Trade from SUNY Maritime. We are fortunate to have Linda on board.
In closing and to loosely reference the opening lines from A Tale of Two Cities, this year has been the most challenging of times and the most rewarding of times. We continued to experience the loss of family and friends and reacclimate ourselves to the new realities of daily life; yet we found our way back to campus. Throughout it all, we continued to keep our mission- to prepare graduates for transfer and careers- at the center of all that we do. Indeed, data from the CUNY PMP show us standing head and shoulders above our community college peers in a number of areas. But even as we stand out in certain areas, we know that there are areas that require our attention like assessment and governance; equity gaps that need to be narrowed and closed; enrollment challenges to overcome; and working relationships that need to be mended and strengthened.
Colleagues, Kingsborough has always been synonymous with innovation and excellence. So as we enter our 59th year as a college let us continue to both embrace and reflect this in all that we do.
I am grateful for each of you and I value the role that you play in this village we call Kingsborough Community College. Please, please continue to remain vigilant about your health and safety. Consider getting vaccinated if you have yet to do so; get your booster; wear your mask; practice social distancing and most of all enjoy this period of respite with your family and friends.
Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa and warmest of wishes for the New Year!
-President Schrader
Special thank you to our littlest learners in the Child Development Center for giving us a "hand" with our holiday greeting card!
