The federal Education Department has awarded Finger Lakes Community College $2.25 million over the next five years to enhance programs that help first-time students succeed.
The funding will cover salaries for specialists to revise entry-level courses and programs and for coaches to provide regular guidance through the first semester for up to 500 students each year.
“Research has shown that students who learn to navigate college and do well in their first semester are much more likely to stay in school and complete their academic programs,” said FLCC President Robert Nye.
The new funding will also boost existing initiatives to reduce barriers to education, whether due to low-incomes, disabilities or other disadvantages. For example, the college’s current strategic plan prioritizes Universal Design for Learning, an approach to designing courses that considers students’ different abilities and learning styles. This might include routinely presenting material in both audio and visual formats and providing live captioning for every class.
“As a community college, we are very focused on equity. That means giving everyone a chance to succeed no matter their past experiences and backgrounds,” Nye continued. “Society benefits because higher levels of education lead to higher incomes and less unemployment.”
The college will receive $450,000 per year over the next five years with the goal of increasing the percentage of low-income and students of color who complete a credential, such as a certificate or an associate degree. FLCC provides 1-year certificates and 2-year degrees in about 60 programs, including nursing, health care studies, engineering science and networking and cybersecurity.
FLCC has also joined a SUNY-funded initiative to increase student completion rates and narrow opportunity gaps. Called Advancing Success in Associate Pathways, or ASAP, the program provides financial assistance, personalized academic advising and career development to low-income students. Those enrolled in the program are required to meet twice monthly with a coach during their first semester to review academic progress and career planning.
Many children bring home projects from summer camps. For some students in the Urban League of Rochester’s day camp at Finger Lakes Community College, the take-home was an audio file of music they recorded themselves.
The Urban League and FLCC partnered to provide new experiences to students from the city who are starting grades 6 through 9 this fall. The 60 students in this year’s camp selected two focus areas from a list of eight topics: graphic design, American Sign Language (ASL), media, creative exploration, pond life, forest ecology, entrepreneurship and music recording.
For the first four weeks, students spent an hour on each of their chosen subjects daily. Those who chose music recording learned some basic functions of the state-of-the-art consoles used by students working toward an associate degree in music recording technology. The nearly three-minute instrumental track includes one student playing her bass.
“The students loved being able to make music. It has broadened their horizon and excited them for the opportunity to continue learning more in this area,” said Taurean Uthman, vice president of youth education at the Urban League.
The camp ran from July 8 to Aug. 8. For the first four weeks, students participated in activities at FLCC’s main campus, including fishing – most for the first time – in the pond used by the FLCC logging sports team for canoeing competition.
American Sign Language was also a new experience. “The students enjoyed learning ASL, and their parents have mentioned that they’ve been practicing what they learned at home,” Uthman added.
During the fifth week, the students spent each day at the College’s Muller Field Station, an environmental research and education facility at the south end of Honeoye Lake. There, the students took part in hiking, canoeing and other outdoor experiences.
FLCC and the Urban League plan to maintain their partnership, with quarterly admissions events at the main campus and Victor Campus Center for older students.
FLCC is also working on a plan to bring some of its workforce training programs to the Urban League’s site in Rochester.
The mission of the Urban League of Rochester is to enable African-Americans, Latinxs, the poor, and other disadvantaged to secure economic self-reliance, parity and power, and civil rights.
Finger Lakes Community College has been awarded $100,000 in a national contest to develop solutions to food scarcity.
The College and its partners will use the money to continue work on a research project that involves cultivating mushroom fibers for their nutritional content.
FLCC began a partnership with Henrietta-based Empire Medicinals four years ago to study methods for growing mushroom mycelium in a commercial setting. Mycelium are the rootlike fibers that extend below mushroom caps into rotting logs. If mycelium can be efficiently mass produced, their nutrients can be extracted and used in a variety of foods and food supplements.
FLCC entered the research project in BioMADE BUILD, a national academic challenge for college teams and industry mentors. On Aug. 12, BioMADE announced that FLCC was among seven projects chosen for funding. FLCC is the only project that has a community college as the lead agency.
“This is a very competitive program, so we were excited to find out that the proposal reviewed strongly and was selected for funding,” said James Hewlett, FLCC professor of biology.
BioMADE is a U.S. Department of Defense institute created to promote innovation in the use of biological systems to make food and other products. It is part of national efforts to improve supply chains following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The name of FLCC’s project is “Submerged fermentation of mushroom mycelium for optimizing the production of mycelial-based food and nutritional products.”
“Our academic challenge focuses on finding solutions to problems related to food scarcity in rural and urban environments and bioproduced foods for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief,” Hewlett explained. “Our student research group has been developing a fermentation system for producing mushroom mycelium and the nutritional compounds they generate, so shifting to this food challenge was a natural fit.”
“Mushroom mycelium is a nutrient-dense food with great potential for developing products that are highly nutritious and affordable and can be grown in environmentally sustainable production systems,” he added.
Hewlett, founder of the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative (CCURI), was named a SUNY Distinguished Service Professor in 2021 for his work promoting the use of research to teach science at community colleges across the county.
With the new funding, FLCC and Empire Medicinals will continue the work with the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center (NCERC) at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. This next stage will focus on a finding a cheap and widely available food source for the mushroom mycelium to convert into nutrients for humans.
“Mycelium needs food to grow, so if the amount of food going into production equals the amount you get out, that is obviously not a sustainable solution. NCERC and FLCC will work on using the waste that ethanol producers create. By using waste streams, you avoid the problem of using food to make food,” Hewlett explained. “We are also going to be testing the production of feed stocks from municipal solid waste, another abundant and readily available material.”
In the first phase of the project, Hewlett and his team of student researchers, faculty and staff are currently test the experimental feed stocks from NCERC. The second phase takes place at NCERC to demonstrate that production can be done at a commercial scale.
The project also serves the goal of exposing students to research methods and training the next generation of workers in biomanufacturing.
Current student researchers are:
Matthew Brooks of Canandaigua, a 2021 FLCC biotechnology graduate
Joshua Serody of Farmington, an FLCC student who has transferred to a Cornell University food science program
Asa McKaig of Canandaigua, a current horticulture student
Andrew Schorr of Canandaigua, a current biotechnology student
Logan Peer of Rochester, an FLCC student who has transferred to a Rochester Institute of Technology biotechnology program
Paul D. Kuehnert of Shortsville, a current horticulture and biotechnology student
Jocelyn Aitchison of Pittsford, a student at SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry
In addition to Hewlett, the students work with technical specialist Jessica Halliley and adjunct instructor Sarad Parekh, also chief technology officer at Sweetwater Energy.
Forty-three students completed a general equivalency diploma (GED) over the last year through the free program at Finger Lakes Community College.
FLCC’s program allows students to work at their own pace with an instructor to prepare for the four exams necessary to earn a high school equivalency diploma. Students take in-person assessments in math and reading to gauge their skill levels.
Details about FLCC’s GED and English as a Second Language programs are available at flcc.edu/abe, (585) 785-1431, or ged@flcc.edu. Classes are offered in Ontario, Seneca, Wayne, and Yates counties at FLCC locations, libraries and workforce development offices.
Among the speakers was retired professor and current adjunct Linda Ross. Linda was a high school dropout working as a seamstress when she decided she wanted more out of life. She embarked on an educational journey that ended with a doctorate in clinical psychology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Click here for an audio recording of her personal story.
GED graduates are listed below by county and town.
“Generation Earth” is a new exhibit by Alexander Fals and Hayley Dayis opening Saturday, July 13, at the Williams-Insalaco Gallery 34 on the first floor of the main FLCC campus.
The artists will be available for informal discussion on Saturday, July 13 from 4 to 6:30 p.m.
A reception will be held on Aug. 29 from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Watch events.flcc.edu for details.
Through the summer, the Williams-Insalaco Gallery 34 is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday; and noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Alexander and Hayley work with foraged mineral pigments sourced from volcanic soils in the region of Cauca, Colombia. Both Finger Lakes natives, they discovered the art of natural pigment painting at different points along their journeys.
Two Finger Lakes Community College leaders were among 34 recognized for completion of the New York State Community College Leadership Academy at an event at FLCC on June 13.
Leadership Academy fellows included Ryan McCabe of Farmington, FLCC associate vice president of academic technology and high impact practices, and Lindsey Chamberlain of Bloomfield, executive director of the FLCC Association. The Association supports the college with auxiliary services, such as food service and a bookstore. They were joined by representatives from 20 other community colleges across New York, including Adirondack Community College and Monroe Community College.
“FLCC is very grateful for this superb learning opportunity provided by SUNY,” said FLCC President Robert Nye. “We are especially proud of our graduates and the great work they will do in the future as a result of this exceptional leadership development.”
The curriculum covers essential roles of leadership in student success, keeping students’ end goals in mind, the student experience, leadership traits that drive change, managing and advancing institutional change, and effective external partnerships and the leadership journey.
New York was selected, along with Michigan and Texas, as part of a national scale-up project to replicate Ohio’s Leadership Academy for Student Success with funding from Ascendium Education Group, the ECMC Foundation and The Kresge Foundation.
Four Finger Lakes Community College employees and two students were honored with the State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence at the commencement ceremony in May. They are as follows:
Drew Bateman of Hilton, a 2024 graduate, the 2023-24 Student Corporation president, and recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence
Terrance Dominguez-Hover of Bristol, a 2024 graduate, the 2023-24 Student Veterans Organization president, and recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence
Beth Johnson, Ph.D. of Canandaigua, professor of theater, recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service
Kimberlie Noyes, D.N.P., of Pittsford, a 2000 FLCC graduate and associate professor of nursing, recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching
John Onorato of Geneva, building maintenance mechanic, recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Classified Service
Maura Sullivan of Naples, associate professor of environmental conservation and horticulture, recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching
Below are excerpts of remarks shared at a luncheon prior to the commencement ceremony.
A total of 553 full- and part-time students were named to the Finger Lakes Community College dean’s list for spring 2024.
To be named to the dean’s list, students must have a 3.5 grade point average and meet other criteria as follows:
Full-time students are eligible if they are matriculated – meaning enrolled in a degree program – and achieve a 3.5 grade point average for the semester (12 or more hours of earned credit) with no grade below passing and no incompletes.
Part-time students are eligible if they are matriculated, have completed a minimum of 12 credit hours at FLCC, earn a combined total of at least 12 credit hours for a given year and achieve a 3.5 grade point average with no grade below passing and no incompletes. The student must be part-time for both semesters. The dean’s list for part-time students is compiled at the end of the spring term only.
A new partnership between FLCC and two local school districts, Geneva and Waterloo, will give students the opportunity to earn an associate degree by the time they finish high school.
The Early College High School is a five-year project that begins this fall. Ninth graders who have applied and been accepted to the program will be introduced to the educational pathways that lead to specific careers.
Over their four years of high school, they will take FLCC classes through the existing concurrent enrollment program, called Gemini, which allows students to complete high school and college requirements at the same time.
Starting in 11th grade, these students will be able to attend courses at the FLCC main campus or campus centers. The goal is for students to earn at least 24 credits and up to an associate degree, typically 60 credits.
“The goal is to introduce career exploration to students at a younger age and give more opportunities to motivated students,” said Laura Jamieson, FLCC assistant director of concurrent enrollment. “It is possible for students to earn an associate degree upon high school graduation and transfer directly to a bachelor’s degree program.”
A state Department of Education grant will cover costs for the program, including staff at FLCC and the districts to administer the program, college tuition and transportation. Geneva received a $1.18 million grant and Waterloo, $825,000, both to be spread over five years.
The grant will also cover professional development for faculty at the Geneva and Waterloo high schools and at FLCC to help them adapt more rigorous coursework to a younger population. The Early College High School program will also target underrepresented groups in higher education, including low-income, first-generation and minority students.
The Smart Scholars Early College High School Program began more than a decade ago in more urban areas of the state.
Early College High School is similar to the Pathways in Technology, or PTECH, in which students interested in technology careers take a mix of high school and college credits and transfer seamlessly to FLCC to complete their degree, often in less than two years.
FLCC’s Early College program in cooperation with Waterloo and Geneva will offer students a broader range of career pathways, including health care, computer science, education and humanities.
The Finger Lakes Community College chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), the honor society for two-year colleges, inducted 161 members over the course of the last year.
Phi Theta Kappa promotes scholarship, leadership, service and fellowship. FLCC’s chapter, Alpha Epsilon Chi, was chartered in 1981 and provides leadership, service and scholarship opportunities for members. Membership requires completion of 15 hours of associate degree coursework and a GPA of 3.0. Phi Theta Kappa members also serve as campus ambassadors.