Seven Finger Lakes Community College employees and students have received the State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence, which acknowledges individuals across the SUNY system for notable achievement. They are as follows:
Hannah Hoffman of Cameron, Steuben County, a business administration major, received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence. She has served in three roles on the Student Corporation: executive secretary, executive treasurer and president, and was a member of the softball team. Hoffman joined the Phi Theta Kappa honors society in 2022.
Zachary Shirley of Phelps, Ontario County, a May 2023 liberal arts and sciences graduate, received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence. Shirley served from 2016 to 2021 in Army intelligence and currently serves in the U.S. Army Reserves. While president of the Student Veterans Organization for two years, he led Veterans Week, a series of events to honor veterans in November. He was master of ceremonies for the 2022 FLCC Veterans Day Ceremony.
Wendy Bacon of Canandaigua, Ontario County, received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Classified Service. She is the senior clerk for the FLCC Office of Instruction where she oversees the scheduling of classes and events and has filled in as assistant to the provost, managing administration of faculty teaching assignments. She is credited with helping manage many adaptations necessary to keep classes running during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Melissa Soules of Canandaigua, Ontario County, received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service. She is the disability services coordinator with the FLCC Academic Success and Access Programs Office. Soules works with more than 300 students each semester arranging accommodations and is credited with advocating for improved inclusivity across the college. She is often an informal academic counselor and personal advocate and coach for students.
Kathleen Fuchs of Geneva, Ontario County, received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching. An FLCC adjunct instructor for more than 12 years, Fuchs has taught Composition I and II and Children’s Literature. Her nomination included colleague and student testimonies. Students wrote they felt welcomed, supported and respected in her classes and grew in critical thinking skills. Over the past 25 years, Fuchs has been a member of the Geneva Martin Luther King Jr. Committee and is a recipient of the Geneva 2008 Martin Luther King Educator Award.
Maureen Maas-Feary of Rochester, Monroe County, professor of humanities, received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service. She led the Humanities Department through the COVID-19 pandemic and the restructuring of developmental English that streamlined the pathway for students to complete composition courses. She also co-chaired the effort to prepare an extensive report for the College to maintain its accreditation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
Lisa McAnn of Middlesex, Yates County, associate professor of nursing, received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. She has taught at FLCC for 15 years and played an important role in revising the nursing curriculum to align with contemporary nursing practice. McAnn developed two case studies for Wolters Kluwer, a Dutch health care and research company, for its upcoming medical-surgical textbook and received a national award for implementing successful strategies in assessing students’ readiness for the national nursing exam.
For more information about the SUNY Chancellor’s Awards, visit suny.edu and search for “chancellor’s awards.”
