BRINGING SPACE FLIGHT DOWN TO EARTH fall 2023 theLAKER a publication for alumni and friends of finger lakes community college Gospel choir to Grammy nomination pg. 12 President’s Report to the Community pg. 15 Seth Lambert’s software helps you visualize NASA missions
The Visual and Performing Arts Department evoked the 1970s with a concert of songs from Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” album for Spring Arts Festival in May. Selections included “I Don’t Want to Know” and “Go Your Own Way” with “Don’t Stop” as the closer. See the Campus Happenings section for more on the event. Performers shown are, from left, Josh Riddell of Webster (keyboard), Zachary Gibson of Webster (vocals), Gordon Kornbau of Bloomfield (vocals), Regan Griggs of Hilton (vocals), Jenn Brady (vocals/community member), Red Steiner of Bloomfield (vocals), Eric Higgins of Rochester (guitar), Sam Stevens ’20 of Geneva (guitar), Strider O’Neill of Canandaigua (guitar) and Catherine Oldfield of Canandaigua (harp). Additional performers not shown are: Austin Hoitt of Fairport (keyboard), Parker Remington ’23 of Attica (bass), Ian Klajbor of Webster (bass), Cody Lockley of Canandaigua (drums/percussion) and Trevor Agnello of Rochester (drums/percussion). photo by rikki van camp
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2 | theLAKER President Robert K. Nye Interim Chief Advancement Officer Brie Chupalio Editor/Chief Writer Lenore Friend Director of Public Relations and Communications Contributors Laura Alishauskas Nicholas Julien Margaret Lorenzetti Design and Layout Sarah R. Butler Photography Jan Regan Rikki Van Camp Amanda Whitbeck COVER PHOTO PROVIDED BY SETH LAMBERT ’18 The Laker is produced by the Advancement and Communications offices at Finger Lakes Community College. Views and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editor or official College policies. Finger Lakes Community College does not discriminate based on an individual’s race, color, national origin, religion, creed, age, disability, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, familial status, pregnancy, predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, or criminal conviction. Connect with us Finger Lakes Community College 3325 Marvin Sands Drive Canandaigua, NY 14424 Email: alumni@flcc.edu (585) 785-1454 www.facebook.com/fingerlakescommunitycollege @flcc_connects @flcc_connects Brittany Williams ’09, second from left, was the Athletic Hall of Fame inductee in 2016. In 2017, Jason Schenandoah ’08 received the Outstanding Horticulture Alumni Achievement Award. Alumni celebration resumes FLCC will resume honoring exceptional alumni and friends of the College with the 2023 FLCC Alumni and Foundation Awards on Friday, Oct. 20, at 5 p.m. This is the first in-person event since 2019. The 2020 event was held online due to the pandemic. The first alumni awards were given in 1985, 17 years after full-time credit-bearing classes began. Those first awards honored outstanding conservation and horticulture alumni. In 1991, FLCC launched the Athletic Hall of Fame, and 10 years later, the Distinguished Alumni Award. Additional department awards followed. A total of 43 alumni have been recognized with the Distinguished Alumni Award, given to a graduate in any program who has earned distinction through professional achievement, community service, service to the College, or outstanding spirit in overcoming challenges. The most recent recipient was Lester Mayers ’17, honored for his work as a poet, performer and writing instructor. The alumni community can watch the event on the Finger Lakes TV network, available on Roku, online at fingerlakestv.org/live and Spectrum cable channel 1304 in the Finger Lakes region. Additional information is on the website calendar at events.flcc.edu.
CLASS notes pages 28–32 president’s report to the community Fall open house at Muller Field Station Muller Field Station, the College’s education and research station at the south end of Honeoye Lake, will host its annual open house on Saturday, Oct. 21, from 2 to 5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Visitors will have an opportunity to paddle kayaks or canoes through the wetlands, take a nature walk, and learn more about the station’s facilities. Children’s activities include pumpkin painting and explorations of aquatic insects. Alumni are invited to come and reconnect with staff and faculty from the FLCC Environmental Conservation and Horticulture Department. The field station has a canoe and kayak launch to accommodate people of various physical abilities. It has a bench and two extendable benches, one for canoe height and one for kayak height, to provide stability for safely lowering paddlers into a vessel. It is especially helpful for people who use wheelchairs, the elderly, and those who struggle with balance. Muller Field Station is at 6455 County Road 36 in the town of Canadice, south of the hamlet of Honeoye. Get directions, contact information and additional event listings at flcc.edu/muller. theLAKER | 3 FROM THE COVER: Ride along with Orion pages 4–5 pages 15–27 FALL 2023 CONTENTS theLAKER ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Joi Wynn page 12 CAMPUS HAPPENINGS pages 6–11 page 14 SAVE the DATE
Seth Lambert ’18 used his game design skills to develop software that helps people understand NASA’s Artemis missions. The email said Seth Lambert ’18 had just six hours to apply for an internship with a NASA contractor. It was 2019, more than a year after he transferred from FLCC to Rochester Institute of Technology. As part of his bachelor’s program, he had applied for more than 100 other internships with no luck. The contractor, Universities Space Research Association, needed to fill this post quickly. Soon Seth was headed to Johnson Space Center in Houston for an eight-month internship that led to a full-time job working as a contractor for the Orion program on the Artemis missions. Artemis consists of a series of progressively more complex flights designed to take humans back to the moon and beyond. The first flight, Artemis I, sent an uncrewed craft in orbit around the moon. Seth used skills developed at FLCC and RIT to create AROW, short for Artemis Real-time Orbit Website. When the Orion 4 | theLAKER GAME DESIGN MEETS SPACE EXPLORATION spacecraft blasted off Nov. 16, 2022, the AROW website allowed people to track its progress in relation to the Earth, moon and sun. AROW, he explained, “listens to an enormous amount of data coming down from space and uses that to create a very literal visualization of what’s going on, so this is as if you were traveling through space alongside Orion. The goal was to make something that wasn’t just for internal use but that could communicate the mission to everybody.” With Orion’s successful flight and splashdown in the Pacific on Dec. 11, Seth’s attention turned to the next phase, Artemis II, a lunar flyby with a human crew in late 2024. “Artemis II is a slightly different mission,” he added. “It’s going to be much shorter, and the flight plan is also quite different, so there’s a lot of work necessary to bring the software up to date for the new mission. We’re adding new features and working on other exciting ways for people to visualize and track future missions.” Family connection Seth’s grandfather, Hubert “Norris” Lambert, was a contractor for the space agency during the shuttle program. “I unfortunately never met him, but I grew up hearing stories about when he worked at NASA and that was always something that sounded so fantastic.” from the cover On the cover: Seth Lambert, a visualization developer for a NASA contractor, visited Kennedy Space Center in Florida to watch the Orion spacecraft roll out of the vehicle assembly building in March 2022, several months before the agency launched it on a flyby of the moon. Seth built the Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW) so people could track Orion’s fight.
I quickly found I enjoyed the FLCC coursework and was able to do well.” He credits his success in part to Dave Ghidiu, assistant professor in computing sciences. “I really appreciated his style of teaching. He encouraged all of us to foster a sense of creativity and curiosity. If we didn’t know what a button did, press it.” His advice to students today borrows from his FLCC experience. “So many times I’ve learned something just by getting curious and reading a Wikipedia page. Then that led to some creative thought or some technical thought that has helped me in my work or in my personal projects. If you find yourself wondering what something does or how it works, pursue it because there may be an opportunity to use that knowledge later.” That, and check your email often, because as Seth put it, “Life can change so fast.” – Lenore Friend Where to see Seth’s work The Artemis tracker website will begin working shortly after the crewed Orion spacecraft takes off in late 2024. After the launch, visit nasa.gov/specials/trackartemis/ or search for Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW). theLAKER | 5 Images generated by the Artemis Real-time Orbit Website. Seth, too, is a contractor. His internship involved designing a kiosk application for conventions and museums to familiarize users with the Orion spacecraft. He then developed a Twitter bot that could take telemetry data from a spacecraft and generate text for a tweet. When his internship ended, NASA contractor MORI Associates hired him full-time. He has continued the work as an employee of Logical Innovations and Barrios Technology. Still, Seth is part of a larger NASA culture of exploration. “I’ve only worked at Johnson Space Center and in pretty narrow fields, but my experience of NASA has been that it’s a terrific community of learning,” he said. “One of the things that I really appreciated as an intern was just how willing everybody was to talk about what they’re working on and to hear about what you’re working on. There’s just this kind of communal excitement around the work being done.” Learning to be curious Both of Seth’s degrees are in game design, a field he selected after finishing high school in Seattle. His family moved east when his mom, Lori Vail, became a humanities instructor at FLCC. He applied to RIT first but couldn’t swing it financially, then learned about FLCC’s transfer arrangement with RIT. “I really didn’t know what to expect going into it. I had very, very limited experience with any kind of programming in high school. Seth Lambert’s mother, Lori Vail, who was a member of the humanities faculty while he attended, greets him at commencement in 2018. photo by rikki van camp
campus happenings 6 | theLAKER Alumni return to FLCC to share Fleetwood Mac songs with the Deaf community. THE ART OF SIGN LANGUAGE Jojo Chiarilli ’15 has been a musician since childhood. She played flute in her middle school band in Romulus and now sings and plays guitar, drums, and bass. When she returned to FLCC last spring to perform, she did not make a sound. Jojo was one of three alumni who participated in the Spring Arts Festival in May as American Sign Language (ASL) performance signers for several Fleetwood Mac songs. “Performance signing, if done correctly, is still completely accurate to ASL structure and grammar but there is an added component of being more expressive,” she said. “It is a very long process of translating lyrics and trying to figure out what the artists mean by what they wrote. It sometimes requires a decent amount of research into the band and their history. Jojo Chiarilli ’15 performing “Dreams”
A closer look Delia Ackerman, associate professor of American Sign Language, offered two examples from Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” to show how performance signers approach their work. Running in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies “This is not about a person literally running in darkness. This is about one person secretly cheating on the other, something that was well known between two of the singers, Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham.” I can still hear you saying you would never break the chain. “Obviously it is not literally breaking a chain. It is about betrayal and the disconnection in the relationship. ‘Chain’ is the thread that keeps them together.” Each line takes time to analyze, and the signer also does background research to match the signs to the intended meaning. Left: Ollie Richmond ’22 performing “Songbird” Right: Alicia Nolan ’22 performing “The Chain” theLAKER | 7 “After you have an understanding of what the lyrics mean, you have to translate them into ASL grammar structure and make sure the subtleties of the lyrics are still intact. It is a long process, but it is so rewarding,” Jojo explained. Jojo performed the band’s song “Dreams,” while Alicia Nolan ’22 performed “The Chain” and Ollie Richmond ’22 performed “Songbird.” Ollie and Alicia also teamed up to perform “Don’t Stop,” the number that closed the show. “This was my first experience with performance signing. I had such a blast with it,” said Alicia. Jojo graduated with a degree in music recording technology but encountered ASL through her fiancé’s mother, who is fluent in the language used by the Deaf and hard of hearing. “I started to learn the basics on my own from Deaf creators on YouTube. I fell in love with the language and the culture and decided to go back to school to study ASL,” she said. ASL was not an FLCC degree program until fall 2019 – both Ollie and Alicia are graduates. Jojo took ASL courses at FLCC in the spring and fall of 2017 then transferred to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at Rochester Institute of Technology. She is currently a freelance interpreter and musician. Ollie and Alicia are enrolled in NTID’s interpreter training program. “I loved being a part of the Spring Arts Festival,” Jojo said. “The staff who put it on are amazing people, very good at what they do. They were also very flexible with the signers and understood that certain things like lighting and where we stand on stage are imperative to providing the best experience we could for people that use ASL to communicate.” Delia Ackerman, associate professor of American Sign Language, helped her former students prepare for their performance. She noted that a performance signer also has to match the pacing and energy of the band. “Performance signing for music or theater is one of the hardest jobs there is. Jojo, Alicia and Ollie really nailed their performances,” Delia said. “Just looking at pictures of their performances you can see the incredible energy and intensity in their signs, bodies and faces. In Alicia, you can see the translation of anger and betrayal the songwriter feels in ‘The Chain.’ For ‘Dreams,’ you can see the translation of the term wild in Jojo, and for ‘Songbird,’ you can see the peacefulness in Ollie’s face.” – Lenore Friend with photos by Rikki Van Camp
Geneva center honored for storytelling Historic Geneva recognized the Geneva Campus Center in June for its role in sharing stories about the city. The organization recognized an individual, a business, and a non-profit organization for telling the community’s stories in innovative and meaningful ways. The Geneva center building incorporates architectural elements from the 1920s-era high school that formerly stood at 63 Pulteney St., and a historic marker covers the history of education at the 4.6-acre site, starting with the Geneva Union School in the mid-1800s. The center also hosts events that celebrate the life journeys of many alumni with strong connections to Geneva businesses and institutions. 8 | theLAKER campus happenings First men’s volleyball team wins nationals FLCC made history on April 22 when the inaugural men’s volleyball team won the first-ever NJCAA National Invitational Championship at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Ill. The Lakers defeated Monroe College of New Rochelle, 3-1, a team that beat them twice during regular season play. “We watched a good deal of film and learned from our two losses to Monroe early in the season. We made some adjustments and worked on them for six weeks leading up to nationals,” head coach Andrew Solomon explained. “There were so many things I was feeling in that moment,” Bryce Ceravolo of Canandaigua said of the pivotal match. “We started as a program with open gyms and no tryouts. Those open gyms turned into a team that won a national championship.” Freshman Jonah Grbic of Victor was named the national invitational Most Valuable Player for his performance, while head coach Andrew Solomon earned NJCAA men’s volleyball Coach of the Year honors. The team’s overall record for their first season was 13 wins and four losses, with an average of 14.8 points per set. After their victory, state Sen. Pam Helming, who represents the 54th District, invited the team to the Capitol Building in Albany. Assemblywoman Marjorie Byrnes introduced the Lakers on the floor of her chamber before Sen. Helming recognized them in the Senate. Alumni who have visited with students over the last 10 years include: • Adam Blowers ’06, who served at the time as the city controller • Kelly La Voie ’96, who served as Geneva Rotary Club president • Yvonne Lowrey Jolly ’86, a nurse practitioner and FLCC Distinguished Alumni Award recipient • Robert Switzer ’99, director of urgent care services for FLH Medical • Stephen Hastings ’70, Andrea Deckert ’96, and Ethan Fogg ’00, who each worked for a time for the city’s longtime newspaper, Finger Lakes Times The inaugural men’s volleyball team celebrates after the NJCAA National Invitational Championship. photo courtesy njcaa Jonah Grbic of Victor, shown with an NJCAA representative, was named MVP. photo courtesy njcaa Follow FLCC Athletics on social media @flccathletics on Facebook and Twitter, and @flcclakers on Instagram. Visit flccathletics.com for scores, stories and photos.
theLAKER | 9 Double duty for retiring professor Susan McCarthy, professor of nursing, marked her final semester before retirement with a whirlwind day celebrating graduates. On the morning of May 20, she gave the keynote address to graduates at the Nursing Pinning Ceremony, reminding them of a fundamental tenet of their discipline. “Patient-centered care is the very essence of diversity, equity and inclusion and is something nurses have done since the beginning of this profession,” she said. “It is our hope that you will leave us remembering that your patients are unique individuals, not a label and not a diagnosis. It is only in our humanity that we are united.” After the nursing event, she donned academic regalia to serve as the macebearer, leading the graduates into the Constellation Brands Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center for the Commencement Ceremony. She gave remarks on behalf of faculty, sharing her story of discovering FLCC and learning how to teach. Susan was an adjunct from 1994 to 2001, then she joined FLCC as a full-time instructor. “Before coming to FLCC as an adjunct clinical instructor, I will admit to being a four-year college snob, but that changed in short order once I began teaching in the nursing program,” she said. “It blew me away how hard our students work and persevere while juggling lives with full- or part-time work and so many challenges. “But the most incredible attribute of FLCC students is that they are also really smart. I am proud to say that all five of my children are FLCC alumni.” Susan McCarthy, who taught in the nursing department for nearly 30 years, gave the keynote at the Nursing Pinning Ceremony on May 20 in the morning. In the afternoon, she was macebearer at Commencement during which she offered remarks on behalf of faculty and read the names of nursing graduates. photo above by rikki van camp, photo left courtesy of flcc marketing Ericka Moody ’23, who grew up in Lyons and earned a degree in hospitality and tourism management, claps as the provost presents the Class of 2023 during Commencement. photo by rikki van camp
10 | theLAKER Meet alumni who finished FLCC before high school Garett Lester ’23 graduated in the spring with an associate degree in smart systems technologies. A month later, he graduated from Bloomfield High School. No, that is not the typical order, but knowing it was possible motivated Garett to take some extra classes. Garett and another student completed associate degree requirements before finishing high school this year. Garett attended the PTECH program while Ava Rodriguez ’23 took college classes through Early College Scholars. She graduated from Pittsford-Mendon High School one month after completing FLCC coursework. A third student, Lily Hall ’23 of Dundee, joined this club using another strategy: a mix of Early College Scholar and Gemini credits. Gemini, also called concurrent enrollment, is a program that allows students to take classes in their home districts that satisfy both high school and college requirements. Lily’s graduation from Dundee High School in June made her a high school and college graduate at the same time. Garett Lester Short for Pathways in Technology, PTECH allows students from 25 school districts to enroll in an alternate high school at the FLCC Newark Campus Center and earn a mix of high school and college credits, starting in ninth grade. Most PTECH students finish high school and then spend another year or two at FLCC. Through careful planning with a counselor, Garett realized he could finish degree requirements before completing 12th grade then transfer to Rochester Institute of Technology. “I thought not many people get an opportunity to do that, so that helped to motivate me a lot,” he said. “There were definitely times where I was thinking, ‘This is a lot to be doing,’ but it’s one year then it’s done, and I accomplished something.” Garett was a couple classes ahead when he started, having taken algebra and Living Environment in eighth grade. When he got his driver’s license, he was able to take additional classes at the FLCC Victor Campus Center off Route 251. He credits his PTECH and FLCC instructors, in particular physics professor Sam Samanta, for giving him the flexibility to complete his classes, while working part-time. “He’s always willing to help you and make sure you’re following along with class but you’re not getting piled up on homework,” Garett said. “I’d have to say PTECH is very similar in that they’re trying to be as campus happenings Garett Lester of Bloomfield, left, shown with Sam Samanta, professor of physics, completed requirements for his associate degree before graduating from high school.
open-minded and understanding of your situation to make sure you’re getting the help you need to learn.” Beyond the instructors, he said fellow students provide a sense of community. “We’re all new to it. We’re all looking for someone to talk to and by the first quarter of your freshman year, you have made friends,” Garett began. “It’s a great community. You’re not going to feel out of place because everyone’s in the same boat, everyone’s there for you. We’re all rooting for each other. You really don’t get the separate cliques. It’s one big group.” Ava Rodriguez Ava Rodriguez had watched as her older sister got ahead on college credit by taking community college classes, so at age 14, Ava enrolled in two FLCC art history classes. Then, she kept going, completing her high school homework during lunches and study halls at Pittsford-Mendon then switching gears to college work in the afternoon and evening. In the summer before her senior year, Ava and her mother, Zenah, reviewed her credits and confirmed that, with the right courses, she could finish her liberal arts associate degree before completing high school. “My mom is my biggest supporter. I really couldn’t have done it without her,” Ava said. Ava started this fall at St. John Fisher University’s Wegmans School of Pharmacy. It is typically a six-year program, but Ava’s associate degree means she can finish in four. Ava particularly enjoyed biology with Professor Kelli Prior, chemistry with technical specialist and instructor Jennifer Zink, and physics with adjunct instructor Thomas Henderson. “They were easy going. If you were having trouble with the material or an issue came up in your personal life, they’re more than willing to work around it,” she said. “I think my favorite professor was Dr. Henderson. You know those teachers that really have a passion for teaching, and they try to make it as enjoyable for the student. He was all-around one of the best teachers I’ve ever had.” Lily Hall Lily Hall took some online classes directly through FLCC as an Early College Scholar and earned other credits by taking Gemini classes at Dundee High School. She built up enough credits for an associate degree in liberal arts by the last day of high school classes. “Going into senior year, most kids expect to take the bare minimum of classes and coast through the year. As nice as that may sound, I am so glad I decided to maximize my time by pursuing this path. It surely made the summer more enjoyable knowing I already have two years of college, and a degree, under my belt.” Lily’s favorite classes were art history and American Sign Language. She is currently pursuing a certification from Google in cybersecurity. “I’ve always enjoyed setting high goals for myself, and this certainly played a role in my decision to pursue my associate degree before I finished high school, but the bigger motivation for me was that I knew that it would be the wisest way for me to use my time,” she said. Lily said she learned more than new content in her college classes. “I learned how to communicate with my professors. I learned how to stand up for myself when it came to my grades. I learned how to learn about things I did not enjoy and find meaning in them, and I even learned about how important time management is,” she said. “The ups and downs that I have faced in college so far have helped me grow as a person and that is what made my FLCC experience positive.” Lily Hall of Dundee used the Gemini and Early College Scholars programs to finish high school and FLCC on the same day. “I’ve always enjoyed setting high goals for myself, and this certainly played a role in my decision to pursue my associate degree before I finished high school…” —Lily Hall theLAKER | 11
12 | theLAKER JOI IN THE MORNING alumni spotlight Joi “Stewdiopheen” Wynn’s story is about faith and music. The FLCC music recording alumna grew up learning to trust God and sing gospel at Baber African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Rochester. Both, she said, got her to where she is today: living in LA and basking in the thrill of having an album she worked on get nominated for a 2023 Grammy. A graduate of Penfield High, Joi discovered music recording as a member of a gospel choir at Monroe Community College. The choir made a day trip to FLCC’s studio in early 2006 to record overdubs for a live recording. While there, she got a good look around the control room. “That was the moment that solidified it for me. I definitely wanted to work in a recording studio. Back then my biggest inspiration was Missy Elliott,” she explained, referring to the rapper, songwriter and producer, “and I wanted to do what Missy does. I was like, ‘I could do it here. This would be perfect.’” Through prayer and grit, Joi Wynn built a career as an engineer, writer and producer in the competitive Los Angeles music industry.
theLAKER | 13 Joi enrolled that fall and began the transition from performing – vocals and drums – to audio engineering. She recalls a pivotal assignment in Jon Belec’s class to recreate an existing song. She chose “Teachme” by Musiq Soulchild. “I was able to bring musicians in and re-record it as I thought I heard it, and then Jon said, ‘Well this sounds great, but you missed a few parts and there’s a few instruments that you missed,’” she said. “I thought I nailed it, but it just taught me that I gotta listen a little bit harder. When I was able to do that, I began to see music as an engineer, breaking music down into its component parts.” From FLCC, Joi transferred to Columbia College in Chicago, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in audio arts and acoustics, with a concentration in audio design and production. She stayed in the city, working for various artists as a writer, producer and engineer. She returned to Rochester to freelance in 2015, then decided to take her chances in Los Angeles. “I went to where I felt the access was,” Joi said. Taking risks It wasn’t easy. Paying work was sporadic. At one point, she slept in her car. “This is one of those times where my faith was being really challenged because I’m like, ‘God I know you didn’t bring me all the way to California to have me sleeping in my car.’ There were things that I’ve heard in church all my life. Things like trouble doesn’t last and joy will come in the morning, and that reminded me this isn’t gonna last forever.” Joi persevered, building on her experience and building her network. Today, she operates an artist development company, dopeXdefault. She has achieved a Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Gold Certification, meaning she has worked on albums or singles that have sold 500,000 units. Her engineering credits include Yonni, Chris Brown, H.E.R., Dreezy, Destinee Sade, Coco Jones, Mali Music, Bradley Banks, Chi TheRealist, King Los, Desz, Derrick Milano, Brooke Valentine, and Danileigh. She has also worked on shows such as Peacock’s “Bel-Air” and Netflix’s “First Kill.” When Grammy nominations were announced in November 2022, Joi learned that an album she had worked on, Chris Brown’s “Breezy” (Deluxe), was up for Best R&B Album. Full circle Still, Joi admitted she was nervous when her classmate, Kari Ripley ’08 invited her to talk to current students in March of this year. Kari works at FLCC as a technical specialist for music recording. “My hands were shaking, I was sweating, and I thought: I have no idea what to do or what to say, but I’m just going to go with the flow and pray that God gives me the words to inspire and to share the experiences that would encourage somebody.” After sharing her story, she answered questions for an hour in the same studio that set the direction for her life 17 years earlier. Among her top advice: “Networking is important. You should know everyone in this room. You should know what they do. There is power in the people you know and the people who know what you do.” The experience of coming full circle helped Joi realize the importance of being, as she put it, “visible as a woman engineer and a black engineer. I can be what Missy was to me for some other little girl or boy.” – Lenore Friend Joi Wynn’s FLCC memories On Craig Snyder, guitarist and adjunct instructor: “I remember being afraid to ask him if he would play guitar on one of my songs, but he did and it set a standard for what a guitarist needs to sound like.” On being a resident advisor (RA) in the Suites: “I think that being an RA opened me up as far as working with people because I have a tendency to be just a little bit shy.” Joi’s nickname, “Stewdiopheen,” is a mashup of the words studio and fiend. “If I’m going to be addicted to anything, I want it to be something that I love. Being in the studio is home to me,” she said.
DECEMBER Finger Lakes Camerata Holiday Concert Friday, Dec. 1, 7 p.m, location TBD Saturday, Dec. 2, 3 p.m., First Congregational Church, 58 N. Main St., Canandaigua Details at events.flcc.edu, free entry Jazz Café Concert Thursday, Dec. 7, 12:30 p.m. FLCC main campus, Stage 14, free entry Victor and Canandaigua High School Art Show, Dec. 7-Dec. 21 Reception: Thursday, Dec. 7, 4:30 to 6 p.m. ArtSpace36.com Winter Concert Friday, Dec. 8, 7 p.m. FLCC main campus auditorium, free entry Finger Lakes Chorale Holiday Concert Saturday, Dec. 9, 7 p.m., location TBD Sunday, Dec. 10, 3 p.m., location TBD Free entry Jazz Ensemble Concerts Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 11-12, 7 p.m. FLCC main campus, Stage 14, free entry Mime Show Tuesday, Dec. 12, 12:45 p.m. Main campus theatre lab, room 2267 Free entry Create + Connect Wednesday, Dec. 13 at ArtSpace36 Wednesday, Dec. 20 via Zoom 6:30 to 8 p.m. with details, links at events.flcc.edu, free entry JANUARY Create + Connect Wednesday, Jan. 24 at ArtSpace36 6:30 to 8 p.m. with details, links at events.flcc.edu, free entry 14 | theLAKER save the date Events are subject to change. Check events.flcc.edu to confirm or get more information. SEPTEMBER Exhibit opening for Elaine Verstraete: Transitions, Sept. 28-Nov. 3 Thursday, Sept. 28, talk at 2 p.m., reception from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Williams-Insalaco Gallery 34, FLCC main campus Information at gallery34@flcc.edu OCTOBER Jazz Café Concert Thursday, Oct. 5, 12:30 p.m. FLCC main campus, Stage 14, free entry Dinner at Julia Restaurant Nights Culinary arts students serve gourmet meals under direction of faculty Friday, Oct. 6, 13, 27 Seatings between 5:30 and 7 p.m. FLCC main campus, Stage 14 Reservations at Julia@flcc.edu or (585) 785-1476, $40 per person Create + Connect Informal art workshops in cooperation with the Community Support Center Wednesday, Oct. 11 at ArtSpace36, 36 S. Main St., Canandaigua Wednesday, Oct. 18 via Zoom Wednesday, Oct. 25 at ArtSpace36 6:30 to 8 p.m. with details, links at events.flcc.edu, free entry Student Portfolio Show, Oct. 19 - Nov. 16 Reception: Thursday, Oct. 19, 4:30 to 6 p.m. ArtSpace36, 36 S. Main St., Canandaigua ArtSpace36.com 2023 FLCC Alumni and Foundation Awards Celebration Friday, Oct. 20, 5 p.m. Viewing information at events.flcc.edu Muller Field Station Open House Saturday, Oct. 21, 2 to 5 p.m. 6455 County Road 36, Canadice See page 3 for details NOVEMBER Jazz Café Concert Thursday, Nov. 2, 12:30 p.m. FLCC main campus, Stage 14, free entry Dinner at Julia Restaurant Nights Friday, Nov. 3 and 17 See October listing for details Fall Faculty Recital Friday, Nov. 3, 7:30 p.m. FLCC main campus auditorium, free entry Fall Open House Admission presentation, tours Saturday, Nov. 4, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. FLCC main campus Register at flcc.edu/visit Create + Connect Wednesday, Nov. 8 at ArtSpace36 Wednesday, Nov. 15, via Zoom 6:30 to 8 p.m. with details, links at events.flcc.edu, free entry Fall Mainstage Theatre Performance An adaptation of Jane Austin’s “Pride and Prejudice” by Kate Hamill Thursday and Friday, Nov. 16-17, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, 2 p.m. FLCC main campus auditorium $15 general admission, $10 for non-FLCC students and seniors, and free with current FLCC ID
president’s report to the community President Robert Nye greets a graduate during commencement on May 20 at Constellation Brands Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center. photo by rikki van camp Dear Community Member, As president of the College, I like to share student stories at commencement. They can be humbling. Take Kim Nelson, who enrolled in her 60s following an exceptionally difficult life that included addiction and incarceration. She embraced higher education for the lifeline that it is, finishing with an associate degree and an acceptance to Keuka College’s bachelor’s program in social work. I also remember Lway Soe, a nursing graduate who grew up in a refugee camp in Thailand and became the first in her family to finish college. Over 55 commencements, our College has celebrated some 30,000 graduates, each with a story of striving and perseverance. As FLCC makes a difference in each of those lives, it leaves a lasting, cumulative impact on the community. The average associate degree graduate from FLCC will earn $313,900 more in a lifetime than a high school graduate working in New York. They will pay taxes on that income, more than repaying the public investment in their education. A recent study of the College’s economic impact, commissioned by FLCC and Ontario County, offers a fascinating look at how our employees, students and alumni contribute to the prosperity of the region. In the 2020-2021 fiscal year alone, FLCC added $197.9 million in income to the Finger Lakes region’s economy, supporting 2,411 jobs. Over this same year, state and local governments provided FLCC with $24.3 million. This investment yields returns in added tax revenue on students’ higher lifetime earnings and increased business output, amounting to $51.7 million. Additionally, for every dollar of public money invested in FLCC, taxpayers will receive $2.40 over the course of students’ working lives. The economic message is simple: Everyone benefits from community college – regardless of whether they take a class. Yet this study does not tell the whole story in so many ways. It does not demonstrate the full value of the most important thing we do at FLCC: transform the lives of our students. It also does not include the value local residents derive from free concerts, art shows, and sporting events at FLCC. Nor does it include the impact of our faculty and staff who contribute to our community. Examples include our faculty studying the water quality of the Finger Lakes and advising on strategies to manage invasive species. The Laker magazine tells many individual stories. This special section tells a collective story about FLCC’s role in the region. Thank you for taking the time to learn more about your community’s college, and when you get a chance, stop by to see all the great things we are doing! Best wishes, Robert K. Nye, President Finger Lakes Community College IN THIS REPORT Economic impact pages 16–17 Who we serve page 18 Striving for equity page 19 Program update page 20 Strategic planning page 21 Budget page 22 Foundation update page 23 Our supporters pages 24–27
Kim Nelson’s decision to enroll at FLCC in 2019 was spur of the moment but a long time coming. The Naples resident had struggled with addiction for about 40 years following a life marred by sex trafficking and a suicide attempt. At age 61 and clean for a decade, she wanted to help others find a path out of misery by studying chemical dependency counseling. “I didn’t even know how to turn on a computer when I started. It’s amazing the things I’ve learned from this College,” she said. Kim immersed herself in her coursework and took advantage of all the services FLCC offers. When she wasn’t in class, she’d be in the writing center or the science tutoring center or getting assistance from the IT Helpdesk. Nick Aiezza, professional tutor in the Write Place, said Kim’s skills grew “by leaps and bounds.” Now Kim offers the same encouragement to others. “Where there’s life, there’s hope. Even though you’ve been through a rough life and had bad things happen to you, you don’t have to remain a victim. You can be a survivor.” One student’s story 16 | theLAKER A PAYOFF FOR THE STUDENT AND THE ECONOMY Lightcast, a provider of labor market analytics, has completed an economic impact study showing FLCC’s annual contribution to the Finger Lakes region, defined as Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, and Yates counties. The company examined the College’s overall impact, finding it adds $197.9 million in income annually to the regional economy, supporting 2,411 jobs. It also performed an investment analysis showing that FLCC creates more tax revenue than it receives. Lightcast examined data for the 2020-21 fiscal year, drawing on academic and financial reports from FLCC, industry and employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau, outputs of Lightcast’s modeling, and a variety of published materials relating education to social behavior. president’s report to the community Students gain in lifetime earnings$4.90 For every $1… Society gains in added income and social savings $8.10 Taxpayers gain in added tax revenue and public sector savings $2.40
theLAKER | 17 STUDENTS FLCC students paid $13.6 million in 2020-21 to cover tuition, fees, supplies, and interest on student loans. They also gave up $11.8 million they would have earned had they been working instead of attending college. In return for their investment, this group of students will receive a cumulative present value of $123.6 million in increased earnings over their working lives. This translates to a return of $4.90 in higher future earnings for every dollar students invest in their education. This means students’ average annual rate of return is 17.5 percent. TAXPAYERS Taxpayers provided FLCC with $24.3 million in state and local funding. In return, they get back additional tax revenue stemming from students’ higher lifetime earnings and increased business output, amounting to $51.7 million. A reduced demand for government-funded services in New York will add another $6.7 million in benefits to taxpayers. For every dollar of public money invested in FLCC, taxpayers will receive $2.40 in return, over the course of students’ working lives. The average annual rate of return for taxpayers is 4.8 percent. SOCIETY To consider the impact of FLCC on society overall, Lightcast calculated the scientific benefits of education. For example, higher levels of education are linked to more healthful lifestyles and reduced crime. The company first calculated the total spending by the College and its students over one year: $68.9 million. It then added up the economic activity and avoided costs that investment generates. Altogether, the social benefits from that $68.9 million investment total $555.2 million. Here is how that breaks down: $344.4 million in added student income, $154.6 million in added business income, $43.6 million in added income from college activities, and $12.6 million in savings related to health, crime, and income assistance. Society is the biggest beneficiary with a return of $8.10 in added income and social savings from every dollar invested. COLLEGE OPERATIONS The College employed 476 full-time and part-time faculty and staff with a payroll of $33.7 million, much of it spent on groceries, mortgage payments and other household expenses. FLCC spent another $14.1 million on day-to-day expenses related to facilities, supplies, and professional services. Lightcast then calculated a net impact by simulating a scenario in which funds spent on the College are instead spent on consumer goods and savings. The net impact is $35.4 million in added income. In addition, the net impact of FLCC’s construction spending to maintain and improve facilities was $1.7 million in added income for one year. STUDENT SPENDING Lightcast estimated the impact of student spending by looking at two populations: 1) the approximately 10 percent of FLCC students who come from outside the region and 2) an estimate of in-region students who would have otherwise left the area for other educational opportunities if not for FLCC. These two groups added $5 million to the economy with spending on groceries, housing and other living expenses in 2020-21. ALUMNI IMPACT Over the years, students have studied at FLCC and entered or re-entered the workforce with newly-acquired knowledge and skills. Today, thousands of these former students are employed in the region. The net impact of former students currently employed in the regional workforce amounted to $155.8 million in added income for the year. Economic impact Investment returns View the executive summary and full report online at flcc.edu/about
16 | theLAKER president’s report to the community HIGH SCHOOL THROUGH ADULTHOOD FLCC AROUND THE WORLD Finger Lakes Community College posted a total of 10,103 enrollments during the 2021-22 academic year throughout its four main programming areas. While the College may be best known for offering two-year degrees to high school graduates, thousands of students across the region take FLCC classes at their high schools under the Gemini, or concurrent enrollment, program. Gemini allows students to take college prerequisites and general education classes before entering college, potentially shortening their time to a degree. Other students enroll in non-credit programs for professional development or short-term certifications through the Workforce and Career Solutions Office. An example is the certified nurse assistant program. FLCC also works each year with hundreds of students seeking to learn English or get a high school diploma. These numbers may count some individuals twice, for example, if an adult basic education student earns a general equivalency diploma (GED) in the fall and starts FLCC college classes in the spring. Or a concurrent enrollment student who graduates high school then takes an online FLCC physics class over the summer. Full- and part-time students who are high school graduates, taking at least one credit-bearing class at an FLCC site or online Students enrolled in high school, including homeschoolers, taking FLCC courses at their high school, an FLCC location or online Students who participate in workforce training, professional development and community education Students who take classes to prepare for the New York State high school equivalency exam or classes for English as a Second Language (ESL). Credit classes for high school graduates: 5,174 Adult basic education: 492 Concurrent enrollment: 3,155 Workforce development: 1,282 73% of FLCC students are from seven area counties *Not including high school concurrent enrollment Monroe Wayne Ontario Yates Seneca Livingston Stuben FLCC also has students from several other countries, including Canada, India, Brazil, and France. Some are online, and some attend in person, including, from left, Gabriel DeSouza of Brazil and Marcos Colodner and Fabrizio Nicotra, both of Argentina. WHERE STUDENTS LIVE
theLAKER | 19 MEETING THE CHALLENGE OF DIVERSITY As an open access institution, FLCC is on the forefront of economic and demographic change. The College has become more racially diverse than its surrounding community. Students of color have risen from 17 to 24 percent of those enrolled in credit-bearing courses, excluding high school concurrent enrollment, in the last five years. By comparison, non-white residents make up about 6 percent of the population in FLCC’s four-county service area. The College has also experienced a five-year decline in enrollment for students under 24 and an increase in enrollment of students above age 34. Several factors are likely influencing these trends, including declining high school populations and the greater flexibility of online course offerings as nontraditional-aged students cope with the disrupting impacts of the pandemic. Older students are much more likely to attend part-time. In addition, the percentage of students reporting a disability has risen from 9 to 12 over the last five years. This percentage likely underrepresents the number of students coping with disabilities, including mental illness. The success of community college students is a critical public policy issue as the nation struggles with worker shortages. In order to fill vacant jobs, older workers must be retrained, and students from disadvantaged backgrounds must get the financial and academic support they need to complete their programs. Non-white, part-time and disabled students are all at higher risk of leaving school without a credential. For example, FLCC’s fall-to-fall retention of new, full-time students of color in 2021 was 45 percent. This compares to a national average of 44 percent, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Still, it is below FLCC’s retention for white students, which was 51 percent in 2021. (Rates for all students were lower in 2021 than pre-COVID). FLCC has begun using a chatbot to check in with students periodically. The bot starts with a text message asking students how they are doing and provides multiple choice answers. Based on each student’s response, the chatbot asks further questions to narrow down the specific problem. For example, if a student reports things aren’t going well, the chatbot asks if the problem is academic, financial, emotional, etc. In this way, the College hopes to identify students who need help before they are in a crisis that prevents them from completing the semester or graduating. The chatbot is one of several approaches to offer timely intervention and critical support services to the most vulnerable students. DEMOGRAPHIC SNAPSHOT A look at the makeup of the 3,157 full- and part- time students enrolled in a credit-bearing course at one of FLCC’s locations or online in fall 2022. under 20 20–24 25–34 over 34 40% 25% 20% 15% Age breakdown 1% Black/African-American Two or more races Asian American or Alaska Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 57% 28% 11% 3% People of Color female male 55% 45% Race & Ethnicity White Students of Color unknown 73% 24% 3% Gender Breakdown
16 | theLAKER president’s report to the community Most popular programs in fall 2022 HEALTH CARE, TECHNOLOGY LEAD STUDENT CHOICES Health Care Studies Business Administration Networking and Cybersecurity Engineering Science Psychology Computer Science Registered Nursing Horticulture Teaching Assistant Kinesiology and Human Performance Health care and technology programs were the top choices of students in FLCC associate degree programs in 2022. Last fall, a total of 361 students were enrolled in health care studies, a transfer degree designed to serve as a foundation for a wide range of careers in the field. The new cannabis biology and cultivation program continues to grow with enrollment rising from 21 in the fall of 2020 to 77 in fall 2022. A viticulture and wine technology certificate program also opened in 2020, providing a shorter, flexible version of the two-year degree program for those who already have a degree and want to jump into the wine industry. New this fall, FLCC has begun to offer microcredentials, which allow students to take two to five courses in a focus area of a particular discipline. For example, the cloud computing microcredential prepares students for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner and the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator certification exams. The Workforce and Career Solutions Office, which manages short-term education and training programs, has received a $75,000 grant from the SUNY High Needs program. This competitive grant covers costs for academic programs that address specific workforce needs. FLCC will use the funds to start a sterile processing technician program, also called a medical equipment preparer, in late 2023 or early 2024. CREDIT PROGRAM BREAKDOWN Nursing is consistently among the top 10 most popular programs at FLCC. The new Sands Family Center for Allied Health expands the College’s capacity to take more students. As of January 2023, FLCC accepts new students in both fall and spring. The College previously accepted up to 80 students every fall. It can now accommodate 64 in the fall and 64 in the spring. photo by rikki van camp Transfer degrees (A.A., A.S.) Applied degrees (A.A.S) Certificates 5% 33% 62% Most students enroll in associate in arts or associate in science degrees, which are designed to transfer to four-year schools. Associate in applied science degrees are built primarily to prepare students for the workforce; however, several also allow for transfer. For example, FLCC has an articulation agreement to transfer the A.A.S. Networking and Cybersecurity two-year degree to the SUNY Albany bachelor’s program in informatics. Students enroll in certificate programs to qualify for employment in less than a year.
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