Student Success Efforts—End-of-Year Update and a Look Ahead
Dear Colleagues:
As the academic year draws to a close, I want to take a moment to share some significant
developments across Academic Affairs. These changes reflect our sustained commitment
to student success and mark the next phase of our Academic Momentum campaign. There
is a lot to cover, so I appreciate your patience with a longer-than-usual message.
EMERGE and the First-Year Experience
The EMERGE Office of First Year Experience and its Emerge, Strive, Own (ESO) student
support program were funded by a $3 million Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions
grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The federal government canceled that
grant in September 2025—an unprecedented action that cut the program short. The College
stepped in to support the program through May 2026, and I am proud of how our team
responded.
Despite the disruption, the ESO program supported more than 200 students in its first
year of operation. Equally important, the EMERGE staff never stopped building. They
revised the FYE101 curriculum, trained dozens of instructors, developed a fully online
version of FYE101 for Fall 2026, and created an FYE101E “reset” course for students
who need another opportunity to meet the graduation requirement in a meaningful way.
This is a team that refused to let external circumstances define what was possible
for our students, and their work will have a lasting impact.
Centralized Advising
Beginning this summer, advising staff from the AAIC, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and
RAM will come together in the new centralized Student Success and Advising Center
that will support all students up to 60 credits. I am pleased to announce that Bryan
Garcia has been named Acting Executive Director of this new office. I look forward
to sharing more details about the structure and transition in the weeks ahead.
I am also delighted to welcome Alex Caviedes, PhD, to his new role as Director of
Student Success Systems and Analytics. Alex will lead our implementation of EAB Navigate
360, which will eventually replace CRM Advise, and help build the data infrastructure
we need to make smarter, faster decisions on advising, course scheduling, and student
retention. This capability has been greatly needed, and I am confident Alex is the
right person to build it.
RAM Transition to Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship
The Research-Aligned Mentorship (RAM) Program has had a strong impact on our campus,
and we will build on its successes. As noted above, RAM advising will be integrated
into the high-quality advising we are offering all our Farmingdale students. The research
mentorship aspect of the program will continue through a new Office of Undergraduate
Research and Scholarship, which will focus exclusively on strengthening our support
for student research at Farmingdale. The new unit will continue to report to Dylan
Gafarian, EdD, and we will provide an update in the fall about its next steps.
Academic Policy Task Force
A new task force has been formed to develop short-term recommendations on several
fronts, including creating campus-wide degree maps, expanding summer and winter course
offerings, and piloting seven-week “minimester” general education courses. These practical,
high-impact levers will help improve student momentum, and I look forward to hearing
suggestions from the task force.
Middle States Reaccreditation
Our MSCHE Self-Study Design document is due to Middle States in mid-September 2026.
The Middle States Steering Committee, co-chaired by Susan Conforti, EdD, and Ron Jackson,
EdD, and supported by Accreditation Liaison Officer Karen Gelles, is working to have
a draft available for campus comment by mid-August. Our site visit is scheduled for
Spring 2029. Reaccreditation is a significant institutional undertaking, and I am
grateful to everyone who will contribute to this work in the months ahead.
Tutoring through CAST
As of fall 2026, all tutoring, including mathematics, will be offered in the Center
for Academic Success and Tutoring (CAST) on the third floor of Greenley Hall. Students
can book appointments in advance online, or stop by for both on-campus and online
appointments. Students also have access to 24/7 online tutoring through NetTutor.
CAST also provides writing support and academic coaching, and will now extend academic
support services to students who are currently on academic suspension and hope to
return to FSC. Summer tutoring is available Tuesday through Thursday until August
5.
Student success doesn’t happen in isolation, and none of it happens without you. Each
advising session, classroom exchange, and obstacle you remove through your efforts
is vital to supporting student success. I am grateful to be part of a community that
takes this work seriously.
I wish you all a restful and restorative summer.
Go Rams!
Sean Lane, PhD
Senior Vice President and Provost
