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Academic Honors - A number of our students recently earned remarkable academic awards. Congratulations to the Applied Mathematics program. Its student team placed first at the SCUDEM IV (SIMIODE Challenge Using Differential Equations Modeling) competition held at New York City College of Technology. The FSC team members—Anthony Ercolano, Anthony Porras, and Henry Zaradic—competed against teams from Hofstra, City Tech, and NYU. It's interesting to note that NYU fielded four teams and its Applied Math program is considered among the nation's best.
In addition, one of our Professional Communications students, Shamecqua Moore, was selected as the second-place winner of the inaugural A More Perfect Union student writing contest, hosted by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) American Democracy Project (ADP) and The New York Times. Her essay entitled "Nobody's game: Gun violence while politicians play the blame game" did an exceptional job of addressing what it means to be civically and politically informed and engaged. As the second-place winner, her essay will be posted in The New York Times' Education section and on the AASCU ADP website.
Winter Commencement - Our winter 2019 graduation ceremony will be held on Wednesday, December 18th at 11am. I hope you will join us. Our graduates really appreciate the faculty and staff involvement in the ceremony. You are the people who helped our students realize this life changing goal. Professor Lou Scala, Aviation Administration, will be our grand marshal.
The Value of a Farmingdale Degree - We continue to find that external organizations and independent sources validate the value of an FSC degree and the return on investment for our graduates. The Wall Street Journal surveyed federal data and compared the first-year earnings of college graduates with the amount of federal student-loan debt owed by these students.
The Journal report examined 16 FSC degree programs. In every instance, Farmingdale graduates' first-year dollars earned exceeded student debt owed. Among the programs evaluated were Medical Laboratory Science, Business Management, Construction Engineering Technology, Applied Psychology, Aviation, Criminal Justice, and Nursing.
Nursing topped the list of earnings-to-debt ratio ($90, 900 vs. $19,371), followed by Medical Laboratory Science ($65,500 vs. $22,129) and Construction Engineering Technology ($57,800 vs. $16,981). In only three of the 16 programs did Farmingdale grads begin their careers with more than $20,000 in student loan debt.
Researchers at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce recently used newly released federal data to calculate return on investment for 4,500 U.S. colleges and universities. Farmingdale had a very high ranking based on the methodology used in Georgetown's A First Try at ROI: Ranking 4,500 Colleges study.
Study Abroad - The opportunity to study abroad is considered among the high impact practices that can have lasting benefit to students. Providing these opportunities presents many challenges. Our students generally have modest means and we know that 70% work while they attend college. The College is willing to provide financial support for study abroad opportunities. Students seem particularly interested in opportunities that are credit bearing and faculty led. A recent FEC meeting included a conversation with members of the International Education Committee on ways to expand study abroad and further internationalize the Farmingdale experience.
Enrollment Management - Nearly every college and university in the northeast is facing a significant enrollment challenge. The number of high school graduates is declining. Only about 10 SUNY colleges—including FSC—experienced enrollment growth in fall 2019. Given the changes ahead, an Enrollment Management Working Group including members from the college-wide Admission and Academic Standards Committee, admissions staff, Student Affairs, and others will identify strategies to sustain modest enrollment growth and improve retention in the years ahead.
Foundation - As you know, fundraising has long been an area of concern. The College Foundation has recently taken some steps forward. In recent weeks, the Foundation has revived its annual report, is now engaged in the nation-wide Giving Tuesday, and recently provided donors with detailed reports on the status of their gifts and profiles on the students that their scholarships support. In addition, the Foundation Board is beginning an internal solicitation of its members.
Campus Holiday Party - The end of the semester is a fitting time to celebrate the spirit of the season with friends and colleagues. Please join us at the campus holiday party on December 12th from 3pm to 5pm. As always, the event will be in the Campus Center Ballroom.
John Nader
President
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