ECC Fall Newsletter 2014

TODAY

Giving kids a smile | See page 5

Fall 2014

ECC partners with Buffalo’s HarborCenter ECC listed among most affordable | Page 1

ECC earns Preservation Award | Page 2

Alumni Spotlight | Page 6

With New York State’s lowest net price among two-year colleges, ECC allows students to earn career-focused college credits without drowning in debt.

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ECC listed again among most affordable U.S. colleges rie Community College has been recognized again nationally for something Western New Yorkers have always been familiar with: its affordability.

The U.S. Department of Education’s College Affordability and Transparency Center included ECC on its latest list of the most affordable public two-year colleges in the country, based on tuition, fees and average net price—the cost of attendance after considering all grant and scholarship aid—charged to students. The three-campus college appears among 77 two-year colleges across the U.S. with the lowest average net price. Based on numbers obtained before the 2012-13 academic year, ECC’s net cost of

ECC, TSA honor first partnership program graduates

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$2,980 per year is tops in New York State and ranks 37th overall. (The national average is $7,163.) Also noted is that 85% of ECC students received some sort of college aid, considerably high among the school’s comparable state and national peers.

“This is great news, and yet another example of how ECC is gaining national recognition for its education,” said President Jack Quinn. “We’ve been committed to keeping costs low and aid available for our students, and we’ll continue to do so without sacrificing the college’s career-focused curriculum that’s noted throughout SUNY and beyond.”

This past summer, Erie Community College and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) honored its first class of graduates from their Homeland Security training partnership with a ceremony held at the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is partnering with community colleges to provide the airport staffs throughout the nation the opportunity to work toward a TSA Certificate of Achievement in Homeland Security and/or Associate Degree in Homeland Security or a related field. The TSA launched the program in 2008—with airports and community colleges in locations like Baltimore, San Antonio and Washington, D.C.—to determine the best approach to educating employees while causing minimal interruption to their work schedule. In spring

The College Affordability and Transparency Center includes information for students, parents, and policymakers about college costs at America’s colleges and universities.

According to their website, the Center’s lists are generated using data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

IPEDS is a mandatory data collection for institutions that participate in or are applicants for participation in any federal student financial aid program authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 USC 1094, Section 487(a)(17) and 34 CFR 668.14(b)(19)).

2013, ten new airports joined the Associates Program including Buffalo-Niagara International Airport along with its college partner, Erie Community College. In its first year, ECC honored 10 program grads with a TSA Certificate of Achievement and has encouraged all to use their credits toward either an associate or bachelor’s degree.

Only 16 percent of TSA screeners have an associate degree or higher. With this program, TSA officers are exposed to college-level education; how it helps improve their job performance; teaches them about the history of and need for Homeland Security; and motivates them to continue their education.

As of spring 2014 there are 152 airports with 89 partner colleges participating in the program. There are currently over 4,700 students enrolled nationally.

ECC earns Preservation Buffalo Niagara award for restoration of City Campus

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rie Community College was recently awarded the first Peter B. and Genevieve R. Flickinger Stewardship Award for the restoration of the school’s iconic 1901 City Campus Building at Preservation Buffalo Niagara’s 6th Annual Preservation Awards Ceremony and Luncheon at Kleinhans Music Hall.

The over $11 million preservation project (which began in 2010) included replacement of the one-time Buffalo Post Office building’s roof; granite and mortar repair of the building’s towering exterior; replacement of the stone walls and cast iron porte cochere at the college’s Oak Street loading dock; restoration of fourth floor art glass; replacement of the entire building’s windows and window frames; and

ECC The iconic Old Post Office Building was built in

1901 The Old Post office building became home to ECC in

1982

installation of four copper rooftop finials—which haven’t set atop the building since before 1980.Along with assistance from Erie County, ECC officials collaborated with Flynn Battaglia Architects, Picone Construction, Grove Roofing, Morris Masonry, and Jens Glass to complete a project ECC President Jack Quinn believes is vital to City Campus’s future and downtown Buffalo’s current resurgence.

“Our City Campus building is a centerpiece of Buffalo’s higher education and architectural history,” said Quinn. “To see it restored to its current glory gives students a beautiful building to call home, and gives this region’s residents another landmark to be proud of.”

As noted in the Preservation Awards Ceremony program, “the restoration of Erie Community College’s Old Post Office Building to its grandeur of the early 1900s epitomizes the definition of adaptive reuse and patient stewardship.”

After Post Office operations moved elsewhere in 1963, the Gothic Revival-style building—with its mansard roofline, carved exterior gargoyles and 244-foot tower—was open to become home to ECC in 1982. Now, its City Campus Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and has been gloriously restored to stand tall as one of Buffalo’s architectural gems.

Pictured above: One of ECC’s four restored rooftop finials (left); ECC City Campus in the early stages of restoration (center); and President Quinn joins project representatives at the Preservation Buffalo Niagara’s Preservation Awards ceremony (upper right).

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HARBORCENTER announces partne arborCenter and Erie Community College are heading into the Fall 2014 semester primed with a partnership that’s made HarborCenter the home of ECC Kats hockey, beginning with the 2014-2015 season.

“Welcoming the ECC Kats Hockey Program further affirms our commitment to hockey development,” said John Koelmel, President of HarborCenter. “It is our goal to improve hockey at all levels. With the help of our state of the art facilities, ECC will be able to offer its student athletes a high level opportunity that far exceeds a typical junior collegiate hockey program. We’re proud that ECC will be able to better serve their students and the community at HarborCenter.”

"On behalf of the students, faculty and administration of Erie Community College, I'd like to thank John Koelmel, Nik Fattey and the rest of the HarborCenter team for making this partnership a reality,” said ECC President Jack Quinn. “ECC, whether with our picturesque City Campus or career-focused students, has always had a strong presence in downtown Buffalo. But to be involved with one of the most impressive developments in this city's history just takes that presence to another level."

The ECC Kats Hockey Program currently competes in Region III of the National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association (NJCAA) and is an independent member of the American 3

Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA).

Under NJCAA rules, the program competes in a total of 26 regular season games against both Region and ACHA teams. The Kats won a national championship in 2011.

"The Erie Community College Athletic Department and Kats Hockey Program are extremely excited to be involved with the opening of HarborCenter,” ECC Athletic Director Peter Jerebko added. “ECC enjoys a tremendous tradition in junior college hockey.

I'm confident that our reputation in and around Western New York will only be enhanced as our coaches can now show future ECC hockey players such an outstanding facility we can call home for many years to come."

“We’re pleased to welcome ECC’s tradition to HarborCenter,” said Vice President and Director of Hockey Nik Fattey. “In addition to our partnerships with Canisius College Hockey and the Buffalo Junior Sabres Youth Organization, The Rinks at HarborCenter will also now be home to high end junior college hockey.”

Scheduled to open this fall, HarborCenter will be home to two NHL size ice surfaces, with a seating capacity of 1,800 on Rink 1 where ECC will play, the Academy of Hockey, IMPACT Sports Performance training facility, (716) Food And Sport restaurant, a one of a kind Tim Hortons Café and Bake Shop, and a 750 space parking ramp. A 205 room, fullservice Marriott Hotel will open in the complex in the spring of 2015.

rship with Erie Community College

“ECC, whether with our picturesque City Campus or careerfocused students, has always had a strong presence in downtown Buffalo. But to be involved with one of the most impressive developments in this city's history just takes that presence to another level."

- Jack Quinn, President of ECC

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ECC dental students to help local children on Give Kids a Smile Day As part of their Spring 2014 semester, fifty Erie Community College Dental Hygiene students utilized Getzville’s Just 4 Me Pediatric and Adolescent Dental Care offices to provide free dental care to several hundred children from Erie and Niagara County as part of the American Dental Association-sponsored Give Kids a Smile Day. The ADA’s nationally recognized day— now in its 12th year—is a promoted dentistry initiative to bring disadvantaged children into dental offices for free

treatment. Many have never been to a dentist before. But in partnership with Just 4 Me dentist and ECC Distingushed Alumnus Dr. Marti Peterson, the college’s senior dental students provided cleanings and information about dental care to a day’s worth of new patients.

“It was a great opportunity to not only give our students an on-site learning opportunity, but also to service our surrounding communities,” said ECC President Jack Quinn, who stopped by to observe and honor the day with those training for careers in the dental field.

“These students are the future of Western New York, so to have them so invested in the region makes that future look very bright.”

ECC’s Dental Hygiene students usually perform such free services for adults at their North Campus clinic. Through the fall and spring semesters, students apply classroom lessons about preventive care by assisting local patients with cleanings, x-rays and cancer screenings.

Dental Hygiene FREE Clinic The Erie Community College School of Dental Hygiene offers its services to the community at no charge, and are provided at North Campus by ECC Dental Hygiene Program students. Patient visits are under the supervision of licensed dental hygienist and dentists.

• Oral health care instruciton • Dental x-ray films • Fluoride treatments and sealants

• Scaling and polishing • Dental exams • Oral cancer screening

Appointments and Information:

851-1336 • www.ecc.edu 5

CNC Precision Machining teams with Erie 1 BOCES to offer students college credits With Western New York’s advanced manufacturing sector becoming a vital part of the region’s resurgence, trained professionals are needed to surge the sector forward. As leaders in career-focused education, ECC and Erie 1 BOCES are currently training students to fill these positions, and have now formed a partnership to introduce even more candidates to these professional opportunities.

Beginning this fall, up to 12 WNY high school students will be accepted into the new one-year Manufacturing Technology program at Erie 1 BOCES. These students will attend classes at Buffalo’s Harkness Center and at ECC North, where students will be registered for a total of four courses within ECC’s CNC Precision Machining Certificate Program (totaling eight credits). Classes will be attended over two semesters to complete the requirments of the Erie 1 BOCES program.

The ECC/Erie 1 BOCES collaboration will involve up to 12 students each academic year.

After these groups of students complete their ECC credit hours, they’ll be encouraged to complete the 16 remaining credit hours required to earn their CNC Precision Machining Program Certificate following their high school graduation. This will enable students to pursue advanced manufacturing careers, ones that are a focus at ECC and of the WNY Regional Economic Development Council.

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Alumni Spotlight

ECC student earns national opticianry award Erie Community College student Eric Lindbloom was recently honored as the Vision of Hope Foundation’s winner of the 2014 HOYA Student to Leadership Contest at the Opticians Association of America’s State Leadership Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.

An Alden resident, Lindbloom took top honors amid a field open to all second-year opticianry students of NFOS schools by creating a PowerPoint presentation on the topic of “How We Can All Become Leaders in the Optical Field.” Lindbloom’s awardwinning presentation was not only deemed impressive among his fellow conference attendees, but also a sign of things to come by the opticianry field’s current leadership.

“Eric is an exceptional young man whose future is as bright as they come,” said Chris Allen, OAA’s executive director. “The future of the profession of opticianry will be guided by individuals like Eric, and after meeting this leader I can confidently say that our profession is in very capable hands.”

OAA’s State Leadership Conference is the premier networking opportunity for the Opticianry Industry. The event provides leaders from all over North America time for direct, personal contact with industry leaders, giving those leaders the opportunity to ask meaningful questions, view and discuss the issues facing the industry, and strengthen their professional relationships.

Established in 1926, the Opticians Association of America (OAA) serves as the only national organization representing opticianry's business, professional, educational, legislative and regulatory interests. For more information about the Vision of Hope Foundation and its mission to provide vision for the needy; one pair of glasses at a time through education, leadership and mission work, please contact the OAA office at 3740 Canada Road, Lakeland, TN 38002, 901.388.2423, chris_allen14@att.net, or www.oaa.org.

Jerry Sheldon ‘75 • Jennifer Shalik ‘05

lumni and 2015 Celebrate ECC co-chairs Jerry Sheldon and Jennifer Shalik are perfect examples of Western New York leaders whose path to success started inside community college classrooms.

Sheldon followed his Associate in Applied Science Degree in Civil Technology from Erie Community College (’75) with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Michigan Technological University and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Purdue University. Jerry is now the owner of steel fabricator Lancaster Tanks & Steel Products, but is also extremely active in the community not only as volunteer but as a leader who ensures the success of every endeavor he encounters. Such dedication and determination not only earned Sheldon a Distinguished Alumni Award at 2012’s Celebrate ECC event, but also makes Sheldon a shining example of the college’s best.

Shalik transitioned from an Associate Degree in Liberal Arts (’05) to dual Bachelor of Arts degrees from SUNY at Buffalo’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Her career experience has been primarily in the healthcare industry, from managed care with Independent Health, to working as a special projects coordinator with Horizon Health Service. Currently, she is working on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus for Onco360, providing Oncology Pharmacy Solutions to nationally recognized cancer centers across the United States. Shalik’s drive and compassion are now actively involved with ECC alumni events like Celebrate at ECC, and also provide another inspiring example of how students can truly start here—and go anywhere.

Savings earned after one year at ECC Versus a public four-year college: $4,034 Versus a private four-year college: $25,235 *Information from College Board’s Trends in Pricing, 2013-14

Distinguished Alumni nominations sought for 2015 Celebrate ECC The ECC Foundation is accepting nominations for this year’s Distinguished Alumni Awards, to be presented at Celebrate ECC on Thursday, March 12, 2015 at the City Campus Atrium. The Distinguished Alumni Awards are presented annually to ECC graduates who have achieved success in their chosen careers and have made significant contributions to the community. For more information or to submit a nomination, please contact the Alumni Office at 716-851-1999 or alumni@ecc.edu or visit www.ecc-foundation.com.

Deadline for nominations is October 10, 2014.

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n behalf of the students, faculty and staff of Erie Community College, I would like to thank you for reading about some of our recent achievements. Since arriving at this venerable institution in 2008, I’ve been consistently amazed at not only the good news we’ve been able to share, but also at the focused educational and professional opportunities we’re able to provide for incoming students, year after year.

We offer more than 100 degree and certificate programs in the areas of Business and Public Service, Health Sciences, Liberal Arts, and Engineering and Technologies, designed by an award-winning faculty with the purpose of advancing students forward. Our three-campus college provides an accommodating environment, and is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s top associate degree producers—as well as the number one choice of Western New York high school students and veterans.

According to the U.S. Department of Education’s College Affordability and Transparency Center, our college’s average net price is the lowest in New York.

Students can enter ECC, endure through their first college classes, then continue toward a one-year certificate, two-year degree, or utilize our comprehensive transfer agreements with a litany of colleges or universities—all while saving on tuition costs. How much can a student save by attending ECC? Check the average public and private tuition costs listed to the right.

Compare these totals with the cost of a year at our college—taking the same classes offered at a traditional four-year—and you’ll see why an ECC education makes sense.

Do these savings come at the expense of opportunity?

Absolutely not. Aside from our associate degree-related successes, the college boasts 26 one-year certificate programs, all crafted to train students for sustainable professions in the region. And, when it comes to connections, the college currently boasts more than 300 partnerships with area businesses like Delaware North, Moog and M&T Bank, all knowledgeable of ECC’s career-focused curriculum.

I, along with every member of our college community, am dedicated to continuing this momentum of good news. Until next semester, stay tuned for more exciting details for students interested in starting, restarting or redirecting their academic journey at Erie Community College.

Sincerely,

E RIE C OMMUNITY C OLLEGE

City Campus

North Campus

South Campus

121 Ellicott Street Buffalo, NY 14203

6205 Main Street Williamsville, NY 14221

4041 Southwestern blvd.

Orchard Park, NY 14127

(716) 851-1ECC www.ecc.edu

Sense for today.

Cents for tomorrow.

Erie Community College offers thousands of transferable courses to advance students forward—affordably.

Average tuition and fees (per year) Private four-year college: $30,094 Public four-year college: $8,893 Erie Community College: $4,859 Finally, a college plan that makes sense—and saves students plenty of cents.

Jack Quinn, President of Erie Community College ECC Today is produced by the ECC Public Relations Department.

Please contact the Public Relations Department at 851-1866 with questions, comments or submissions.