Spring 2023 Progress
Spring 2022 Progress and Accomplishments
Collaborating, Serving, and Innovating for a Brighter and Better World
Focus Area 1: Service and the Community Matter
Goal 1: Become a leader in community service-focused higher education.
The Desmond Center for Community Engagement and Wellness (DCCEW) was established and fully staffed by March 2022. The Center hosted its first community program in April with an Earth Day themed Family Literacy & Wellness Night with the Newburgh Armory Unity Center. Local families engaged in activities facilitated by 30 MSMC nursing students and teacher candidates in education. In May, we invited the community to MSMC’s campus for Health and Wellness Week, which yielded over 60 participants from the community who came to learn about health and wellness services from community partners.
An Advisory Board of community leaders, MSMC faculty, and DCCEW staff was established to increase community interaction and align our support and resources with community needs. Efforts to increase our visibility and interaction in the local communities include the launch of the DCCEW’s webpage, digital advertising, and community canvassing in local neighborhoods, businesses, and community partner events.
Renovations continue on DCCEW’s state-of-the-art facilities located in Guzman Hall with a projected move-in date of January 2023.
Focus Area 2: Students Matter
Goal 1: Develop a collaborative and innovative approach to ensure completion of student academic and service requirements.
This spring, Student Affairs led three significant strategic changes to ensure that students have a quality Mount experience and complete their academic and service requirements. First, was the establishment of the Student Wellness Center, which now includes Health Services, Counseling, and Disabilities Services, in order to coordinate services to meet our students’ needs. Second, was the creation of a new position, Director of Student Engagement, to align with the college’s strategic plan to engage students in service-learning in all facets of academic and extra-curricular experiences. We welcome Candace White, as our inaugural Director of Student Engagement, who brings energy and experience in service-learning and student engagement approaches. Third, our Summer 2022 Freshman Orientation will introduce incoming students to the new academic and service-learning requirements as part of the revised First-Year Experience (FYE) program.
The next phase of developing a collaborative approach in Students Matter will focus on working across campus with student facing offices to evaluate the ways they interact with students. An expanded committee, led by the Assistant Vice President of Students, will develop an assessment tool that will examine how student needs are met and identify opportunities for improvement while working with these areas across campus. A specific focus of these efforts will be on the non-traditional population, as well as commuter students.
Focus Area 3: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Matter
Goal 1: Create a thriving culture of diversity, equity and inclusivity among all members of the MSMC community.
The College has named the Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion/Chief Diversity Officer. Dr. Jenifer Lee-Gonyea assumed this role July 1. We are pleased Dr. Lee-Gonyea will continue to lead our college’s efforts to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive community.
As part of our objective to improve a more inclusive marketing presence, Marketing has developed two (2) web pages in Spanish - Admissions & Financial Aid. In addition, the advertisementfor Health Week was provided in English &Spanish.
Using data on the local community, Admissions has established a Newburgh-focused recruitment goal to increase not just the number of local students, but also an emphasis on historically underserved populations.
We continue to expand our DEI learning opportunities and professional development. In March, a student event was held in Sakac Hall to explore the ways that identity-based language can harm or repair a community. "The Power of Language to Harm and to Heal" was a coordinated event between the DEI Committee, Writing Center, Marketing & Communications, and Residence Life. Additionally, Human Resources launched another campus-wide diversity training on Managing Bias that was required for all employees.
Focus Area 4: Communication Matters
Goal 1: Build a strong culture of campus synergy with highly effective community and collaboration across campus.
Prior to Spring 2022, the College Coordinating Committee gathered research to identify internal communications gaps that needed to be addressed. They included: Regular communication from leadership; better communication between departments; improved campus calendar; improved college portal; streamlining email communications; and a standardized messaging / chat platform.
In Spring 2022, we created subcommittees to develop recommendations for each of these priorities. We found that some of the solutions will need additional research before they can move forward, and that work will continue into the summer. We did implement one aspect of the plan in Spring 2022: Regular leadership updates to faculty and staff are now scheduled each semester, and several have been issued to campus so far.
Focus Area 5: Innovation and Quality Matter
Goal 1: Maintain and develop competitive academic programs.
This spring, we received New York State Education Department (NYSED) approval for our Bachelor of Science in Game Programming, preparing students for a number of career options including game developer, software engineer, graphics engineer and user interface scripter. We also received approval for a Fully Online Master of Business Administration, a 5-Year BS in Business/MBA, and 4+1 programs that are distinct degrees paired with the MBA, including degrees in Biology, Chemistry, English, and Mathematics, for students seeking preparation in business administration in their specific fields of discipline.
Goal 2: Optimize financial sustainability across campus.
The College received a Notice of Award for a 1.7 Million Dollar Federal Grant for the Nursing Workforce Diversity (NWD) program. The grant will fund Scholarships for financial assistance and 2 positions dedicated to academic support. The focus is on economically and educationally disadvantaged students that are accepted into our Nursing program. The 1.7 Million dollars in proceeds will benefit 50 students a year for 3 years.
The Office of College Advancement closed the year out on a high note as we surpassed our annual aspirational fundraising goal of $1.8 Million, excluding government grants and prior campaign pledge payments. Our second annual “Go Blue for MSMC” raised almost $80,000. New contributions from donors helped establish 11 additional scholarships totaling $176,000 and 3 estate gifts valued over $625,000. In addition to these fundraising outcomes, engagement of our advancement committee is thriving with 20 members.
Goal 3: Promote environmental stewardship.
In April, the Exploratory Committee of the Integral Ecology Project (IEP) and the Environmental Stewardship Task Force (ESTF) created a survey to gauge the community’s priorities and ideas for committing to the IEP, based on Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment, Laudato si’, and on future initiatives for promoting environmental stewardship. The survey response rate was small, but revealed that the majority of responders valued ecological goals and initiatives as important, and offered additional innovative ideas. Committee and Task Force members will relaunch the survey to the entire campus community to help guide next steps and seek additional members for the Integral Ecology/Campus Stewardship initiative.
Stay tuned for similar updates from the college’s Strategic Planning and Budgeting Committee.