On Thursday, October 20 I testified before the New York City Council’s Committees on Higher Education and Economic Development on CUNY’s role in preparing our city’s future workforce. The hearing gave me an opportunity to promote our career-oriented Associate degrees, such as Nursing, Physical Therapy, Computer Technology, and Paralegal, as well as the dozens of industry certification programs we have in the Adult and Continuing Education (ACE) division.

I highlighted the importance of employer partnerships, which are essential to developing training for high-demand skills. I also spoke about the LaGuardia Foundation’s ACE Scholarships and how they enable low-income New Yorkers to enroll in our non-credit workforce training programs. Though directed by the chancellor’s office to represent all of CUNY, I collapsed under the council members’ aggressive interrogation and asserted that LaGuardia was the best community college anywhere.

RegisteredNursing.org, a nursing advocacy organization, just released its annual list of Best RN Programs in New York and placed LaGuardia’s Nursing Program at the top. Programs were judged on how well they support students toward licensure and first-time NCLEX-RN pass-rates. Our last cohort of Nursing graduates achieved a remarkable 93% first-time pass-rate. The Nursing Program is a vital part of “3,000 Frontline Heroes”, LaGuardia’s ten-year campaign to graduate 3,000 Nurses, LPNs, EMTs, and Paramedics by 2027.

On October 21, an enthusiastic group of President’s Society students met with MetLife execs at the insurance giant’s Park Avenue headquarters. Our students were hosted by Marlene Debel, Chief Risk Officer, who introduced them to her colleagues, including several LaGuardia alums who work at the firm after starting there as interns. What better reminder of the importance of internships and work-based learning for our students? Big thanks to Marlene, who, despite the demands of her day job, makes time to serve on our Foundation Board and open MetLife’s doors to our eager and grateful students.

Erik Blanca-Ladino, a Music Performance major, was born in Orange County, CA, grew up in Puebla, Mexico, and then moved to Queens. Erik chose LaGuardia because of our top-shelf music program anchored by our amazing performing arts faculty. Erik is studying music theory and hopes to compose and conduct his own music someday. His dream is to work with a world-renowned choir or orchestra. Currently, Erik is working with his vocal coach, Professor Lisa DeSpain, on "Giants in the Sky," from the Stephen Sondheim musical, “Into the Woods.” Runners and walkers who turned out on Saturday, October 22 for the inaugural LaGuardia Community Run got to hear Erick perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the start of the race -- a special treat on a bright fall morning in Long Island City.

National Public Radio’s All Things Considered aired a story on October 17 recognizing LaGuardia as one of the few community colleges in the country that provide scholarships for students in non-credit workforce training programs. As NPR noted, students seeking non-credit vocational training cannot access Pell grants, the leading source of federal student financial aid. Here at LaGuardia many of these students are immigrants looking for better-paying jobs, like Haiti-native Stephane Saint-Louis, who shared his story on All Things Considered – he’s studying plumbing tuition-free because the LaGuardia Foundation gave him a scholarship. Thank you to all our donors who support this critical fund.

LaGuardia has joined 15 CUNY colleges and graduate schools to launch the CUNY LGBTQIA+ Consortium, through which faculty, staff, and students archive LGBTQIA+ history across New York and support LGBTQIA+ training, education, and programming at our colleges and grad schools. LaGuardia’s Allie Brashears is the new director of the CUNY LGBTQIA+ Consortium. Dr. Brashears is an associate professor of biology and director of LGBTQIA+ Programming at the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives, which launched the Consortium when it united the five CUNY Queens campuses under one banner at the Queens Pride Parade in 2017. President Kenneth Adams spoke at Consortium’s launch at the CUNY School of Law on Friday, September 23

This month, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs named LaGuardia Community College a Fulbright Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) Leader for the second year in a row. This designation recognizes our engagement with the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government's flagship for international educational exchange.Read more.

LaGuardia in the News

• CRAIN'S NEW YORK BUSINESS: City leaders call for civil service reforms to increase jobs
• GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY: CUNY to Use $4M in City Funding for Green Workforce Programs
• QNS: Goldman Sachs kicks off second year of workforce development program at LaGuardia Community College
• WALL STREET JOURNAL: How Goldman Sachs Found a Friend in America’s Small Businesses
• FORBES: Recognizing Hispanic Serving Institutions for Production of Fulbright Leaders
• PIX11: Hispanic Heritage Month: New college center opens for Latino students in Queens
• QUEENS GAZETTE: Honoring Exceptional Women
• MARY CHRISTIE QUARTERLY: LaGuardia’s Mental Health Peer Specialist Training Program Provides Careers and Community for People with Mental Health Conditions
• COMMUNITY COLLEGE DAILY: Craig Greene is LaGuardia's newly appointed chief diversity officer and Title IX coordinator, and Jay Golan is executive director of the LaGuardia Community College Foundation

Questions? Comments? Contact me at PresidentAdams@lagcc.cuny.edu.