This week a ‘no confidence’ vote is expected against Monroe Community College President Anne Kress.
The resolution asks trustees to conduct a full review of Kress and her administration, and to consider the possibility of dismissals.
This is the latest in faculty complaints of declining morale and lost confidence in Kress and leadership going back several years. But it is possibly the first time a president of the college has faced such a vote.
“It is our shared opinion that the president has failed to secure even the most minimum level of confidence from the employees at Monroe Community College,” the resolution states, resulting in “an environment unconducive to the public, taxpayer-supported education of our students.”
On Monday, Kress responded with an essay, which can be read in-full at the bottom of this story. Addressing morale and the notion that MCC is ‘a mess’ Kress calls the college ‘a model’ for a number of reasons.
“Every day, we rededicate ourselves to assuring that our College does our community proud. Our students—and you—deserve nothing less,” she concluded in that essay.
Read the full-essay below:
Recently, MCC Faculty Senate President Amanda Colosimo publicly shared her opinion that our college is, in her words, “kind of a mess.” While she is entitled to express her thoughts, her comments do a terrible disservice to an outstanding and extraordinary institution.
As MCC’s president, I must speak out on behalf of the remarkable students, faculty, staff, administrators, trustees, and community and business leaders who dedicate themselves to making MCC—inside and out—a state and national leader.
The markers of our college’s quality and excellence would fill books (which could be housed in our award-winning library by award-winning librarians), so I will share just a few recent highlights.
MCC is in the top 3 percent of more than 1,100 community colleges in the country in graduating students with associate degrees.
MCC’s overall employee retention rate is 95 percent; for faculty, it is even higher, 97 percent.
MCC’s academic programs offer students incredible opportunities to expand their learning outside the classroom. Whether in robotics or drone competitions; study-abroad in Israel, Iceland, or Italy; field work in the Grand Canyon of the East (Letchworth State Park) or the Grand Canyon itself; or service learning in Rochester K-12 classrooms—our students’ experiences expand their understanding of the world and enhance their skills.
MCC led SUNY’s $14.6 million advanced manufacturing grant that trained over 3,500 NYS workers, and now leads the Finger Lakes $6 million NY Inspire grant, connecting residents to high demand, skilled employment, helping our region and local families prosper. To date, NY Inspire has trained over 766 participants.
MCC leads the state and nation in addressing real-world challenges—including food insecurity, transportation and child-care needs—that impact student success.
MCC’s Foundation, thanks to the generosity of our community, provides over $1.4 million in student scholarships annually and supports valuable programs, including Dreamkeepers financial emergency grants.
MCC’s facilities—from our Downtown Campus to our optics labs, from our theatre to our surgical technology suite, from our athletic facilities to our automotive tech labs—are state of the art. Our College is opening a new biology lab and beginning renovations of all chemistry labs, an investment in STEM that exceeds $4.7 million.
Add to this the following: MCC has one of the lowest tuition rates of all SUNY community colleges, allowing nearly half of our students to graduate with little-to-no student debt.
No, MCC is not a mess. We are a model.
Every day, we rededicate ourselves to assuring that our College does our community proud. Our students—and you—deserve nothing less.
