Genesee Leads College Choices of Area High School Grads

Monday, August 18, 2003

Once again in 2003, the majority of the area's top high school graduates have either begun their college studies at Genesee Community College or plan to continue at Genesee Community College, the Board of Trustees learned this evening.

Using the lists of top high school graduates recently published in The Daily News and the College's own enrollment records, College officials learned that 68% of the top ten graduates in the eighteen school districts closest to the Batavia Campus had already begun their college studies at Genesee - largely through Genesee's Advanced Studies Program which serves area high school students.

The College also learned that Genesee Community College was the leading college choice among the area's "top ten" graduates. Eighteen of the area's leading students plan to continue studying at Genesee this fall. The next most popular college was the University at Buffalo, which will attract 16 of the area's leading high school graduates. Eleven graduates will pursue college study at the State University College at Geneseo.

Five of the area's top graduates have received Genesee Community College's President's Scholarship. This prestigious academic scholarship recognizes outstanding academic achievement and potential, and guarantees the payment of full tuition at Genesee.

The survey of the area's top high school graduates once again confirms that increasing numbers of outstanding students are making Genesee their number one higher education choice, according to Dr. Larene Hoelcle, Vice President for Human Resources and Planning. "As a community college, we have a mission to serve students from all segments of the community, and we do that quite well," Dr. Hoelcle told the Board. "The top students in our region can go to college virtually anywhere - 'prestigious' private colleges, ivy league schools, or other public colleges - but more and more of these students are choosing to spend their first two years of college at Genesee. The reasons are simple: the quality of our academic programs, the chance to work closely with their professors, affordability, and the numerous transfer opportunities we make available to our graduates."

Dr. Hoelcle cited Genesee's small class size - which currently averages about 22 students and rarely exceeds 32 students - as strongly influencing exceptional students to attend Genesee. "These are students who have performed well in high school," she said. "They are intellectually curious and very eager to learn. They want to participate and ask questions in class, and they don't want to sit in a large lecture hall with eighty or a hundred or two hundred other students, as is the case with so many colleges. They are amazed at the quality and the close-knit atmosphere they find at Genesee, and their parents are amazed that they save tens of thousands of dollars by choosing Genesee."

In other business this evening, the Board of Trustees:

  • Approved the granting of degrees and certificates to 81 students completing their studies this month, pending satisfactory completion of courses. One student will receive an Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree; fifty-two students will receive Associate in Science (A.S.) degrees; twenty-four students will receive Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degrees; and four students will receive certificates.
  • Approved several changes to the College's facility use fee schedule. The changes involve the use of smart classrooms, fiber optic technology, and teleconferencing. Organizations not affiliated with the College but using College facilities pay fees to reimburse the College for facility costs.
  • Heard Board Chairman Glenn R. Morton name members of various Board committees for the 2003-2004 year. Named to the Buildings and Grounds Committee were Anne M. Garlock (Chair), Kenneth A. Dodd, and Laurie J. Miller. Named to the Personnel Committee were Melvin J. Wentland (Chair) and Marcia H. Noonan. Named to the Policy Committee were James H. Hume (Chair), Mr. Morton, and Charles Ruffino. Dr. Wentland was appointed to serve as the Board's representative to the Association of Community College Trustees and the New York Community College Trustees Association. Dr. Wentland and Ms. Noonan were appointed as trustee members of the Genesee Community College Foundation's Board of Directors. Ms. Noonan was appointed as trustee member of the Genesee Community College Association's Board of Directors.
  • Heard President Stuart Steiner report that Alfred S. (Scott) Hemer was named Coordinator of the College Fitness Center, concurrent with his responsibilities as head coach of the Women's Basketball Team.
  • Heard President Stuart Steiner report that Summer 2003 semester enrollment would be the best in the College's history, with 1,267 registrants to date. Vice President for Student Services George W. Walker report that applications from prospective students for the Fall 2003 semester continue to soar. As of July 29, 2,549 individuals had applied for admission as full-time students, up 16.4% from the 2,188 students who had applied exactly one year earlier. Three hundred eighty-five students had applied for admission on a part-time basis, up 8.1% from the 356 students who had applied a year earlier. The College will probably break another enrollment record this fall, Dr. Walker said.
    • Category: 
    PR