BMCC Community,
I wish to thank all of you for continuing to share your interest and enthusiasm for The President’s Fund for Excellence and Innovation (PFEI).
As I have communicated previously, the PFEI was established after BMCC was awarded a $30-million gift by Ms. MacKenzie Scott, philanthropist and author, in December 2020. The fund will support and allow for strategic investment in innovative projects, initiatives, and programming that advance the College’s mission, moves BMCC towards realization of the vision, and honors Ms. Scott’s desire to focus on basic needs, equity and inclusion, economic mobility, and support for the demographic population served by BMCC/ minoritized communities.
I am pleased to share the process in which BMCC will support proposed projects and ideas is evolving and moving forward. The PFEI Steering Committee has established three focus committees to review letters of intent and proposals submitted for funding consideration. We received almost 100 names from faculty, staff, and students who have expressed membership interest in one of three committees: Teaching and Curriculum Initiatives, Innovative Programs, and Transformational Student Support. In addition, College Council, the college-wide governing body, was invited to vote for six of its members, excluding members of the senior administration (President’s Cabinet), to be considered for membership on one of the three focus committees.
The results are in, and I am proud to announce the membership of the PFEI focus committees:
Teaching and Curriculum Initiatives
James Berg (Academic Affairs) co-chair
Lesley Rennis (Health Education) co-chair
Patricia Matthews (Ethnic and Race Studies)
Harry Mars (Student Activities)
Bryan Dowling (Institutional Effectiveness and Analytics)
Elizabeth Jaffe (Mathematics)
Sharon Avni (Academic Literacy and Linguistics)
Innovative Programs
Christopher Shults (Institutional Effectiveness and Analytics) co-chair
Jean Amaral (Library) co-chair
Louis Chan (Public Affairs)
Judith Anderson (Ethnic and Race Studies)
Sara Crosby (BMCC Learning Academy)
Greer McPhaden (Academic Affairs)
Rifat Salam (Social Sciences, Human Services and Criminal Justice)
Transformational Student Services
Michael Hutmaker (Student Affairs) co-chair
Allana Burke (Academic Advisement and Transfer Center) co-chair
Gina Cherry (Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Scholarship-CETLS)
Rigoberto Andino (Ethnic and Race Studies)
Alfonso Bravo (Academic Affairs)
Heidi Durkin (Office of Accessibility)
Shoba Bandi-Rao (Academic Literacy and Linguistics)
Committee co-chairs will be engaging their committee members to begin reviewing the more than 60 letters of intent that were received. The notification process to individuals and teams who submitted letters of intent will move forward in the coming days.
I am overjoyed to see our college community sharing ideas and exploring innovative ways to apply Ms. Scott’s generous gift toward student retention and the enhancement of our wonderful institution.
Sincerely,
Anthony E. Munroe
President, Borough of Manhattan Community College
