Rochester-area colleges find their niche

As the new school year begins, here are some of the issues, trends and developments at local colleges and universities.

University of Rochester

UR’s first-year class — totaling 1,368 students — comes from every state but Alaska and from 90 countries. Brighton High School graduates make up the largest number, followed by students from the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa, 8,200 miles away. Under-represented minority groups make up 15 percent of the freshman class.

Not only has UR emerged as a major research university, but it is also the largest employer in the region, with a health care network that extends throughout the region.

In his Welcome Back address, UR President Joel Seligman told how Wegmans Hall and the Hajim Science & Engineering Quadrangle are near completion. The Goergen Institute for Data Science will be housed in the Wegmans building.

UR's Clinical and Translational Science Institute was recently awarded $19 million from the National Institutes of Health to continue finding ways to make medical advances in the laboratory more accessible to patients.

► MORE: Colleges playing bigger role in local communities

Among the debated issues on campus is whether any of UR’s Department of Public Safety officers should be armed. Currently, they are not, though some are trained as peace officers  — authorized to carry batons and pepper foam.

Also, the Commission on Race and Diversity that Seligman set up last November is expected to issue its final report soon.

Rochester Institute of Technology

RIT began the school year — its first classified as a "doctoral university" — with a record enrollment of almost 19,000 students.

Applications for this year’s freshman class also set a record, exceeding the 2015 level by 7 percent.

Students come from 47 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as 54 countries. Sixty-eight percent of the entering students are enrolled in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) disciplines.

Adding to RIT's status is that mathematicians and astrophysicists now with RIT correctly calculated the gravitational waves produced by the collision of two black holes.

Those calculations played an important part of a major research project that last year detected the existence of these waves. That confirmed what Einstein's General Theory of Relativity said should be created.

RIT’s Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement is coordinating a voter education and registration initiative called ROAR.  RIT President Bill Destler said that colleges take on special importance today as “models of where civil discourse can occur."

Monroe Community College

MCC has become a key player in providing skilled workers for the local high-tech economy and has been praised by Vice President Joe Biden, among others, for its efforts.

Like many community colleges that faced cuts in state aid, MCC has seen a shift to students paying for college costs to the extent that 47 percent of MCC’s revenue now comes from students.

The state pays 30.4 percent of MCC’s budget and the local share — largely Monroe County —  pays 22.6 percent.

In addition to having reorganized to provide students with more direction from faculty and staff specialists, MCC has been trying to reduce the time students spend in remedial programs.

MCC, in the spring semester, will offer a limited number of sections for students who place in remedial writing to also take a for-credit composition course. The remedial writing classes are scheduled the same days following the composition classes. That will enable students to earn college credit while the remediation class gives them additional instruction.

The new MCC downtown campus is slated to be ready next fall. It will provide meeting areas not available at MCC's Damon site, which is in rented space in the Sibley building.

St. John Fisher College

Beginning his second year in office, Fisher President Gerard Rooney said “maintaining enrollment” is one of his most important responsibilities.

The college has launched its most extensive advertising campaign in recent history, which included 50 local TV spots during the Summer Olympics. Fisher is reaching beyond its traditional market of 100 miles to include Albany.

Over the past five years, Fisher has increased its financial assistance from its endowed scholarship funds by 45 percent.

The college's student volunteer efforts now include Service Scholars, who volunteered 17,531 hours last school year.

Rooney, who came to Fisher two decades ago as dean of enrollment management, stresses the importance of financial efficiencies.

The College at Brockport

A  $3 million structural deficit has been closed at The College at Brockport. Almost half of that was achieved by paying off existing debt and the rest by belt-tightening.

The college is also strengthening its ties with other colleges, most notably with the RISE network. Funded by $650,000 from the state, the network helps provide guidance to students as they begin at the Rochester Educational Opportunity Center, progress to Monroe Community College and then transfer to The College at Brockport.

Different students are expected to progress in different degrees in the RISE pipeline but will be helped by additional counselors and advisers.

Brockport is also developing an Academic Success Center — expected to be completed in 2018 — that will bring tutoring, advising and other services under one roof.

Nazareth College

Nazareth has opened its Center for Life’s Work that tries to integrate a student’s career goals to the college experience.

Mentored career planning is integrated with a student’s major and experiential learning, which includes internships.

The cornerstone of Life's Work is to create a personal road map for a student's career.

Nazareth plans to break ground for a $16 million music performance hall in March. It will be on the east side of the Performing Arts Center and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2018.

The college's new programs include a new Master of Music in performance and pedagogy and a new program in communication sciences and disorders.

Nazareth has also received approval for a bachelor's in museums, archives and public history as well as for an undergraduate certificate program in horticulture therapy.

Roberts Wesleyan College

Roberts Wesleyan is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year by reaching its $42 million goal in the largest fundraising drive in the school’s history.

President Deana Porterfield said that the reorganization of the college into five schools a year ago “catapulted a new program review.”

This school year introduces 10 new programs that include homeland security, sports management and marketing, nursing informatics and the college’s first doctorate program in psychology.

Roberts Wesleyan has also put an emphasis on serving nontraditional students, working adults who can take courses in the evenings at Roberts Wesleyan’s satellite campuses in Henrietta or Williamsville, Erie County.

With Roberts Wesleyan now in Division II, the college's recruiting has a longer reach. Twenty-five percent of the school's students participate in athletics.

State University College at Geneseo

SUNY Geneseo President Denise Battles is beginning her second year in office working on the college's strategic plan and forging closer ties with the village.

"Everybody needs to be on the same page," said Battles.

The college has a reputation of being one of the nation's "best buys" at a time an affordable quality education is at a premium.

Two master's programs are being developed by the college in multicultural and international education, and in civic action to better prepare teachers and other graduates to address the needs and cultures of a more diverse population.

Battles is also working with local officials and businesses to look for ways to discourage underage and excessive drinking.

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

President Mark Gearan, who began his tenure in 1999 and will be leaving at the end of this school year,  has extended the reach of Hobart and William Smith Colleges deeper into the Geneva community through various programs and initiatives.

Gearan, who is a former head of the Peace Corps, has also broadened the scope of HWS' liberal arts education, with 60 percent of the students studying abroad at some point during their college career.

He has also given students, with HWS' Pathways program, more exposure to internships and career opportunities by bringing in professionals to tell about their fields of expertise.

Gearan, who served as chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service, is a firm believer that a liberal arts education best prepares graduates for the constantly changing needs of today's workforce.

Finger Lakes Community College

FLCC President Robert K. Nye, who began serving as the head of this Ontario County-based community college in July, brings 30 years of military experience to the job.

He has served in leadership positions in Afghanistan and in Iraq and in military academic programs.

Nye wants to increase FLCC's outreach to the community and to forge closer ties between FLCC's main campus in Hopewell and its satellite campuses.

Students arriving at FLCC campuses were greeted with "Welcome Home" signs.

He also wants to deepen connections with the business community.

The FLCC-G.W. Lisk Co. advanced manufacturing training program was recently given a boost by OptiPro Systems, a machine tool manufacturer and distributor in Ontario, Wayne County. OptiPro provided a computer-controlled lathe for the program.

Genesee Community College

GCC, which was established after a citizen referendum seeking such an institution, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. It's based in Batavia and has six satellite campuses.

A big initiative is establishing a Student Success Center — to be operational next fall — that will provide various services in the same building.

Success coaches are expected to know where students wanting or needing assistance can go for help

A new 1+2+1 program is in the works that will allow Genesee students to get a bachelor's of science in nursing degree by starting at Brockport for a year, then taking take two years of nursing curriculum at Genesee, before taking their last year at Brockport.

Such an arrangement would save the Genesee student money and travel time.

Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School

The Rev. Marvin McMickle, president of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, describes the state of divinity schools as "in flux."

With the decline of people who identify themselves as Christians, divinity schools have had to adjust to changing times.

Colgate Rochester, which is a graduate school with roots that date back to 1817, has adjusted to the times by tentatively agreeing to sell its 24-acres campus. School officials are looking for a site that will continue to give the school public visibility — preferably in the city of Rochester — and about 15,000 square feet of space.

The sale of Colgate Rochester's existing campus to a local company — not yet identified — could soon be finalized.

McMickle noted that Colgate Rochester, which is expected to have an enrollment in the 130 range this school year, has managed to attract more students — including some from other states — to its Doctor of Ministry program. And Colgate Rochester has also begun offering online courses as another way to bolster enrollment.

But the interdenominational inclusiveness of Colgate Rochester will not change.

"Open to all but owned by none," said McMickle.

JGOODMAN@Gannett.com