Suffolk County Community College

Infobox University
name = Suffolk County Community College


motto = Vision, Wisdom, Excellence
established = 1959
type = Co-ed two-year Public Community College
head = Dr. Shirley Robinson Pippins
city = Selden
state = NY
country = USA
undergrad = 22,092 total ^{[http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-licomm1210,0,2347602.story]}
free_label = Curricula
free = 69 Academic Programs
faculty = 453 full-time, 1,197 adjunct
campus = Suburban/Rural
colors = Blue and White
website = [http://www.sunysuffolk.edu/ SUNYSuffolk.edu]

:"For other institutions with similar names, see Suffolk College (disambiguation)Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) is a two-year public college sponsored by SUNY and Suffolk County, New York in the USA.

The college has four campuses: The main and oldest campus is in Selden, and the other three are in Brentwood, Riverhead and Sayville. Approximately 20,000 students are enrolled at the campuses. There are about four hundred faculty members. The college receives a significant amount of its operating budget from Suffolk County with a relatively small subsidy from the State University of New York. This has allowed the administration and faculty to focus local tax resources directly on this institution. The Suffolk County Legislature has been very supportive of the College with increases to operating budgets nearly meeting the requests of the College. Suffolk County residents therefore pay a substantially lower per-credit tuition rate when compared to other private colleges in the region.

It is noteworthy that class sizes are very small for such a large public institution. Faculty contracts and Administration support guarantee that students are always in classes of less than 35 students. All courses are taught by faculty members who are only committed to teaching students. This is different from most large colleges and universities where faculty are heavily judged on their outside research, publications and general stature in their fields as experts. Suffolk County Community College employs faculty that must have a minimum of a Masters degree in their field. Over the past four years, the college has focused on bringing in faculty from many of the best colleges and universities in the country typically at the doctoral level. Students can expect to receive their undergraduate studies from some of the best "teaching faculty" in the country. This is an amazing opportunity to obtain a top education at the lowest cost in Suffolk County.

SCCC offers the Associate in Arts (A.A.), Associate in Science (A.S.), and Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree, as well as a variety of certificate programs. Students may choose from 69 programs of study in the areas of business; communications and the arts; computing; health, community and human services; liberal arts/university parallel; and technical, scientific and engineering studies. It is important to note that students should be wary of taking any programs other than the A.A. or the A.S. if they wish to transfer to a four year college or university. The A.A.S. degrees are considered "terminal degrees". [ Paper on Terminal Degrees [http://www.achievingthedream.org/_pdfs/datanotes/datanotes-janfeb-2007.pdf] ] This means that they are considered the final level of the degree and are not designed to be transferred. This can be troublesome and advisors have not always explained this correctly to students, causing students to lose credits when they transfer to other institutions.

Each year, Suffolk County Community College prepares graduates to enter the work force in such marketable areas as medical records, physical therapist assistant, paralegal studies, culinary arts, graphic design, computer science, and heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration. Other students transfer to four-year colleges and universities to complete their baccalaureate degree. Suffolk graduates have gone on to study at such institutions as Columbia, Harvard, Cornell, New York University, UC Berkeley, Boston University, and the University of Pennsylvania, as well as the State University of New York.

Campuses

Ammerman

The Ammerman campus at Selden opened in 1961. It is the largest, first, and main campus of Suffolk County Community College. Located off of Nicolls Road it has become a landmark of Suffolk County. The main campus is the home to the majority of the sports teams as well. The site was previously a tuberculosis sanitarium.

Eastern

The Eastern campus at Riverhead (actually in the hamlet of Northampton with a Speonk ZIP Code ^{[http://www.newsday.com/features/printedition/longislandlife/ny-lflist08,0,2822025.story?coll=ny-lilife-print] [http://www.newsday.com/features/printedition/longislandlife/ny-lfcov08,0,5856204.story]} ) opened in 1977. On Speonk-Riverhead Road, next to Riverhead-Moriches Road (CR 51), the Eastern campus is the smallest of the three.

Grant

The Michael J. Grant campus at Brentwood opened in 1974. Surrounded by Wicks Road, Community College Drive, and Crooked Hill Road (CR 13), the Grant campus is the solo home of the lacrosse, men's & women's track & field, men's & women's bowling, and men's & women's indoor track teams.

ayville

The Sayville Downtown Center opened in 2006. It is the smallest campus.

Departments

Athletics

The Athletic program is a vital component of the college's co-curricular offerings. SCCC is a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association. Athletics are taken place on both the Ammerman and Grant campuses. Men's Intercollegiate sports teams include baseball, basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer, swimming, and tennis. Women's teams include basketball, cheerleading (co-ed), cross-country, swimming, softball, tennis, and volleyball. In addition, the office coordinates an intramural program for men and women.

The Men's Basketball team at the Ammerman Campus was the 2002-2003 and the 2003-2004 NJCAA National Champions.

The Arts

The mission of the art galleries at Suffolk County Community College is to bring outstanding local and nationally known artists and their work to the college in order to enrich the experiences of students, faculty, and the surrounding communities. The galleries also serve as a venue for the exhibition of artwork done by Suffolk's students and faculty. Receptions and lectures are usually held in conjunction with most exhibits, all of which are free and open to the public.

Computer Science & Information Technology

Formerly part of the Mathematics Division(and briefly under the thumb of Engineering),this new department is now free to chart a new course in preparing students for the opportunities in Computer Science & Information Technology. [http://www.sunysuffolk.edu/Web/Selden/Computer_Science/] Dr. Michael Russo is the Department Chair, at the Ammerman campus.

Engineering

The engineering program is very small at the College. The program is excellent and the faculty are committed to the students. Many students have gone on to study at Stony Brook University, RPI and other excellent schools. Peter Maritato is the head of the program.

Nursing

The nursing program is one of the largest two year, RN program in the country. The Nursing program is offered at the Selden, Brentwood and at the Sayville campuses. The passing rate for the Nursing boards is among the highest in New York State. The program is now partially funded by Good Samaritan Hospital in Islip NY. There is currently a severe nursing shortage in the United States. It is estimated that there is a critical need for at least 500,000 nurses with numerous openings. [The Nursing Shortage and the Role of Community Colleges in Nurse Education By Arthur Viterito and Carolyn Teich [http://www.aacc.nche.edu/Content/ContentGroups/Research_Briefs2/NursingBrief.pdf link title] ] Good Samaritan has created this program with the assistance of Executive Dean George Gatta to enable Suffolk to generate additional graduates to provide care specifically in Suffolk County. [See official minutes of the SCCC Faculty Association [http://www.fascc.org/EC/minutes0505.doc Faculty Association minutes shows funding link from Good Samaritan Hospital] ] Admissions are very competitive for this program. Students must have excellent grades and ability to gain access to this program.

Honors Program

All three campuses have an active Honors Program for students who have demonstrated academic excellence or show the promise to do so through life experience. Honors students earn their degree while taking classes with other students committed to academic success at Suffolk and beyond. Classes are an opportunity for the students to do more interesting work with exciting faculty. Classes never exceed 20 students and are often run with less. Honors Students transfer to many prestigious colleges across America and many qualify for significant merit based scholarships. Special programs and trips are run by the Honors Program and the Honors Clubs on the three campuses.

Honor Societies

SCCC has two honor societies, Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) and Alpha Beta Gamma (ABG).

Phi Theta Kappa (PTK)

PTK membership is based primarily upon academic achievement. Invitation to membership, which can only be extended through the local campus chapter at Suffolk County Community College, will open new doors for your academic journey.Local Chapters:

Ammerman Campus
*Alpha Zeta Nu (AZN)

Eastern Campus
*Alpha Eta Psi (AEY)

Grant Campus
*Alpha Delta Gamma (ADG)

Alpha Beta Gamma (ABG)

ABG is an international business honor society established in 1970 to recognize and encourage scholarship among two-year college students in business curricula.

Local Chapters:Ammerman Campus
*Chi (C)Eastern Campus
*Beta Alpha (BA)Grant Campus
*Mu (M)

External links

* [http://www3.sunysuffolk.edu Suffolk County Community College]
* [http://depthome.sunysuffolk.edu/Library SCCC Library Home Page]
* [http://suffolkhonors.pbwiki.com/ SCCC Honors Program]
* [http://www.fascc.org Suffolk Community College Faculty Association]
* [http://www.longhornsbaseball.org Official Longhorns Team Website (SCCC Baseball)]

Notes