Photo courtesy of JCC’s Facebook page
The beginning of the year has kicked off with events such as orientation week and an involvement fair for students.
Enrollment for the 2024-25 year has increased 10% from the 2023-24 school year, something Daniel DeMarte, college president, said is a trend in the right direction. He credited the trend to multiple things happening at the college. Freshman class enrollment increased 2%.
“This only happens because we have such good people and things going on in terms of recruitment and helping students obtain relevant jobs and more,” DeMarte said. “There’s lots that goes into it both inside and outside of the classroom.”
Crystal Rose-Williams, JCC interim associate vice president of student affairs, said that increase in enrollment comes from the college continuing to have new and engaging ideas. She added that there is a focus on engaging with students and faculty and helping them find engaging opportunities through the college. She also cited the delay from the state with FAFSA this year and how the college has worked to help students through the mess.
“We have people that are helping students work through that and we have grant funding to help while that gets figured out,” Rose-Williams said. “We have people going to high schools to help students and families to offset costs while this delay is happening and learn more about it.”
JCC reports a 10 percent increase in student enrollment for this year over last year.
Hannah Raynor, Director of Marketing and Communications, said that the college also provides help with financial aid, citing specifically the ability to hire student workers and staff for support and to help students be financially conscientious. One of the advantages of a community college, she said, is the ability to have closer engagement with students and that they serve communities in more ways than one.
DeMarte said the enrollment increase is also helped by the addition of new programs such as the Direct Support Professionals program and the correctional facility program. These and other summer programs have led to the college seeing the best summer enrollment they have had in the last ten years.
Statistics wise, this year’s JCC freshmen class has seen an increase of 2% over last year, with 388 full time students and 68 international students. The college had a large orientation event during their first weekend, and Rose-Williams said the turnout was large enough students were waiting in line to take tours in small groups around campus.
“I’m impressed with the students’ vibrancy and excitement,” Rose-Williams said. “They are a great source of energy.”
Raynor said there was a concern about students wanting to return to campus after the increase in online courses since the pandemic, and the narrative about whether or not a college degree is effective.
“There was a concern but these students show they are excited to be back and want to be in class,” Raynor said.
The school year so far has been going great, Rose-Williams said. There has already been the orientation event and a student picnic, along with the involvement fair to help students feel engaged and join multiple clubs, some of which had people at their table the entire time, Rose-Williams reported. The Rotary Club was also at the involvement fair to help students register to vote. The Olean campus had their welcome back events, and some sports games have started as well.
Overall the beginning of the year is going well for the college, and Rose-Williams said seeing this continued increase in enrollment is important for the college to help them continue to be able to sustain themselves.
“We want to offer students the best experience that we can,” Rose-Williams said. “An increase in enrollment leads to a more vibrant campus, including more people in classes and involved in campus life. More students help make college life more engaging.”
Higher enrollment also allows for the college to remain fully staffed, she added.
Raynor added to that, saying that when the college is doing good the community benefits as well. More students graduating from JCC can also lead to more qualified workers in the local workforce.
Rose-Williams said that overall there is a positive feeling, expressed both in DeMarte’s state of the college address last week and in the atmosphere on campus, about where the college is heading and where they are currently at. She added that new initiatives and partnerships allow for the college to be bigger and different than they were five or ten years ago, and credited DeMarte for his leadership.
DeMarte said that for him and the faculty, the focus is always on the students.
“One key difference here compared to others is that people care deeply about students here,” DeMarte said. “We care about who you are and what you can achieve.”
Raynor said that while she is relatively new to the college as a faculty member, having also graduated from JCC, she has seen this as well. She said faculty are very engaged with the local community and invested in them and the students.
“It’s more than education, there’s a camaraderie with the students and the faculty engage and care about our students,” Raynor said. “Faculty members can really make an impact.”