When Dr. Gail O. Mellow concludes her 19-year presidency at LaGuardia Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY) in August, she leaves a legacy not only for the institution, but also for community colleges across the country.
Mellow, who describes herself as “relentlessly student-focused,” began her own higher education journey at Jamestown Community College, which she says was pivotal in her career-long commitment to advancing the way community colleges connect with and serve students. She understands the drive students have despite life circumstances, financial constraints and even lack of family support.
Her leadership of this public institution that serves more than 57,000 credit and non-credit students each year is flexible and collaborative.
Supporting students means more than just tuition and books. She says that it includes childcare, MetroCards (fare for NYC mass transit) and food. LaGuardia partners with Single Stop USA, which connects students with federal and state financial resources and local community services.
“Trying to not only weave together that network of support, but frankly also diminish the stigma,” says Mellow. “Being sensitive to the challenges and the unnecessary shame that poverty invokes in students is very much a part of what we have to do.”
To be effective, Mellow says, the college has to stay closely connected to the community. Part of that involves engaging business and industry. When she visited Boyce Technology, which is located near LaGuardia in Long Island City, she learned the company was in need of qualified employees.
“We immediately connected our engineering students,” she says. “Charles Boyce, the CEO, now has eight of our LaGuardia students there. They are learning the most cutting-edge technology. They’re using laser-cutters in order to create the circuitry to create the cell towers that Verizon is using.”
