About Hudson Valley Community College

Statement of Commitment

Hudson Valley Community College is committed to providing caring, personal, high-quality service at a reasonable cost to support students’ success in reaching and raising their goals.

Mission Statement

Hudson Valley Community College provides transformative, student-centered and high-quality educational opportunities that address the diverse needs of local and global communities.

Vision Statement

Deliver what the future demands. Hudson Valley Community College will meet the educational needs of a rapidly transforming world by leading today and anticipating tomorrow.

Core Values

LEADS – Leadership, Excellence, Accessibility, Diversity, Service

Hudson Valley Community College is committed to: LEADERSHIP.

Hudson Valley provides rigorous academic curricula and challenging co-curricular opportunities to promote the development of leadership qualities in students and to facilitate leadership development among faculty, staff, and students. Whether in our classrooms, labs, online environment, or throughout the Capital Region, Hudson Valley faculty, staff, and students lead the higher education landscape while developing the next generation of global citizens.

Hudson Valley Community College is committed to: EXCELLENCE.

Hudson Valley’s commitment to excellence impels faculty, staff, and students to consistently strive for outcomes that are exemplary rather than simply satisfactory. This striving for excellence touches on all aspects of life at our institution, from academic programs (oncampus, online, off-campus) to our environment, from student services to athletics, from publications to our daily activities. We celebrate our achievements and contributions to the greater society.

Hudson Valley Community College is committed to: ACCESSIBILITY.

Accessibility to high-quality education is vital to the growth and prosperity of the local, national, and international communities. Hudson Valley provides educational access to a diverse community of traditional and non-traditional learners in an environment that fosters lifelong learning and freedom of inquiry and expression.

Hudson Valley Community College is committed to: DIVERSITY.

Each individual must be able to work and learn in an atmosphere of respect, dignity, and acceptance. Our commitment to diversity requires each of us to continuously ensure that our interactions are respectful, protect free speech, and inspire academic freedom. Hudson Valley values equity, inclusion, and dignity for all. We recognize that our differences make us stronger. We take action when we observe someone being treated unfairly or in a demeaning manner.

Hudson Valley Community College is committed to: SERVICE.

Meaningful service to students is at the center of life at Hudson Valley, as is service by students, staff, and faculty to our greater community. We share skills and expertise to assist others through campus clinics, off-campus internships, service learning, and numerous volunteer opportunities to extend the culture of service well beyond our campus.

Historical Preamble

The college was created to respond to the needs of Rensselaer County and other nearby counties following World War II, and after the closing of the Veteran’s Vocational School in 1953. At first, the college’s programs were largely technical, but by 1960 the first science, business, and liberal arts programs were added. In the decades since, the college has steadily increased its offerings, both in degree and certificate programs, so that it is now comprehensive in its majors and mission.

Since its inception in 1953, Hudson Valley Community College has been sponsored by Rensselaer County under the supervision of the State University of New York. As one of the 30 community colleges in the state, all of its programs are registered and approved by the New York State Department of Education* with the authority to award certificates and associate’s degrees in arts, science, applied science, and occupational studies.

Hudson Valley Community College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Commission on Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation. Many of the college’s academic programs are also accredited by specialized national professional accrediting associations.

In 1966, the college began administering the Capital District Educational Opportunity Center to better serve the needs of the community.

* New York State Education Department Office of Higher Education and the Profession’s Cultural Education Center, Room 5B28, Albany, NY 12230, (518) 474-5851

Goals and Objectives

1. To enhance and promote excellence in teaching and learning.

1.1 To support faculty with the necessary resources for professional and personal development.
1.2 To provide the necessary resources to meet the dynamic learning and developmental needs of our students.
1.3 To develop, encourage and support effective and innovative teaching and learning environments and approaches that will assist the college in adapting to changing student academic needs.
1.4 To increase and strengthen transfer opportunities with educational institutions and affiliations with educational partnerships.
1.5 To explore all new educational delivery and related administrative systems.
1.6 To assess effectiveness in the teaching and learning environment.
1.7 To ensure that the goals and standards of the college’s academic programs are achieved.
1.8 To promote the maximum achievable graduation rate for students.
1.9 To provide and maintain an environment that is conducive to teaching and learning.
1.10 To develop new academic programs, new certificate programs, and/or new courses; and/or to revise current academic programs, certificate programs, and/or courses in response to identified needs.

2. To develop and support a student centered collegial environment.

2.1 To promote and provide friendly, informative and supportive services for students.
2.2 To create opportunities for student engagement and learning outside the classroom.
2.3 To develop a systematic and integrated approach to student persistence and success.
2.4 To maintain and enhance a comprehensive enrollment management system to achieve and maintain effective recruitment and retention of students.
2.5 To provide effective academic advising for all students.
2.6 To develop and maintain a comprehensive scheduling system and course schedule that is driven by student needs.
2.7 To increase awareness of student support services, policies and campus events.
2.8 To foster and promote student responsibility and involvement in his/her education.
2.9 To promote safety and civility within the college community.

3. To promote the integration of pluralism within the college community.

3.1 To develop and promote institutional programs and processes that embrace diversity.
3.2 To promote affirmative action and equal employment opportunities to increase the number of faculty and staff members from under-represented groups.
3.3 To increase the recruitment, retention, success and transfer of students from under-represented groups.

4. To create and sustain a technological environment that is supportive of academic and administrative needs.

4.1 To provide for continuous review and upgrading of technology as it serves academic and administrative applications.
4.2 To promote computer competency for students, faculty and staff.
4.3 To maintain an administrative information system that is useful, integrated and user friendly.
4.4 To provide a supportive environment for the development and implementation of distance learning opportunities.
4.5 To continue to sustain a secure and scalable technological environment that is supportive of academic and administrative needs.
4.6 To ensure data accuracy and integrity, and safeguard college’s academic and administrative records.
4.7 To develop and maintain an effective IT workforce to ensure the college’s business continuity.
4.8 To provide information storage redundancy and backup services to ensure disaster recovery

5. To maintain and improve administrative services.

5.1 To maintain and regularly assess the college’s institutional planning process.
5.2 To regularly assess the effectiveness of all areas under administrative services.
5.3 To promote communication, cooperation and shared decision making among administrative and academic departments.
5.4 To ensure fair and equitable performance evaluation, promotion and compensation systems for all faculty and staff.
5.5 To support the staff with the necessary resources for professional and personal development.
5.6 To promote a non-adversarial and collaborative approach to the bargaining process.
5.7 To provide a clean, safe and accessible environment which meets the needs of students, faculty, and staff.
5.8 To promote fiscal responsibility and accountability.

6. To develop and foster beneficial relationships with the community.

6.1 To enrich and increase administrative and academic partnerships with businesses and the community.
6.2 To promote and support departmental and college efforts that generate external revenue.
6.3 To promote the college as an exemplary educational institution through an institution-wide marketing focus, as well as a specific focus on the unique merits of each of its programs.
6.4 To promote a spirit of community service among students, faculty and staff.
6.5 To serve as a cultural, community, and civic resource for internal and external communities through both curricular and non-curricular programs and activities.
6.6 To cultivate relationships with external funding sources and actively pursue financial support for programming, goods and services not supported by the college budget.

Community Bill of Rights and Responsibilities

Hudson Valley Community College serves residents of the Capital Region and other areas in appropriate and diverse ways, striving always to improve their quality of life by offering affordable education, training and service. As a full-opportunity college dedicated to teaching and learning, Hudson Valley Community College makes it possible for every applicant to pursue an appropriate program of study. In the spirit of its mission, the Community Bill of Rights and Responsibilities states that:

All members of the college community have the right and responsibility to work and learn in a collegial setting:

• Where all members of the college community are treated with courtesy and respect;
• That has clear ethics and conduct codes with fair and consistently enforced consequences for noncompliance;
• That is safe, orderly and drug free;
• That has clearly stated, high academic standards and the instructional materials and equipment necessary to implement rigorous academic programs; and
• Where the college’s mission statement drives all academic and administrative operations and functions.

Campus Free Speech and Assembly

Below, please find the resolution outlining the guidelines regarding free speech and assembly on campus.

Resolution

WHEREAS, Hudson Valley Community College is a public college which shall make its facilities available for public discourse, subject to reasonable regulation as to the time, place and manner when its facilities may be used; and

WHEREAS the College wishes to identify a public area of the campus which will be the designated public forum to be used for the communication of ideas (“Designated Public Forum”); and

WHEREAS, the College maintains its right to designate and regulate the persons and activities permitted in areas of the campus that are deemed to be nonpublic (“Nonpublic Forum”) for the general well-being of academic, administrative and privacy purposes, it is

RESOLVED as follows:

Regulation of Time:

Black-out days: The College has “blacked-out” certain days on its calendar when the use of the campus and its facilities, including outdoor spaces are reserved exclusively for campus related activities that are at the core of its primary educational mission. During these black-out periods, no third party shall be allowed to use the Designated Public Forum for free speech purposes. The College defines the blackout periods to include the following:

1. During Spring break and the break between Summer sessions as set forth in the current academic calendar
2. During reading periods and examination periods as set forth on the then current academic calendar;
3. During graduation related activities and events, including commencements;
4. During major fall or spring campus-wide celebrations, such as speeches, concerts, weekend events, and Homecoming; and
5. During those days when the College is closed, including, but not limited to seven (7) calendar days prior to the start of the Fall and Spring semesters.

Regulation of Place:

The College designates the Student Pavilion bounded by the parking lot, Hudson Hall, the McDonough Sports Complex and Cross Road as its Designated Public Forum. The President or the Vice President for Administration and Finance may change the designation to another area of campus in order to meet the College’s operational needs and for the convenience, health, safety, and welfare of the campus community.

Regulation of Manner:

The College requires parties seeking to use the Designated Public Forum to submit an application for each use, three (3) or more business days before the use. The application shall be submitted to and the Vice President for Administration and Finance or his designee shall promulgate the form of application which shall not;

1. Inquire as to the content of the speech;
2. Charge an application fee or a fee for the use of the Designated Public Forum;
3. Impose insurance requirements;

Applicant shall be provided with, at the time of the application, a copy of the rules and regulations governing conduct on campus. Applicant shall be informed whether the application has been granted or denied on or before the morning of the requested use date. The application may be denied, for among others, either of the following reasons:

1. Space already reserved;
2. Request is for a black-out period.

If the application is denied, Applicant shall be informed of the next available date.

Applicant shall:

1. Park in the Grove lot or another area designated by the Vice President for Administration and Finance or his designee;
2. Pick up any brochures, leaflets, trash and any other debris brought onto Campus by Applicant or his/her volunteers, agents, servants or employees;
3. Not use amplification equipment, except that equipment supplied by the College and use it at a volume which will not disturb classes or business and administration functions,
4. Only occupy the Designated Public Forum between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.;
5. Be provided with a microphone/sound system, by the College, when requested for on the application, and upon approval of the Application.