By Peter Sorkin
Gail Mellow, the new president of LaGuardia Community College, does not try to hide her enthusiasm about her new workplace.
“I believe that this is the best community college in the country,” said Mellow, who was president of Gloucester County College in Sewell, N.J. and has been involved with two-year education programs for 20 years. “I have been at other institutions, but I have never seen one better.”
Of course, even the best can be better, and Mellow wants to bring in new and improved programs for the diverse student population at LaGuardia, and build up relationships with local business.
“I like to think of our students as a human Internet,” she said. “The dot-coms really need space and it's very difficult to get real estate. I think there's a real opportunity for LaGuardia. LaGuardia will move very aggressively to support the high-tech development.”
With 9,600 full-time students and about 6,000 part-time students, LaGuardia caters to many who have come to Queens from countries around the globe. Some 100 languages are spoken by students who hail from nearly 140 countries, she said.
“It's a real confluence of energy,” Mellow said. “We must embrace multiculturalism. I want us to focus on what it means to be the 'World Community College' and how we need to think about ourselves and our students in order to provide a college education that works for this specific population.”
Mellow took over the position from interim President Roberta S. Matthews, who had served since September 1999 following the retirement of Raymond C. Bowen.
It is the second go-around for Mellow at LaGuardia. In 1996, she served as senior administrator for curriculum and pedagogy before leaving to fill the vacancy at Gloucester.
Her new post is “the job of my dreams,” Mellow said. “Queens is the most diverse county in the world and LaGuardia Community College has enormous potential to serve western Queens and carry on its tradition of excellence.”
Mellow, who received an associate's degree in liberal arts from upstate Jamestown Community College, said graduating from a community college opened doors for her. In 1972, she was forced to withdraw as a freshman at the University of Michigan because her family had financial difficulties.
After returning to Jamestown, her hometown, she found a full-time job selling newspaper advertising. She also enrolled full time at Jamestown CC, where she worked toward her associate's degree by taking classes in the evening and on weekends. Mellow said the college's flexible schedule enabled her to be a full-time student.
She went on to earn her bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Albany, and her master's degree and doctorate from George Washington University.
Mellow said she envisions a two-way partnership with new businesses.
“We will provide the education and training for their work force to expand their economic viability, and as they learn and develop new high-tech applications, we can funnel that knowledge back into our curriculum development,” she said. “In that way LaGuardia can stay current with the accelerating cycles of technology's development. We will prepare the next generation of employees.”
LaGuardia, the new president said, can be effective in three ways: by working closely with junior and senior high and college students who already attend, by developing innovative programs to help students prepare for college, and by contributing to the economic development of western Queens.
“There are ways in which the college will really be able to develop the skills for the jobs that will happen tomorrow,” she said. “Education is the gateway for people's lives.”
Reach reporter Peter Sorkin by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 155