Queens Borough President Donovan Richards paid a special visit to the Queensborough Community College (QCC) campus to celebrate Dr. Christine Mangino’s one-year anniversary as the school’s president on Tuesday, Aug. 17.
In honor of Mangino’s milestone Richards issued an official proclamation on Aug. 17, the same day that QCC welcomed back faculty and staff for the start of the fall semester. The school appointed Mangino as its head after a two-year-long search, making her the sixth president of the Bayside CUNY.
“Dr. Mangino is an esteemed educator, pedagogical scholar and advocate of student-centered learning. [She] has brought to Queensborough enthusiasm, excellence and commitment, and is providing our borough’s residents with access to life-changing educational opportunities,” Richards said. “I know Dr. Mangino to be a champion of student success. She is known for her innate ability to build community partnerships and she is grounded in a strong belief that community is the foundation of Queensborough.”
When Mangino was named QCC president back in June 2020, she spoke with QNS about the challenges of navigating the new role during COVID-19 and operating classes online.
“The spring semester was really about survival but now we need to make sure that students have a connection to the college, the faculty and are able to create friendships with other students,” Mangino told QNS in August 2020.
Under Mangino’s leadership over the past year QCC has earned several grants, including a NASA grant, $430,000 for behavior healthcare and new adult learners and emergency funding under the American Rescue Plan. The school has also implemented its first-ever, five-year strategic plan with a focus on “equity for all” and furthering its mission as a leading “student-ready” college.
“It was such a highly unusual environment in which to get to know everyone and to understand the culture of the college when I started because of the nature of COVID-19 and our time away from each other. But I want to say how warm, welcoming, and amazing you all are in person. Zoom does not do you justice,” Mangino said. “Thank you for doing everything you do to support our students.”
The QCC president grew up in North Merrick, Long Island, and was the first in her family to go to college. She started at Nassau Community College, then earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from Hofstra University and a doctorate in instructional leadership at St. John’s University.
Prior to coming on board at QCC, Mangino was the Provost of Hostos Community College in the Bronx, where she stayed for 16 years.
According to CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, Mangino’s personal and professional experiences throughout her career have shaped her commitment to education.
“Christine Mangino is driven by a deeply held belief in the importance of community colleges, along with her invaluable prior service at CUNY as an educator and administrator,” said the chancellor.
