LaGuardia Community College

LaGuardia Community College

Type	Community college, Public
Established	1968
President	Dr. Gail O. Mellow
Location	Long Island City, Queens , New York , United States
Campus	Urban
Website	laguardia.edu

LaGuardia Community College of the City University of New York is named for Fiorello H. LaGuardia, New York City's New Deal mayor, who united and inspired a city of immigrants.  Located at a transit hub that links Queens, the most ethnically diverse borough, with the world center of finance, commerce and the arts, the college provides access to higher education and serves New Yorkers of all backgrounds, ages and means.

LaGuardia Community College is committed to:

• Offering career, as well as liberal arts and science curricula, developmental education and transfer preparation, cooperative education internships, continuing education classes, and training programs serving individuals, businesses and public agencies;
• Responding creatively to changes in student population, technology, and the global economy;
• Providing extensive support services and opportunities for a highly diverse student population;
• Upholding high standards through a focus on program assessment and innovative approaches to teaching andlearning;
• Maintaining a dedicated, highly qualified faculty and staff, while promoting their professional development;
• Preparing students to become full participants in the economic and civic life of the city, the nation, and the world;
• Cultivating partnerships with business, community groups, government, and public schools to enhance the economic, social, cultural, and educational development of Western Queens and New York City.

Programs

LaGuardia offers programs leading to three degrees which are: Associate in Arts (AA), Associate in Science (AS), and Associate in Applied Science (AAS).

Many students, upon completing studies at LaGuardia, transfer to four-year institutions to attain a bachelor's degree. LaGuardia offers lower college tuition costs, when compared to other colleges in New York City. The school also offers continuing education programs.

Corruption and Dissent

LaGuardia has had difficulties in achieving its declared goals. This has been particularly evident in its troubled Mathematics Department. Thus, while the national average cutoff Compass test score for pre-algebra is 43 and for algebra is 45, these cutoff scores at LaGuardia are 30.

Perhaps the clearest example of this department's difficulties and LaGuardia's problems in dealing forthrightly with them was the so-called booze-for-grades scandal. In 2006, Elvin Escano was arrested and indicted on 137 charges of taking bribes to use his connections in the Registrar's Office to tamper with students' grades. LaGuardia's President Gail Mellow instructed the college's staff and faculty not to respond to press requests for comments, but to refer all comments to the college's spokesman, Nathan Dickmeyer. The Registrar's Office came under new management, but there was no public investigation of this crime, and Mr. Escano never went to court.

An expose of dubious practices in LaGuardia in general and the Mathematics Department in particular have been published in the now-retired Dr. Martin Millman's blog.

External links

• LaGuardia Community College Official Site
• LaGuardia Corruption Dissident Site