Wally Huckno thanked the Jamestown Community College Board of Trustees in his last meeting as chairman, a position he could only describe as a “terrific experience.”

Trustee Mark Ward was appointed as new the chairman of the board at Tuesday’s meeting.

The meeting, that focused primarily on enrollment and JCC’s Hispanic outreach throughout Chautauqua County, featured the appointments of new board officers. The new officers included Margaret Cornell as vice chairman, Marie Carrubba as secretary and Barbara Hastings as finance and audit chairman. Each appointment was approved for individual two-year terms.

Huckno served six years as the head of the board. Dr. Daniel DeMarte, JCC president, presented Huckno with a gift on behalf of the college and the board.

Huckno recalled being contacted by Trustee James Griffin to inquire if he wanted to become the vice chairman many years ago. At the time, Huckno didn’t realize that the position would eventually lead to becoming to chairman.

“It has been an exciting six years. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs because we all have our eye on enrollment and activities,” Huckno said. “One thing that has always remained constant is the integrity of everybody on the board who have worked so hard and have done their best for the students. Of course, that’s the reason we’re here – for the students.”

He then challenged all trustees to attend as many board and committee meetings as possible in order to fulfill their role representing JCC.

Prior to the new appointments, the board and college officials discussed a new pilot program that’s being implemented at Jamestown High School. The program is essentially creating a dedicated JCC space in the high school library. The purpose of the added college presence is to help promote high school JCC College Connections courses and serve outreach efforts to the school’s Hispanic population.

DeMarte discussed the shared position between the college and the high school. JCC will fund 20% of costs to employee the position. He said the goal of adding such a role in the high school is “building a better connection with the Latino students in high school and their families.”

If there is success with the pilot, DeMarte foresees the potential of a similar program being offered at Dunkirk High School.

In other news, the Cattaraugus campus will unveil its new veterans lounge. The college space is now named after Fred J. Moricca, an Army veteran who passed away in 2017 and who was involved with JCC since 2004. The campus space will now be known as the “Fred J. Moricca Veterans Lounge.”