Two at DCC Have Received SUNY Chancellor's Award

Release date October 15, 2007

Poughkeepsie, N.Y. – Dr. Rita Weber-McKee and Prof. Richard Reitano have been selected to receive SUNY Chancellor’s Awards.

              Weber-McKee, director of Academic Services and Testing at Dutchess Community College, was selected to receive the 2007 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service, while Reitano, department head of History, Government and Economics at DCC, was presented with the 2007 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

              Weber-McKee joined DCC in 1981 as a coordinator of developmental education and Educational Opportunity Program learning specialist before accepting a promotion in 1992 to her current position. She has developed numerous initiatives during her tenure, including the Focus and SmartStart programs that provide support services for academically at-risk students. She was selected by DCC to attend the National Institute of Leadership Training and has also served as presenter at regional and national conferences.

              Reitano is one of the two longest-serving members of the DCC faculty, joining the College in 1966. He was the first recipient of the Dutchess Community College Foundation’s Endowed Faculty Chair for Instructional Leadership, as well as the Handel Foundation Endowed Faculty Chair to Perpetuate the Legacy of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. In addition, Reitano’s family, friends and colleagues have established an endowed faculty chair in his honor. He was also recognized in 2002 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching for his Model United Nations course. Reitano is a co-editor and contributor to “Multilateral Diplomacy and the United Nations Today” and has presented papers at the American Political Science Association, the International Studies Association and the Academic Council for the United Nations System.

             The Chancellor's Awards for Excellence were established in the early 1970s to provide system-wide recognition and reward the State University's faculty and professional staff for superb performance and achievement.  The awards acknowledge SUNY's fundamental mission of instruction, research and service. Awards are presented in five categories: Faculty Service, Librarianship, Professional Service, Scholarship and Creative Activities and Teaching.

             Founded in 1957, Dutchess Community College is a two-year community college celebrating its 50th anniversary of excellence and service to the residents of Dutchess County. It is part of the State University of New York and is one of 30 community colleges in the state system. The College offers a wide variety of associate degree programs, as well as career programs in major technical, human service and business areas. The College also offers non-credit courses to meet the continuing education needs of civic, cultural, business and professional groups and the community at large.

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