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“The Center for
Academic Excellence
is a place where sharing and refining is as important as correcting
mistakes and doctoring ailing term reports.”
Woodrow Bovell
Director
Center for
Academic Excellence
The College of New Rochelle
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Tell us a little about yourself, Mr. Bovell.
I’m a New Yorker,
born and raised in Brooklyn. I attended public schools in Brooklyn and
got my bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College, my master’s in
education administration from St. John’s. Although I now live in
Stamford, I love the Big City. There is no place in the world quite
like New York, and I have seen a few—Madrid, London, Paris, Rome,
Athens.
Where have you taught and worked before coming to The College of New
Rochelle?
I am a retiree of the New York City
public school system, having served 28 years as a teacher of English
and reading and assistant principal and English chairman at the junior
high school level. I have worked as an assistant examiner for the Board
of Examiners of the City of New York, as reading/language arts
coordinator for the Village of Hempstead, and in a similar capacity at
Iona’s Yonkers Campus. I am now director of the Center for Academic
Excellence (formerly Learning Support Services) at CNR, where I have
been for eleven years. And I can tell you, this is like icing on the
cake. What a joy!
What are your responsibilities?
The Center for Academic
Excellence (CAE) is the tutorial arm of the College,
meeting enrichment and support needs in all content areas of students
from
all four Schools. Technically, I run the place, but really I do a
little of
everything—plan, manage, train, tutor, poke around, teach a little, and
spread a little humor if I can. The nuts and bolts of our operation are
kept functional by a wonderful team of professionals, some who have
been there longer than I, and so many who come and go—student tutors
and assistants—who give us only two or three years, but leave their
mark indelibly.
What are some of the advantages for students in coming to the Center
for
Academic Excellence?
People mistakenly assume that the
function of the Center is to service only students who are facing
difficulty with course work. Not so. The Center for Academic Excellence
is a place where sharing and refining is as important as correcting
mistakes and doctoring ailing term reports. In fact, the student who is
looking for the “quick fix” won’t find it at CAE. But think of the
remarkable advantage for students of sitting with someone who has
traveled the road before them, who knows the twists and turns of the
academic expedition and can help them through it. That’s what we are
about. It’s not just tutoring and workshops and test-taking and
managing the computer and handling research and manipulating
mathematical calculations; it’s so much more. And it’s the “so much
more” that really counts.
In what ways do you help students adjust to CNR?
Coming to college can be daunting for many students,
like finding one’s way in a new neighborhood. Whether they come from
around the corner or from halfway
around the world, it’s a brand new experience. The
College of New Rochelle is a warm and welcoming place that eases the
environmental change; and the Center for Academic Excellence embodies
that philosophy. Ours is a building that once upon time, many
years ago, was somebody’s home. What was once a kitchen is now our
reception area; what was a living room is now a conference/small group
tutoring room; what must have been a sitting room or parlor is now a
tutoring work-station room; and our second-floor computer room was
perhaps a master bedroom. We have not yet figured out what to do with
the porch, but we’re working on it. Although we consistently focus on
making the place functional, we can’t help being comfortable and cozy.
We like it that way, and so do our students seeking a home away from
home.
What do you like best about your job?
People—students in particular. Four years after I
started at The College of New Rochelle, I realized what it was all
about. Attending commencement, I experienced the joy of witnessing the
graduation of students whom I had taught and tutored in their freshman
year. What a sense of fulfillment, not alone for them but for me as
well. Just to be part of making a difference in the lives and
aspirations of young people is richly rewarding.
