FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 28, 2018 • LIVING IN BAYSIDE • THE QUEENS COURIER 33
QCC president Diane Call reflects
on career ahead of retirement
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
As New York native Diane Call retires
from over four decades of work at
Bayside‘s Queensborough Community
College this summer, she remembers the
value her parents placed on higher education.
Call, like so many of the students
who attend the school at Cloverdale
Boulevard and 56th Avenue, was a
first-generation college student.
“My parents instilled in me that education
was important from when I was little,”
Call told the Courier. “And I see that,
and I think that is what will truly will keep
this country great: to have people who are
knowledgeable and can contribute.”
During her career at the community
college, Call held virtually every position
imaginable before ascending to the
role of principal in January 2013. She
holds a doctor of education degree in college
and university administration, a master’s
degree in community college administration
and a second master’s degree
in student personnel administration, all
earned from Teachers College, Columbia
University.
It was during Call’s time as a graduate
student that she was assigned to work as
an unpaid intern at Queensborough.
“I had a great opportunity to experience
community college in higher education,
and I was very fortunate, because they did
offer me a job after the internship,” she
said. “So I began a career here as a faculty
member.”
Call gained the rank of full professor in
Student Personnel Services in 1994 after
having acquired tenure in 1978. From
there, she worked in various administrative
and finance roles and eventually led
the Academic Affairs Division as Provost
before being offered the position of president
in 2013.
“I tell people, especially young people:
‘Whatever you do, no matter what your
particular role is, do it really well, because
people are noticing,’” she said. “I was fortunate.”
At the start of her role as president,
Call’s greatest goal was to increase the
number of full-time faculty — “the heart
of the institution.” Today, there are more
than 400 full-time faculty members and
83 percent of the college’s faculty hold
terminal degrees: three times the national
average for community colleges.
“I understood that the investment in
new faculty was very important to our
students,” she said. “It really was a passion
for me. My dissertation was on faculty
development, so I was always attuned
to that.”
Enrollment is also at record highs,
approaching 16,000 students each year,
Call also noted.
“Our students body and its demographics
reflect Queens,” she said. “So we’re talking
about a diverse student body. We’re talking
about first generation students. We’re
talking about people of different cultures
and nationalities. And for them to have the
opportunity to achieve whatever they wanted
to, I felt we needed to give them a strong
foundation here. We are essentially the first
two years of a university.”
To create a more seamless transition
from Queensborough to other
City Universities of New York, Call
and administrators formed a dual-joint
degree program in disciplines including
nursing, education and criminal justice.
The school also offers a number of career
and certificate programs.
The academic leader is also responsible
for establishing the school’s “Milestone
Scholarships,” which supply aid to students
seeking to take classes during summer or
winter sessions to achieve graduation.
Call is proud to have seen numerous
capital projects come to fruition at the
school over the years, including renovations
to the school’s Art Gallery, the establishment
of the Kupferberg Holocaust
Center, and a massive electrical upgrade
to bring technology into each classroom.
The school is also in the middle of a twophase
project that will bring state-of-theart
renovations to the Science Atrium.
“I became aware that it was important
to have a strong environment so that people
Photos courtesy of Queensborough Community College
felt comfortable, respected and could
learn in a place that wasn’t in disrepair,”
she said. “So we put a lot of focus into
maintaining the campus facilities as you
see them now.”
A seemingly small victory in the early
2000s also had a big impact on the school
community. Call was heavily involved
in the school’s fight to bring a Q27 bus
stop to the campus to make transportation
easier.
“For years, there was no bus service
here … We tried and tried and tried,” she
said. “And finally, it was actually Queens
Borough President Helen Marshall who
helped us out by calling the school and
the MTA together and said, ‘We’re not
leaving the room until we settle this.’”
Along with over 2,300 students, Call
capped her career at the June 1, 2018,
commencement, which she called “the
most glorious day on campus.”
“To be side by side with them on that
day was particularly wonderful,” she said.
“They’re moving on, so it was kind of like
we were doing that together … It was very
special.”
In retirement, Call promises to remain
a staunch proponent for education.
“I believe very strongly in civic engagement.
I think it’s something we all owe
our communities, especially those who
had the opportunity to receive an education,
have a great job, et cetera,” she
said. “I will always be an advocate for
Queensborough, certainly, but also for
community colleges and for education. It
is a saving grace.”
Diane Call speaks at the June 1, 2018, commencement ceremony
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