Chatting About College

It's not unusual for students to travel to warm climates during spring break. But for 10 Onondaga Community College students who are also Meg O'Connell Social Justice Scholars, their trip to Puerto Rico last month was all about community service. "While we helped others, we learned so much and bonded through the experience. We lived the lifelong learning of a college," said Dr. Annie Tuttle, PTK Advisor and Assi...

Bella Gutkin hadn't been in a classroom for about a decade when she decided to visit Onondaga Community College and explore her options. "I wanted to come back to school and I took a while to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I liked the idea of working with electricity. I came in interested with everything the field entails."

Gutkin is in her first semester at OCC in the new Electromechanical Technology Ce...

"It's like Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket!" 

That was Will Appleton's reaction when he learned he had been selected for a paid internship at Micron this summer. Appleton is a senior at Central Square High School and a Electrical Technology major at Onondaga Community College through the Pathways in Technology Early College High School program, which is known as P-TECH. The program provides high school students ...

Esports is the fastest growing sport in the world, and Onondaga Community College is proud to be part of that world. The Lazers have an Esports team and a sparkling Esports Arena!

OCC student-athletes began competing on an intramural level during the fall 2022 semester while the Esports Arena was being built. In the spring 2023, the Arena opened as the finishing touches were being put on it. The Arena has 23 gaming stations, each eq...

If you enjoy free hot chocolate and free tater tots during the first week of classes, you can thank members of Student Government!

Officers have spent the semester break planning fun and informative activities for fellow students. Here's what is on tap for the first week of classes:

• Tuesday, January 30 - Hot Cocoa Bar from 11:30am to 1:30pm in the Gordon Student Center. The first 200 students will receive a free mug.
• Wednesda...

The roster is almost entirely new, but the outstanding results continue. Despite losing 90% of their scoring from the previous year, Onondaga Community College's Women's Basketball team is off to an 11-and-1 start. "Heading into our first scrimmage I was nervous. Heading out of our last scrimmage I was still nervous," said head Coach Kelly Seibt. "We opened up against the 6th team in the country and beat th...

Onondaga Community College's Women's Soccer team entered the year with just two returning players. Despite that the Lazers have put together an outstanding regular season, winning 10 games and losing only 2.

Coach Sean St. Denis has three captains on this year's team; sophomore Alex Ruzekowicz (West Genesee HS, Architectural Technology major), sophomore Lynnae Russell (Moravia HS, Humanities & Social Sciences majo...

When Shayne Turo needed to hit the "reset" button on his life and start over, he turned to Onondaga Community College. "I was an LPN (licensed practical nurse) by trade when I had to have brain surgery and was coming out of a divorce. I came back to school to get back on my feet."

Turo had graduated from Corcoran High School in 2002. Although the high school is just two miles from the OCC campus, he didn't r...

If you are a student looking for help with a certain subject, or interested in improving your study skills, the Learning Center is the place to go.

The Learning Center is located in Onondaga Community College's Gordon Student Center next to the cafeteria in room G202. Students can receive help with their coursework seven days a week. The Learning Center also offers workshops to assist students with things such as time managemen...

With a new head coach and an almost entirely new roster, it's been a season of transition for the Onondaga Community College Men's Basketball team. "I feel like we're on the right track, even though our record might now indicate it right now," said Head Coach Joe Hulbert. "I'm incredibly optimistic. The guys seem to be too. We know we can do it and we've got the time to do it."

Coach Hulb...

The Onondaga Community College Women's Basketball team begins the second half of the season this weekend with two big home games. Saturday the Lazers play North Country Community College at 1 p.m., and Sunday they challenge Division II Union College from New Jersey at 3 p.m. The Lazers enter this weekend's competition with a 5-and-3 record and are ranked #14 in the nation.

Last year the Women's team made it to the Nat...

Onondaga Community College's Men's Soccer team is in great shape heading into the final games of the regular season and the start of the post-season. "We lost three games to nationally ranked teams which could have gone either way, we won the games we were supposed to, and we're happy with where we're at. The guys are playing well," said Head Coach Mike Drake.

Drake along with players Thomas Nimineh and...

Each year Onondaga Community College recognizes distinguished graduates who have made a difference in their community and professional life, naming them  "Alumni Faces" honorees. Tonight at 5:30 p.m. in the Frederick Marvin and Ernst Schuh Recital Hall in the Academic II building, we will pay tribute to the Alumni Faces Class of 2022. In the weeks leading up to the event we are proudly profiling our honorees on our websit...

Richard Calagiovanni is a many with many nicknames and many stories... including the time he crossed paths with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. He discusses his amazing life in this edition of "Chatting About College." Calagiovanni graduated from Jamesville-Dewitt High School in 1966 and enrolled in OCC’s General Studies degree program at the downtown campus. During his sophomore year he was a member of Student Government and p...

The Onondaga Community College Women's Soccer team is beginning to play well as it progresses into the season. "We're trending in the right direction," said Head Coach Sean St. Denis. "If we continue to play the way we are capable of playing, we should end up with an above .500 record and possibly contend for the regional championship. We've proven we can hang with some of the best teams in the region....

Steve Schill has been closely connected to OCC since arriving on campus from Sacred Heart and Fowler High School in the mid-70s. While spending his entire professional career at INFICON, where he has held positions in Operations, Engineering, Marketing, and currently the Senior Director of Global Sales Projects, Steve has been a member of the OCC Foundation Board and the Perkins Grant Committee, a mentor to students in the P-TECH p...

His love of business began at age 7 when he would invite friends into his home and charge them to watch movies. Today Jesse Wilson '12 is a global guitar dealer with a growing business in Syracuse. And he's so proud of his Onondaga Community College degree, one of his cars is a Ferrari with license plates "OCC GRAD."  Jesse Wilson shares his amazing story with on this edition of "Chatting About College.&quo...

More than 100,000 Americans die annually from drug overdoses and Rob Kent has dedicated his professional life to doing something about it. Kent is a Syracuse native and a 1982 graduate of Onondaga Community College who is serving as the General Counsel at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Kent visited campus recently, met with the outstanding professionals who run the College's counseling center, and ...