SUNY Fulton Montgomery Community College (FMCC) is a small regional community college located at the crossroads of the Mohawk Valley and Capital Regions in Johnstown, NY approximately 3.5 hours from New York City. The college offers 30 degrees and certificate programs. Current enrollment is approximately 1,200 credit and noncredit students.
SUNY-FMCC implemented MSFCP in the fall of 2022. As a small SUNY community college, it developed a unique business model, utilizing existing faculty as coaches for MSFCP. Three of the eight SUNY-FMCC Money Smart financial coaches are teaching faculty from the business division.
FMCC Staff and Coaches
Laurence Zuckerman, CPA, MST, CFEI®, Coach and Grant Administrator
Charlene Dybas, M.S. Ed., CFEI®, Coach and Lead Trainer
Dr. Mark Swain, Coach and Database Lead
FMCC Success To Date
Focusing primarily on students enrolled in business programs, the health professions, and individualized studies, FMCC has successfully surpassed the cumulative participant targets of 140 students, with a total of 161 students participating in MSFCP. The program has strong internal support across the college and uses teaching faculty and grant personnel to implement several strategies to recruit learners to the project, including word of mouth, marketing flyers, tabling events, freshmen orientations and in-class promotions from teaching faculty.
FMCC Innovative Practices
As a cornerstone for its MSFCP participation, SUNY-FMCC developed its own web-based proprietary learning modules called Smart Money Pathways (SMP). SMP is geared towards educating and training both coaches and students and emphasizes both financial knowledge and implementation strategies. The modules utilize the college’s online Learning Management System, Brightspace D2L. Accordingly, students can access the modules asynchronously or with their coach during coaching sessions. In addition, faculty created a “digital badge” awarded to those students who complete MSFCP.
SUNY-FMCC launched a campus-wide event for MSFCP on Founders Day, which is an annual event inviting all staff and faculty to learn about new initiatives on campus. They have highlighted MSFCP across campus on their hall televisions, where content is marketed and rotated continuously. They also include information on MSFCP at every semester orientation to begin recruiting new students, and they even created a professional video showcasing successful students who have been impacted by the Money Smart Financial Coaching Program.
