Richard Guarasci

Richard Guarasci (born January 14, 1946) was the 18th president of Wagner College in Staten Island, New York.[1] He took office on June 1, 2002 [1] and, as of July 1, 2016, was the college's longest-serving president.[2] He held the rank of professor of political science and taught in the areas of democracy, citizenship and American diversity. Following Guarasci's retirement on June 30, 2019, he became Wagner College's third president emeritus.[3]

Richard Guarasci
18th President of Wagner College
In office
2002 – June 30, 2019
Preceded byNorman Smith
Succeeded byJoel W. Martin
Personal details
BornJanuary 14, 1946
Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York
Spouse(s)Carin Marie Tomasuolo Guarasci
ChildrenBridget L. Guarasci, Patrick Guarasci
ResidenceStaten Island, New York
Alma materFordham University, Indiana University Bloomington
ProfessionCollege president, higher education leader, professor
Websitewagner.edu

Guarasci was appointed Wagner College's provost and vice president for academic affairs in February 1997.[4] Before coming to Wagner, he was dean of Hobart College, part of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, in Geneva, New York and, earlier, a dean and faculty member at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York.[1]

Background

Education

Born in 1946, Richard Guarasci graduated in 1963 from Cardinal Farley Military Academy in Rhinebeck, New York. He earned his bachelor of science degree in economics, with a minor in philosophy, from Fordham University in the Bronx, New York, in 1967; his master of arts degree in economics from Indiana University Bloomington in 1969; and his Ph.D. in political science from I.U. Bloomington in 1972.[5]

Personal life

Richard Guarasci was born and raised in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.[5] In 1968, he married his high school sweetheart, Carin Marie Tomasuolo, who pursued a career in education,[5] earning her doctorate from Columbia University Teachers College.[6] They have two children. Bridget L. Guarasci, an anthropologist at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania,[7] is married to attorney Mani S. Potnuru;[8] they have a daughter, Zoe Amala Guarasci Potnuru.[9] Patrick Guarasci, founder of the political consultancy G Strategies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,[10] is married to musician Hannah Gabriela “Gabby” Banuelos.[11]

Wagner College career

Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts

Richard Guarasci's first project upon becoming Wagner College's provost in 1997 was to work with faculty on a reconfiguration of the curriculum, which was called the Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts.[9] The Wagner Plan still forms the core of Wagner College's unique approach to undergraduate education. The Wagner Plan has three key elements: (1) A freshman “learning community” (often abbreviated FYP, for first-year program) consists of a pair of classes from different disciplines, taught by two professors, with a third course called a “reflective tutorial” emphasizing writing. The FYP also includes a variety of “experiential learning” opportunities — sometimes field trips, sometimes community work projects. (2) An intermediate learning community (or ILC) consists of a pair of complementary courses from different disciplines taught by a two-professor team. (3) The senior learning community (or SLC) for graduating students in each department consists of a capstone course, a senior thesis or project, and a certain number of hours invested in either community work or an internship.[12]

Port Richmond Partnership

In 2009, President Richard Guarasci initiated a partnership between Wagner College and a variety of businesses, schools, churches and community organizations in the Staten Island community of Port Richmond, a high-needs black and Hispanic neighborhood about 3 miles from the college campus.[13] The mission of the Port Richmond Partnership is to encourage sustainable relationships among members of the Port Richmond and Wagner College communities to enhance student learning and raise civic awareness, while also supporting collaborations that address significant challenges and establish measurable impacts in five high need areas: arts, education, health, economic development and immigration.[14]

A project separate from but very closely connected to the Port Richmond Partnership is called 30,000 Degrees, indicating the additional number of 4-year college degrees the project hopes to generate among Staten Island residents over a 10-year period. The project, spearheaded in 2015 by Richard Guarasci, is a partnership between Wagner College and the other two institutions of higher learning on Staten Island, St. John's University and the College of Staten Island, a City University of New York affiliate. 30,000 Degrees focuses upon college readiness programs embedded in Staten Island public schools, beginning with high schools and extending later to intermediate and elementary schools. One of these college-readiness programs is the Port Richmond Partnership Leadership Academy. As part of the PRPLA program, cohorts live and study on the Wagner College campus each summer, and competitive scholarships are available to participants.[15][16]

Building the endowment and the campus

When Richard Guarasci first joined the Wagner College community, in 1997, the college's endowment was valued at $4 million.[17] In January 2018, when Guarasci announced his plan to retire the following year, the endowment's value stood at $98.7 million.[3]

During Guarasci's tenure as president, one new building was dedicated, and another was given a major refurbishment. Foundation Hall, the first new residence facility opened on the Wagner College campus since Harbor View Hall in 1969, welcomed its first residents in January 2010. Built at a cost of $24 million, it accommodates 200 students.[18] And in October 2012, the college re-opened Main Hall after an 18-month, $15 million external restoration project. The collegiate gothic building, dedicated in 1930, is considered the architectural signature of the college.[19]

Longest-serving Wagner College president

At its October 2016 meeting, Wagner College's Board of Trustees recognized Richard Guarasci for his superior record of longevity as the institution's president. On July 1 of that year, Guarasci had become the longest-serving president in the college's history, having surpassed the previous record held by President Arthur Ole Davidson (14 standard 365-day years, 31 days, and 3 “leap days”). Davidson retired in 1975.[20]

Leadership in higher education

Chairman, Association of American Colleges and Universities board of directors [21][22]

Chairman and secretary of the board, Campus Compact [23]

President emeritus, Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities [24]

Former chairman, New American Colleges & Universities [25]

Former chairman, New York State Higher Education Services Corporation [26]

In 2012, Richard Guarasci was one of 11 members of the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement that produced a report, “A Crucible Moment: College Learning & Democracy’s Future,” published by the Association of American Colleges and Universities.[27]

Select publications

Book

“Democratic Education in the Age of Difference: Redefining Citizenship in Higher Education,” co-authored with Grant H. Cornwell and others (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997) [28]

Book chapter

“Renewing the Civic Purpose of Liberal Education,” co-authored with Barry N. Checkoway and Peter L. Levine, in the book, “Transforming Undergraduate Education: Theory that Compels and Practices that Succeed,” edited by Donald W. Harward (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011) [29]

Articles

“Developing the Democratic Arts,” in About Campus magazine (Feb. 2001), published by ACPA—College Student Educators International and Jossey-Bass

“On the Challenge of Becoming the Good College,” in Liberal Education magazine (Winter 2006, Vol. 92 No. 1), published by the Association of American Colleges and Universities

“Sustaining Transformation, Resiliency in Hard Times,” co-authored with Wagner College Provost Devorah Lieberman, in Change: The Magazine of Higher Education (Nov.-Dec. 2009), published by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

“Anchoring Democracy: The Civic Imperative for Higher Education,” in Liberal Education magazine (Winter 2018, Vol. 104 No. 1) ), published by the Association of American Colleges and Universities

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References
  1. "Wagner's 18th president: Scholar, visionary and optimist". Wagner Link: 1 & 3. Summer–Fall 2002.
  2. "The Answer". Wagner Magazine: 11. Fall 2016.
  3. "President Guarasci announces 2018 retirement". Wagner College Newsroom. January 30, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  4. "Hobart's Dr. Richard Guarasci named new Wagner Provost". [Wagner College] Alumni Link: 8. Spring 1997.
  5. Manchester, Lee (Summer 2012). "That's Not a View — That's a Mission". Wagner Magazine. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  6. "Congratulations to Dr. Carin Tomasuolo Guarasci". Wagner College Facebook. May 17, 2017. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  7. "Bridget L. Guarasci". Franklin & Marshall College personnel directory. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  8. Mallozzi, Vincent M. (May 29, 2011). "Bridget Guarasci and Mani Potnuru". New York Times: ST-15.
  9. Manchester, Lee (Summer 2018). "Five Facets of Leadership". Wagner Magazine. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  10. "Patrick Guarasci". G Strategies. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  11. "Personnel File: Hannah Gabriela Banuelos". Urban Milwaukee. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  12. "The Wagner Plan: Academics". Wagner College Academics. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  13. Slepian, Stephanie (March 19, 2009). "Wagner College starts Port Richmond Partnership". Staten Island Advance: A-4.
  14. "Port Richmond Partnership". Wagner College Center for Leadership & Community Engagement. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  15. Regan, Claire (August 24, 2015). "Boosting the borough's brain power". Staten Island Advance: A-1 & A-6.
  16. "About the Port Richmond Partnership Leadership Academy". Wagner College Center for Leadership & Community Engagement. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  17. "Growing into Our Mission and Destiny". Wagner College Annual Report 2017: 3. January 2018.
  18. Slepian, Stephanie (January 25, 2010). "Wagner opens state-of-the-art dorm". Staten Island Advance: A-1 & A-10.
  19. "The heartbeat of campus". Wagner Magazine. Fall 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  20. "First the facts, then the quiz!". Wagner Magazine: 9 & 11. Fall 2016.
  21. "President Guarasci named AAC&U chairman". Wagner College Newsroom. February 12, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  22. "AAC&U Board of Directors". Association of American Colleges & Universities. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  23. "Campus Compact announces new chair of national board". Campus Compact Press Releases. March 31, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  24. "2017 Executive Committee Announcement". CUMU News. November 11, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  25. "New American Colleges & Universities". New American Colleges & Universities. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  26. "Higher Education Services Corporation". NYS Higher Education Services Corporation. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  27. "Wagner College president speaks at White House". Wagner College Newsroom. January 11, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  28. "Democratic Education in an Age of Difference: Redefining Citizenship in Higher Education". Amazon.com. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  29. "Transforming Undergraduate Education: Theory that Compels and Practices that Succeed". Amazon.com. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
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