Quartey has made a noticeable effort to get acquainted with students and staff in his first semester here.
Before the semester began, he met with many professors on campus to get to know his staff.
Valerie Culler, director of Financial Aid, said she thinks he is tremendous.
“From my interactions with him so far, I think he’s going to be wonderful for our college,” Culler said.
At the start of the semester, he talked to a Macroeconomics class, impressing returning student Zachary Porter.
“I was very surprised that our new president took the time to come to our classes and meet us,” Porter said.
“I had never once met the previous president, so it was nice to see that our new one really cares about us.”
Three weeks into the semester, he gave a press-conference-style interview to a class of journalism students.
Student Logan Jacobs asked the president about MCCC’s weaknesses. Quartey replied that he hopes to improve transportation to make it easier for students to get to campus.
Students who are dual-enrolled in high school, for example, struggle to get to MCCC, Quarty said.
“He gave me the impression that he was energetic and involved,” Jacobs said.
When first-year student Kathy Turner asked about his personal life, Quartey joked with her about his divorce and went on to talk about his five children.
“He was very funny and personable,” she said. “He looked more uptight than he was.”
Student Ed Keller also commented on the president’s approachable attitude.
“I’m only four years younger than the president and I am impressed by his education and demeanor,” Keller said. “I would relish the opportunity to talk to him.”
Quartey also discussed areas he hopes to improve in the near future at MCCC.
He said he hopes to find a solution, perhaps a grant, to ease the burden of math students who have to pay to repeat classes.
“That’s what we do here; we enrich lives,” Quartey said.
He concluded the class with a prediction for his tenure at MCCC.
“I predict a year from now our enrollment and transfer success rates will be up,” he said.
The president was the epitome of cool in his signature bow-tie, as he left the class room.
