[Mary Altair]  Social science is a big program.  We have a lot of students that come through because it is everything from teaching to psychology to social work to the specialties like economics or anthropology. 

[Dr. Ray Barker] We have courses in general psychology and sociology as well.  Human services courses for students that are interested in going down a social work tract.  There's a lot of introductory courses, but most of them fulfill core requirements and since most universities and colleges, certainly all within the SUNY system, have the same core, whether they are taking a history course or a psychology course or a sociology course, it fits somewhere in that core curriculum and students are able to transfer it with them wherever they go.

[Mary Altair]  We have a duel admissions program with SUNY schools and all they have to do is fill out a form and by being enrolled here and completing their studies here, they are automatically guaranteed admission to UB, Buffalo State and Fredonia.  We have relationships with all those schools so they can go right into there and have their first two years done.

[Dr. Marianne Partee]  You can influence your margin of utility but you can't influence the price.

[Dr. Ray Barker]  What our program offers that I think that you wouldn't find in some other places is affordability, is diversity of course selection, is a classroom environment that's dynamic, that emphasizes student participation.

[Mary Altair]  We have a lot of interaction with the students, the class sizes are all small, you don't have large lecture halls, you don't have faceless people.  

[Dr. Marianne Partee]  Because our classrooms  are small, we cap at 25 or 32 for the most part, we get to know our students and they get to know us and they get to know each other.  In many cases after the first couple of classes, I would say that you have a classroom personality.  They get to know each other, they sit in the same seats and it gets to be a very comfortable environment for learning to take place.  	

[Dr. Ray Barker]  We are very diverse here at ECC.  We have students from many different kinds of backgrounds.  I know in some of my classes that I have had working mothers who have decided that they want to raise there children first and then come to school when they are in their 30s.  We have had students who have come back in their 20s and students who are even in their 60s and 70s come back to ECC.  So there is no pre-requisite requirement that students have coming in other than a desire to want to learn.  

[Cr. Marianne Partee]  I think one of the most important things students need to understand is the class time is the smallest amount of time on your course.  When you leave  class there is a lot of work that you have to do to be prepared and also to be able to be successful.  Learning doesn't become instantaneous, you can't do it in a vacuum.  You have to open up yourself and you have to read and you have to be able to review what has been covered. There is no quick route to academic success.  

[Mary Altair]  And this covers her hair.  Hair is very beautiful and you don't want to attract a lot of attention because people will start to gossip or talk about you and that is not good for your brothers and father and uncles...

[Mary Altair]  Most faculty have had to work in the field before we come to teach so you are not getting someone who's only had an academic background.  We have people that have been social workers that have been teachers.  For example I do a lot of anthropology and I have done research in Mexico and Pakistan and different areas.  So you have a lot of people that know what they are talking about and I think that helps because you are not going at teaching from a purely academic point of view, you also know what is expected of you out in the field or in a job when you are working.  So we have a little bit of an advantage to be able to help the student prepare.
 
Dr. Ray Barker]  The job market is about being proactive and presenting yourself to certain opportunities.  What most employers are looking for, I think, are employees who can critically think, that are engaged in the work place and that have the skills necessary to be flexible and do different  kinds of things.  So what we tried to do is provide that background.  We try to provide that foundation for students so that they can be adaptable to the job market.

[Dr. Ray Barker]  And if you change that environment and you surround people with virtuous, moral, benevolent behavior Confucius argues that people will start to become good and moral and benevolent.

[Mary Altair]  We really want our students to be prepared to go out into the job market and be able to do the job, be affective and be happy with their own skills that they've gotten.