For the fourth consecutive year, students and faculty learning and teaching at SUNY Empire State College’s Staten Island location organized a “mentor/mentee” bowling night.

Students Lillian Curran, Darlene Sampagna, Joy Webb, Denise Webb, Paula Sorci and Amy Koltosk, mentees, several prospective students and members of the college’s faculty, mentors Gina Torino, Ruth Losack, Thomas Kernodle, Luis Camacho, Gennaro Bonfiglio, Electra Weeks and Laura Farrell engaged in a great deal of fun and a little bit of friendly competition.

Curran has attended this event every year and said that bowling night is a wonderful event and allows her to interact with her faculty in a different capacity.

Mentor and Human Development Assistant Professor Gina Torino, who also has attended this event since its inception, said, “The bowling event was an excellent opportunity for mentors and students to connect and share a fun evening together. This event gives Empire State College a presence in the local Staten Island community. It is very special and I am looking forward to the next one.”

Bowling night first came about four years ago, when students requested this activity as a way to better network with fellow students and their mentors.

Bonfiglio, who accumulated a total of 444 pins during several games, was this year’s top scorer and Camacho was this year’s low scorer.

Both were presented with trophies in recognition of their participation in the event.

About Mentors

At SUNY Empire State College, faculty have responsibilities that are broader and more extensive than advising traditional-age students at a conventional college or university. In fact, instead of using “professor” as the faculty title, SUNY Empire uses the more descriptive term “mentor.”

Each undergraduate student is assigned a member of the faculty who first works with the student in a credit-bearing course to design an individual degree plan within 12 broad areas of study and then mentors the student throughout his or her academic career at the college.