KINGS POINT, N.Y., Feb. 11, 2016 – Leaders of the Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) at Kings Point answered stakeholders’ questions at the latest USMMA call-in town hall, conducted from the Patterson Room at the Academy’s Wiley Hall on January 28.

Deputy Maritime Administrator, Michael J. Rodriguez ’79, and Superintendent, Rear Adm. James A. Helis, USMS, Ph.D., were joined by the Academy’s new Commandant, Capt. David Sosa, USMS, and took questions from parents, alumni, and other stakeholders from across the country.

Helis updated callers on the continued renovation of campus facilities, the reaccreditation process, including the institutional self-study, the leadership development program which is close to being in place and will become part of the core for the class of 2020, and the ongoing efforts to prevent sexual assault and harassment on campus.

This third in the Academy’s regular town hall meetings provided Commandant Sosa the opportunity to introduce himself to the larger USMMA community. As he discussed his philosophy and way forward, Sosa emphasized that “our mission is tied to the academy’s mission, but in a much more focused way it’s about the midshipmen.  It’s about helping develop the leadership skills and the standards of conduct required of officers in the U.S. Merchant Marine and U.S. Armed Forces, and that’s really what it all comes down to.” (See “Commandant's Intent / Philosophy” in related documents.)

Rodriguez, Helis and Sosa then addressed questions from parents and alumni covering a wide range of topics, including the Academic Dean hiring process, Merchant Marine and military leadership styles, event scheduling, watchstanding, improvements to the fitness facilities, and the future of the Regimental Band.

In response to a question about the Academy’s Leadership Development Program, Rodriquez provided an anecdote from his prior service on the Academy’s staff.  Noting the detrimental effect of not having a formal process to track a midshipman’s leadership skills in that case, he noted, “I’m all for a formal leadership program here.  I think we need it and I’m happy that we have the faculty on board, and we’re moving ahead with one.”

Answering a question from Captain Stephen Ford ’70 and Wayne Torjusen ’74, if there is “a program to trail or monitor cadets from Vickery Gate to graduation to provide feedback and improve on the admissions effectiveness,” Helis said “we track midshipmen in terms of retention and success rates from admission through graduation.”  He detailed various measurements and noted “in recent years we’re seeing an improvement in the retention and graduation rates.”

Eugene Bonacci ’63 asked how have the academy’s national academic ranking for its engineering programs changed over the last ten years compared to other university engineering academic programs.  Helis noted that our “American Board of Engineering Technology accreditations have gone very well the last couple of years.  Our engineers are in extraordinarily high demand when they graduate.”  According to the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings, which most recently ranked USMMA #3 for “Regional Colleges (North)”  and #2 for “Top Public Schools”, USMMA is regularly included among the nation’s “Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs.”

By Cmdr. Benjamin Benson, USMS