SUNY Jamestown Community College trustees are pictured during Tuesday’s meeting at the Jamestown campus. P-J photo by Eric Tichy

Classes are about to begin at SUNY Jamestown Community College, and trustees received positive news this week regarding enrollment.

Kirk Young, vice president for Student Affairs, said JCC is up about 50 full-time equivalent students from this time last year.

“I think this is one of the first times that I’ve been here that we’ve been able to report that going into a semester,” Young said of an enrollment bump. “Things are looking good.”

JCC faculty returned to campus on Tuesday, and classes are scheduled to resume for students next Monday.

Young said 274 students are signed up to live in residence halls this fall; the college had set a target of 280 students living on campus, but Young was confident that the target will be met as the semester gets underway.

JCC currently has 57 international students, an area the college has been targeting specifically to help boost its enrollment figures. JCC President Daniel DeMarte had set a goal of 100 international students.

Young said the college has about 84 potential international students “in the pipelines” who are not yet in the country. Those students have filed the necessary paperwork — known as I-20 forms — with the college and their home country, considered the last step before a visa is issued.

While the students will not be arriving by next week, Young said having 84 students express strong interest in attending JCC is “a very good sign.” He said the students may start taking classes during the spring semester or by next fall.

Young said JCC already has surpassed last year’s high water mark when it comes to student athletes. The college topped out at 158 during the 2022-23 school year, with 163 student athletes already signed up at present.

“Many of our rosters are pretty close to full,” Young said. “However, there’s still room in several others. I know that our coaches and our athletic department are working hard to continue to bring those students in, so I anticipate that will increase. There are some spring sports that will bring additional students as we get to spring.”

Trustee Wally Huckno Sr. asked what it would take to establish “low-cost” sports programs such as tennis or cross country.

“I wonder about those kinds of things that would appeal to other types of students other than basketball, softball, baseball,” he said.

DeMarte said the college is looking at its options. He noted that JCC launched its eSports program last year in Cattaraugus County, and a cross country team was looked at as well.

Huckno asked about the condition of the tennis courts and inquired if they were being used. DeMarte said the courts are used “minimally,” and added that funds were being sought to have them refurbished.

“That could be a college sport,” Huckno said.

In other business:

¯ DeMarte expressed optimism after county Planning Board members recently voted 6-2 in favor of JCC’s proposal to turn Russell Diethrick Park into a multi-purpose soccer, baseball and softball field.

“It advances to the next stage,” DeMarte said. “Still a lot of work to be done, a lot of questions to be answered, but the lights so far continue to tick green moving forward.”

The county Planning Board serves as an advisory board and has no legal authority. The vote was held in part as a request by county Legislature Chairman Pierre Chagnon, who was in attendance at the recent meeting, but is not a member.

The proposal needs the backing of the county Legislature to finance 25% of the project, which would be $7.5 million.

JCC has put together a business plan for the stadium upgrade with a price tag of more than $30 million.

¯ A “Remote Area Medical” pop-up clinic will be held at the Olean YMCA and Olean Middle School on Sept. 9 and 10. Volunteers are still needed for the RAM event, which provides medical, dental and vision care for people in need.

“It’s an event like nothing I’ve seen before,” DeMarte said. “Hundreds of individuals coming for dental work, for eye work, for general work.”

The last RAM clinic in the Olean area was held at JCC’s Cattaraugus County Campus in September 2021. More than 300 uninsured and underserved individuals received medical, dental and optical care over two days.

In a news release, JCC said its nursing program, along with St. Bonaventure University’s School of Health Professions and the University at Buffalo’s School of Dental Medicine, will provide faculty and students as volunteers during the two-day clinic in September. Residents and staff from Universal Primary Care in Olean also will assist in providing care.