Buffalo Rising Online

Sep 8th, 7:25am By Shannon McCabe

If you are like many potential college students in the area looking for a college where professors know you by your name and not a number, there may be one college that you are overlooking – Trocaire College.

Trocaire is a private, two-year college nestled in a south Buffalo neighborhood that specializes in health-care related careers. The college opened its doors in 1958 and is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Known for producing above-average graduates in healthcare related fields, it is no surprise that the two most sought after majors at Trocaire include Nursing and Radiologic Technology.

At Trocaire College, the administration focuses on the student as a whole, not just their skills. The faculty and staff try to focus on the overall student and how to encompass academic enrichment in their lives.

“That’s our mission statement,” said Claudia Lesinski, director of Extension Services at Trocaire College and an alumna of the school. With small classes (a 16:1 ratio among professors and students) and a committed faculty, this mission statement is well achieved at Trocaire.

“Community and employees recognize Trocaire nurses,” said Lesinski. Most students are given a “hands-on” learning approach with internships within their first year of study.

“Trocaire graduates have a lot of compassion toward their field and people feel confident when working with a student of Trocaire.”

One thing that sets Trocaire College apart is the tremendous amount of commitment that the faculty has not only to the school, but also to the students and community. “We’re almost like a family,” said Kathy Popielski, director of Communications at Trocaire College and another alumna of the college. Many professors serve not only as teachers, but also as mentors to the students.

The two-year college also offers students a more affordable private education. Most programs offered at Trocaire transfer to other institutions due the fact that the college has numerous transfer agreements with other four-year universities in the area.

“We make it simple to transfer to a four-year school after leaving Trocaire,” said Popielski.

Trocaire also offers evening programs and online courses to make it easier for all students to receive the same high-level of education. The Surgical Technology program is the college’s most recent program to be offered in the evening. Although known for their healthcare programs, other courses of study include a Liberal Arts program, Early Childhood Education, Business Administration, and a Hospitality Management program. The hospitality program is located at Trocaire’s new extension site on Transit Road as The Russell J. Salvatore School of Hospitality and Business.

Although the school is growing and expanding, Popielski says that they still try to have that family feeling, with many alumni returning to Trocaire to serve as administration.

It is not very often that you find a school that is so willing to give back to its students and the college community as a whole. Trocaire is surely a college not to be overlooked.