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Figure 1: Head Coach for the Purchase Panthers Baseball Team, Bill Guerrero observes the delivery form of pitcher, Joe Song.
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"You can learn little from victory. You can learn everything from defeat."
Christy Mathewson, Pitcher, Baseball Hall of Fame
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Figure 2: The Coach shags flies to his fielders during practice on a cool, spring day.
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Bill Guerrero is one of those people on campus who fulfills multiple roles for the benefit of the Purchase community. His current status as Head Coach of the Purchase College Panthers baseball team and a part-time instructor with Continuing Education qualified him for election as a UUP Academic Delegate. As an academic delegate for the Purchase College Chapter of UUP, he represents Purchase faculty at the statewide UUP Delegate Assembly which meets three times a year to conduct important organizational business and discuss issues of mutual concern. He also represents the faculty constituency at the chapter’s monthly Executive Board meetings. As a member of the chapter’s Membership Development Committee, Bill developed an idea for “Re-orientation Luncheons” for new faculty and staff as a way to reach out to new UUP members and provide them with valuable information on campus services and on Union benefits. The sessions we had in the spring, one for faculty and one for staff, were very successful and generated much goodwill for UUP and the co-sponsor of these events, the Purchase College Association.
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Figure 3: "That's it! Now bring him home!"
It's Game Day, and the Panthers are off to a running start. |
For Bill, the appeal of holding office with UUP is that it represents another way to support and help in the betterment of the campus community. In his official role as the Executive Director of the Purchase College Association (PCA), Bill provides essential services for students, faculty, staff, and administrators. He is “always looking for ways to improve the services the PCA provides and affiliation with these constituents on a leadership level (through UUP) allows me to achieve these goals.” Working with a staff of eight people, the not-for-profit PCA provides high quality, low cost auxiliary services to the college community. The PCA manages the Food Service, Bookstore, Cable, Vending, Laundry, Guest Rooms, Student Accident & Health Insurance, Transportation, and More Card and Banking contracts as well as providing over $60,000 annually toward campus programs and projects. We can all thank Bill for bringing Chartwells’ Food Services to Purchase, along with the approximately $ 4 million in capital improvements made by that organization to upgrade and diversify the dining facilities on campus. In addition, his successful introduction of the More Card has provided each member of the campus community with a single card that serves as ID, library card, and meal card on campus. Off-campus, it can be used as a “cash card” at various local restaurants and retail establishments.
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Figure 4: Bill enjoys a lighter moment with the home plate umpire. |
Bill Guerrero is similarly active professionally and was recently elected President of the Eastern Regional organization of the National Association of College Auxiliary Services (NACAS), the professional association of auxiliary services professionals; he is also its National Business Partner Chair (www.nacas.org). He has been with this association for 7 years, learning from his peers fresh ways and means to improve campus community life. He was also recently elected Vice President of the SUNY Auxiliary Services Association (SASA).
In the accompanying photographs, we see him in his coaching role during a spring practice session and at a home game. Besides “his son, AJ, and making a difference in our students’ lives,” Bill’s greatest passion is Baseball. He attended Norwalk High School where he was selected to the All-City and Connecticut State All-Star team in 1988 and then went to the University of Connecticut. The Coach then earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at University of Connecticut in 1993 and finally his Masters in Business Administration from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT. His Purchase College Panthers have only just completed their third season and much progress has been made under Bill’s guidance. They improved their record this year winning 9 of 25 overall with 7 of 11 (7th place) in their North Eastern Athletic Conference. Three of the team’s players received all conference honors, and with most of the team returning next year, Bill has high hopes for next season. In the meantime, Bill is the Assistant
Coach of the Stamford Robins, www.stamfordrobins.com , a baseball team in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, a summer showcase for top college players who want to play professional, major league baseball.
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Figure 6: Bill and Assistant Coach, Bryan Roberts, ponder their next move. |
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Figure 5: The coach gives his players some words of encouragement between innings. |
Bill’s commitment to our students has similarly led him to run our Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) Team for people looking to learn more about business and serving others through enterprise. According to their website at www.sife.org, “SIFE team members leverage their personal educational experiences, the expertise of their faculty advisors, the support of their local business advisory boards, and the resources of their institutions to implement programs that create real economic opportunities for members of their communities." The effectiveness of their programs is judged at competition and, with Bill as their faculty mentor, the team representing Purchase won the “Rookie of the Year”award in the annual inter-collegiate competition in 2003.
Thank you, Bill, for all you do for the students, faculty, and staff at Purchase! We are proud to count you among the leadership of the Purchase College Chapter of the United University Professions!