About the Board

The College is governed by a ten-member Board of Trustees. Five are appointed by the County Executive for seven-year terms, four are appointed by the Governor, also for seven-year terms, and one is a student representative elected by the Onondaga Community College Student Association to a one-year term.

The responsibilities of the Board of Trustees are defined in New York Education Law, Community College Regulations, Part 604: Administration of the College, Section 604.2: Responsibilities and duties of the college trustees.

Board Members

John P. Sindoni, Esq.- Chair

Appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2013 by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. Mr. Sindoni is Partner in the law firm of Barclay Damon and lives in Cicero.

Melanie Littlejohn - Vice Chair

Appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2010 by the County Executive Joanne Mahoney. Ms. Littlejohn is the Regional Executive Director for Energy Solutions Delivery, for Central New York at National Grid. She resides in Syracuse.

Tara Owens - Secretary

Appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2017 by County Executive Joanne Mahoney. Ms. Owens is retired from Empower Federal Credit Union. She resides in Syracuse.

Donna J. DeSiato, Ed.D.'69

Appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2010 by Governor David Patterson. Dr. DeSiato is superintendent of schools at the East Syracuse Minoa Central School District and an alumna of Onondaga Community College. She resides in Syracuse.

Mark Tryniski ’81

Mr. Tryniski was appointed by the Governor Andrew Cuomo in November 2016. He is President & CEO of Community Bank System, Inc. Mr. Tryniski resides in Baldwinsville.

Jaime Alicea

Appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2018, by Onondaga County Executive Joanne Mahoney, Mr. Alicea is retired from the Syracuse City School District. He is a resident of Syracuse.

Paul Mello, CPA

Appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2020 by Onondaga County Executive J. Ryan McMahon, II. He is President and CEO of Solvay Bank. Mr. Mello resides in Syracuse.

Hannah Durand - Student Trustee

Board Meeting Schedule

Board meetings are held between the months of September and June. All meetings are open to the public and are held in room 210 of the Whitney Applied Technology Center. Future meeting dates are:

  • September 27, 2022
  • November 29, 2022
  • January 24, 2023
  • March 28, 2023
  • May 9, 2023
  • June 27, 2023
Dates, times, and locations are subject to change. Contact Julie Hart, Secretary to the Board of Trustees, at  hartj@sunyocc.edu or 315-498-2214 for more information.

Trustee Emeritus

The following Board Members were designated Trustee Emeritus for their service to OCC.
Trustee Dates Served Date Awarded
Helen B. Q. Anderson 1976-1999 January 19, 1999
Rev. Dr. Alexander Carmichael 1961-1987 October 13, 1987
David Murphy 1998-2010 September 28, 2010
Connie Monteleone Whitton 1996-2012 June 19, 2012
Donald Mawhinney, Jr. 1961-2016 June 21, 2016
Dr. Gary Livent 1998-2016 November 15, 2016
Edward Heinrich 2008-2017 June 20 2017
Allen Naples 2010-2019 May 17, 2019