Professor Emakoji Ayikoye, a full-time tenured faculty member in the Department of Business and Information Systems and Dr. Tonya Johnson, an Associate Professor/Chairperson in the Department of Education and Academic Literacy, were among the forty-nine distinguished Career Success Fellows recently recognized by CUNY.

A BCC and Lehman College graduate, Professor Ayikoye has participated in the New York City Jobs CEO Council Faculty Fellowships in Practice-Based Teaching and Learning that enables his department to work closely with CEOs to ensure that BCC students are trained for actual jobs when they graduate. An important part of this program was apprenticeships at EY (Ernest & Young) and Deloitte.

In addition, he wrote grants that enabled him to visit Sweden, Thailand and India to see first-hand how government, academia and industry join together to create a pathway to well-paying jobs. In the future, he will also visit Japan. The Center for International Business and Research and the Consortium of Minority-Serving Institutions and Community Colleges received the grants.

He said, “I see being a Career Success Fellow as a unique opportunity to learn, collaborate, serve and become more impactful in preparing my students for career success.”

Dr. Johnson worked as a teacher and principal in the New York City school system before joining BCC in 2010. Her personal experience as a Black woman and educator led to her research on this subject to help her students successfully navigate their pathway to becoming educators. In addition, she has also written grants to raise funds that paid for workshops, exams and fingerprinting which can cost up to $500 and is a major barrier for many BCC students.

Her work also led her to create an advisory council of teachers, principals, daycare workers and former students to help BCC students become educators.

She has recently published a paper in the Journal of Excellence in College Teaching focused on her work with Lehman College on successfully transferring credits from BCC to Lehman College so that students will not encounter additional tuition expenses and will be prepared to enter the job market when they graduate.

Dr. Johnson noted, “I am interested in growing in every aspect of my career. Often times, we keep our circle so small and tight that we miss out on opportunities like the Career Success Fellows to grow in academia.”

These BCC faculty members will continue their groundbreaking work and research in implementing effective methods of helping students understand the relationship between classroom learning and careers along with serving as career-engaged leaders on the campus for the 2023-24 academic year.