HCCC is recognized in the following 2026 Awards of Excellence categories:

• Advancing Institutional Equity and Belonging — HCCC was chosen for dedicating resources that result in measurable, equitable outcomes; produce an inclusive environment for students, employees, and the community; and engender innovative and progressive practices.

• Faculty Innovation — Professor of Theatre Arts Joseph Gallo was selected for creating HCCC’s Theater Arts Program; integrating his Off-Broadway and Kennedy Center playwright experience into teaching and learning; maintaining open-door advising; redesigning remote classes from lecture-based to interactive, including nationally-recognized artists; designing the new 100-seat black-box theatre currently under construction; building Playwrights Festivals; establishing a paid internship program; and arranging for more than 2,000 students to attend New York City theatre productions.

• Outstanding College Corporate Partnership — HCCC and New Jersey Reentry Corporation is an alliancethatcreates opportunities for previously incarcerated citizens to earn academic and industry-recognized credentials. Of the more than 1,000 students enrolled since the program’s inception in 2021, 83% have completed classes; 70% earned a credential, continued their education, or secured employment; 14 received a proficiency certificate; and 72 enrolled in a GED program.

• Rising Star Manager — Director of Employee and Labor Relations Amaalah Ogburn has a record of strong engagement on college committees, with external constituents, and in state and national organizations that support student success. Ms. Ogburn has identified inefficiencies, and reimagined and refined processes to solve problems and improve students’ experiences.

• Rising Star Executive — Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Heather DeVries co-chaired the Return to Campus Task Force during the pandemic; led teams from the College, business and K-12 communities, and college/university partners to develop Academic and Student Success Action Plans; worked with Achieving the Dream to produce significant gains in student retention and graduation; and co-led the Justice-Involved Undergraduate Success and Training (JUSTice) Program in partnership with the Hudson County Department of Family Services and Reintegration.

• Faculty Member of the Year — Assistant Professor of Exercise Science Karen Hosick embraces and integrates evidence-based, collaborative strategies that lead to student success. Professor Hosick helped develop the HCCC Personal Fitness and Exercise Science programs; stage pop-up events to help students interact with staff; and demonstrate techniques with state-of-the-art equipment. 

“We congratulate Joseph Gallo, Amaalah Ogburn, Dr. Heather DeVries, Karen Hosick, and our colleagues at the New Jersey Reentry Corporation for their well-deserved recognition,” said HCCC President Dr. Christopher Reber. “We thank them and so many additional HCCC faculty, staff, and students who contributed substantively to achieve these celebrated outcomes.”

Hudson County Community College is dedicated to advancing proven student success initiatives and supporting outstanding faculty and staff. HCCC was also a finalist in six AACC award categories in 2024 and received the national awards for Student Success (Hudson Scholars Program); Faculty of the Year (Dr. Clive Li); and CEO of the Year (Dr. Christopher Reber).

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About Hudson County Community College

Hudson County Community College serves more than 24,000 credit and non-credit students annually. The College offers more than 90 degree and certificate programs, including award-winning English as a Second Language; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); Culinary Arts/Hospitality Management; Nursing and Health Professions; and Humanities and Social Sciences. The HCCC Culinary Arts/Hospitality Management program was ranked number six in the U.S. by Best Choice Schools. The College’s School of Continuing Education and Workforce Development offers cutting-edge, industry-recognized, stackable credentials in alignment with high-priority workforce needs.

HCCC has partnerships with major four-year colleges and universities in the greater New Jersey-New York area and beyond, accommodating seamless transfer of credits for further undergraduate and graduate education.

The College has received dozens of national awards throughout the years. HCCC was a finalist in seven categories of the 2024 American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) “Awards of Excellence” and earned 2024 CEO of the Year, Faculty of the Year, and Student Success Awards. In 2023, HCCC received the Outstanding Member-Institution Award from the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU).

For the fifth consecutive year, HCCC was selected as one of only a few community colleges in the United States to be named a “2025 Most Promising Place to Work in Community Colleges” by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD). HCCC was one of 22 community colleges in the nation, and the only college in New Jersey, to be recognized by ModernThink LLC and the “Chronicle of Higher Education” as a 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2022 “Great College to Work For®” and named to the 2024 and 2023 “Great Colleges Honor Roll of Distinction.”

HCCC is one of two colleges in the United States to be named a Top Ten Finalist in all three program categories for the nationally recognized 2023 Bellwether Awards, and received the 2023 Bellwether Award for the College’s cutting-edge “Hudson Scholars” program, which also won the 2024 Bellwether Legacy Award. 

The College’s exemplary work in advancing student success has been recognized with 2025, 2024 and 2023 “Leader College of Distinction” designation by Achieving the Dream, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing community colleges as catalysts for equity and mobility in their communities. HCCC also earned the Campus Prevention Network Seal of Prevention in 2025, 2024 and 2023 for demonstrating leadership in digital prevention programming focused on student safety, well-being, and inclusion.

The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) recently named the College the inaugural recipient of the 2025 ACCT national “Impact and Success Award.”

About the American Association of Community Colleges

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) is the primary advocacy organization for the nation’s community colleges. The association represents nearly 1,200 associate-degree granting institutions and nearly 12 million students—almost half of all U.S. undergraduates. The AACC’s mission is to build a nation of learners by advancing community colleges in the United States, leading institutions to increasingly be recognized as the gateway to the American dream—the learning resource needed to sustain America’s economic visibility and productivity.