Cynthia Gruskos Honored As Outstanding Professional Board Staff Member

At the June Brookdale Board of Trustee’s meeting, Cynthia Gruskos, senior assistant to the President and Board of Trustees of Brookdale Community College was unanimously nominated for the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) Regional Award for Professional Board Staff. A proclamation was given to her by the Chairman of the Board, Dr. Henry Cram, and President, Dr. David Stout. This recognition represents the high esteem she holds among her colleagues and the Board of Trustees.

Gruskos is the consummate professional with a calming voice and a cheerful demeanor and has the utmost patience while providing a trove of information about the College. Her valuable insights always produce thoughtful solutions to whatever challenges arise. In addition, she is a passionate advocate for Brookdale, the students and employees, and the community we serve.

During COVID-19, Gruskos assisted the board by migrating board materials to a cloud-based portal and the government of meetings in a virtual format. She was also instrumental in the presidential search and the year of transition to a new administration.

As a volunteer at the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights & Genocide Education (Chhange), she helps educate about the Holocaust, genocide, and human rights. In addition, she raises funds to eliminate racism, anti-Semitism, and all forms of prejudice.

Serving her professional community, she has served as co-conference coordinator of the American Association of Women in Community Colleges LEADERS Institute and Northeast Regional Member-At-Large on the Professional Board Staff Network of Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT). In addition, she regularly attends professional development conferences through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, ACCT, and Association of Governing Boards of Universities & Colleges (AGB).

Serving the College, she has been a member of the 2018 Middle States Self Study Steering Committee, Diversity and Student Development committees of Governance and Leadership Brookdale.

As Senior Assistant to the President and the Board of Trustees of Brookdale since 2014, she expertly manages operations of the President’s Office, including coordination of interactions with the president and meetings of the College’s leadership team, monitoring of progress on actionable items, supervision of staff, administration of the office budget and resolution of problems.  In addition, she skillfully organizes the College’s Board of Trustees activities, including preparation of materials, ensuring Board compliance with laws and policies and arranging Trustee orientation and professional development.

This recognition was a real surprise to Gruskos. She said, “Thank you very much, Dr. Stout, and to all members of the Board and my colleagues that I work with, I really appreciate this proclamation and look forward to working with each one of you in the future and many years to come.”