CONNIE BOSSE
Higher Education Administrators
HOMETOWN: WARRENSBURG, NEW YORK 1972 GRADUATE OF SUNY ADIRONDACK WITH A DEGREE IN LIBERAL ARTS 1976 GRADUATE OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY WITH A BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN URBAN STUDIES 1984 GRADUATE OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY WITH A MASTER’S DEGREE IN OPERATIONS CURRENTLY: RETIRED HIGHER EDUCATION ADMINISTRATOR; SUNY ADIRONDACK GARNET SOCIETY MEMBER; ACTIVE COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER Connie Bosse was 22 years old and had $19 in her purse when she moved to Boston. But the Warrensburg native had an associate degree from SUNY Adirondack; a roommate she met while they were students at SUNY Adirondack; and experience working in the college’s offices. “SUNY Adirondack is important to me,” said Bosse, who went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Boston University while working her way through the ranks of higher education administration, retiring as a vice president. “It gave me a foundation.” She spent 30 years in the Boston area, then moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to work at Kaplan Higher Education. When it came time to retire, Bosse moved to Glens Falls.
“People don’t realize what a great place this is,” Bosse said. “Having been away for 40 years, I can see this community is wonderful, with a lot of smart, caring people who want to work hard, be a good neighbor, good friend, good family and good citizen.”
Among the many regional assets she lists — Glens Falls Symphony, The Chapman, Wood Theater — is SUNY Adirondack.
“I could write a nice check and say, ‘Thank you,’” Bosse said, “but I want to do things that are interesting and bring value.”
The college means so much to Bosse, she signed on as a member of SUNY Adirondack’s Garnet Society, bequeathing some of her assets to the college upon her death.
Core among her extensive advocacy efforts are women’s rights, especially surrounding workplace and financial disparity. “Yes, women got the vote. Isn’t that great? But until women make the same, until it’s a moot point, we’re never going to be equal,” she said.
“I hope I’m around for a long time, but when I go, ACC (she laughed and said she can’t call it anything but its original name) will get some cash,” she said. The move was the latest in a legacy of giving back to the college that provided her an inspiring education and the skills she needed to advance her education and career. Bosse also supported fundraising efforts for the college’s Residence Hall and science chair. “I’m a smart, competent woman,” she said. “Why not give back? I owe the community.” Bosse is also an integral part of the team that hosts Girls Go STEM, a nonprofit event that brings middle-school girls to the campus for a day of handson learning about science-based careers; president of the local branch of American Association of University Women; and served on The Post-Star’s editorial board, the city’s Cemetery Committee and Warren County’s Advisory Board.
Despite a successful career in which she started as a secretary, used her employee benefits to fund advanced degrees, and worked up to dean and vice president positions, Bosse recognizes that her career wasn’t entirely her own making. “As a woman, I kept saying, ‘They like me, I’m competent,’ but did I ever say, ‘Connie, what do you want to do?’ In the work world, people tell you that you’re swell, so I just kept going and never made a career decision,” she said. “If someone had asked me, ‘What’s your ideal job?’, I would have been a lawyer.”