Dr. Tomás Morales, president of The College of Staten Island, has been selected as the latest Louis R. Miller Business Leadership Award recipient in the Not-for-Profit Category.

He has undertaken the task of transforming the college to a top of the line public education institution in just four years.

Since being inaugurated as the school's third president in 2007, Morales has implemented various plans in an attempt to improve the college's stature.

This culminated in the release of CSI's comprehensive five-year plan entitled "Many Voices, One Vision" Strategic Plan 2011-2016.

As a student at the State University of New York, he received his Bachelor of Arts in History, Morales recalled how he made the most of his college experience, citing a passion for leadership as his motivator.

"I was a very active student leader at the State University of New York. I was a peer counselor, peer tutor and worked with orientation as upperclassman."

However, he says it was his post grad experience that really sparked his interest in higher education.

Upon graduating he was offered the opportunity to work for the educational opportunity program in 1975.

"That was the real determining factor and that's how I got involved in higher education," Morales mentioned.

Having worked at a multitude of schools over the years, Morales had the unique opportunity to learn from a variety of different experiences culminating his in presidency in 2007. Morales attributes these different experiences as well as his passion for students to his success.

"I moved from one institution to another strategically throughout the course of my career and I picked up different things each time. What really drove me then and now as an educator is to work with students and help them reach their own dreams and aspirations."

With the recent CUNY protests grabbing all of the headlines last semester in the wake of the $300 tuition hikes over the next five years, Morales has remained calm.

"It's interesting because the CUNY system is a system that is dependent on tuition revenue in order to round out our budget and relatively speaking the CUNY tuition is low compared to others, but at the same time we are very committed to ensuring that any increase in tuition will not hinder students access to CUNY."

To this point, Morales and the staff at the College of Staten Island (CSI) have made it their mission to cater to students' needs.

CSI provides students with a litany of services all aimed and helping them through the college experience.

They provide top of the line day care services for students who may have children and extensive financial aid help when needed. Morales was adamant about the importance of caring for every student, making sure that any hindrance to their higher education could be eradicated if possible. "As a president I am very dedicated to working with the financial aid office to make sure students have everything need I have a dedicated staff that really care about students

It's about a constant effort to make sure students are approaching their career as an undergraduate in a way that they are taking advantage of the services afforded to them," Morales stated.

Amidst heaping praise from his counterparts and peers alike Morales remains as modest as ever, often highlighting his high achieving staff as the real reason behind his and his college's success over the recent years.

"You don't do anything by yourself you accomplish your goals with the help of a lot of people. The accomplishments of the college are really the accomplishments of the people who work here," Morales stated.

The implementation of the extensive 2011-2016 CSI master plan has everyone at CSI working together on a common goal and Morales couldn't be more ecstatic as the prospects for what remains as the only public university in the borough are brighter than ever.

"I see the college in the future growing and moving. We are looking at we are hoping to break ground on two residential life buildings and we are looking to build a high performance computing center. "

As a former student who once had to deal with all the pressures of college life, he left some parting words for current CUNY students.

"Work hard. Get the most out of the experience. Take advantage of all the services and get to know your faculty and staff personally. But above all, work hard. "