Press Releases, 2021

SUNY Empire State College Receives Nearly $3 Million from U.S. Department of Education

Posted September 23, 2021

SUNY Empire State College today announced it has been awarded an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) grant through their “Transformative Research in the Education Sciences” program. SUNY Empire and selected partners will use the federal grant, totaling nearly $3 million over three years ($2,999,998.13), to develop a recognized incremental credentialing system for U.S. postsecondary education that will improve academic and labor-market outcomes for students. ... MORE

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SUNY Empire State College Chosen to Participate in Prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence 3 Learning Community

Posted June 25, 2021

SUNY Empire State College has been selected to participate in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence Learning Community. SUNY Empire is one of only two SUNY institutions chosen to participate in this prestigious national program. ... MORE

SUNY Empire State College and Anderson Center for Autism Announce Efforts to Develop a First-of-its-Kind Autism Supportive College

Posted February 10, 2021

SUNY Empire State College and Anderson Center for Autism today announced plans to develop a comprehensive training and consultation program that will lead to SUNY Empire’s designation as a first-of-its-kind autism supportive college. ... MORE

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Bronx Educational Opportunity Center and SUNY Empire Sign Partnership Agreement

Posted June 17, 2021

SUNY Empire State College and Bronx Educational Opportunity Center (Bronx EOC), which provides career training, high-school equivalency preparation, college readiness classes, college and financial aid application assistance, and job placement assistance to qualified New Yorkers, recently finalized a partnership agreement offering college degree options to Bronx EOC students, graduates, employees and their family members. ... MORE

SUNY Empire State College Dedicates Flower Garden to Those Impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Posted July 1, 2021

SUNY Empire State College held a dedication ceremony to announce its new Resilience Garden, celebrating the compassion and courage of the college community during the COVID-19 pandemic and honoring all New Yorkers impacted by COVID-19. Last fall, college staff and administration planted dozens of Asiatic lilies at the entrance of 113 West Avenue in Saratoga Springs. The lilies were donated to the college by Lisa Johnson, a project coordinator at SUNY Empire. ... MORE

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SUNY Empire and MVCC Sign Six New Transfer Agreements

Posted July 15, 2021

SUNY Empire State College and Mohawk Valley Community College joined together Tuesday, July 13, for a ceremonial signing of six transfer articulation agreements. The event was held on the MVCC campus, where President Randall VanWagoner was joined by SUNY Empire Officer in Charge Nathan Gonyea. ... MORE

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AI is Growing in Higher Education, but it isn't Automating Everything

Posted June 2, 2021

SUNY Empire State College, which was founded on an online, distance-learning model, historically received more than 110,000 calls a year from students seeking answers on topics like financial aid or admissions. The university, where the majority of learners are between 25 and 49 years old, first adopted an online chat feature in 2019. ... MORE

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Two SUNY Empire Students Win MVP Awards in the SUNY Esports League

Posted June 16, 2021

SUNY Empire made its debut in the competitive world of esports in the spring of 2020, when 15 students played three games in the SUNY Chancellor’s Esports Challenge. ... MORE

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SUNY Empire State College to Host Collection Drives for Community Shelters in Rochester, Saratoga Springs, and Selden in Support of Women’s History Month

Posted March 5, 2021

SUNY Empire State College, in partnership with community shelters, will hold collection drives at its Rochester, Saratoga Springs, and Selden campus locations on Wednesday, March 17, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. ... MORE

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Amazon Donates $1.75 Million Toward Construction of New STEAM High School in Syracuse, NY

Posted June 2, 2021

Amazon.com is donating $1.75 million toward a new STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) high school in Onondaga County. ... MORE

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SUNY Empire Welcomes First Accepted Ed.D. Student Jason Fishner

Posted May 27, 2021

SUNY Empire State College recently received its first confirmation of acceptance into the new Ed.D. in educational leadership and change from Jason Fishner, an alum of its MBA program who also has advanced certificates in project management and human resource management. ... MORE

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SUNY Empire Establishes 3 Pathways Transfer Agreements with HVCC

Posted May 27, 2021

SUNY Empire State College has entered into three Pathways Transfer Agreements with Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC), in business administration, entrepreneurship, and marketing. ... MORE

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SUNY Empire Partners with NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities

Posted May 11, 2021

SUNY Empire State College and the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) today announced a new partnership that will increase access to education, simplify the admissions process, and give those connected to OPWDD an opportunity to earn college credit for their professional and life experiences. ... MORE

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Student Paul Dungey Receives SUNY Empire State College Bluebird Award for Volunteerism, Community Building, and Leadership

Posted May 18, 2021

SUNY Empire State College announced the inaugural recipient of its Bluebird Award for Volunteerism, Community Building, and Leadership is student Paul Dungey of Auburn, NY. Dungey will graduate from the college in June with a bachelor's degree in business. ... MORE

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SUNY Empire Helps Veterans in Need Through Statewide Donation Drive

Posted May 7, 2021

In celebration of Military Appreciation Month, the SUNY Empire State College Office of Veteran and Military Education hosted a contactless donation drive to benefit organizations that support U.S. military veterans living in our communities. ... MORE

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SUNY Empire State College and Rio Salado College Establish Academic Pathways to Increase Access to Education

Posted March 2, 2021

SUNY Empire State College and Rio Salado College, a member of the Maricopa Community College District located in Tempe, AZ, recently finalized a transfer agreement highlighting four academic programs to help graduates who have earned an associate degree transfer to continue their education. ... MORE

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SUNY Empire State College Announces Black Male Initiative Scholarship Recipients

Posted January 18, 2021

SUNY Empire State College today announced seven students, all members of the college’s Black Male Initiative (BMI), have been awarded scholarships as part of the program’s work to remove barriers to education and to acknowledge students’ hard work and dedication. ... MORE

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SUNY Empire State College and Sunbridge Institute Reaffirm Commitment to Education for Adult Learners

Posted January 8, 2021

SUNY Empire State College and Sunbridge Institute yesterday renewed an existing academic pathway agreement between the two institutions to increase access to education for adult learners. ... MORE

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SUNY Empire State College to Hold Statewide Pet Drives to Benefit Animal Shelters

Posted January 6, 2021

SUNY Empire State College will hold three concurrent pet supply drives in Rochester, Saratoga Springs, and Selden to benefit area shelters in need. ... MORE

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SUNY Empire State College Announces New Dean for the School of Nursing and Allied Health

Posted January 22, 2021

SUNY Empire State College today announced Kim S. Stote, Ph.D., MPH, RDN will succeed M. Bridget Nettleton, Ph.D., RN, CNE as dean for the School of Nursing and Allied Health. She had served as dean since 2011 and will continue to teach at SUNY Empire. ... MORE

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Stewart's Shops Renames Ice Cream Flavor in Honor of SUNY Empire's Mascot, Blue

Posted April 26, 2021

SUNY Empire is proud to partner with Stewart's Shops for our 50th anniversary with a dedicated ice cream flavor. This flavor will be known as SUNY Empire Blue Ha-Ha, originally known as Brew Ha-Ha. The flavor is affectionately named after the SUNY Empire mascot, Blue. ... MORE

SUNY Empire State College and Hudson Valley Community College Celebrate New Academic Partnership

Posted January 29, 2021

SUNY Empire State College and Hudson Valley Community College today announced a new academic partnership that will not only simplify the transfer process, but will allow Hudson Valley students to continue their studies on campus while enrolled at SUNY Empire. ... MORE

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SUNY Empire State College to Hold Soup Drive Amid Increased Need for Aid

Posted February 8, 2021

SUNY Empire State College will host three concurrent soup drives at its Rochester, Saratoga Springs, and Selden campuses to support community shelters and food pantries committed to serving those in need. ... MORE

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SUNY Empire Opens the Richard L. Brodsky Scholarship for Public Service

Posted April 8, 2021

State University of New York Chancellor Jim Malatras announced today the opening of the Richard L. Brodsky Scholarship for Public Service through SUNY Empire State College. The scholarship honors the late assemblyman and his nearly three decades of serving the lower Hudson Valley community. ... MORE

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SUNY Empire and Life’s WORC Establish Corporate and Community Partnership

Posted April 19, 2021

SUNY Empire State College and Life’s WORC, a nonprofit organization that supports more than 2,000 people with intellectual disabilities and autism in Queens, Manhattan, Nassau and Suffolk Counties through residential and community services, the Family Center for Autism, and Life's WORC Trust Services, recently finalized a partnership agreement offering educational degree options for its members, employees, retirees and residents. ... MORE

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NYSED Approves Undergraduate Certificate in Crisis Prevention and Intervention

Posted April 28, 2021

The New York State Education Department has approved SUNY Empire State College’s undergraduate Certificate in Crisis Prevention and Intervention ... MORE

SUNY Empire State College Honors Winter Class of 2021

Posted December 21, 2021

(ALBANY, NY, December 19, 2021) — SUNY Empire State College celebrated the winter class of 2021 with a commencement ceremony on Sunday, December 19 at the Empire State Plaza in Albany. ... MORE

Dr. Lisa Vollendorf Named President of SUNY Empire State College

Posted December 14, 2021

The SUNY Board of Trustees today named Dr. Lisa Vollendorf, interim provost and chief academic officer at the University of Northern Colorado, president of SUNY Empire State College. ... MORE

Brooklyn Educational Opportunity Center Signs Partnership with SUNY Empire State College

Posted December 15, 2021

SUNY Empire State College and Brooklyn Educational Opportunity Center (Brooklyn EOC), celebrated a partnership agreement offering college degree options to the program’s students, graduates, employees and their family members. Brooklyn EOC’s tuition-free programs provide professional and educational training programs that lay the foundation for lifelong learning, college access, and economic self-sufficiency. ... MORE

SUNY Empire State College Signs Partnership with Long Island Educational Opportunity Center

Posted December 7, 2021

SUNY Empire State College and Long Island Educational Opportunity Center (Long Island EOC), finalized a partnership agreement offering college degree options to the program’s students, graduates, employees and their family members. ... MORE

CCNE Grants Accreditation to SUNY Empire’s Master’s Program in Nursing

Posted November 19, 2021

The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) has granted 10-year accreditation to SUNY Empire State College’s master’s program in nursing, a recognition that reinforces the program’s quality and integrity. ... MORE

SUNY Empire and SUNY Nassau Sign Partnership Agreement Benefiting Allied Health Professionals

Posted November 17, 2021

SUNY Empire State College and SUNY Nassau Community College held a formal signing ceremony to celebrate six new Pathways in Allied Health Transfer Agreements. The agreement gives SUNY Nassau graduates who earn their associate degree in allied health fields guaranteed admission to SUNY Empire’s Bachelor of Science in Allied Health online degree program. ... MORE

SUNY Empire State College Signs Partnership with Restaurant Opportunities Center United

Posted November 16, 2021

SUNY Empire State College and Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROC United) signed a partnership agreement that gives its members enhanced access to affordable, flexible, online degree programs through SUNY Empire’s corporate and community partner benefits program. The signing took place at SUNY Empire’s new 4 Park Avenue location in Manhattan. ... MORE

SUNY Empire's Autism Center Gets a New Name and Logo

Posted November 12, 2021

(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — November 12, 2021) Today, SUNY Empire State College Officer in Charge Nathan Gonyea announced the SUNY Empire State College Center for Autism Inclusivity’s new name, Center for Autism Advocacy: Research, Education, and Supports, during the college’s inaugural conference, Partners in Applied Behavior Analysis. Gonyea also announced an endowment from Susan and Jack Turben that funds the center’s director role in perpetuity. ... MORE

SUNY Empire Again Rated No. 1 in Overall Student Satisfaction

Posted November 2, 2021

SUNY Empire State College students have reported the highest levels of satisfaction with their overall college experience in several key areas of the 2021 SUNY Student Satisfaction Survey (SSS). Fifty SUNY campuses participated in this year’s survey. SUNY Empire has regularly participated in System-wide student opinion surveys every three years since 1994. ... MORE

SUNY Empire’s Applied Behavior Analysis Program Verified by Association for Behavior Analysis International

Posted October 29, 2021

The Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) recently verified SUNY Empire State College's Applied Behavior Analysis program as a Verified Course Sequence (VCS). As a VCS, SUNY Empire’s Applied Behavior Analysis program meets specific coursework requirements, content hours, and faculty standards. ... MORE

SUNY Empire Connects to Receive Program Award from SUNY

Posted October 28, 2021

The Office of Student Life program, SUNY Empire Connects, will receive an Outstanding Student Service Award for its COVID-19 response and programming from the State University of New York (SUNY) Chief Student Affairs Officers and the Office of University Life. ... MORE

SUNY Empire Associate Professor Deborah Jean Smith Selected to the Fulbright Specialist Roster

Posted October 27, 2021

Deborah Jean Smith, Ed.D., an associate professor in the SUNY Empire State College School for Undergraduate Studies, has been named to the Fulbright Specialist Roster for a tenure of four years, which began on October 8, 2021. ... MORE

SUNY Empire's Rochester Location to Serve as Early Voting Site for Monroe County

Posted October 22, 2021

SUNY Empire State College will continue its partnership with the Monroe County Board of Elections by serving as a polling site at the college’s Rochester campus located at 680 Westfall Road.  Early voting, which allows individuals to vote in person at any early-voting poll site in their county of residence, begins Saturday, Oct. 23, and continues through Sunday, Oct. 31. ... MORE

SUNY Empire Student Albert Culler Recognized with Prestigious SUNY ACT Award

Posted October 18, 2021

Albert Culler, an undergraduate student at SUNY Empire State College and student vice president of SUNY Empire’s Black Male Initiative (BMI), received the Excellence and Student Initiative Scholarship from the SUNY Association of Council Members and College Trustees (ACT) during the organization’s annual conference. The SUNY-wide event was held virtually on Friday, October 15. ... MORE

SUNY Empire State College Signs Partnership Agreement with Syracuse Educational Opportunity Center

Posted September 30, 2021

SUNY Empire State College and Syracuse Educational Opportunity Center (Syracuse EOC), which delivers comprehensive, community-based academic- and workforce-development programs, recently finalized a partnership agreement offering college degree options to Syracuse EOC students, graduates, employees, and their family members. ... MORE

SUNY Empire State College Signs Partnership with NY Race Track Chaplaincy

Posted September 28, 2021

SUNY Empire State College and NY Race Track Chaplaincy signed a partnership agreement that allows NY Race Track Chaplaincy and the people they serve, including the backstretch community, jockeys, and trainers to participate in SUNY Empire’s corporate and community partner benefits program. ... MORE

SUNY Empire State College to Launch Empire Promise Program

Posted September 17, 2021

SUNY Empire State College announced today it will launch the Empire Promise Program, an academic-support system designed to provide enhanced academic supports to students who show promise, but who may have experienced barriers to education in the past. ... MORE

SUNY Empire State College Welcomes PRODiG Fellow Bernadet DeJonge

Posted August 27, 2021

SUNY Empire State College is proud to welcome Bernadet DeJonge, as a SUNY PRODiG Fellow for the 2021-23 academic years. She will be based in the Syracuse location. ... MORE

SUNY Orange and SUNY Empire State College Sign Partnership Agreement Benefitting Nursing Students and Graduates

Posted August 13, 2021

On Friday, Aug. 13, SUNY Orange and SUNY Empire State College jointly announced a new RN to BSN transfer program agreement—which fills a critical hole in a region where no previous public BSN options had existed--offering SUNY Orange nursing graduates and senior nursing students with an active RN license a direct pathway to an online bachelor of science in nursing degree at SUNY Empire. ... MORE

GEICO and SUNY Empire State College Sign Three-year Partnership Agreement

Posted August 11, 2021

On August 11, 2021, GEICO (Government Employees Insurance Company) and SUNY Empire State College held a formal signing ceremony to renew and celebrate an educational agreement offering GEICO associates, retirees, and their family members a direct pathway to earning a degree at SUNY Empire. ... MORE

Chancellor Malatras Appoints SUNY Empire Officer in Charge Dr. Nathan Gonyea to Co-Lead SUNY-wide Task Force

Posted July 26, 2021

State University of New York Chancellor Jim Malatras announced a new SUNY-wide Empowering Students with Disability Task Force to address challenges faced by students with disabilities on campus and provide additional educational opportunities for individuals with disabilities. The task force, led by SUNY Cobleskill President Marion Terenzio and SUNY Empire Officer in Charge Nathan Gonyea will focus on improving physical access on campus for individuals with disabilities, fighting stigmas associated with disability inclusivity, addressing ableism on campuses, and fielding feedback from people with disabilities to improve their overall learning experience. ... MORE

83-Year-Old Sheldon Friedland of Yonkers to Receive Bachelor's Degree from SUNY Empire State College

Posted June 4, 2021

(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — JUNE 5, 2021) Sheldon Friedland, 83, has achieved a lot over the course of his lifetime: an honorable military enlistment, a beautiful family, a thriving business, and a home of his own. And on June 5, Friedland will add earning a bachelor’s degree to his long list of accomplishments. ... MORE

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Chancellor Malatras Launches SUNY For All Campaign Promoting Free Online Training Center Designed to Create Pathway to College, Prepare New Yorkers for Post-COVID Careers

Posted January 12, 2021

State University of New York Chancellor Jim Malatras today launched a statewide campaign supporting SUNY’s new free Online Training Center designed to give New Yorkers a clear pathway to college and careers in the post-COVID economy. ... MORE

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SUNY Empire State College to Celebrate 50 Years Throughout 2021

Posted January 28, 2021

SUNY Empire State College will celebrate 50 years of academic achievements and excellence throughout 2021. Founded in 1971, SUNY Empire began as a bold reimagining of higher education, one focused on increasing accessibility and opportunities for students. ... MORE