If you enjoy a learning environment with real-time engagement and a small group of peers for in-person interactions, onsite and virtual study groups are for you. SUNY Empire is offering 32 onsite and virtual study groups in the Spring 2023 term. Onsite study groups will be offered at three locations in the Metro region: Brooklyn, Hartsdale, and Staten Island. 

Study Groups are a mode of study offered both onsite and virtually to small groups of learners. The instructor-led courses provide regular engagement with faculty and peers, giving students more structure with regularly scheduled in-person meetings. Virtual study groups are instructor-led course consisting of a combination of asynchronous activities and scheduled virtual synchronous meetings by using Microsoft Teams.  

Both faculty and students appreciate these modalities for a variety of reasons. 

Professor Andrew Clark, who has been with the College for eight years, says he “enjoys teaching study groups and seeing students make close friends while obtaining a quality education.  A bond is created where students feed on each other’s success, strive to do well and take what’s leaned and apply to their practical lives. This is my ‘why’ and reason for being an educator.” 

SUNY Empire student Megan Morris shared this message about her experience enrolling in study group courses: 

“I truly enjoyed my real-time virtual meetings. Online study options are great, however, there's little that can replace face-to-face interactions and live discussion. Without live interaction we miss that piece of connectedness that can really draw us in to what we are learning and help us carry what we have learned into our profession and beyond.” 

If real-time learning sounds like the right fit for you, check out a list of onsite and virtual study group sections by visiting our study group and virtual study group webpages.