SUNY Adirondack has been awarded nearly $2 million to expand completion initiatives and to establish an Educational Opportunity Program to aid more students in completing their desired degrees and graduating on time, in addition to making higher education obtainable for more students.
Earlier this month, the State University of New York announced a $4.6 million award from the Investment and Performance Fund benefiting North Country campuses. SUNY Adirondack is set to receive $1.8 million of that funding to be used towards three projects–the creation of a Student Success Advisement Center, the expansion of the Adirondack Completes initiative and the development of a web-based student tool called Adirondack Experience.
College officials said Adirondack Completes is an expansion of existing completion efforts providing additional academic support in math and other subjects, advisement and leveraging the degree works program to increase the number of graduates. The Adirondack Experience will be developed as a tool to help students plan and monitor their entire college experience, from application to graduation.
“The Investment and Performance funds will help SUNY Adirondack scale up its efforts to support student success and move us closer to our goal of increasing the number of graduates by fifty percent by 2020,” said SUNY Adirondack President Kristine D. Duffy. “We are excited about sharing our best practices with our North Country colleagues and will continue to work in collaboration to support the vitality of this great region of New York.”
In addition to the funding from the SUNY Investment and Performance Fund, it was announced in mid-February that SUNY Adirondack would receive an additional $144,000 annually to implement a new Educational Opportunity Program on campus.
Officials said only four new EOP programs were funded in the SUNY system. Currently active on 43 SUNY campuses across the state, SUNY’s EOP program provides access, academic support and financial aid to more than 10,000 academically and economically disadvantaged students, making higher education more accessible and greatly increasing students’ success.
Assemblywoman Deborah J. Glick, co-chairwoman of the Assembly’s Higher Education Committee, said the Educational Opportunity Program “has been one of the most successful vehicles for students challenged both economically and educationally. I am pleased that the Legislature could increase funds so that SUNY could have the opportunity to expand or establish programs that will provide this same pathway of success to other students.”