Current And Non-Traditional Students To Gain More Through Online Courses

ALBANY - State University of New York Chancellor, Nancy L. Zimpher, announced this week that SUNY Empire State College will play a leadership role in the system’s introduction of Open SUNY, offering two of the first degree programs to be powered by this signature online initiative. “Open SUNY will provide our students with the nation’s leading online learning experience, drawing on the power of SUNY to expand access, improve completion and prepare more students for success,” said Zimpher. “In addition to these new, fully online degree programs, Open SUNY will take every online course we offer at every SUNY campus—now upwards of 12,000 course sections conducted by 35,000 faculty—and make them easy to find and accessible for every SUNY student.” In addition to Open SUNY, the chancellor introduced Open SUNY plus, designed to encourage students who have to continue and complete their degrees via online study. Empire State College has utilized online education for more than two decades and is the forefront of this innovative approach to course delivery. Empire State College faculty and staff have served adult students in various stages of their lives by providing robust online courses and programs in areas of high need for the student and the state. Today, about half of the college’s 20,000 students study online and many of the college’s 70,000 alumni have earned their associate, bachelor’s and master’s online. The eight Open SUNY plus degree programs set to debut in January were chosen based on a number of factors, including student interest, accreditation and their capacity to meet current and future workforce demand throughout New York state. They are: •Broome Community College- Clinical Laboratory Associate of Applied Science •Empire State College – Bachelor of Science in Business, Management and Economics: Concentration in Human Resource Management •Empire State College– Bachelor of Science in Science, Mathematics and Technology: Concentration in Information Systems •Finger Lakes Community College – Associate of Applied Science •Finger Lakes Community College – Associate of Science in Tourism Management •Stony Brook University – Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering •SUNY Delhi – Bachelor of Science in Nursing (for registered nurses) •SUNY Oswego – Master of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration in Health Services Administration. “Open SUNY will completely redefine access to a college degree in our state, reaching every child and adult in every school and home in New York,” added Zimpher, “and reaching them on their terms—in their homes and communities, and on their time, adapting to their schedules.”