13 Ways SUNY Moved Forward in 2013

The State University of New York has seen tremendous progress throughout the past year. Last year, we educated hundreds of thousands more New Yorkers and awarded 92,124 degrees and certificates, including that of job training in nearly every corner of the state in large part through our strategically-located community colleges; supported hundreds of spirited companies across New York through our Small Business Development Centers; and successfully redirected millions of dollars from administrative and repetitive charges to academic-focused services.

Beyond the numbers, SUNY’s strength continues to rise. Our three million alumni worldwide are helping shape a resilient 21st Century; nearly half-million students are exploring sciences, influencing cultures, and innovating businesses to make the most of their education and their lives; and our nearly 35,000 industry experts have cased the entire globe, from helping to rebuild nations in the Middle East and Africa to righting a ship in the Mediterranean Sea.

So, without further ado, here are 13 ways SUNY moved forward in 2013:

1. START-UP NY legislation was enacted in June, transforming SUNY campuses across the state into tax-free communities that attract start-ups, venture capital, new business, and investments from across the world.
2. SUNY Smart Track was launched at scale, with campuses now using a standard Financial Aid Award Letter so that prospective students can easily compare the costs of attendance at all SUNY schools.
3. SUNY received a grant from the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation to support veterans and active members of the military in earning a college degree and entering the workforce.
4. SUNY faculty began authoring open online textbooks and working with campus libraries to publish them online as part of Open SUNY.
5. Governor Cuomo launched the NYS Master Teacher Program, a statewide initiative to reward the highest performing teachers, keep them in New York, and encourage them to share expertise with their peers.
6. SUNY partnered with Coursera to develop a common platform for the delivery of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as part of Open SUNY.
7. SUNY’s Innovative Instruction Technology Grants funded campus innovations and initiatives that have the potential to be replicated within the system. Open SUNY Textbooks, SUNY Games II, and iTutor and iDemo were among the projects to receive grants in 2013.
8. Governor Cuomo awarded $60 million to four projects in Round II of the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant Program, and authorized Round III.
9. 63 programs across SUNY received support for workforce development in high-need career fields as part of this year’s High Needs Program, which aims to answer workforce demands locally and statewide.
10. 27 SUNY campuses are now participating in SUNY Works, a number that is growing every day as SUNY continues its commitment to bringing co-operative education to scale.
11. SUNY is a major partner in Governor Cuomo’s New York Hub for Emerging Applications in Life Sciences (NY HEALS) initiative, the first-ever statewide public-private collaborative research initiative to enhance the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and cure of a variety of diseases.
12. SUNY was recognized by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities with a prestigious national award for its economic engagement efforts.
13. Governor Cuomo announced that New York will build a state-of-the-art anchor hub facility for high-tech and green energy businesses in Buffalo. The project will be run by the Research Foundation for SUNY, in partnership with the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) and SUNY campuses in the region.

Bonus: SUNY and the RF launched the Networks of Excellence, which will assemble scientists and scholars from SUNY campuses across the state to collaborate on topic-specific, joint research programs, creating a more focused and efficient research environment in New York while increasing academic and career opportunities for students.

I am so proud that SUNY has accomplished these fantastic achievements and value everything that we do every single day. I am excited for a new year, sure to be filled with great impact on the great State of New York!

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