Work, Serve, and Discover Through Applied Learning

Have you ever asked yourself what is SUNY all about – and if SUNY can provide an excellent education and hands on opportunities to all 460,000 students across the 64 campuses? Then you should know about SUNY’s commitment to Applied Learning.

On September 18 and 19, SUNY highlighted the importance of Applied Learning at a statewide workshop in Syracuse, New York.  In addition, on September 19^th William Ziegler, SUNY’s Applied Learning faculty engagement and curriculum development specialist, along with Elise Newkirk-Kotfila, the Coordinator of Community Relations and Applied Learning project leader, presented to the faculty at the annual faculty senate meeting, since they were unable to attend the event. The Applied Learning Workshop was built to bring Applied Learning stakeholders together to create a space for collaborative conversation about the topic, to provide an update on the work SUNY has been doing, and to develop ideas for alliance building on campuses, the formation and sustainability of off-campus partnerships, and the involvement of faculty and professional staff from across the system.

The attendance of 33 campuses (representative of all campus sectors) with 25 of those campuses attending in teams, reflected the significance of Applied Learning for SUNY. Through a series of presentations, panels, and varies workshops, the 180 SUNY administrators, faculty, and professional staff committed their Thursday and Friday to engage in the improvement and understanding of Applied Learning.

Applied Learning refers to a hands-on, real world approach where students learn by doing. Although the setting and context may vary for each applied learning opportunity, these traditionally include planning, training, monitoring, reflection, and evaluation, and can be credit bearing or not, at home or abroad.

SUNY focuses on three essential and equally important categories of Applied Learning.

1^st SUNY Works. This refers to the clinical placements, in which more than 20,000 SUNY students are enrolled; and co-operative education programs, in which SUNY faculty and area employers have jointly developed curricula that integrate classroom instruction and on-the-job experience. Ninety-five percent of students who participate in co-op nationally find jobs immediately upon graduation, and nearly all are offered a job with their co-op employer. Approximately 1,500 students are currently enrolled in co-op across SUNY.

2^nd SUNY Serves. Service-learning, community service, and volunteerism provide incredible skills, knowledge and opportunities for students.  More than 10,000 SUNY students are currently engaged in formal service-learning programs for which students earn college credit, while tens of thousands more participate in community service and volunteer locally, nationally, and around the globe.

3^rd SUNY Discovers. Student research, entrepreneurial ventures, and field study. While SUNY research has historically resulted in breakthrough discoveries, inventions, and start-ups, increased focus on applied learning has led to an unprecedented level of collaboration between SUNY students, faculty, and industry experts to enable commercialization of the best ideas and innovations born on SUNY campuses.

This successful event inspired many faculty and administrators to become well informed and further their involvement on Applied Learning.  SUNY will continue to expand Applied Learning opportunities for students through the STARTUP-NY and NYSUNY 2020 programs, which leverage the capacity of SUNY campuses to serve as economic development drivers for their regions and New York State.

To see a video of Chancellor Zimpher presenting to the group, please click below.

If you have any questions, please contact Elise Newkirk-Kotfila at [email protected]