President, provost attend Chancellor’s State of the University speech

President Yeigh and William W. Durgin, provost, were among the dignitaries on hand as State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher delivered her third annual State of the University Address in January.  Zimpher highlighted the value of a college degree and set an ambitious agenda for the year ahead as SUNY aspires to be a national model for higher education in America.

“SUNY’s progress and the system’s unprecedented level of collaboration with schools, communities and businesses are having an astounding collective impact on New York State and all who live and work here,” Zimpher said. “We believe SUNY has a national roadmap for education, and we are committed to using it.”

Zimpher highlighted breakthrough strategies at work across SUNY that increase college access and completion and make universally available the opportunity for all citizens to achieve success in school, college, and career. Among the new goals she described was the launch of “Open SUNY” in 2014, an initiative that will include 10 online bachelor’s degree programs that meet high-need workforce demands. Open SUNY will leverage online degree offerings at every SUNY campus, making them available to students system-wide using a common set of online tools, including a financial aid consortium so that credits and aid can be received by students across campuses. Zimpher said Open SUNY enrollment will reach 100,000 students within three years, making it the largest online education presence of any public institution in the nation.

“SUNY has redefined itself under Chancellor Zimpher’s transformative leadership,” Yeigh said. “With our commitment to online learning and our emphasis on preparing students for workforce opportunities, SUNYIT is poised to participate in her vision for public higher education in the 21st century.”

A complete transcript of the State of the University Address is available online at suny.edu/chancellor.