Lori Mould ’15 and Jennifer Pettis ’12, current graduate students who also earned their undergraduate degrees from SUNY Empire State College, have been named to the 2015 class of SUNYCON fellows by SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher.

Zimpher made the announcement during “SUNYCON, Critical Issues in Higher Education,” SUNY’s annual two-day conference, held Oct. 29-30, TheTimesCenter, 242 West 41st St., New York City.

The inaugural class of fellows, which includes students and faculty from across the system, will continue the 2015 SUNYCON discussion: “Building a New Business Model for the Academy: Partnerships, Affiliations, Mergers, and Acquisitions,” as they return to their campuses.

“These SUNY students and faculty were chosen for their interest in innovation in higher education and we have every confidence that their SUNYCON experience will be an enriching one for them, personally, and for their campuses, as they return home with new tools, clearer vision and a broader network of connections in their fields,” said Zimpher.

Mould was elected president of the State University of New York Student Assembly (SUNYSA) in the spring of 2014 and was sworn in as the student trustee on June 9, 2014, to serve a one-year term.

She is the first SUNY Empire student to be elected president of the SUNYSA and, by virtue of her office, the first to serve as the student trustee. Mould also is a 2014 recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence, SUNY most prestigious student honor.

Pettis, who completed the RN to BSN program and is enrolled in the M.S. in Nursing program, was among the first of the college’s nursing students to be accepted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.

She is employed as a nurse researcher/associate with Abt Associates, a global company of more than 2,700 employees with offices around the world, whose mission is to improve the quality of life and economic well-being of people worldwide.

During the conference, fellows were provided with exclusive access to featured speakers and discussions.

Their meetings included a welcome breakfast with Zimpher; a fireside chat with William McRaven, chancellor of the University of Texas system; a workshop with acclaimed actor, director, writer and Stony Brook University Visiting Professor Alan Alda; a fireside chat with Nirvi Shah, POLITICO Pro deputy director for policy and Kathleen O’Connell, New York Times national education director; and a VIP breakfast session with Richard Socarides, SUNY trustee and head of public affairs, Gerson Lehrman Group; Tessa Edick, founder and executive director, FarmOn! Foundation; Adam Enbar, president, Flatiron School; and Doug Lederman, co-founder and editor, Inside Higher Ed.