School of Nursing and Allied Health Assistant Professor Teresa Smith, who has been at SUNY Empire State College for a decade, received The Empire State College Foundation Award for Excellence in Mentoring at ESC’s All College gathering on March 21 in Saratoga Springs. According to Foundation criteria, the award recognizes and honors a faculty member “who has distinguished himself or herself as a full-time mentor. Recipients are noted for their superb performance as a mentor, mastery of teaching methods, an ability to work with students from a variety of backgrounds and high standards in helping students attain academic excellence.”

About Teresa Smith

Smith teaches courses in the RN to BSN Program, including Educational Planning: Transition to Baccalaureate Nursing; Health Assessment; Nursing Informatics; Professional Issues and Leadership in Contemporary Nursing; and Community Health Nursing. In addition, she teaches courses in the master's program, including Nursing Informatics; Organizational Theory and Human Resource Management; and the M.S. in Administration capstone course.

Colleagues say of Smith, "Mentoring is inherent in this recipient’s fabric. She exemplifies leadership and mentoring qualities in all aspects of her professional life. She makes a consistent, conscious effort to foster relationships in every interaction she has.

"Teresa serves tirelessly as a mentor to faculty, adjunct faculty, support and professional staff. She takes time to share her expertise with others, always with warmth and patience. She continuously volunteers for her colleagues, even when it falls outside the scope of her role. She is always the first to volunteer to help with a project or research something when it comes to the good of the program, the college and, most importantly, the students.”

Smith serves on many committees at the college, including the School of Nursing and Allied Health Curriculum Committee and Admissions Committee; is an alternate to the college Senate; and is on the SONAH Student Degree Assessment Committee. She received the New York State Nursing Association Capital District #9: 2013 Nursing Excellence Award in Mentoring, among other professional honors.

Smith said, "SUNY Empire State College is a wonderful place to work and I appreciate the support of my colleagues in the SONAH and throughout the college. Many folks in this environment, and throughout my professional career, have provided me with excellent mentoring, and I hope to ‘pay it forward’ to others."

About the Empire State College Foundation

During the college’s 2018 fiscal year, the college’s foundation provided $1.6 million to directly benefit students, implement collegewide initiatives and support research and assist with faculty and staff development.

Last year, more than 1,900 alumni, employees and friends partnered with the college by making a gift in support of the work of the foundation.

Need-based student scholarships comprise the most significant use of foundation funds. During 2018-19, the foundation distributed more than $778,000 to support more than 700 students living across the country.

The foundation also sponsors a no-interest loan program for students, in the form of an advance of $500 per term on a student’s financial aid funds for education expenses.

These funds are offered by the foundation for education expenses at no interest, with guaranteed repayment. More than $1 million is loaned to students through this program each year.

In addition to donor-established scholarships, emergency funding and foundation-subsidized loans, a fund of $25,000, which includes matching funds from SUNY, was distributed solely to students from historically underrepresented populations, which further demonstrates the college’s ongoing commitment to expanding access and increasing completion diversity, equity and inclusion.