(SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Oct. 1, 2014) SUNY Empire State College held an open house in celebration of its new downtown office at 245 Broadway, Schenectady, N.Y.

“SUNY Empire State College is committed to providing increased services and expanded access to public higher education for the people who live, work and raise families in the greater Schenectady community,” said Merodie A. Hancock, president of the college. “Empire State College is proud to be part of the ongoing revitalization of downtown Schenectady and the new location will help the college continue to thrive. Empire State College is grateful for the ongoing support of county and city elected officials and leaders, the rank-and-file members of business and community-based organizations as well as our continued partnership with Schenectady County Community College."

Benefits of the college’s new space and location not previously available include:

• stronger street-level presence
• enhanced signage and accessibility
• upgraded broadband network
• video conference capability
• Wi-Fi connectivity.

“The new interior design better meets the needs of our students and their faculty mentors. It also fosters greater collaboration among faculty, students and staff,” said Gerald Lorentz, dean of the college’s Capital Region operations. “Because of new technology and improved connectivity, our students also have better local access to the resources of our statewide college.”

In addition to Schenectady, the college’s Capital Region locations are in Latham, Empire State Plaza, Saratoga Springs, downtown Troy and on the campuses of Fulton-Montgomery Community College, SUNY Adirondack and SUNY Plattsburgh.

The college’s Schenectady office was previously located at 328 State Street.

About SUNY Empire State College

Empire State College, the nontraditional, open college of the SUNY system, educates nearly 20,000 students worldwide at eight international sites, more than 35 locations in the state of New York, online, as well as face to face and through a blend of both, at the associate, bachelor’s and master’s levels.

The average age of an undergraduate student at the college is 35 and graduate students’ average age is 40.

Most Empire State College students are working adults. Many are raising families and meeting civic commitments in the communities where they live, while studying part time.

In addition to awarding credit for prior college-level learning, the college pairs each undergraduate student with a faculty mentor who supports that student throughout his or her college career.

Working with their mentors, students design an individual degree program and engage in guided independent study and course work onsite, online or through a combination of both, which provides the flexibility for students to choose where, when and how to learn.

Students have the opportunity to enroll five times during the year.

The college’s 73,000 alumni are active in their communities as entrepreneurs, politicians, business professionals, artists, nonprofit agency employees, teachers, veterans and active military, union members and more.

The college was first established in 1971 by the SUNY Board of Trustees with the encouragement of the late Ernest L. Boyer, chancellor of the SUNY system from 1970 to 1977.

Boyer also served as United States commissioner of education during the administration of President Jimmy Carter and then as president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

More information about the college is available at www.esc.edu.

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Media contact: David Henahan, director of communications

518-587-2100, ext. 2918

David.Henahan@esc.edu

518-321-7038 (after hours and on weekends)