(SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Feb. 1, 2016) SUNY Empire State College is offering a new series of online courses on individual career brand management through Coursera, the world’s largest open, online education provider.

SUNY Empire’s “Career Brand Management Specialization” series, which begins Tuesday, Feb. 9, is designed for people interested in career development and self-management as a way of differentiating themselves in an increasingly competitive, global job market.

Created and taught by the college’s faculty and professional staff, the specialization consists of three courses: Strategic Career Self-Management, Career Brand Development and Self-Coaching, Strategic Self-Marketing and Personal Branding and a final capstone project, leading to a Coursera-verified certificate.

“Students will learn how to develop, manage and communicate a strong career brand by using proven brand management methods and tools and by gaining knowledge and analytical skills for career self-management,” said Associate Professor Valeri Chukhlomin, who led the college’s team in developing the specialization series for the Coursera platform.

Chukhlomin said Coursera continues to innovate as a platform for teaching and learning at a remarkable pace, which enables it to remain at the cutting edge of technological advances in education.

Access to the Coursera platform is provided to campuses through Open SUNY, the systemwide online learning initiative that provides the foundation for The State University of New York’s completion agenda, which aims to increase the number of degrees awarded annually to 150,000 by 2020.

Nearly half – 44 percent – of all certificate, undergraduate and graduate degree programs available through Open SUNY are provided by the college.

In addition to the 85 programs available online through Open SUNY, SUNY Empire offers 500 courses online.

“At SUNY Empire State College, we begin with curriculum developed by our world-class faculty and then, by working hand-in-glove with an amazing professional staff, the faculty are able to provide access to a high-quality education, wherever and whenever it suits our students,” said Merodie A. Hancock, president of the college. “My congratulations go to Val Chukhlomin and the entire team for creating such an innovative online program, which also will provide the college access to so many new learners through Coursera.”

“Well over half of the 17 million people from around the world registered on Coursera are looking for skills to improve their careers," said Daphne Koller, president and co-founder of Coursera. "We are thrilled to now offer SUNY Empire State College's Career Brand Management Specialization, a course series that is well aligned with the needs of our learners, many of whom would otherwise never have had access to high-quality instruction on this topic.”

In addition to Chukhlomin, professors Michele Forte, Kymn Harvin Rutigliano and John M. Beckem II participated in the creation of the program and teach the series. Dana Gliserman-Kopans serves as the series content editor. Tonka Jokelova, coordinator of curriculum and instruction design, and Amy Giaculli, coordinator of student services, assisted in development of the program and will provide student support. John Hughes, the college’s director of media, production and resources, coordinates video production.

In addition to expressing appreciation to his colleagues for their outstanding work on the Coursera specialization, Chukhlomin also praised Ronnie Mather, the college’s interim dean of the Center for Distance Learning, for his support for the project.

About Coursera

Coursera partners with more than 140 top universities and educational institutions to offer hundreds of online courses and specializations in topics including computer science, business strategy, social psychology and more. Students earn certificates from prestigious learning institutions for courses that teach the skills they need to succeed. Whether students want to advance a career or pursue a passion, Coursera provides open online education for everyone. For more information visit www.courseara.org.

About SUNY Empire State College

Empire State College, the nontraditional, open college of the SUNY system, educates more than 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 77,000 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