(SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – March 22, 2018]) David Andersen, an associate professor in the division of Business, Management and Economics at Empire State College’s Lakewood location, and faculty academic coordinator, was given the Empire State College Foundation Excellence in Part-time Mentoring Award at All College 2018 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. in March.

David Andersen is to be commended for winning this prestigious award,” said Vice President for Advancement Walter Williams. ”Being part-time faculty isn’t always easy and can be very demanding, as exemplified by Dave, who has gone far above and beyond his part-time duties.”

Andersen has been with the college for 30 years. He was lauded by colleagues for taking on a heavy load of 35-45 different studies for students across the college, many of them individualized. He also was noted for  his excellence in mentoring and teaching students, for developing courses and for representing the college at public events, such as at the Chamber of Commerce, career fairs, Jamestown Community College’s College and Career Night, and other community events.

Andersen works from the Lakewood location, but he regularly provides services for students at the Dunkirk location, traveling to meet with students on a weekly basis. He also oversees two online studies, Operations Management and Manufacturing Management. He has expertise in health care, and was a key contributor in the development of a Healthcare Administration and Leadership curriculum, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Throughout his tenure at Empire State College, he has served as a primary faculty mentor for students pursuing a degree in Business, Management and Economics.

Andersen’s mentoring is enhanced by his 30 years of experience in the business field. Since 1988, he has served as the executive director of The Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center Network, Inc., and he has many professional memberships.

His students speak highly of him, with several saying that he eased their anxiety about going back to college, and even encouraged a student to continue on to a bachelor’s degree, in addition to her planned associate degree.

Andersen was described as easygoing and unassuming, but very hard working. “He is engaging, positive, respectful and patient in conversations with his students,” wrote Paula Barber, secretary of the Lakewood location, who also has been a student at the college. “Furthermore, he is amazingly knowledgeable and enthusiastic about each course he teaches. This enthusiasm is contagious, and it shows in the discussions and reactions I hear from students about their courses with Dave and through my own first-hand experience as a student.”

He earned two master’s degrees; in Business Administration and Guidance Counseling, as well as an Advanced Management Program Certification from the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western University.

About the Foundation Award for Excellence in Mentoring

The criteria for the award include superb performance as a mentor, encompassing the areas of teaching, student advising, scholarship, and service to the college.  There must be evidence of flexible instructional policy, mastery of teaching methods, and the ability to work with students from a variety of backgrounds and academic preparations, and to involve students in degree program design.  The mentor must be a broad-gauged scholar who is current in his or her field, who uses relevant contemporary data in teaching, sets high standards for students, and actively helps students attain academic excellence. In evaluating student work, the mentor demonstrates an ability to be critical and fair, and places greater weight on the student's final level of competence than on performance at the beginning of study. 

 About SUNY Empire State College

Empire State College, the nontraditional, open college of the SUNY system, educates nearly 18,000 students worldwide at eight international sites, more than 30 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 degree 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.

The college’s 78,000 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.