CHENANGO COUNTY – While SUNY Morrisville had its fair share of challenges like many others in the education world, they still saw an increase in enrollment in the fall of 2020.
According to SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus Director Lindsey Lefevre, while the SUNY system as a whole experienced close to a six percent decline in enrollment, the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus saw over an eight percent increase in total students for the fall 2020 semester, especially within the academic programs of Nursing, Business and Human Services.
With the unknowns surrounding enrolling at a traditional residential college campus, students cited several reasons for choosing to attend the Norwich Campus including the small size of the campus, affordability and flexible options to advantage of in-person as well as virtual learning.
“Through regular COVID testing and pre-arrival screening efforts, the Norwich Campus plans to increase the number of on-campus classes and labs to allow for 70 percent of the total student population to have an on-campus opportunity,” said Lefevre. “Faculty also have access to various forms of technology and learning platforms to provide flexibility to those students who may be in quarantine or have daycare concerns.”
“It was also imperative that the campus continued to engage students through involvement with on and off campus projects and events, and if I had to characterize the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus in the year 2020, it would have to build around the themes of community and collaboration.”
Lefevre said as the COVID crisis developed in the spring, not only was the focus on ensuring students were transitioned smoothly to a virtual learning environment but also asking how and what would be the most impactful way to use our resources to support the community.
“We understood that food security would be one of the larger issues affecting families due to disruptions in the supply chain, closure of schools and loss of employment,” she said. “When an inquiry came from one of our dedicated alums, we immediately began to plan a series of large scale food drives that would not only feed hundreds of families but also support local producers and grocers.”
“With the support of numerous organizations, foundations, businesses and the Nourish NY Initiative, the campus organized and executed four food drive-thru events that provided healthy dairy, meat and fresh produce adding up to over 1,700 distributions and close to $50,000 spent locally in and around Chenango County.”
She added that volunteers did not hesitate to inquire how they could help from packing products to participating in the actual distributions.
SUNY Morrisville Norwich students also gained valuable insight and experience on the organizational efforts that were necessary to collaborate across its community and the numerous logistical details that needed to be addressed in order for these events to be successful.
“In conjunction with the SUNY Morrisville Liberty Partnerships Program (LLP), a program designed to support high school completion, the campus began an after-school academic support program for students grades 9-12,” said Lefevre. “LPP students were invited to campus twice a week to receive in-person professional tutoring services in the subjects of math, science and composition free of charge.”
“Tutors worked with high school educators in order to best assist students struggling with content and a hybrid model of in-person and virtual learning.”
The Liberty Partnerships Program also served to address issues surrounding access to reliable internet and support with online learning platforms. A total of 10 students participated during the fall semester with the hopes that the campus can expand the program during the spring semester.
Lefevre said in addition to that program, students were able to take advantage of a speaker series through the college’s Human Services Institute, involvement with the Kurt Beyer Park Redesign Project and student activities that revolved around art projects and virtual concerts.
She said in May 2020, when the college resigned to the fact that students would not be able to participate in a traditional graduation ceremony, the campus organized a Drive-Thru Commencement in order to recognize and congratulate the students’ perseverance and dedication to their academic program.
She added that 50 members of the graduating class were greeted by bagpipes, staff and faculty dressed in full regalia in the campus parking lot to receive a yearbook and congratulations by the college’s administration.
“Even though the graduating seniors were not able to participate in an official ceremony, they were grateful that the college and the staff still made the effort to recognize the extraordinary challenges they had overcome in order to successfully complete their degree program,” said Lefevre. “Overall, the Norwich Campus will strive to support the higher education goals of those that reside in the Chenango County community while recognizing the challenges that students will continue to face during the pandemic.”
“The strategies that had to be implemented during this time will undoubtedly transform the way in which we serve students.”
She said SUNY Morrisville prides itself on hands-on, applied learning which is imperative to the mission of their academic programs, however, the college has also recognized that it needs to be flexible by offering more virtual opportunities to serve a broader range of students whose life situations are very diverse.
She added that this is a major initiative that will continue to grow as they move towards meeting the educational goals of the students who choose the Norwich Campus.
“The Norwich Campus is extremely grateful for the support shown by numerous foundations, organizations and businesses and SUNY Morrisville looks forward in continuing to collaborate with our community to meet the post-secondary needs of Chenango County and our region,” said Lefevre.