Innovative programs from eight Central New York SUNY Schools were on display in Syracuse Monday. It was part of the "Power of SUNY Regional Showcase", that let schools from across the area share projects.
SUNY Cortland is working on several education fronts that dovetail with the "Power of SUNY" vision. President Erik Bitterbaum says they have several grants that bring Central New York research to schools across the country.
“We just received a $3 million grant over a year ago in character education. We’re the cradle of character education,” said Bitterbaum. “Every superintendent in America this year, in 35,000 school districts, received one of our professor’s book on how to develop character education and values education.”
Another innovative program out of Tompkins Cortland Community College helps students learn how to market wine. Wine marketing chair Susan Stafford says there's a need for this kind of thing in the finger lakes.
“We have a lot of passionate, independent, small, entrepreneurially spirited vineyards and wineries that really need help with that business model, that distribution, that identity as the third largest wine producer in the United States,” said Stafford.
SUNY Oswego President Deborah Stanley says it’s important for each school to know what the others are doing.
“Our students go from one institution to another,” said Stanley. “They transfer freely, they get graduate degrees. We all are really proud of their efforts and we all acknowledge them when they leave the SUNY system as one of our own. This is an important experience.”
One of the tasks SUNY has taken on in recent years, is to become the engine for economic growth. This is the 7th of 10 of these kinds of regional showcases across the state this year.
