Broome Community College is one of the 64 colleges that
comprises the State University of New York (SUNY), which
was established by the State Legislature in 1948. The 64
units include 30 locally-sponsored two-year community colleges
like Broome.
State University's 64 geographically dispersed campuses
bring educational opportunity within commuting distance
of virtually all New York citizens and comprise the nation's
largest, centrally managed system of public higher education.
When founded in 1948, the University consolidated 29 State-operated,
but unaffiliated, institutions. In response to need, the
University has grown to a point where its impact is felt
educationally, culturally, and economically, the length
and breadth of the State.
More than 400,000 students are pursuing traditional study
in classrooms or are working at home, at their own pace,
through such innovative institutions as Empire State College,
whose students follow individualized and often non-traditional
paths to a degree. Of the total enrollment, approximately
36 percent of the students are 25 years or older, reflecting
State University's services to specific constituencies,
such as refresher courses for the professional community,
continuing educational opportunities for returning service
personnel, and personal enrichment for more mature persons.
State University's research contributions are helping to
solve some of modern society's most urgent problems. It
was a State University scientist who first warned the world
of potentially harmful mercury deposits in canned fish,
and another who made the connection between automobiles
and industrial exhaust combining to cause changes in weather
patterns. Other University researchers continue important
studies in such wide-ranging areas as immunology, marine
biology, sickle-cell anemia, and organ transplantation.
More than 1,000 Public Service activities are currently
being pursued on State University campuses. Examples of
these efforts include special training courses for local
government personnel, State civil service personnel, and
the unemployed; participation by campus personnel in joint
community planning or project work, and campus-community
arrangement for community use of campus facilities.
A distinguished faculty includes nationally and internationally
recognized figures in all the major disciplines. Their efforts
are recognized each year in the form of such prestigious
awards as Fulbright-Hays, Guggenheim, and Danforth Fellowships.
The University offers a wide diversity of what are considered
the more conventional career fields, such as business, engineering,
medicine, teaching, literature, dairy farming, medical technology,
accounting, social work, forestry, and automotive technology.
Additionally, its responsiveness to progress in all areas
of learning and to tomorrow's developing societal needs
has resulted in concentrations which include the environment,
urban studies, computer science, immunology, preservation
of national resources, and microbiology.
Overall, at its EOC's, two-year colleges, four-year campuses
and university and medical centers, the University offers
more than 4,000 academic programs. Degree opportunities
range from twoyear associate programs to doctoral studies
offered at 12 senior campuses.
The 30 two-year community colleges operating under the
program of State University play a unique role in the expansion
of educational opportunity. They provide local industry
with trained technicians in a wide variety of occupational
curriculums, and offer transfer options to students who
wish to go on and earn advanced degrees.
The University passed a major milestone in 1985 when it
graduated its one-millionth alumnus. The majority of SUNY
graduates pursue careers in communities across the State.
State University is governed by a Board of Trustees, appointed
by the Governor, which directly determines the policies
to be followed by the 34 State-supported campuses. Community
colleges have their own local boards of trustees whose relationship
to the SUNY Board is defined by law. The State contributes
one-third to 40 percent of their operating costs and one-half
of their capital costs.
The State University motto is: "To Learn -
To Search - To Serve."
