Golden Opportunity: Meet Bilingual Communications Specialist Catalina Irigoyen

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Catalina Irigoyen could hardly believe her eyes. After her “long and strenuous” job search, there it was on LinkedIn: Empire State University’s call for a bilingual communications specialist. A first for the institution, the newly created position would require dreaming up and translating content in both English and Spanish for the launch of SUNY Empire’s Spanish BBA program. To Irigoyen, a bilingual writer who spent years living and studying in Spanish-speaking countries, the job almost seemed too good to be true.

“In my job search, I had not seen anything like it—anything that felt like me,” says Irigoyen, who was born in Argentina. “When I stumbled across the listing, I was reading through it and thought, wait a second; this is like my whole life in a job description. I’ve always had to live my life in two languages, no matter where I’ve been.” 

And she’s been many places. By her 13th birthday, Irigoyen had lived in six countries: Argentina, Uruguay, the U.S., Ecuador, Spain, and Mexico. Her father’s high-level management job caused her family to relocate frequently, exposing the now Miami-based writer to a variety of international schools, cultures, and dialects along the way. 

“Languages and translation have been such a big part of my life,” Irigoyen says, adding that she learned to speak English around age four. “I’ve had to translate myself in different contexts and go back and forth between two languages so much that it’s become secondary in my brain.” 

“Spanish speakers are so diverse…and I’ve experienced a lot of different dialects, a lot of different histories and traditions and sociocultural phenomena. So I feel like I can connect with more than just what comes from my country of origin,” she continues. “I think that’s valuable because we’re not talking about appealing to just one kind of Spanish speaker with the BBA program—we’re talking about everyone who falls under that umbrella in the state of New York and beyond.” 

Recognizing that her experience could be an asset to Empire State University, Irigoyen enthusiastically applied for the job. She landed the position and officially joined SUNY Empire’s communications and Spanish BBA teams in October 2024. 

For Irigoyen, who holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, the job is a welcome opportunity to combine her unique background with her lifelong passion for writing. Over the last year, the wordsmith has produced stories about all aspects of the Spanish BBA program, thoughtfully bringing her multicultural perspective to each news article and profile she writes. 

“It lets me do what I love in a way that’s so connected to my life experience,” says Irigoyen, who also pens press releases and social media posts for SUNY Empire. “Getting to write about things and people that I care about has been very, very gratifying.” 

Also rewarding? Working with her Spanish BBA colleagues. She says their dedication to the recently launched program, which welcomed its first cohort of students this fall, inspires her every day.  

“It’s so motivating to be around people who care about something as much as I do and who also see how deserving the people we’re trying to help are,” Irigoyen says. “It’s such an important project, and it’s going to be the thing that makes a difference to so many people.”

Building Blocks: Libby Tsibulsky Talks Health and Wellness at SUNY Empire 

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When it comes to student success, prioritizing health and wellness isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. So says Libby Tsibulsky, the director of Empire State University’s Office of Health and Wellness. 

“Basic needs and health and wellness resources are often, I think, kind of seen as the fluff or the ‘if I have time’ stuff when, in reality, those are the things that should be the building blocks of your academic career,” Tsibulsky explains. “If you learn how to take care of your health and your relationships, balance your time, and be financially responsible, it’s going to make all the academic stuff a whole lot easier.” 

It’s an ethos Tsibulsky has taken seriously since arriving at Empire State University in 2024. She joined the team after a 12-year tenure at SUNY Alfred, where she started as a mental health counselor before working her way up to an assistant director position. Tsibulsky says SUNY Empire’s reputation for supporting students inspired her to make the move to the online institution.  

“I love the university’s genuine dedication to helping students and the lengths [faculty and staff] go to make sure students succeed,” says the director, who holds degrees in psychology and mental health counseling. “It’s not a business to them—it’s human-centered. My own personal philosophy coming from the mental health world [centers around] a person-first approach, and that’s how it really feels here.” 

In the year she’s been at SUNY Empire, Tsibulsky has put that philosophy to good use. The popular Student Health Advisory Committee, the multi-pronged Basic Needs program—coordinated by new team member Anna Zoodsma—and the university’s free mental health first aid training course all fall under the health and wellness office’s purview. Planning events like the revamped health and wellness fair, successfully hosted for the first time as a virtual conference this past spring, is also part of the job.  

“I found out that’s a huge passion of mine—event planning and wellness programming and things like that,” Tsibulsky says, adding that her office designs each event and program to target different areas, or pillars, of health. “I’m very excited to be able to do that.” 

Right now, Tsibulsky is channeling that passion into initiatives like the university’s inaugural NASPA Peer Educator Internship Program, slated to kick off in the spring of 2026. As part of the program, a team of students will be chosen to “represent and promote the eight pillars of wellness through intentional programming, social media campaigns, and one-on-one peer wellness coaching,” she says. Tsibulsky also hopes to support Zoodsma—who has a background in agriculture—in expanding the university’s virtual food pantry and creating a Basic Needs programming series.  

Above all, though, Tsibulsky aims to let students know that SUNY Empire’s health and wellness office is “here to help.” 

“I think we went from a model of higher education that was like ‘you’re here to get a degree and do a job’ to ‘this is a transformative experience.’ We want you to grow in many ways. We want you to graduate feeling like, yes, I have a degree but I’m also a more fully equipped human,” she says. “Ask for help if you need it, and we can really move mountains to get you some resources.” 

Empire State University’s April Simmons Launches Text Campaign, Workshops to Motivate Students

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As a student, staying motivated can be hard. Just ask April Simmons: The three-time Empire State University alum and longtime employee says she experienced this firsthand while working toward her master’s degree at Brooklyn College. 

“I actually ended up getting very sick and that took away a lot of my motivation,” says Simmons, who ultimately finished her degree at SUNY Empire. “It really threw me off my feet…and it took a lot of people around me and a lot of deep processing to really feel confident enough to pursue school again.”  

Now, as a student success coordinator in the Office of Student Support and Outreach, it’s an experience she aims to help others avoid. Enter MOTIVATE, an initiative Simmons “developed from the understanding that student success and persistence are deeply connected to intrinsic motivation,” she says. One component? An inspirational text-messaging campaign. Designed for SUNY Empire’s first-term undergraduates, the program strives to keep spirits high through targeted weekly texts. The “short and sweet” messages, thoughtfully penned by Simmons, are deployed on Fridays to students who sign up. And they are, in droves: After the texts were introduced during the summer 2024 term, engagement grew 202.8% by the fall. It increased again, this time by 159.3%, entering fall 2025, Simmons says. 

The reviews she has received on the program are just as positive. 

“A student [told me] that she was sitting in her office one day and [feeling like] she wanted to give up. Then a [message] came in on her phone and she called her brother with tears in her eyes, saying she felt my message was just for her,” says Simmons, who is also an adjunct instructor. “She encouraged me to just keep going with it because so many students need that.” 

Recognizing this need, Simmons has expanded her self-described “motivation movement” with three student workshops offered at various times throughout the semester. The “Mindset Matters” workshop kicks off the term with affirmations for student success and “really speaks to those experiences of nontraditional students coming in from all different walks of life,” Simmons says. Offered with support from the Office of Health and Wellness, the “Refresh and Reset” workshop, meanwhile, targets midterm challenges by encouraging students to “recognize the relationship between self-care and their academic success,” she explains. Rounding out the trio of offerings is the end-of-term “Pause and Reflect” workshop—Simmons’ latest brainchild, which she hopes to begin offering in the spring.  

“I’m very big on just bringing people out of darkness—out of their intrinsic fears and doubts. I just feel like that is part of why I was put on this Earth, so it’s a bit larger than me,” says Simmons, who is also working on an inspiration-centric channel for students on SUNY Empire Connects. “I know what it feels like to lose motivation and not know where it’s going to come from next…I feel like I went through that experience to be able to recognize some of those things in students and pull them out as best as I can.” 

ODEI Explores Universal Design in Honor of Disability Pride Month

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — July 7, 2025) In celebration of Disability Pride Month, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion invites all members of the university community to explore the power of universal design (UD) in this month’s Reason & Respect: Unplugged! Join us in honoring disability pride by reading the Q&A below and sharing your reflections, questions, and experiences on our community discussion board. 

Universal design is a proactive approach that shapes workplaces, events, products, and learning environments to be accessible and inclusive—without requiring individuals to disclose a disability or request accommodations. By embracing universal design in the workplace, we create a community of belonging where people feel supported and uplifted in their work. 

In this article, Sine Rofofsky, Lindsay Infantino, and Aley O’Mara will share their perspectives. 

About the Interviewees:

Sine Rofofsky, Ph.D., is a returning student at Empire State University majoring in human services. They are passionate about DEI and have been involved in the Center for Autism Advocacy: Research, Education, and Supports (CAARES) as a peer mentor. With a background in education, they bring a thoughtful and engaged perspective to conversations around UD. In their free time, they enjoy reading cozy mysteries.   

Lindsay Infantino is a digital accessibility coordinator at SUNY Empire with previous experience in disability advocacy and as a writing instructor and tutor. Lindsay holds graduate degrees in creative writing and in higher education disability services, with research interests in disability studies and applications of universal design in academia and beyond. 

Aley O’Mara is the program associate and training coordinator for CAARES. They are autistic and have a collection of other neurodivergent and chronic illness experiences. 

What makes a workplace accessible to you? 

Sine: A workplace is accessible in two ways. The first is that it follows universal design so there is not as much to ask for in terms of it becoming accessible. Having to self-advocate is difficult: It ‘labels’ me; it can make me feel like I’m making others jealous (whether or not they are); I have to ‘justify’ why I need this accessibility accommodation; and I’m not always sure what I need. [Second,] when I do need to ask [for an accommodation], there’s an easy process and I’m not made to feel [like] ‘a burden’ or defensive. 

Lindsay: Flexibility, transparency, clear communication, and a good combination of trust and support are all accessibility considerations that I really value. But what is accessible for one person may not be accessible for another, so options become very important. An accessible workplace can take many different shapes. It can look like providing flexibility in schedules or opportunities to work on-site or from home. It can look like having conversations with employees about how they work best and what they need (or don’t need). It can mean offering comfortable office furniture that is supportive of a variety of bodies, or making sure products or materials are accessible to the employees who will be using them. It can mean offering multiple methods of communication to a colleague, describing visuals in presentations, or proactively providing captioning and interpreters at events. 

Aley: I chose a unionized remote work setting intentionally: I benefit from being able to curate my own physical workspace with minimal in-person interruptions to meet my autistic needs. 

What steps can be taken by individuals, colleagues, and supervisors to make the workplace more accessible? 

Sine: Follow UD principles from the beginning—be proactive, not reactive. Understand that people have different needs/preferences. 

Lindsay: [There are] two very simple but important steps that individuals can take. The first step is to always assume you may have a disabled colleague, student, instructor, supervisor, friend, family member, etc. If you assume disabled people are always in your audience, whether they tell you or not, then it becomes crucial to consider ways to make environments as accessible as possible by thinking through universal design principles and putting them into action. The second step is to listen (really listen) to disabled people when they say what they need or what is not working for them, and to believe them. 

Aley: Assume everyone you’re working with has access needs and ask upfront about how you can best communicate with colleagues! 

What are some elements of universal design in the workplace that often go unrecognized as universal design? 

Sine: UD in the workplace includes things as simple as elevators or stairs, automatic doors, shelving that is reachable without step stools, eye-level signs and displays [that people can see] while seated, adjustable seating, a variety of input devices, text-to-speech and speech-to-text [options], flex time, agendas before and minutes after meetings, materials available in print or electronic [formats], captioning, larger print/easier to read fonts, adjustable lighting, chair/desk options, adjustable height tables, and high contrast. 

Lindsay: Things like affordable health insurance, generous sick and vacation time, and fostering a culture where people are encouraged to take care of themselves are also examples of universal design. To push it even further, universal design in the workplace can also look like, where possible, giving an employee extra time to complete a project, just as an instructor might give a student an extension on an assignment. It can also look like evaluating quality over quantity of work, or working with employees to develop achievable goals specific to their strengths rather than relying on standardized performance metrics. 

Aley: I find performance programs to be a helpful access tool that is already built into our workplace. The collaborative process for filling it out helps me understand my role and my supervisor’s expectations in a clear and empowering way. My performance program is a great reference that helps both as a memory aid and as a way to keep my impulsive eagerness for new challenges in check! 

Is there anything else you would like to add? 

Lindsay: The term universal design can be misleading, because it doesn’t need to and shouldn’t be about creating a universal ideal environment where everyone’s access needs are perfectly met; that’s impossible. But what it is about is thinking through some of the most common accessibility barriers and, as much as possible, designing things to avoid those barriers from the beginning. It’s also about rejecting ableism and the ideas that environments should only be built with the needs of nondisabled people in mind, and only adjusted to be accessible when a disabled person asks for access through an accommodation request. 

Thank you for engaging with this conversation, and don’t forget to share your thoughts and questions on the community discussion board! 

Empire State University Launches New Colleges, Welcomes Deans

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — July 1, 2025) Empire State University officially launches five new colleges today, July 1. The move, which sees the university’s existing academic units transition from schools to colleges as part of a strategic restructuring, represents two years of planning and stakeholder engagement. 

According to Rai Kathuria, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, the long-awaited reorganization enables SUNY Empire to “strengthen our academic infrastructure, integrate our approach to student success, and position the university for continuous improvement.”  

“The transition from schools to colleges marks an exciting new chapter in our university’s evolution, reflecting our commitment to expanding opportunities and promoting a collaborative academic environment,” he said. 

With this new academic structure comes a new era of leadership. The university acknowledges the longstanding dedication and service of its five outgoing deans—Nicola Allain, Desalyn De-Souza, Maureen Kroning, Audi Matías, and Mary Mawn—while also welcoming new ones. Three educators have joined SUNY Empire as inaugural deans: Carol DeNyscchen as the dean of the College of Health and Human Services, Ju Kim as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Kjersti VanSlyke-Briggs as the dean of the College of Education. Two dean roles have been filled by current employees. Julie Gedro, who has been dean of SUNY Empire’s School of Business since 2020, now serves as dean of the College of Business while Gina Torino, formerly the interim dean of the university’s School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School of Labor Studies, has been newly appointed the dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

“We warmly welcome our college deans, whose leadership will be pivotal in guiding us through this dynamic period of growth and innovation,” Kathuria said. 

Here, the leaders share in their own words their visions for their respective colleges.  

Carol DeNysschen  
Dean of the College of Health and Human Services 

“I am honored to join Empire State University as dean of the College of Health and Human Services. My vision is to foster a vibrant community of educators and staff dedicated to developing inclusive, flexible, and innovative programs. These programs will expand access for individuals seeking to make a meaningful impact on the health and well-being of diverse communities. I envision the college as an anchor for forward-thinking education—responsive to the evolving needs of society and foundational to strong, purpose-driven careers in health and human services.” 

Julie Gedro 
Dean of the College of Business 

“My vision is to position the College of Business as a leader in delivering rigorous and accessible business education that equips learners to navigate complexity, lead with integrity, and achieve meaningful career growth. We are building an academic environment grounded in professional relevance. Our students will engage with curricula that are informed by real-world challenges, global trends, and evolving workforce needs. I want our graduates to view their credentials not merely as steppingstones for career development, but as evidence of lifelong potential. They will leave our college prepared to lead, adapt, and contribute—whether in corporate, entrepreneurial, nonprofit, or public service settings.” 

Ju Kim 
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences 

“I am honored and excited to serve as the inaugural dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Empire State University. At the heart of my vision for the new college is a bold commitment to uniting the liberal arts with science and technology. By integrating the creative, critical, and analytical strengths of the humanities, arts, and sciences, the new college will prepare diverse students not just for jobs, but for the future. In an age shaped by artificial intelligence, our students will graduate with the adaptability, ethical grounding, and interdisciplinary skills to lead in any field.” 

Gina Torino 
Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences 

“As inaugural dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, my vision is to lead a dynamic and inclusive academic community that directly addresses workforce development needs, preparing our students for immediate career success. We will accomplish this by providing relevant programs such as psychology, public policy and administration, labor studies, criminal justice, and others, all while cultivating an inclusive environment in which every voice is valued. Our commitment is to provide high-quality online education and culturally responsive support, enabling our graduates to effect positive change and make a significant contribution to their chosen fields and communities.” 
 
Kjersti VanSlyke-Briggs 
Dean of the College of Education 
 
“The College of Education will be a leader in innovative approaches to education programs and certifications. I look forward to working closely with the faculty in the college to continue to build and grow as we meet the ever-changing demands and challenges in B-12 education. Together, we are committed to equipping educators with the tools students need to succeed in today’s dynamic educational landscape. Our programs are designed to be inclusive and adaptable to a wide range of learners, ensuring that every student can thrive. The flexibility of our online format provides educators with the opportunity to enhance their skills and advance their careers, all while balancing the demands of their professional and personal lives. ” 
 

Tzvi Simchon ’24: Keeping History Alive on Film

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — June 30, 2025) Decades after the Nazis invaded Poland and sent millions of Jews to concentration camps, a class of high school boys from an Orthodox Jewish high school in Brooklyn arrived in Warsaw to revisit their family history.  

Their trip is captured in a documentary called “Can These Bones Live Again?” filmed, directed, and produced by Tzvi Simchon ’24, a filmmaker who went along to document the 10-day trek as part of his final project at Empire State University. The film was featured in the Miami Jewish Film Festival earlier this year.

The 50-minute documentary, named for a phrase in the Biblical book of Ezekiel, follows the group as they tour concentration camps, mass gravesites, and memorials that pay homage to the Jewish community that was devastated during the Holocaust. They were joined at times by Dov Landau, a Holocaust survivor. The film also captures the Jewish culture that has since been revived.

Simchon says he wanted to create a film that would bridge the generations, especially as the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles and the incidence of anti-Semitism grows. “That whole generation is soon going to die away, which is very scary, especially with the rise of anti Semitism and hate of all kinds,” he says. “We need to preserve that legacy.”

Coming Back to Life

The trip to Poland was organized by Names Not Numbers, a nonprofit dedicated to Holocaust education through oral history and film. Simchon was ready to go on the trip as a student himself in 2020 when COVID struck. When the trip was revived three years later, Simchon was invited along, this time as a professional filmmaker. 

Simchon’s camera follows the students as they travel through Warsaw. “We were literally walking on the same grounds where a lot of our ancestors were murdered,” he says.

The students were often at a loss for words, especially at the concentration camps, where they saw showerheads that once spewed gas and piles of shoes and hairbrushes belonging to victims. Many students, Simchon says, were confused.

“It’s mindboggling to see that it’s possible, that something like this could ever happen,” one student says. “They built this massive camp, and it was open for three years without anybody stopping it. I can’t really wrap my mind around it. I can’t really understand it.”

Many of the visitors, including Simchon himself, had family members who died in the Holocaust. Some students had grandparents who came from Poland and discouraged them from going there. “There is an emotional distaste and trauma associated with it,” Simchon says.

To counter the horror, Simchon also included footage of Jewish music and dance, scenes of joy that show Jewish culture is alive and well today. “So, when the title asks, ‘Can These Bones Live Again?’ the answer is yes, they can,” he says. “We are the bones come back to life.”  

Filming With Legos

As a child, Simchon loved photography. He learned film editing from his father, a graphic artist who taught him how to make stop motion animation using Legos. His father also showed him the behind-the-scenes secrets to making the movie “E.T.”

“I fell in love with all the work that goes into creating something, and how hours and hours of work can go into a single minute of film,” he says.

In 8th grade, Simchon made a graduation film for his classmates. “It was the worst video I ever made, and they played it at our graduation ceremony,” he recalls. “Afterward, my mom was getting messages from her friends who saw the film and cried. I realized I had the ability to make people feel a certain way through my films. That’s the feeling I always chase.”

For Simchon, who now lives in Teaneck, NJ, the last few years have been a whirlwind. He graduated high school in 2020, took a gap year at a yeshiva in Israel, and launched his film production company in 2022. He got married in 2023 and his son was born this June.

In between, in 2024, he graduated with a bachelor’s in interdisciplinary studies from SUNY Empire where he learned the art of Holocaust filmmaking from Ruth Goldberg, Ph.D., a professor of film. “I owe a lot to SUNY Empire,” he says. “I would not have been able to work and pursue what I wanted to pursue and learn what I wanted to learn.”

While Simchon once dreamed of going to Hollywood, making “Can These Bones Live Again?” has kindled a new passion. “I’m not sure what the future holds, but making this movie created a love of documentary filmmaking for me,” he says. “I hope to one day tell more stories through documentaries.”

SUNY Empire Spotlight: June 2025

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — June 25, 2025) The latest news on research efforts, awards, grants, and media appearances from Empire State University faculty, staff, and leadership.  

Elizabeth Bradley, professor, edited and co-authored a book titled “Navigating Academic Motherhood: The Possibilities of Effective Mentorship for Tenured Faculty Mothers.” Assistant Professor Lauren Allen, Professor Diane Gal, Assistant Professor Blair Izard, Distinguished Teaching Professor Peggy Tally, Distinguished Teaching Professor Tina Wagle, and Assistant Professor Melissa Wells also served as co-authors.

Shantih Clemans and Debra Kram-Fernandez, both associate professors, presented at the International Association of Social Work with Groups annual symposium. Shantih presented “Joys, Frustrations, and Moments of Learning: Virtual Study Groups for Online Adult Learners.” Debra presented “The Women’s Therapy Center Institute Historical Project: The History of a Grass Roots Training Institute through a Social Work Group Work Lens” and “Engaging Aging: Using a Group Work Model to Promote Critical Thinking About Aging in America” (with co-presenter Lela Zaphiropoulos from the Women’s Therapy Centre Institute). 

Anita DeCianni-Brown, director of career and experiential learning services, presented “Scaling Career Supports for Nontraditional Students in an Online Environment” at the 2025 NACE Conference on June 10.  

Xiomara Giordano—assistant vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion and chief diversity officer—served as a panelist for the “Progress Under Pressure: Can We Still Deliver on the American Dream?” discussion hosted by the SUNY Global Center on June 18. Giordano also coordinated an event in collaboration with Hispanic Education Technology Services (HETS) held at 4 Park Avenue that day. The event, titled “Student Passport: Connect, Learn, and Lead,” promoted international connection and academic engagement, with five student presentations on subjects ranging from interior décor to health sciences. President Vollendorf addressed attendees and Digital Accessibility Coordinator Pam Doran presented on machine translation—a powerful resource built into the software used by the university community that facilitates multilingual communication in the landscape of higher education.    

Douglas Gruse, chief marketing officer, and members of the Marketing and Creative Services team attended SUNYCUAD’s 2025 Awards for Excellence ceremony, where they received Judges’ Citation awards in the Excellence in Creativity and Excellence in Strategy categories.  

Lynn Lubecki, assistant professor, has been named a consulting editor for the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) journal, Young Children, and NAEYC publications. 

Alan Mandell, professor emeritus, was the invited keynote speaker for the “President’s Dialogue Series” at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Vancouver, BC, on May 6. 

Njoki Mwarumba, assistant professor, spoke with Spectrum News 1 about how Canadian wildfires are impacting air quality in New York.  

Renee O’Brien, adjunct instructor, was featured in the National Association of Women Artists’ 136th Annual Exhibition, on display at New York’s Leonovich Gallery from June 6-21. The show highlighted one of O’Brien’s photographs.  

Shannon Pritting, executive director of the Office of Graduate Studies and Scholarly Support; Pam Doran, digital accessibility coordinator; Herbert Covington, assistant professor; Jolie Kennedy, assistant professor; and Hope Sun, associate professor, co-published an article, “AI-integrated Literature Discovery Tools: A Guide to Reviewing for Institution-wide Use,” in the Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship. 

Ian Reifowitz, distinguished professor, appeared on France 24 and ARC Rochester to comment on the protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles and President Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard and the Marines. In separate interviews with ARC Rochester this month, he discussed war and diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran, as well as the cease-fire and the constitutionality of President Trump’s actions.  

Kim Stote, associate professor, co-authored an article that was recently published in the Annals of Medicine.  

Betty Wilde-Biasiny, professor of visual arts, is featured in “New Drawings,” a juried group exhibition curated by Samantha Friedman of the Museum of Modern Art. On view at the Kentler International Drawing Space in Brooklyn, the exhibition runs through July 20.  

Empire State University Set to Launch Nine New Academic Programs This Fall 

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – June 16, 2025) Empire State University’s Office of Academic Affairs has announced the introduction of nine new academic programs, which will begin enrolling students for the fall 2025 semester. These include a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in accounting; bachelor’s degrees in human services management and information technology; a master’s in organizational psychology; advanced certificates in higher education leadership and bilingual education (the latter with separate tracks for post-baccalaureate and post-master’s); and a certificate in labor studies. As part of this rollout, the university also plans to launch the previously announced Spanish BBA: SUNY’s first Spanish-language online degree program. 

“These new academic programs reflect SUNY Empire’s ongoing commitment to meeting the evolving needs of students and communities across New York state and beyond. By strategically expanding our offerings, we are equipping learners with practical, career-aligned skills that will empower them to make meaningful contributions in today’s evolving workforce,” says Rai Kathuria, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “This is not just about launching new degrees; it’s about opening doors to opportunity, access, and sustainable success. I’m deeply grateful to our faculty and staff whose dedication, insight, and hard work made these launches possible.” 

Empire State University Student Wins Best of SUNY Art Award 

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – June 13, 2025) At the ripe age of 11, Caleb Rubright landed an opportunity to do something that few other tweens do: take a college course. 

“I actually entered an art competition, and I got to take a class at Monroe Community College (MCC) in 1991,” says the Rochester native, a visual arts student at Empire State University. “I remember walking into the college looking at all these 20-year-olds and being like, ‘Whoa, this is cool.’” 

It was a pencil drawing of a horse that earned Rubright his spot at MCC. And now, more than 30 years later, that same subject matter has garnered the longtime artist his latest accolade: a 2025 Best of SUNY art award, conferred during an in-person reception in Albany on May 30. Selected from pieces submitted by students throughout the SUNY system, Rubright’s acrylic-on-canvas painting “Wild Horses” was one of three works chosen for the award. Four other submissions received honorable mentions.  

Rubright (right) accepting his Best of SUNY Award. Courtesy photo

“It was a big surprise … I did not expect to win knowing that I’d be competing against [students from] dedicated art schools,” says the painter, whose 4-by-6-foot creation also won a SUNY Empire student art competition last fall. “It’s an honor.” 

Rubright—who first discovered his interest in art as a middle schooler, when his aunt took him to a local exhibition—has always sketched and painted images of animals. The neon color scheme on display in “Wild Horses,” though, has become a staple of his work in recent years. He says he first experimented with it while creating a painting of a Great White shark for his son.  

“It was naturally colored, and it was just boring. So I started playing around with neon colors,” he says, adding that the cheery palette soon caught on with customers of the commission-based art business he ran prior to enrolling at SUNY Empire. “I wanted to make things that were happy and made people smile … that’s the whole reason why I paint.” 

Associate Professor Jim Robinson Reflects on 50 Years at Empire State University

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – June 12, 2025) Fifty years have come and gone, but Jim Robinson still remembers his first day at Empire State University. It was 1975, and Robinson—then a Ph.D. candidate and teaching assistant at New York University—joined the faculty as a part-time instructor. 

“I was interviewed in a room full of about 30 to 40 people who were having a bag lunch. People sort of asked me questions at random while they ate their sandwiches,” he recalls. “The social work people wanted to know how I would talk to a student, and the art people wanted to know if I went to museums. The question really was, ‘Will you fit?’” 

Luckily for Robinson, currently an associate professor based on Long Island, it’s safe to say the answer was “yes.” Although his pre-Empire resume includes formative stints as a staff assistant for Congress and a labor relations assistant for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, the longtime educator—who has two children and a granddaughter—views teaching as his true calling.  

“It fit me because it allowed me to work closely with people, and that was something that I valued,” he says of his first position at SUNY Empire.  

Robinson’s addition to the faculty made sense in other ways, too: Prior to his appointment, “I had gone through three different programs: a bachelor’s degree in literature, a master’s in history, and a Ph.D. in political science. And Empire was looking for generalists and people who worked interdisciplinary,” he explains. “It turned out that I have used at Empire every scrap of what I had ever learned in any program, and it has paid off in strange ways.” 

Robinson—an Oregon native who, as a child, moved around the country with his family before settling in New York—has held numerous positions at the university over the years. In addition to teaching, he has performed a wide variety of administrative roles including serving as the program director for the international Cyprus/Athens Unit in the early 1990s and chairing the graduate program in policy studies, which he helped develop. Through it all, though, his dedication to empowering his students has remained the same.  

“I’m interested in [students] developing the skill to learn for themselves, and that was right there from the very beginning for me,” Robinson says, noting that he encourages those who take his classes to think of him as a coach rather than a judge. “We were told the core of our mission was that people should be independent learners, and that just struck a chord with me. That’s probably the one thing that stayed with me throughout.” 

After half a century on the job, Robinson says other parts of the university’s stance on education have continued to resonate with him, too—namely its focus on “the broadening of peoples’ perspectives … and a commitment to get people to the point where they could participate publicly.” 

“That is civic education in the best sense,” he says.