Meet Zachary Madding, Empire’s New Capital Program and Sustainability Manager 

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — April 28, 2025) For Zachary Madding, joining the staff at Empire State University is something of a full-circle moment. When he and his wife—a SUNY Empire alum—moved from Oklahoma to New York state back in 2021, he says he “immediately set [his] sights on SUNY Empire, both for [his] future education needs and as a potential employer.” Now, after a year-long stint as the senior engineering technician for the city of Saratoga Springs, Madding has reached his goal by becoming the university’s new capital program and sustainability manager.  

“Empire is a great place to be. SUNY has initiated a Climate and Sustainability Action Plan for 2025, and it’s the same type of plan that I’m helping to develop for the city of Saratoga Springs,” he says, noting that he’s on the board of the city’s Climate Smart Task Force. “To be brought in at the ground level with all these new initiatives is really exciting.” 

Ahead, Madding shares a look at his new role and the university’s past and present sustainability work. 

Can you explain what the capital program and sustainability manager does? 
ZM: It’s really two distinct roles. A lot of campuses have an entire capital program management team and an entire sustainability team. I get to wear both hats solo, which is really exciting and also challenging. The capital program manager is responsible for planning and budgeting for construction projects, whether that’s new construction or renovation—basically anything that falls outside of the routine maintenance. The sustainability manager is responsible for all the initiatives contained in the 2025 Sustainability and Climate Action Plan. Since at Empire we don’t have residence halls, labs, cafeterias, [or any of] those things, sustainability for us means lowering our energy impact. The main focus for me is how we can include renewable energy and how we can become more efficient with the energy that we do use. 

What has SUNY Empire already done on the sustainability front? 
ZM: Broadly across all of SUNY, the average age of SUNY buildings is over 50 years old. At SUNY Empire, the buildings are on average a little under 20 years old, and we had to start building to LEED Silver specifications with all our new buildings maybe 15 years ago. All the major buildings in Saratoga Springs, [as well as] our Selden Building and our Rochester building, are built to that LEED Silver standard, which makes them very efficient and lower impact compared to most commercial construction throughout the state. Going forward, that’s going to be even tighter. We’re moving past LEED Silver and approaching net zero in all our new construction plans, but where we are today is several steps ahead of most of our peers. We’re also implementing new building management software that helps with improving the efficiency of our buildings and understanding exactly what’s going on with things like our HVAC systems and lighting and how we can adjust those settings to maybe get lower energy consumption while still making our occupants comfortable. We have relatively efficient, newer buildings to start with, so the gains that are left for us to realize are small and incremental, but they’re still important. 

In software development, they say the first 90% of the project takes 10% of the effort, and the last 10% of the project takes 90% of the effort. With decarbonization, electrification, and renewable energy, the same is true; the last few things to decarbonize are the hardest things to decarbonize. A lot of the low hanging fruit has been plucked, which is a big pat on the back to my predecessors and the team that was here when I joined. But I think it’s also important to recognize that it’s worth doing those last few things to get us where we want to be.  

What about the university’s outdoor spaces? Have sustainability measures been implemented there, too? 
ZM: We have integrated pest management, which is sort of a fancy term for low-impact landscaping. We’re not spraying toxic weed killers or fungicides or pesticides or that sort of thing around our buildings. We’re using the least toxic compounds possible. 

There are some other things that are important for us to engage with, like biodiversity. So we want to talk about how we can include things like pollinator gardens and native plants. We want to mow less and let things be a little bit wilder and more insect friendly. Decarbonizing, of course, has an impact on the atmosphere, which is a very broad part of our outdoor environment. And we definitely need the right climate for pollinators and small animals to be successful for eco-diversity to take hold. We also have to remember to provide little safe spaces for reproduction and feeding and everything else to exist; smooth, hard surfaces everywhere don’t foster life. 

What are some short-term things on your bucket list that you’re working on right now? 
ZM: We’re looking at possibly renovating a building over at 113 West Avenue and, as part of that renovation, we want to take a very close look at what we can do for renewable energy. 111 and 113 West Ave. are in very close proximity to each other and are situated across a large parking lot that already has a geothermal field under it, which is helping with the energy needs at 113. But we want to expand that field and help offset the energy use that will be necessary at 111 post renovation. We’re also looking at possibly including solar [panels] on the roofs of both buildings. They’re both flat-roofed and could generate a lot of energy. There’s even the option of maybe including car covers, or awnings for cars to park under, that could be solar as well. 

We also want to include electric vehicle charging to go with all of this and encourage people who visit our buildings to drive zero-emission vehicles wherever possible. [At SUNY Empire], we have a relatively small fleet [of vehicles], but we’re moving toward zero-emission vehicles like battery electric vehicles.  President Vollendorf is driving an all-electric vehicle, and we have a plug-in hybrid SUV as part of our fleet as well. We’re definitely putting a lot of effort toward improving access to chargers for people who use our buildings and also our fleet operations. Going forward, the majority of our vehicle purchases will be zero-emission vehicles like battery electric vehicles.  

I also want to explore bus stops. The city has some initiatives around bike shares, and I want to see how we can incorporate the city’s initiative for bike sharing into our campuses and get people out of personal vehicles and into either biking, walking, or public transportation wherever possible. 

What does life outside of the university look like for you? 
ZM: I volunteer quite a bit. I’m a board member for the Saratoga Springs Climate Smart Task Force, and I’m on the Climate and Energy Committee for Sustainable Saratoga. I volunteer with the Project Management Institute of Upstate New York and with a small land conservancy in Saratoga Springs known as SoBro, too. I also love hiking, and, in the past, I’ve gardened a lot, although I haven’t quite adapted to upstate New York’s climate for gardening as much here. I’m still learning, but I do love to grow plants whenever possible. Also, my wife and I cook, and we spend a lot of time together in the kitchen, especially in the winter. 

Last question, just for fun: What’s on your reading list these days? 
ZM: There is never a wrong day to read Emerson’s essay, “Self-Reliance”! However, I am currently on a daily streak of 3-plus years on Duolingo, where I rank among the top 1% of over 500 million language learners worldwide. In that three-year span, I also completed certification as a Project Management Professional and developed some skills using Python programming for data analysis. And for the last several months, I have been contributing to the City of Saratoga Springs Climate Action Plan through researching and editing. I suppose other interests have crowded out my reading time. 

Meet Empire State University’s Inaugural AI Fellows 

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — April 23, 2025) As the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) continue to advance, opportunities for its use in higher education abound. That’s where Empire State University’s inaugural AI Fellowship comes in. First announced by the Office of Academic Affairs last fall, the new program aims to champion projects that promote AI innovation in teaching, research, or administrative practices, or which support the development of AI tools and programs. After soliciting applications from full-time faculty and staff, a selection committee ultimately chose nine proposals for the fellowship, which includes a stipend. 

“These projects will play a critical role in shaping the future of AI within SUNY Empire and across academic disciplines,” said Rai Kathuria, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs, in a March statement announcing the fellowship recipients. “I look forward to seeing how they help to advance our strategic priorities and their impact on the university.” 

Read on to learn more about this first class of AI Fellows, who describe in their own words the work they’ll be completing over the next six to 12 months. 

About the Fellows: 

Bidhan Chandra, professor 
Project Title: Navigating the Future: AI-Enhanced Mentorship for New Faculty 
 
“The project focuses on coaching and equipping newly hired faculty mentors with appropriate generative AI tools and training, such as custom GPT models, to enhance their mentoring capabilities. The goal is to streamline critical tasks like educational planning, Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) advisement, and career counseling so new faculty mentors can devote more time to meaningful student engagement. By integrating generative AI into mentorship, we aim to boost mentoring success, expand faculty engagement, and align closely with SUNY Empire’s strategic goals for innovation, inclusivity, and student success.” 

Valeri Chukhlomin, professor 
Project Title: AI-Enhanced Academic and Career Planning: Transforming iCPL Readiness 
 
“This new fellowship project leverages advanced AI tools to empower students to efficiently document and apply their prior college-level learning. The project unfolds in two phases. In Spring 2025, the iCPL office will receive specialized AI training and updated resources, while a pilot educational planning course is developed specifically for Business, Management, and Economics students. This course is designed to help students identify, document, and effectively present their past academic experiences. A second phase, tentatively scheduled for Fall 2025, will expand the program based on initial feedback and results, aiming to streamline workflows for mentors and administrators, ultimately accelerating degree completion and enhancing SUNY Empire’s leadership in innovative learning strategies. This initiative underscores the university’s commitment to academic excellence and student success by integrating cutting-edge AI into educational planning and mentorship.” 

Nathan Gonyea, professor, with Christine Paige, executive director of Empire Online, and Alena Rodick, director of Learning Design and Solutions 
Project Title: Creating a Rubric Grading Custom AI GPT Utilizing the Rubric Interview Technique 
 
“[We] aim to train/develop an AI tool that can provide valid and reliable grading of students’ constructed response assignments, with detailed feedback for students. The project leverages a rubric grading technique co-developed by Nathan Gonyea that has shown promise for increasing the reliability of grading. If the project aims are achieved, the resulting tool will help to improve the speed and reliability of feedback received by students and efficiency for faculty.” 

Heather Horowitz, assistant professor 
Project Title: Enhancing Student AI Literacy through Universal Design for Learning 

“I am conducting this project in collaboration with my colleagues Dr. Jeff Foulkes, [an external education consultant], and Pam Doran, SUNY Empire’s digital accessibility coordinator and a higher education Ed.D. doctoral student. With AI becoming more integrated into education and society, it is essential that students are equipped with the tools to engage meaningfully and responsibly with AI technologies. However, as institutions rapidly move to educate students about AI, it is important not to overlook the science of teaching and learning. This project seeks to enhance AI literacy by creating an inclusive, accessible, and scalable learning experience grounded in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. Our overarching goal is to advance equity in AI literacy education by supporting all learners and giving them the opportunity to engage with and showcase their understanding of AI in a variety of ways.” 

Tom Mackey, professor 
Project Title: Embedding Metaliteracy and AI in the Digital Media Arts: Creating and Sharing Innovative Models for Online Education 

“This project aims to enhance the integration of AI and the metaliteracy framework within the Digital Media Arts (DMA) program. The initiative will focus on revising several core courses in the DMA program—including Digital Storytelling, Ethics of Digital Art and Design, Information Design, and Capstone in Digital Media Arts—to update AI policies, assignments, rubrics, and course content. AI-generated videos will be produced for the courses to enhance the presentation of dynamic elements and to teach students the ethics of AI content creation. These revisions will demonstrate the potential of AI tools for artistic and ethical digital content production while fostering active learning and collaborative engagement. Additionally, two Coursera massive open online courses (MOOCs) developed as part of two previous Innovative Instruction Technology Grants (IITGs) awarded to [me] by SUNY will be updated to replace outdated video content with new, relevant materials, including videos generated using AI tools.” 

Sophia Mavrogiannis, director of Academic Support, and Anne McDonough, interim senior director of Academic Support 
Project Title: From Static to Dynamic: Using Generative AI to Transform Existing Academic Support Resources into Just-in-Time Micro-learning Resources with an Integrated Chatbot 

“For our project, we will convert existing static academic support resources into high-quality microlearning units (3-5 minutes) with an integrated ‘Study Buddy’ AI chatbot to answer questions about the content and related academic support needs. By pairing these microlearning resources with a real-time chatbot, our goal is to replicate elements of the dynamic and engaging experience of synchronous academic support and to make it equitably available to all learners in an asynchronous format.” 

Tom McElroy, executive director of Prior Learning, with Carl Burkart, director of Prior Learning Evaluation Review, and Amy Giaculli, assistant director of iPLA Services 
Project Title: AI-Driven Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) Support Channels 

“CPL is a defining aspect of SUNY Empire’s academic programs. Helping incoming students determine whether their training or professional credentials have been evaluated or if any of their experiential learning could be evaluated for credit can be rewarding. At the same time, the process can be time consuming for advisors and faculty and frustrating for students. This fellowship will allow the Office of Prior Learning to create AI-powered channels that will inform the work of advisors and mentors by providing insights into each student’s potential to earn credit through CPL. Our goal is to develop an AI-enhanced resource to sort through a student’s background to identify potential iCPL titles and associated learning objectives and to provide details about already-evaluated credentials and training, tailoring recommendations to distinct fields of study, academic programs, and career paths where appropriate.” 

Mazdak Zamani, assistant professor 
Project Title: Empowering Education with AI: Transforming Assignments and Practices 

“My project focuses on enhancing teaching, learning, and administrative efficiency through AI. The goal is to support faculty, students, and staff in adopting AI tools by offering workshops, individualized consultations, and hands-on training. We aim to transform traditional assignments into dynamic, AI-integrated formats, introduce ethical AI use, and explore innovative approaches to improve educational outcomes across the university.” 

Sahand Ziabari, assistant professor   
Project Title: Adaptive AI Fairness for Advancing Research and AI Curriculum Development 

“I’m working on a project called Adaptive AI Fairness, aimed at developing innovative tools and frameworks to make AI systems fairer and more ethical. The focus is on addressing biases that appear when different social categories (like gender, race, and age) interact and building adaptable solutions for various real-world applications, such as health care and educational systems. The goal is not just to advance AI research but also to create hands-on learning experiences for SUNY Empire students through interactive labs, case studies, and capstone projects.” 

Office for Advancement Hosts Earth Day Walk

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — April 23, 2025) Alumni and staff gathered at the Saratoga Spa State Park on Earth Day, April 22, for a guided walk led by Kim Marsella, a trained geologist and associate director of the Center for International Education at Empire State University. Marsella is also an adjunct instructor at SUNY Empire, where she has taught a course titled “Natural Disasters” since fall 2024.

The walk featured stops at several springs and a visit to the Island Spouter geyser at Geyser Brook. Participants learned about the region’s unique geologic features as well as its history.

Building Relationships: A Look at CAARES’ Peer2Peer Student Connection Program 

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — April 21, 2025) Since its inception at Empire State University in 2020, the Center for Autism Advocacy: Research Education, and Supports (CAARES) has worked toward fostering inclusive environments for Autistic and neurodivergent people. One shining example? The organization’s creation of the Peer2Peer Student Connection Program, which pairs undergraduate and graduate students with trained mentors.  

“So much of the feedback from neurodivergent folks in higher education spaces is just the importance of feeling like they’re seen and understood and belong,” says Lauren Allen, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Applied Behavior Analysis program and the assistant director of CAARES. “Peer mentorship programs and having opportunities to build those relationships with other people who are experiencing similar things are really important.” 

Open to all students regardless of neurotype—including those who identify as neurodivergent but lack a formal diagnosis—the Peer2Peer program strives to offer participants social support as a means of enhancing their experience at the university while also bolstering retention. Both mentees and mentors receive training for the program, with mentees learning more generally about roles, expectations, and boundaries, as well as who they’ll interact with and how. Mentors, or facilitators, meanwhile, receive more comprehensive instruction on topics including appropriate terminology and how to serve students who may be in crisis.  

“It’s not too intensive,” Allen adds. “It’s really just the idea of ensuring people feel like they know what to expect and … also know that we’re always here to support.” 

The way participants are paired up in the Peer2Peer program is just as thoughtful. While it’s common in programs like this to see a neurotypical mentor partnered with a neurodivergent mentee, the CAARES Peer2Peer initiative—which marks one year at SUNY Empire this spring—has intentionally avoided that dynamic.  

“It creates a very weird hierarchy. It’s like saying the way that I do things is right, and the way that you do things isn’t,” Allen explains. “So we really wanted to just throw that out the window and say anybody can be anything.” 

Program associate and training coordinator Aley O’Mara, Ph.D., who joined SUNY Empire as the first full-time CAARES staff member in December 2024, agrees. 

“We’re really trying to use this non-hierarchical model where everybody has expertise to contribute to that mentorship relationship,” they say. “And we’re really eager to recruit more people to be facilitators and more folks to be mentored within the program.” 

Growing the number of Peer2Peer participants is a primary goal for the CAARES team, which has focused on providing more student-focused programming in general over the last year. Students who are interested in contributing as either mentees or facilitators are encouraged to fill out the program’s recruitment survey. Allen and O’Mara add that they’re also available to answer any questions submitted to autism@sunyempire.edu. 

“Our goal is to be fully neuro-inclusive,” O’Mara reiterates. “Everybody’s welcome to participate and get something from the experience.” 

Phylisha Villanueva ’23: A Poet With Purpose

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — April 16, 2025) The first time Phylisha Villanueva ’23 poured her feelings into poetry, she was angry at her mom for not letting her attend a school dance. “I remember feeling better after I wrote it,” she recalls.

Years later, she poured her feelings about an abusive relationship into her poetry and a self-published book titled “Pretty Girl Special.”

Today, as the poet laureate in Westchester County, Villanueva sees herself as an ambassador for poetry, traveling throughout the county to promote the power of voice and writing.

Now in the second year of a three-year term, Villanueva recently read her poem, “Hope for Us is a Deep Current” at the inauguration of Ken Jenkins, Westchester’s new county executive and the first African-American to hold that position.

Villanueva was inspired by current events and the dire need for hope, which “has always been for the black community a way of life. “I wanted to write a poem about hope and the kind of leader we need right now,” she says. “Hope is all we have.”

Birth of a Poet

Villanueva grew up in Yonkers, N.Y., where she was an avid hip hop dancer, before moving into cheerleading and breakdancing.

In high school, Villanueva joined an afterschool book club, where she read “Bronx Masquerade,” by Nikki Grimes, in which teens use poetry to tell their stories. Villanueva credits that book with making her a writer.

By the time she was 16, Villanueva was taking hour-long train rides into New York City to participate in poetry slams, often getting home at 2 a.m. When her mom balked at the late nights, Villanueva found the Blue Door Art Center in Yonkers, where she took a workshop on ekphrastic writing, in which writers describe or respond to a work of visual art in words.

At the Blue Door, she started an open mic for teens that soon opened up to the whole community. “I didn’t realize how much my community needed that space,” she says. “I just knew I needed it.”

She ran the open mic for five years and eventually became the center’s director of children’s programming. She also joined the Jazz and Poetry Choir Collective, a group of jazz musicians and poets, who perform. (SUNY Empire alumna Andrea Wolper ’95, a jazz musician, is also a member.)

Writing as Healing

Villanueva’s writing took a four-year hiatus when she got involved with a man who became abusive. A few months after giving birth to the couple’s daughter, she left him and resumed writing again.

She began by penning letters to her daughter about the abuse she endured. Writing quickly became a tool that helped her heal. “Once I was out of (the relationship) for at least a year or two, I was able to look back at what I’d conquered and find the poetry in there,” she says. “I went back and made it poetic and beautiful.”

Writing poetry helped her expose the truth and heal from the trauma.  “The main thing with abuse and violence is that it lives in silence,” she says. “That’s why there’s this intense need for me to want to get to the truth, explore the truth, and tell the truth. I can’t be silent. Poetry is all about the truth.”

Around the same time, Villanueva began thinking about going back to college. She’d finished her associate degree during the pandemic but wasn’t sure she’d ever get her bachelor’s.

SUNY Empire turned out to be a perfect fit. The experience not only led to a degree in creative writing but also bolstered her confidence. Writing her prior learning assessments showed her all the experience she’d acquired at the Blue Door — gallery management, public speaking, and community organizing, to name just a few.

“Writing those PLAs reminded me of how amazing I was,” she says. “It gave me such a feeling of confidence that I didn’t even know I needed.”

She graduates this spring with an MFA in poetry from St. Francis College.

Spreading the Word

These days, as Westchester’s poet laureate, Villanueva is working to get ekphrastic writing into art galleries. She’s also doing poetry workshops at libraries, museums, and candy shops, and hopes to bring poetry to yoga studios, barbershops, and kickboxing gyms.

As much as writing is a solo activity, Villanueva believes that what you write is meant to be shared. The process of writing and sharing, she says, always leads to self-discovery, much in the same way writing her PLAs taught Villanueva about herself.

“As important as writing is to me is being a person who creates space for other people to thrive and heal and share their stories,” she says. “I’ve seen the power of what open mic spaces do for people. I’ve seen how it heals people and transforms communities. People always have something to say. They always have something they want to share.”

Empire’s Textbook Affordability Initiative Boosts Student Success

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — April 14, 2025) It’s no secret that the price of college textbooks has skyrocketed over time. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that textbook costs increased by a whopping 88% from 2006 to 2016 alone. Expenses remain high today: According to CollegeBoard, students at public four-year schools budgeted an average of $1,290 for books and supplies for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Enter Empire State University’s Textbook Affordability Initiative. Established by the library in 2023, the program aims to reduce or eliminate textbook costs for all students by encouraging faculty to utilize free Open Educational Resources (OER). This year, Jennifer Collins—the university’s OER librarian, who joined the SUNY Empire team in 2024—expanded that effort by reinstating Joyce McKnight Fellowships, which support faculty in adopting or developing OER for their courses. Buying library-licensed eBooks and other complimentary resources for student use has also widened the program’s reach.

“Before we broadened our program to include systematic licensing of eBooks for textbooks, only 9% of our courses were affordable using OER,” says Shannon Pritting, SUNY Empire’s director of library services. “Now we are regularly seeing that roughly 65% of our courses are affordable.”

And the savings for students speak for themselves. Over the course of five semesters, the efforts of the Textbook Affordability Program—and the many staff and faculty who support it—have reduced book costs at SUNY Empire by $5 million.

There are other benefits, too. Lowering textbook costs “helps students be more successful in their courses and programs,” Pritting explains. When a student can’t afford a book, he says, they’ll often try to make it through a class without it or, worse, they’ll drop the class altogether.

“This means that it’s taking students longer to get a degree and potentially perform worse in courses if they cannot afford assigned textbooks,” Pritting says.

Statistics bear this out: According to a 2023 National Survey on Student Course Material Affordability by Bay View Analytics, 57% of respondents blamed costs for their enrollment in fewer classes, while 41% said costs resulted in poor grades.

While SUNY Empire’s Textbook Affordability Initiative employs measures to ease or eradicate those costs for students, including offering $150 grants to those struggling to buy their books, the program also works to address textbook prices in other ways. For one, in partnership with Empire Online, the library helps faculty design and revise courses with affordability and quality of teaching in mind. Second, the team is currently working on tagging courses in the Banner registration system to identify which ones use affordable materials. This will make it easier for students with financial constraints to select classes that won’t put additional stress on their wallets. It will also help the library collect data on whether students perform better in courses with low-cost textbooks, Pritting says.

“Our program is now data-informed and can show its impact on students. This has been important for us to plan for the next phase [of the program], which is to see if we can shift to a model where all courses have reduced or no textbook costs,” he explains. “This phase will be more challenging, as we will need to develop new models for access to course resources such as textbooks.” 

To support this development, the library is partnering with the university’s Foundation office and an internationally recognized research firm to secure financial support from an external funder. Ideally, Pritting says, this work will result in additional savings for students—who are always encouraged to reach out to library staff with questions about obtaining low-cost materials—while also helping SUNY Empire serve as an example for other institutions looking to implement similar programs for their students.

“The [Textbook Affordability Initiative’s] main goal is to develop a sustainable program that supports Empire’s vision to be a ‘national leader for high-quality, flexible, and affordable education,” Pritting says. “To do that, we’re focusing on ways we can pair affordability with quality, while using SUNY Empire’s innovative and flexible organizational structure to develop models that could be adopted nationwide.”

Empire’s Civil and Revolutionary War Residencies Bring History to Life 

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — April 10, 2025) It all started with a minivan. That’s what Gregory Edwards, Ph.D., then an educator at Jamestown Community College, used in 1995 to shuttle a group of his American Civil War students to Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland: one of the most significant sites in Civil War history.  

“I said, ‘You go with me to Antietam and each of you do a presentation somewhere on the battlefield, and I’ll give you extra credit if you do a good job.’ And they did,” recalls the military historian, explaining that the Union’s success at Antietam persuaded Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. “Those students loved it.” 

Inspired by the success of the overnight trip, Edwards aimed to establish a similar program after he joined the faculty at Empire State University in the early aughts. He officially established the university’s Civil War Residency in 2004 and followed suit with a Revolutionary War Residency in 2008. Facilitated by Edwards and historical studies department chair Paul Miller, Ph.D., the semester-long courses currently enroll students in the spring and fall, respectively. Registration for the upcoming Revolutionary War Residency—which is also taught by professor Ann Becker, Ph.D., and includes eight sections on subtopics including women’s history, the founding fathers, and slavery, among others—opened on April 8. 

“Of the students who are doing the Civil War Residency [right now], I’d suspect a third of them or maybe even close to half [did] the Revolutionary War Residency,” Miller says. “We get a lot of people who come back.” 

Both Miller and Edwards attribute the popularity of the residencies to the structure of the programs, which offer students a unique opportunity to connect with their professors and peers outside of a virtual classroom. While the courses do include an online component, both residencies culminate in two days of in-person learning at historically significant locales. The Revolutionary War Residency, for instance, brings students to Saratoga Springs, where “the United States forced the surrender of an entire British Army and consequently convinced the French to officially become allies of the fledgling U.S.,” Edwards explains, calling the event “the decisive turning point” of the war. There, attendees gather for a day of student-led presentations and discussions in a classroom, followed by a day spent outside touring the battlefield sites at Saratoga National Historic Park.  

“It’s a creative way of learning,” Edwards says. “Students like that fellowship, that camaraderie that they discover in a residency.” 

Plus, the instructors say, nothing beats learning about historical events in the very spots they occurred.  

“If you’re going to study history, the best way to do it is where it took place. That’s even more true when it comes to military history,” Edwards says. “You see the geography and for a moment you have Robert E. Lee’s perspective.” 

Miller agrees. 

“It’s almost a kind of spiritual experience,” he adds. “It helps students connect with the material in a way that a book just can’t.” 

CAARES Celebrates Neurodiversity with April Events for University Community 

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — April 9, 2025) Empire State University’s Center for Autism Advocacy: Research, Education, and Supports (CAARES) has a busy month ahead. In recognition of April as Autism Acceptance Month, the organization—which also recognizes the April anniversary of the 504 Sit-Ins that led to the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act—has planned an extensive lineup of events. Designed to celebrate neurodiversity, the gatherings will include a panel discussion, an author talk, an in-person interactive game, and more. 

Read on for a full list of events and details for attendees, provided by CAARES. 

Employee-focused events: 

Learning from the Neurodiversity Movement: How to Develop Neurodiversity Affirmative Practices  

Date: Thursday, April 10 

Time and Location: 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET | Teams 

Please join us for a discussion on developing neurodiversity affirmative practices. We will have distinguished speakers including Daniel Batkin (CUNY Grad Center), Nidal Daou (SUNY Empire), Kristen Gillespie-Lynch (CUNY Grad Center), and Elizabeth Kilgallon (UMass Boston). 

A Practical Toolkit for Universal Design 

Date: Friday, April 11 

Time and Location: 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. ET | Teams 

Please join the Center for Teaching and Learning for an event co-hosted by CAARES and the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services. The session will offer a deep dive into applications of universal design within coursework and mentorship/advisement. Examples including materials and templates will be shared and discussed. Participants are invited to share questions from their own classroom and professional experiences and workshop solutions to improve accessibility. 

Student-focused events: 

A graphic for the event collaged from the following images: a photo of the author, a bearded white trans man wearing a red bandana and a stud earring; the cover of Compound Fracture, featuring a white teen in a red bandana, his hand covering his eye and a dog at his side; a map of West Virginia; a torn sepia photo of a coal miner; a red bandana; and the CAARES logo.

Author Andrew Joseph White in conversation on his novel “Compound Fracture” 

Date: Thursday, April 17 

Time and Location: 5:00-6:00 p.m. ET | Teams 

CAARES welcomes Andrew Joseph White for a virtual author talk. White will join us for a brief reading and an extensive conversation and Q&A on his most recent novel, “Compound Fracture.” 

Andrew Joseph White is the trans, autistic, and bestselling author of “Hell Followed With Us,” “The Spirit Bares Its Teeth,” “Compound Fracture,” and more. “Compound Fracture” (Peachtree, 2024) is a queer Appalachian thriller that pulls no punches, following a trans autistic teen who’s drawn into the generational struggle between the rural poor and those who exploit them. 

Read more about White and find content notes for his books at andrewjosephwhite.com. 

For accommodations, to submit your questions for the Q&A, or to request one of a limited number of free hard copies of “Compound Fracture,” email autism@sunyempire.edu. 

Win a copy of the book signed by the author! RSVP on Empire Connects for the meeting link and your chance at a signed copy. 

A greyscale photo of a white man, a Black man, and a white woman in wheelchairs addressing many newscasters’ microphones. A white woman interprets ASL behind them. The photo is superimposed by the Intrigue X logo.

THE MOVEMENT: 504 

Date: Thursday, April 24 

Time and Location: 6:00-8:15 p.m. ET | On-site at SUNY Empire at Rochester 

“The Movement: 504” is an immersive theater game inspired by the San Francisco 504 Sit-Ins of April 1977, the birthplace of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Designed and led by Intrigue eXperiences, a neurodivergent-supportive design and production company, this interactive event is not to be missed! 

After solving the game, participants will be joined in conversation on the disability rights movement by Empire’s own Dr Bernadet DeJonge. 

Food will be provided. Seats are limited. RSVP on Empire Connects to reserve your place. 

For accommodations requests, email autism@sunyempire.edu by April 17. 

A poster advertising Show & Tell with CAARES. It features a collage of seashells, knitting, a D20 die, a cassette tape, an origami heart, a scrap of paper with handwriting, the Roman coliseum, and dried flowers.

Show & Tell with CAARES 

Date: Tuesday, April 29 

Time and Location: 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET | Teams 

Back by popular demand! Do you know everything about sea otters? Have you added a new Funko Pop to your collection? Did you map out a better bus system? Do you want to share your passion and learn about others’? 

Join CAARES for a virtual Show & Tell, where everyone is the expert in their own special interest. Share slides about Ancient Egypt, teach us your favorite K-Pop dance moves, or bring your bearded dragon on camera — whatever you’re excited about, we want to learn about it! 

For accommodations requests, please email autism@sunyempire.edu by April 22. RSVP on Empire Connects for the meeting link. 

An advertisement for the Peer2Peer Student Connection program. It features an image of two students sharing music through their earbuds.

Peer2Peer Student Connection Program 

Date, Time, and Location: Ongoing and virtual 

CAARES is actively recruiting for its Peer2Peer Student Connection Program! We’re aiming to welcome a robust cohort of facilitators and mentees — join today! 

The Peer2Peer Student Connection Program seeks to foster relationship building, social support, and connections for students to improve their retention and experience at SUNY Empire. Peer2Peer welcomes: 

  • Students of all neurotypes to serve as peer facilitators and peer mentees.  
  • Students in undergraduate or graduate school. 
  • Students in any year of their schooling. 

Program Goals: 

  • Establish connections and relationships that will last beyond SUNY Empire. 
  • Provide consistent and reliable sources of compassion for students. 
  • Create an inclusive environment that allows peer facilitators and peer mentees an opportunity to learn about each other’s cultures and identities through shared learning experiences. 

We’re recruiting both peer facilitators (students with some experience at SUNY Empire who want to mentor other students) and peer mentors (students who want mentorship from other students). 

Students can fill out the recruitment survey to get involved! 

Employees can fill out the referral survey to recommend a student facilitator. Questions about the program? Contact autism@sunyempire.edu. 

Four Empire State University Students Honored with SUNY Chancellor’s Award 

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — April 9, 2025) Four Empire State University students have been selected as recipients of the 2025 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence. Honorees Jason Fishner, Cibeles Garcia, Robin Hodges, and Miyagi Scott will be recognized during a ceremony at the Egg in Albany on April 29. 

The highest honor granted to a SUNY student, the SUNY Chancellor’s Award celebrates students with exemplary achievements in academics, leadership, civics and service, or performing arts, among other areas. This year, more than 200 scholars from across the SUNY system are being recognized. 

“Jason, Cibeles, Robin, and Miyagi epitomize the core academic and service-oriented tenets of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award. They also represent the diversity of SUNY Empire’s students across academic disciplines and degree programs, regions of the state, and stages of their careers,” President Lisa Vollendorf said. “We are so proud of their accomplishments and look forward to seeing how they continue to use their education to impact the lives of others.” 

About the Winners: 

Jason Fishner

Jason Fishner
When Jason Fishner walks across the stage at graduation this May, he’ll receive his doctor of education degree. For the Delhi, N.Y., resident, it’s the latest in a long line of hard-earned credentials that also includes a bachelor’s degree in communications, a master’s degree in higher education administration and policy studies, an MBA, and a trio of advanced graduate certificates. Fishner completed his MBA and two of his graduate certificates at SUNY Empire. 

“Education has always been a big part of my life,” he says.  

Fishner maintains a busy schedule beyond his studies. In addition to serving as the director of residence life at SUNY Delhi, the father of two—who has also worked as an adjunct instructor in the SUNY system—is the founding president of Empire’s Higher Education Leadership Association. He is also a member of the Empire State University Student Conduct Board.  

Winning the SUNY Chancellor’s Award has been a long-time goal for Fishner, who was nominated but not selected for the award as an undergraduate student.  

“When I found out that I was one of SUNY Empire’s nominees, I was extremely overwhelmed,” he recalls. “I made this a goal to achieve halfway through my program and was excited to have achieved this honor.” 

Looking ahead to graduation and his next steps, Fishner hopes to teach as an adjunct at the graduate or doctorate level while exploring research and publication opportunities.  

“After that, I know the doors are opened more to me to new positions to advance my career in public higher education,” he says.  

Cibeles Garcia

Cibeles Garcia 
Cibeles Garcia is currently working toward her bachelor’s degree in psychology. It will be the second degree the New York City resident has earned at SUNY Empire, which awarded her an associate’s degree in art in January 2025.  

Garcia—a certified bilingual crisis counselor at Crisis Text Line who also is certified in mental health first aid—says the current mental health crisis inspired her to study psychology. 

“There is currently a shortage of mental health professionals in many communities,” says Garcia, who serves as a family match mentor for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “As a mental health advocate, bringing awareness and taking action is the key to making a resonating difference.” 

Outside of her coursework, Garcia participates in a litany of clubs and activities at SUNY Empire. In addition to serving as president of the university’s Alpha Sigma Lambda honor society chapter and the founder of the chapter’s Mental Health & Psychology Committee, the self-described “avid humanitarian and philanthropist” is a Student Government Association (SGA) senator, the co-founder of the SGA Mental Health & Wellness Committee, the founder of the Mental Health Initiative Newsletter, and the founder of the Volunteer Initiative, among many other extracurriculars.  

In celebration of her Chancellor’s Award win, Garcia thanks her “SUNY family members” for believing in her “vision to best support our students, staff, faculty, and community needs,” she says. When she completes her bachelor’s degree, she plans to apply to graduate school and continue to work within the many organizations she currently serves. 

“There is so much more work to be accomplished in our underserved communities and more initiatives to be developed on our campuses,” she says.  

Robin Hodges

Robin Hodges 
Robin Hodges recently completed her MBA program with a concentration in project management. Hailing from Buffalo, N.Y., she also holds a bachelor’s degree in business, management, and economics, as well as advanced certifications in project management.  

“What motivated me to pursue a college degree was the desire to create a better future for myself, my family, and my community. As a veteran, a mother, and someone who has always been committed to service, I understand the importance of education in opening doors and providing opportunities for growth,” she says. “I sought to acquire the knowledge and credentials necessary to lead meaningful projects, particularly those that serve underrepresented communities, such as the African American Veterans Monument.” 

In addition to her personal and professional obligations, Hodges has balanced her studies alongside her role as interim president of SUNY Empire’s Student Veterans and Military Club. She is also in the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), which she credits with playing “a key role in my academic success and personal development.”  

For Hodges, receiving the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence—an affirmation of her achievements—has been incredibly humbling and an honor, she shares. 

“This recognition means more than a personal achievement. It represents resilience, strength, and the belief that with purpose and perseverance, anything is possible,” says the honoree, who aims to focus her post-graduation work on project management and community impact. “Receiving this award is both a milestone and a motivation to continue serving others and making a positive impact on everything I do.”

Miyagi Scott

Miyagi Scott 
Building upon his associate’s degree, Miyagi Scott is completing a bachelor’s in business management economics with a minor in business and sustainability. The New Jersey native, who currently lives in Hudson, N.Y., will graduate in May.  

“This last semester, I took a summer class, and for my current semester, I enrolled in 22 credits with my mentor’s approval because I was determined to graduate this year,” Scott says. “This goal was especially meaningful because my partner and I went back to school together as part of a shared commitment. I pushed myself hard to ensure that we could walk across the stage together.” 

When he’s not in class, Scott works with youth in foster care. He also helms an LGBTQ-serving organization that strives to create community by “connecting queer individuals through outdoor adventures and nature experiences,” he explains.  

Scott calls receiving the SUNY Chancellor’s Award “truly an honor,” which—in addition to making the Dean’s List for four consecutive semesters—has helped him be able to “recognize and celebrate my own hard work,” he says. 

“I’ve been attending more in-person events at SUNY Empire and applying for the incredible opportunities the school offers. Previously, I hesitated to take advantage of these opportunities because I didn’t believe I would be chosen,” says Scott, who plans to return to the university this fall as a graduate student in the cybersecurity program. “However, after reflecting on my achievements and the reality that I’m about to graduate, I told myself, ‘This is my year.’” 

Empire State University Named a School of National Service

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — April 4, 2025) Empire State University has been named a School of National Service by AmeriCorps, the federal agency dedicated to volunteerism. Focused on making higher education more attractive and affordable for service-minded students, Schools of National Service offer a variety of benefits to the one million-plus AmeriCorp alumni across the United States. There are currently 343 colleges participating in this nationwide network, which—with the addition of Empire State University—now includes 16 SUNY institutions.  

Participating schools choose which benefits they’d like to provide students from the AmeriCorps community. Since summer 2024, SUNY Empire has offered AmeriCorp members, employees, retirees, and family members a one-time Better Together Scholarship of $100 and a reduced individualized Credit for Prior Learning fee. Plus, in addition to waiving the application fee for these students—a benefit bestowed by all SUNY institutions in the Schools of National Service network—Empire will forgo the $50 orientation fee.  

“Our hope is to provide AmeriCorp alumni and their families access to affordable education as a way to maximize their available benefits for service,” says Jason Lloyd, assistant director of community partnerships for Empire’s Office of Enrollment Management and Marketing. “I see this as also saying simply, ‘Thank you for your service—now it’s time for you to be rewarded in a way that allows you to achieve your higher ed goals.’”