Empire State University Dual Degree Program Hosts Residency in the Dominican Republic

(MANHATTAN, NY — April 18, 2025) Empire State University Academic Director of the Lebanon Residency Program and Center for International Education, Jeannine Mercer, oversaw the first post-pandemic dual Bachelor of Science degree program residency on Universidad APEC’s Santo Domingo campus in the Dominican Republic this March.

UNAPEC, the location for the dual B.S. degree program residency, has been in partnership with Empire State University since 2006 to provide students in the Dominican Republic a dual Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in any of the offered business concentrations. Upon program completion, students receive two degrees: one from UNAPEC in the Dominican Republic, and an American degree from Empire State University in New York.

Mercer, who is nearing 20 years at Empire State University, is central to the organization and implementation of international residencies at partner institutions in Lebanon and Cyprus. She coordinates similar work with Empire State University’s partner university in Thessaloniki, Greece, where she resides. Parallel to these responsibilities, Mercer also teaches and develops courses for students abroad and stateside.

The last dual degree program residency hosted at UNAPEC took place prior to the global COVID-19 pandemic, in 2019. This spring, the presence of Mercer’s cohort boosted the residency program, resulting in new interest from students. The program’s reactivation also served to refresh staff and faculty on its academic offerings and goals, so they can better inform interested students.

This year’s residency orientation included students, UNAPEC staff, and Empire State University staff—attending both in-person and remotely—which fostered a welcoming environment rooted in international connection. Students received a one-on-one advising meeting from Academic Program Director for the Dominican Republic, Lorette Calix, to determine their course requirements for Empire State University. Finally, the group spent time getting to know UNAPEC employees new to the team since the last residency in 2019.

The residency was attended by all students enrolled in the UNAPEC/SUNY Empire dual B.S. degree program. Empire State University representation at UNAPEC drew curious potential new students to an open house session directed at answering their questions regarding the dual B.S. degree program.

It was Mercer’s first in-person teaching experience since 2019, which resulted in surprising learning exchanges in the classroom, “Listening to and watching these Gen Z students brought me closer to their interests… as an educator, the more I can get into the heads of our students, the better I can relate to them and find ways to enhance their learning experiences,” she says.

Throughout the residency, Mercer aimed to hold daily 3-hour classroom instruction for the writing course, Communication for Success: Advanced, as opposed to the once-weekly Zoom class typical to the course. “We learned so much in this short time span,” Mercer comments, “This intensive experience allowed the students to bond with each other, creating the feeling of a true cohort.”