Interested in becoming a Morrisville Mustang? Prospective students can stop by the SUNY Morrisville Norwich campus, located at 20 Conkey Avenue in Norwich, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, November 16 to meet with campus admissions, counselors, faculty, advisors, and financial aid to learn more about the Norwich campus and available programs. With official academic transcripts, prospective students can even get acceptance into the college that day. (Photos by Sarah Genter)

NORWICH — The SUNY Morrisville Norwich campus, located at 20 Conkey Avenue in Norwich, will be holding their Instant Decision Day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, November 16. Prospective students can stop by to learn about all the Norwich campus has to offer, and even complete an application and get accepted on the spot. Plus, as opening day of spring registration, current students can enroll for their spring 2023 classes as well.

"It’s an excellent one-stop-shop event that can get you more information on the college, on financial aid, on class scheduling, student activities, and everything in between. It’s a great opportunity to meet the people, and the campus, and the college that is in our community," said Admissions and Workforce Development Coordinator Dan Goldman.

"We want to be present for students to have all of their questions answered. We try to make our students as prepared as possible starting this. Many of our students, and even if you’re just a 17-year-old freshman out of high school, it’s a lot to balance, it’s a lot to get together," he continued. "It’s essentially a whole new job, and some are working. So we want them to be as well understood and have a good comprehension of what they’re getting themselves into, I guess, before they do it. And we want to be visible to them. We want them to see our faces and know they can come to us any time."

Registering for the event ahead of time is recommended but not required. Prospective students can register by visiting Admissions.Morrisville.edu/portal/event-calendar and selecting Wednesday, November 16 from the calendar.

Prospective students must bring all official academic transcripts, which must come from their respective schools directly. Goldman said transcripts can be emailed to goldmadq@morrisville.edu, or prospective students can bring in physical copies in a sealed envelope.

After completing the application and reviewing transcripts, Goldman will be able to accept eligible students to SUNY Morrisville that day, and he said they will provide a certificate stating they have been accepted into the college. Their applications will then be sent to SUNY for final acceptance, and accepted students can expect their official acceptance and welcome packet within a few days.

The only exception, he said, are applicants to the Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) in Nursing program.

"Nursing requires an assessment exam. But I can at least look at that transcript to see if you’d be academically eligible. It may not lead to acceptance on that day, but I can give at least a determination on eligibility for our programs, provided they bring the transcripts," said Goldman.

The other programs offered at the SUNY Morrisville Norwich campus are A.A.S. in Business Administration, A.A.S. in Criminal Justice, A.A.S. Certificate of Human Services, and A.A.S. in Individual Studies.

There are many benefits to attending the SUNY Morrisville Norwich campus, and Interim Director Sheila Marshman said one of the main benefits is the significant decrease in cost compared to going away to college.

"In terms of the cost of higher education, the reality of it is that the advantages of attending a Norwich campus is that most of our students live at home, or they're homeowners, or they’re within commuting distance. So it’s tuition, it’s books, it’s fees, whereas opposed to going away to college it’s the dorm, it’s the room, it’s the board," she said. "Sometimes higher education gets a bit of a bad rap in terms of the cost to attend college. Is it advantageous? It absolutely is advantageous as long as you’re smart and you’re wise about the decisions that you make along the way."

The Norwich campus also touts a smaller student population, professional tutors with experience in their respective fields, on-campus activities such as goat yoga or this week's Author's Day, and the integration of students into the local community through internships and service learning projects.

"Many of our degrees require the students to do some type of service learning project, or to do some type of internship, and that's where students really get involved in the community and are really able to take ownership for the direction that our community is going," said Marshman.

"So community engagement is very important to us, service learning is very important to us, and through the internship opportunities that students have they’re able to build those soft skills: the listening skills, the communication skills, the ability to make decisions," she continued. "I think that’s a really big part of higher ed, is graduating individuals who are able to be analytical, who are able to think through problem solving, and when they enter the work world be able to apply because in school they had the opportunity to make decisions through projects, through their internships, through service learning."

The SUNY Morrisville Norwich campus is also a great stepping stone for students looking to complete general education requirements closer to home or at a lower cost. Goldman said students looking to move on to a bachelor's degree will have the flexibility to easily transfer to the main campus in Morrisville, or transfer to another SUNY school as well.

Ultimately, Goldman said the SUNY Morrisville Norwich campus is a great option for students of all ages and from all walks of life.

"Whether you want an associate degree, or whether you want to move onto a bachelor's degree but are conscious of saving money, or want this student-centered environment; this is the campus for everybody," he said. "It’s a campus that’s supportive of 17 and 18 year olds fresh out of high school, 20 to 30 year olds, and we have some 50 to 60 year olds that are coming and want to try something new. We really are able to adapt to all different learning styles and people, for sure."

More information on SUNY Morrisville, the main and Norwich campus, and program offerings can be found at Morrisville.edu.