The SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus held an open house and Instant Decision Day in the fall of 2023, where prospective students could visit the campus, learn about program offerings, meet with financial aid staff, and even apply to the school and be accepted on the spot. (Photo by Sarah Genter)

NORWICH – Investing in the future is nothing new for the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus, located at 20 Conkey Avenue in Norwich.

The institution has spent the past year continuing to provide quality education with several associate degree programs, flexible learning options for traditional and non-traditional students, and implementing new programs and opportunities.

The SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus has approximately 12 full-time staff, three part-time and six full-time faculty, and eight full-time Liberty Partnerships employees and seven advocates, who all strive to meet students where they are and give them an opportunity for higher education.

Investing in student

success

Investing in students and their success is at the forefront of SUNY Morrisville’s focus. The college has several programs, services, and tools in place to ensure the success of their students.

Something SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus Executive Director Tom Pilweski recognizes is that not all students are the same, and some may need different accommodations than others.

“I think the biggest challenge for somebody who’s a non-traditional student is ‘look, I work, I have a family, I can’t go to a classroom and learn about something that I’m interested in even though I know it’s going to advance my career,’” he said. “The flexible modality is so crucial to meeting students where they want to be.”

The Norwich Campus has implemented five “flex rooms,” which allow for in-person, virtual, and asynchronous learning. Students have the option to attend the class in person, or tune in virtually from their home. For those who can’t make it in person or virtually at the time of the class, SUNY Morrisville offers recordings of the lectures for students to watch at a later time.

The college’s tutoring services work similarly, with options for in-person or virtual sessions. SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus Community and Student Support Associate Rosie Frost said she also hosts Student Success Seminars on topics ranging from resume building to note taking strategies, to stress management skills. Students can attend these seminars in person, virtually, or watch recordings of them.

“We’re all about fitting a working person’s schedule. Somebody who has a family, who has other responsibilities, we want to make an education feasible,” she said. “It’s just all about helping them build the skills that will help them to be successful in education, but also in the workforce. We want them to not only come in and be successful in school, but prepare them for the job search.”

The SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus also ensures student success by utilizing Starfish, a student retention software that alerts faculty and staff if a student is struggling in one of their courses. Staff members can then reach out to the student and offer tutoring and other assistance.

“At this campus, you’re not falling through the cracks,” said Frost.

While academic success is a large goal at the Norwich Campus, the school is also highly focused on student wellness, which they promote through their Wellness Program.

The program offers a wellness series called “Live a Life of Balance,” which includes six to seven sessions per semester where a professional in the wellness industry visits the campus to teach students various ways they can focus on and improve their own wellbeing.

Sessions in the fall 2023 semester included making overnight oats, chair massages from students at the SUNY Morrisville main campus, and a visit from Kelly Cross, owner of Jasmine Moon Wellness, where students learned about the benefits of essential oils and crystals.

This spring, the series will include sessions on managing test anxiety, creating personal boundaries, understanding techno-stress, meditation, and making stress putty, among others.

“Our wellness program is just incredible,” Pilewski said. “A holistic approach to student success means, ‘hey, how do I take care of myself when I have all these commitments, my schoolwork, how do I take care of myself physically and emotionally?’ I’m very proud of what we do here.”

Frost said wellness programs are built right into the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus schedule, ensuring they take place while students are at the campus but not while other classes are being held.

“We work to create a gap in the schedule between their classes so there is time for us to put that programming in, in the middle of things while they’re here,” Frost explained. “We don’t want to make it after hours because, again, they have to go home, they have to make dinner, they have to be with their families. So we tried really hard to get that programming in when it’s best for the students.”

“We just have that extra time with our students. We have the ability to be one on one with each of them, where at a bigger campus they just don’t necessarily have that capability,” she continued. “That’s an advantage here, that we get that time and we really get to know our students as people and see the full picture. The students come to me when they have issues not just here, but at home, because they know that I see them as a person, and that’s a benefit. They’re not a number here, they’re a person.”

The campus also touts an impressive Wellness Center, which was designed and implemented by students in the SUNY Morrisville Human Services program in 2022. The group repurposed a classroom at the Norwich Campus using Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) money awarded to the school, as well as some existing SUNY Morrisville funds that were available.

The room was transformed into a calm and comfortable space complete with low lighting, small couches, rugs, bean bag chairs, an Amazon Alexa for students to play music, an electric fireplace, massage chairs, and many other wellness-geared elements.

In addition to providing holistic support to their students, the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus is also focusing on connecting with students in local schools, and getting more high school students on the campus taking classes.

Frost said she works closely with the Liberty Partnerships Program (LPP), which is part of a statewide program to support and provide resources to middle and high schoolers, to help them graduate from high school and be prepared for college or vocational training.

LPP advocates have a strong presence in area schools, and Frost said they help get her in the door so she can meet with students and teach them about college readiness and the opportunities available at SUNY Morrisville.

“I can talk to them about the things that matter, the things that they have questions about, like college applications and college essays and things like that, and I can really make an impact,” said Frost. “I can also say, hey, guess what? This week they have free SUNY applications and SUNY Morrisville has this program that you love. It never hurts to look into other options and have backups because then, guess what? They get in and they’re like ‘oh, I should check this out, because this person really helped me. Maybe that’s how everybody there is.’ And then maybe we’re gaining more students that way.”

This semester, Frost plans to visit DCMO BOCES as well, to give presentations on what SUNY Morrisville has to offer beyond their training at BOCES, and how they can move from BOCES to the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus.

BOCES also houses their New Visions program at the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus. High school seniors throughout the county come to the Norwich Campus to study law and government or health-related fields, and even earn some college credits.

Similarly, SUNY Morrisville offers the EDge Program, which allows juniors and seniors in local high schools to earn college credit by taking courses online. Available courses include Intro to Psychology, Intro to Sociology, Criminal Justice, and more.

Program offerings

For students out of high school, the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus offers a range of degree programs that fit nicely with the needs of Chenango County.

The Norwich Campus offers associate degree programs in Business Administration, Criminal Justice, Human Services, Individual Studies, and Nursing. In 2023, they also began offering their first bachelor’s degree: Human Services Leadership B.P.S.

“Our degree programs, while it is a reduced number from what it used to be, are well suited to help the employers of Norwich and Chenango County,” said Pilewski. “Business administration, criminal justice, human services, nursing. That’s our bread and butter, that’s the foundation of what we do here, and anybody who studies here can get really good employment right here.”

Although they only offer one bachelor’s degree, Pilewski said the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus can be a great way to kick off a student’s college education. As credits are transferrable between SUNY schools, students could take a handful of courses or earn an associate degree before transferring to another SUNY school to complete their bachelor’s.

For students who want to learn but don’t want to commit to a full degree program, the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus now offers micro-credential and certification programs, which were implemented last year.

In these programs, students take one to two courses for two semesters, and graduate with a certification or micro-credential.

The SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus currently offers a 21-credit Direct Support Professional (DSP) certificate program, where students learn about abnormal psychology, counselling and case management, helping processes and crisis intervention, and administration and management of human services.

Pilewski said the micro-credential is useful for professionals in the human services field who are looking to expand their knowledge and skill set. Plus, thanks to a $500,000 grant from the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), SUNY Morrisville is able to offer the DSP micro-credential to human services professionals for free.

“A micro-credential is a taste of higher education that they wouldn’t normally taste or get an opportunity for, but because of this grant tuition is covered. It’s not costing them any money to get this micro-credential,” Pilewski said. “It can advance their career. It could also lead to our human services bachelor’s degree, which would be a huge win for both parties.”

Pilewski said more micro-credential programs are in the works, including programs for entrepreneurship, human resources, customer relationship marketing, and Microsoft Office. The programs, if approved, would be available to high school students as well as adults.

“If a community member or non-traditional student was to take advantage of micro-credential programs, they’re getting some college credit but also training that could be useful for starting a business, securing a job in marketing or sales, or human resources, as well as any clerical work that could use some Microsoft Office training as well,” Pilewski said.

Investing in employees

SUNY Morrisville isn’t just aiming for successful students; they also promote and support the success of their employees through several professional development opportunities.

The SUNY Center for Professional Development offers online seminars to SUNY employees, most of which are free. Frost said she’s attended several, including workshops on technology and APA style, as well as a SUNY conference on writing. She also attended a training seminar on the Starfish software at the SUNY Morrisville main campus this past fall.

In addition to online and in-house seminars, the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus also gives employees the opportunity to go to conferences out of the area. Last spring, Frost attended a conference on innovative technology in Oswego.

She said the four-day conference had a jam-packed schedule that covered a wide variety of subjects and speakers.

“I went to as much of that as I could. I just picked and chose what fit best, and it really equipped me to come back here and implement those things,” said Frost. “I really try to take advantage of everything I can because I think there’s no amount of learning that is enough, personally.”

Although it was a SUNY conference, Frost said there were faculty and staff from private institutions as well. She said the opportunity to meet so many other academic professionals helped her to cultivate a network she can go to for help and guidance if needed.

“It created a network of people that I could reach out to from other institutions where I could say, ‘hey, you guys did this here, could you walk me through like what you think the best practice is? Because I’m working on this and just something’s not right. Can you help me?’” she said. “That was really inspiring because you can get really isolated in your one SUNY school, but when you go to these conferences, you’re meeting people from all over the state who really want you to succeed.”

Pilewski said Dr. Julanne Burton, an assistant professor of social science and coordinator of the Human Services Program and Human Services Institute at the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus, regularly attends conferences, and just recently returned from a week-long conference in New Orleans that focused on human services.

Most importantly, Pilewski said, the opportunities for training and professional development apply to all staff members at the Norwich Campus, not just a select few.

“Our maintenance crew, our facilities people, had a two-day training back in November. So it’s everybody within SUNY is encouraged to take advantage of training,” he said. “With technology the way it is, you can get training in little pieces on lunch breaks, and you can get it in summertime trainings, or you can get it going away to faraway places. So one of the benefits of working at SUNY is everybody believes very much in professional development, and offering it to all, not just some.”

Beyond structured trainings and seminars, Frost said the entire SUNY and SUNY Morrisville culture and community is one of learning and helping each other grow.

“My colleagues are very good about sharing knowledge. I came in and I said, this is what I really want to do, and it was right away people were on board and they’re like, ‘hey I’m working on this, would you like to be involved in this to help me learn and to grow?’” said Frost. “One of the most amazing things about coming to work here was I felt very supported in my endeavors to continue to grow, continue to learn.”

Perhaps because of this positive culture rife with opportunity, the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus has seen a high retention rate with employees. Pilewski said it’s not uncommon for employees to work at the college for over a decade, and that most recent staff turnover was due to employees retiring.

That being said, one of the challenges SUNY Morrisville has seen when it comes to hiring staff is finding qualified individuals to teach in their Nursing Program, which requires a master’s degree.

“We currently are working on hiring a new nursing faculty so that we can expand the nursing program to full capacity. We’ve been working on this for a little while now, so that I foresee is a challenge but it’s also probably a big goal for us. We want our nursing program at full capacity,” said Frost.

“The pool of people qualified to teach in an RN program is very small. That is a challenge,” said Pilewski. “What’s the draw to get more education? But there’s awfully rewarding careers available in education, in nursing, for sure ... but there’s not a lot of retired nurses that want to be in education, especially if we require a master’s degree. Do they really want to go get more schooling to start a new career?”

What makes it even more challenging is that several other schools in the state are seeking nursing professors, oftentimes in larger areas such as Utica, Syracuse, or Albany.

“If you do an internet search for nursing faculty positions, you’ll see that SUNY Poly has one, Utica University has one, SUNY Morrisville has them in both places, here and in Morrisville,” Pilewski said. “There’s just so much opportunity and that just provides a level of challenge that I think is difficult to overcome at this very point.”

He said their greatest asset in this case is word of mouth advertising. Fortunately, both Pilewski and Frost have found the Chenango County community to be caring and supportive, and cheering on the school’s success.

Community of caring

“This is a community that cares,” said Frost. “We all want to see each other succeed.”

The Chenango County community has done nothing but lift up the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus to help both the school and its students be successful. Frost said the institution has found many community partnerships that have already helped in a myriad of ways, and can contribute to the future success of SUNY Morrisville.

“Just building those partnerships, being able to call on them when we need somebody to take an intern, or we want to create these micro-credentials, it’s been a benefit. It’s huge, and we want more of that,” Frost said. “We want these partners to tell us what they need, so that we can come up with new micro-credentials. We can come up with ways to prepare this community to take on the fields that we have here.”

Pilewski said since he was brought on as executive director last year, local organizations have welcomed him with open arms. He said Commerce Chenango specifically has been a major help with getting their foot in the door at area schools.

“Commerce Chenango has just been a tremendous partner in bringing me to various meetings where I can talk about how we can help the community,” said Pilewski.

“I’ve been to a few social events where Sal Testani would just say, ‘come here, I’ve got some people I want you to meet.’ And then lo and behold a couple of days later I get an email from that person saying, ‘hey, we met at the Commerce Chenango event, can we get together and have a cup of coffee? I want to talk to you about this initiative or that initiative.’ It’s really a great feeling knowing that when I come to work, if there’s somebody I need to meet, I can be introduced to those people without any effort at all.”

The SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus has also established a new relationship with CDO Workforce, further connecting the college to the Chenango County workforce, and individuals who may be looking to further their education or earn credentials.

Frost said she’s been hard at work developing relationships with local school administrators, such as principals and superintendents, as well as school guidance counselors. She said these partnerships make it easier to get in front of high school students to teach them about college readiness, and spread the word about all the opportunities at SUNY Morrisville.

She said her position at the school used to be split among multiple employees. Now, having one employee to focus on building these relationships has allowed school partnerships to thrive.

“Getting in front of these students is just super important and everybody is super supportive of it, because they want their students to thrive, and it was like all of a sudden they had somebody at SUNY Morrisville who was reaching out and who could solely focus on that,” Frost said. “It’s really allowed me to focus on a lot of these things, and I think this community was really waiting for that.”

Another opportunity for community collaboration Frost is exploring is utilizing LPP to connect with students as young as fifth grade.

“One of the things I love about LPP is we start with fifth graders, and then we’re moving up. I just think if you can build those relationships with a fifth grader, by the time they’re a senior what will that yield for us and for that student?” she said. “Those relationships are so valuable to those students, too. They need to know that somebody cares and somebody believes in them, and I just feel that having LPP here is invaluable, it really is, to building those relationships.”

Pilewski said the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus is supported by county government as well, who provides the school with grant funding each year. He said the funds directly support the school’s operational budget, which helps them to further their mission and vision.

The Norwich Campus also aims to give back to the community when they can. Frost said she worked closely with LPP to facilitate the annual Angel Tree clothing drive, which collects specific clothing items for families in need during the holidays.

After donations are collected, volunteers spend hours organizing and wrapping the clothes to be picked up by participating families.

“The week prior, our community room was full of all these donations, and those donations don’t get packaged up for people to come pick up unless somebody devotes an entire work day. It’s really amazing,” Pilewski said. “That day, the months leading up to that, is just indicative of how much this community means to SUNY Morrisville. Did we get any new students out of that endeavor? Of course not. We did it because it’s the right thing to do, and the community needed somebody to step up and run this event, and LPP does it every year.”

Pilewski and Frost hope the community will continue to support the Norwich Campus and their goal of providing accessible education to the Chenango County area.

Frost said something simple area residents can do to support the college is like and follow their social media pages, as word of mouth is one of the largest ways opportunities at SUNY Morrisville are spread.

“A small thing anybody could do is go follow and like our social media pages. If you have the ability, you have lots of friends out there that are younger and thinking about college or even thinking about going back, if you can just share some of the content that we’re putting out there,” she said. “We want to reach more people. We know there are more people to reach and we’re working on expanding that presence. So just that little thing helps. It doesn’t have to be a big huge gesture, just follow our Facebook page. That’s really a big help to us.”

“We appreciate the support of this community. We couldn’t do what we do without it.”

For more information on the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus, visit Morrisville.edu/norwich, the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus Facebook page, or @sunymorrisvillenorwich on Instagram.