Higher Education, Local Achievement

We are proud to deliver this news after having written a letter of support to the SUNY Chancellor at the request of President Ettling six months ago.

SUNY Plattsburgh Establishes Branch Campus in Glens Falls/Queensbury Region

New designation to benefit Warren, Washington and Saratoga county residents
With the stroke of a pen, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has made official the establishment of a SUNY Plattsburgh branch campus in Queensbury, N.Y.

This will be a major benefit for the approximately 350 full and part-time students taking courses this semester through the College’s existing site adjacent to Adirondack Community College. These students, primarily from Warren, Washington and Saratoga counties, will now be able to earn a bachelor's or master’s degree without ever having to travel to the main campus in Plattsburgh to take a required minimum one course.

For more than 20 years, the SUNY Plattsburgh Extension Center has brought to students in the Queensbury region the chance to work toward their master’s degrees. In 1995, baccalaureate degree course offerings were added. SUNY Plattsburgh President John Ettling said the branch campus designation will now provide many more people the opportunity to receive a SUNY Plattsburgh education.

“There are many prospective students who want to continue their higher education but cannot afford nor travel the 100 plus miles to campus for one course,” said Ettling. “This will allow them to take courses at our Queensbury branch campus from our faculty members or through our distance education offerings. We are pleased to be able to make this opportunity available to the residents of these three counties.”

Ettling said, “Several people, especially SUNY Plattsburgh Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Robert Golden, SUNY Plattsburgh Branch Campus Director Thomas A. Corigliano, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Patricia Higgins and SUNY Associate Provost for Academic Programming Kathryn VanArnam have worked hard to get the branch campus designation.”

Ettling also thanked New York state Senator Betty Little and Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward for their support of the College’s proposal. “Whenever we asked for their help, Senator Little and Assemblywoman Sayward spoke up for the residents of their districts who will benefit from this designation.”

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Golden said that when he first arrived at SUNY Plattsburgh in 2002, he immediately knew that a branch campus in the Glens Falls/Queensbury region was an absolute necessity.

“We already had a strong partnership with Adirondack Community College and saw the need for furthering our mission for the students graduating with associates’ degrees there,” Golden said. “The administration at ACC has been very supportive of this proposal and has assisted in garnering additional support from the region’s leaders. They knew the importance of this and were behind us 100 percent.”

While continuing to provide courses for master's degrees in education and liberal studies, the SUNY Plattsburgh’s branch campus offers an online bachelor’s degree in nursing and baccalaureate degree completion programs in childhood education, criminal justice, liberal arts, management, and psychology.

The bachelor’s degree completion programs are open to students who hold or will hold an associate’s degree in liberal arts or junior status (57 credits) by the time they begin classes through the branch campus. Attendance may be on a full- or part-time basis. Most SUNY Plattsburgh courses are held on the campus of ACC in Queensbury.

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Corigliano said he expects additional growth will occur at the branch campus as the word gets out about the new designation.

“I am very pleased with how much we have accomplished here in such a short time, and how the programs are growing,’ said Corigliano. “I believe that our change in status to branch campus will allow us to better serve the students in the Glens Falls/Queensbury region.”

For more information on the programs being offered or admissions to SUNY Plattsburgh, please contact the staff of the SUNY Plattsburgh branch campus in Queensbury at:

SUNY Plattsburgh Extension Center

667 Bay Road, Suite 2B

Queensbury, NY 12804

Phone: (518) 792-5425

Fax: (518) 792-3868

E-mail: extension@plattsburgh.edu