PARTNERSHIP
HVCC and SUNY Empire State College sign transfer agreement
TROY, N.Y. » Hudson Valley Community College ( HVCC) and SUNY Empire State College entered a new transfer agreement.
HVCC President Dr. Roger Ramsammy and SUNY Empire State College President Jim Malatras signed off on the partnership Friday morning at HVCC.
Upon commencing the agreement, graduates of HVCC’s Chemical Dependency Counseling program can seamlessly transfer to SUNY Empire’s first-of-itskind Bachelor of Science in Addiction Studies program.
“I think a partnership like this is critically important because you have such a demand in society. Then the question for us in higher education is, well how do you help address a demand in a real and meaningful way for people in our communities who want to do something to combat the opioid crisis for instance, to get involved and be helpful? It often takes additional credentialing and degrees,” Malatras said.
To that end, with its
launch this year, the program aims to prepare students to become skilled addiction treatment specialists while helping them advance toward becoming a Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor.
The program is built around courses which address fundamental aspects of how addiction affects individuals, families, and communities, while examining the assessment, treatment, and prevention of substance misuse.
“So with Hudson Valley and Empire State working together like this we create a seamless opportunity for people in the workforce to improve their credentialing or students coming in for the first time saying, I just want to be involved and help address a societal issue that’s really one everybody’s minds. We create a one-stop-shop basically for the student to make it as easy as possible, give them all the academic components and all the strengths of both of our schools combined together, is a winning combination that should be replicated everywhere quite frankly,” Malatras added on the importance of the agreement.
Malatras also emphasized the significance of having that SUNY system partnership.
“I think it’s really important in today’s society frankly in the social media age in your mobile phone age where we’re all part of the SUNY family, students come in because of the SUNY name and then the particular colleges within in the SUNY system, it’s incumbent upon us as presidents of campuses to make that experience as easy as possible for the students who just want to better their lives,” Malatras remarked.
“I think President Ramsammy’s commitment to doing that manifests itself right here today in that commitment and I think our college community’s commitment to work together, which doesn’t always happen because people have competition of who’s going to get the student, to us its we want to give the best experience for the student and the student experience that they want, so that’s what we’re here for and I think that’s why it’s so important for the SUNY system to do these types of partnerships,” Malatras noted on the commitment between the two.
Ramsammy also voiced the vital ability of the agreement to enable students to stay on track in this field, while maintaining a balance with life, work and school.
“When these kids graduate at the two-year level, the hardest thing for us is to keep them focused on that job, simply because the pay grade is so low that they find themselves being pulled in two different jobs in order to maintain and still be able to practice what they’re doing,” Ramsammy noted.
“Now, with the opportunity to go on to get a fouryear degree, they will expand on that and focus in on having a job that means something to them,” Ramsammy added.
Malatras echoed those sentiments on being able to cater to the needs of students’ in today’s world.
“I think what both of our colleges offer, you have a student population that’s much different in many ways now, families, working families, children, they need flexibility, they need ease to make sure they have opportunities no matter where they go and this does that for that type of student who’s working a job where they believe in the mission of the job but they want some career ladder opportunities,” Malatras said.
“By working together we present those opportunities for students in an easy seamless way with a SUNY price, with very low affordable tuition and with a lot of financial assistance where often times the only way to get that flexibility is to go somewhere else to an out of state school with high tuition, not as good quality, we taken that all away and we’ve done it right here together,” Malatras added.
Students will be able to complete the Addiction Studies degree online or at one of SUNY Empire’s 30plus locations around the state.