Cortland

Stacey Watson, co-founder of Drop-in Nation, will speak at SUNY Cortland on April 20 to spread the importance of holistic curricula.

Drop-in Nation was founded in 2004 to help at-risk students get their GED and develop knowledge in the core fields of math, English, social studies, writing and science. Watson’s presentation will focus on how holistic education that deals with life skills and career training in a community-based setting can increase the quality of education for anyone.

The event is sponsored by Cortland’s Literacy Department.

-cortland.edu

Binghamton

Beginning in May, SUNY Binghamton will be performing renovations on their University Union to create a new Marketplace that will move several student services into the same building.

The Marketplace will replace the current food court in the Union, creating an “indoor town square” that will draw students together and provide them with more services in one convenient location. It will also include a small coffeehouse complete with a stage.

Renovations are expected to be complete by the end of summer 2013.

-binghamton.edu

Plattsburgh

For the second consecutive year, SUNY Plattsburgh was listed as the No. 1 school in the writing in terms of satisfaction among foreign students, according to the Fall 2011 International Student Barometer.

Plattsburgh was ranked No. 1 out of 18 American universities and No. 2 out of 203 schools worldwide by a surveyed group of foreign students. Plattsburgh was the top choice in a variety of sub-categories by the surveyed students, including learning support and performance feedback, the ability to make friends with students from the host country, student services and several other categories.

Plattsburgh has 361 international students from 11 different countries.

-plattsburgh.edu

Stony Brook

Fourteen SUNY Stony Brook students were honored by SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, receiving the 2012 Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence.

The awards were given out in early April at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany. The award has been given out since 1997 to honor students who go above and beyond exemplary members of their respective college communities. A selection committee established by college presidents determined the winners.

-stonybrook.edu

Geneseo

SUNY Geneseo math professor Gary Towsley was one of five SUNY professors and 17 from New York state named in the Princeton Review’s list of the “Best 300 Professors.”

The list is made up of teachers from 122 different schools, and was determined by a collaboration between the Review and RateMyProfessor.com. They collected data from undergraduate students pertaining to classroom experience and their personal assessments of the professors.

Towsley, who has taught at Geneseo for 38 years, was described by the Review as a professor who has the “ability to account for the varying levels of skill and understanding in his classes by trying to challenge those who already understand the material, while simultaneously being patient and supportive with those who feel they are lost.”

-geneseo.edu