Not only is SUNY Oswego providing students with high-impact, transformative learning experiences, but the college is committed to partnering with businesses and corporations across America in a collaborative quest to prepare the next generation of leaders.

“It's really work hard play hard down here,” said Robert Cowan, a 2008 SUNY Oswego graduate who is now an audit senior manager for KPMG in New York City. “Just walking the streets of Manhattan I remember fresh out of Oswego. It was a big lifestyle change, all the hustle and bustle of the city is just really motivating to you and drives you to succeed and just wanna be a part of it.”

“The students that we see have great attitudes, a lot of motivation,” said Bob Garrett, a 1983 SUNY Oswego graduate who is now managing partner of KPMG’s New York office. “Many students, like myself, are first generation to go to college and so they have that hunger and determination to succeed and that's what we're looking for at KPMG.”

I'm really proud to work at KPMG. It's a great firm, great people, great culture,” Cowan said. “I love giving back as much as I can to Oswego through our recruiting activities and networking events that they host on campus.”

“And as we hire those my one deal with them is well, we'll hire you at KPMG but you gotta commit to paying it forward and helping identify the next generation of leaders that we can get from Oswego to join KPMG,” Garrett said.

Paloma Sarkar, who earned her master’s degree from Oswego in 2011, is now assistant vice president of credit risk at Pathfinder Bank.

“I started as an intern here and then I finally got a job and from my internship I just started working here at Pathfinder Bank,” Sarkar said.

“So these are really ready students. They're smart, they're energetic, they're engaged,” said Tom Schneider, president and CEO of Pathfinder Bank.

“What SUNY Oswego did initially is to give me the knowledge and to help me and to realize what is out there and to give me the confidence that I'm able to do this,” Sarkar said.

“I think it's our responsibility to provide scholarship to these students to, you know, foster their development and growth and then have the opportunity at the back end that well developed work force that we can access,” Schneider said.

“It's just a very strong partnership that is very important to this community, very important for Oswego and Pathfinder Bank,” Sarkar explained.

“The more really smart capable young women and men that we can provide that opportunity to we should be providing that opportunity to for our own good,” Schneider said.

Joseph Lauko, a senior vice president for SRC, said the company knows well that Oswego graduates have made excellent employees, going the extra step of working with the college on a customized MBA program for their employees.

“One of the things we find with when we bring students Oswego candidates in is they are prepared and that is one thing that we are looking for, you're not starting from ground zero,” Lauko said.

“Working to solve a problem as a team, with people that I just hadn't interacted with before, new faces, new experiences, non-traditional students, traditional students — it just help me get a better understanding of how to work with people, hone my emotional intelligence skills, and kind of really start to foster a sense for leadership,” said 2005 Oswego graduate Joe Melita, SRC’s director of production engineering.

“Whether it's in engineering, whether it's in the business school, or any other place that we've brought Oswego employees in, they tend to be very grounded and tend to have the background, the practical background, that we're looking for too,” Lauko said.

“I know that SRC has stepped up their investment in Oswego and we are hiring many more Oswego graduates now than we ever have and it does make me very proud,” said 1991 Oswego graduate Christine Town, director of compensation and benefits at SRC.

SUNY Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley said that success is an emphasis and a team effort.

“At SUNY Oswego we are preparing our students with experiences and career possibilities that will help transform our world,” Stanley said. “We invite you to join us in this vital transformative endeavor.”