SUNY Oswego’s commitment to supporting a wide range of students has earned ongoing recognition, including with Abound College Awards under the Finish College Awards for Best Online Colleges: North 2024 and Best Colleges for Adults: 2024. In addition to these awards, which the university has earned previously, Abound listed the institution among the Best 250 Grad Schools for 2024.

This effort to support online and adult learners is a longtime focus for the university’s Division of Extended Learning and its partners. Dean of Extended Learning Jill Pippin noted that it starts with an excellent curriculum and faculty with high-quality academic standards and affordability as a top SUNY school, but additional efforts are also at play.

“SUNY Oswego is primarily known for educating traditional aged (18-24), residential and commuter college students, but has had a long history of offering evening and part-time degree programs, several online completion degree programs, and programs for urban and adult students at its branch campus in nearby Syracuse,” Pippin noted.

Pippin also said that the university is a great fit for those interested in taking online courses and juggling multiple responsibilities for many reasons, including the support of academic planning coordinators from application to degree completion.  

“Students can tell their story once to someone who can sift through options and provide answers to questions or get the student to the right person,” she added. “They help students plan and select courses and provide them with resources to help them like the ASAP (Adult Student Assistance Program) webinars, which focus on services and practices that help students be successful and are offered online and recorded. They are the students' advocates, chief problem solvers, and cheerleaders. This is very important to adults that are short on time, seek the fastest path toward graduation, or need to feel confident that they can finish their degree.”

Supporting achievement

The environment has supported students like David Kryger, a student in Oswego's online criminal justice program. 

“Even though I am retired, I am young and still love to work. One of my plans, possibly later down the road, is to seek a director of security position somewhere in the private sector.” Kryger said.

In addition to currently working in the executive protection field, Kryger also owns two businesses –- a security company, Sunset Security Inc., which provides private security for clients and assistance with events, and a leadership company.

“When someone is in need of security for a private event, I provide mostly retired, but some active, police officers for that event through my company,” Kryger said.

Kryger also started a leadership company after he wrote a book in 2022 titled "Supervise from Center, Lead by Example," which has led to him being a contributing editor, writing leadership articles for several magazines and media outlets.

“The book is a mix of my memoirs and leadership journey," Kryger said. “I was fortunate to serve in several capacities of leadership in the West Haverstraw Fire Department, the Haverstraw Police Department, the Rockland County SWAT Team and the private sector as a small business owner.”

Kryger is currently editing his second book, which “is more of a leadership handbook, a leader's guide, [and] it’s a much shorter book,” he said. ”It’s kind of like a quick reference for leaders to look and say ‘Well, if I have this scenario, how do I work through it? or how can I be the most effective leader for my people?’”

Kryger notes the flexibility of the online degree is key.

Having robust online options “is something that I know wasn’t happening a little over 20 years ago,” Kryger noted. “If I went back to school at age 30 or 32, it would have been much more challenging because you had to work, plus you had to make the time to physically be in the class.”

Wellness management major Travis Weatherbee is taking the program online and has a history in the field.

“A year and a half ago, I started working at Auburn Drug and Alcohol Treatment Court, and then I moved from there over to CHAD, a confidential help for alcohol and drugs,” Weatherbee said. “I work in the substance abuse field. Wellness management is still broad, but it kind of parallels.”

Weatherbee’s goal is to work in addiction services and to help others regain control of their lives to become productive members of society.

“My goal is to build a good relationship with them and trust, so that even if they go back out on relapse or reoffending and get back in the criminal justice system, there’s somebody that they’re familiar with that they feel comfortable reaching out to for help,” Weatherbee said.

The classroom has supported and excited Weatherbee as well. “The most unique experience as a student [that I’ve had is] learning some things or studying some things that I thought that I was not going to enjoy, ones that I thought that I would dislike, that actually ended up being very interesting,” said Weatherbee, who expects to graduate in 2027.

Online criminal justice major Casey Green, aiming to become the second person in the family to graduate from college, needed an educational experience that fit a very busy schedule.

“I wanted to be able to show my kids that you can do this, you can further your education [and] you can get better jobs,” Green said. “That was my main push when I decided to go ahead and finish.”

Outside of school, Green parents five kids and works a full-time job. “It’s basically just a lot of time management and a lot of dedication because it’s easy to get distracted and be like ‘oh you know, it’s the weekend,’” Green said.

In addition to that busy life, Green is achieving progress in schoolwork.

“I would say I am stretched in all different directions, but I try not to stretch myself too much because then I don’t give enough attention to certain things,” Green said. “For instance, if I delve too far into my schoolwork, I’m not paying attention to my kids, and I don’t want that to happen.”

Trey Marchese, an online business administration major who started at Oswego in fall 2023, said a sense of routine supports success within his academic life. This has included listening to time management and listening to jazz artist Kenny G, Marchese to get schoolwork done much faster.

“I would just do about two to three hours of schoolwork, and the papers became short because I would do 10 minutes of a paper here, 10 minutes Tuesday, and I would continue and I would just realize how much ahead I was staying of my classes,” Marchese said.

Marchese realized the routine worked “around my midterms the spring semester because … I had pretty good grades, and a lot of my schoolwork was just getting done ahead of time and I was getting great feedback on it.”

Marchese has seen the fruits of his labors pay off academically, such as with a midterm in a recent business course.

“I had to do a PowerPoint and a summary of the ways that business itself operates between the U.S. and different countries,” Marchese said. “That was interesting [and] I actually did pretty well. I got a 100 on my midterm.”

Supporting success

That kind of success is something that Pippin said the institution puts a lot of effort into supporting. In addition, building a larger framework promotes student success from the moment anybody shows an interest in an Oswego degree. More than 40 million Americans between the ages of 18 and 50 have some college credit but no degree, Pippin said.

“SUNY Oswego has many ways to assess prior learning for college credit, so adults can get credit for what they know and don't have to take extra courses,” Pippin said. “This saves them time, money, and acknowledges their experiences which validates their ability to pursue higher education.” 

This includes the integrative professional studies major designed to help adults with some college but no bachelor’s degree and incorporates previous experience in designing a path toward success.

Overall, the campus realizes that a one-size-fits-all approach will never be better than a customized experience, Pippin said.

“SUNY Oswego has programs, faculty and staff that understand that adults are different from traditional-aged college students and meet them where they are so they can not only fit higher education into their life, but have options like taking a class in person at our Syracuse Campus, virtually receive career services, engage in campus events and have a sense of community that suits them,” Pippin noted.

For more information about online and non-traditional degree options, visit oswego.edu/extended-learning.

-- Written by Ryan Ravenell of the Class of 2024