From the President

Since SUNY Adirondack issued its Report to the Community in January 2020, the world has clearly changed. Then, most of us believed global pandemics were a thing of centuries past, had never heard of COVID or Zoom and couldn’t imagine being isolated for months on end.

Like every person, business and institution, SUNY Adirondack was forced to adapt quickly when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Our faculty members scrambled to deliver their lessons virtually, our students were relegated to chatroom discussions and our facilities were shuttered.

Despite what seemed like insurmountable challenges, we prevailed: our educators taught and our students learned. Classes looked different, “interaction” was redefined and our worldview transformed, but SUNY Adirondack proudly congratulated graduates (virtually in 2020, hybrid in 2021 and in person in 2022).

Our graduates did what previous graduates have always done. They successfully transferred to com- plete advanced degrees or pursued employment in our region. Despite the chaos, SUNY Adirondack continued to provide a stellar education to its students, and we remain an integral part of this community.

We learned a lot and sharpened our focus on the whole student, acutely acknowledging that academic success is contingent upon addressing life’s challenges.

Much like our greater society, we committed to increasing access to health and wellness in ways we hadn’t before. We developed a complement of services alongside our well-respected Counseling Center team, bringing on additional staff to develop programming and services focused on the six pillars of health — physical, emotional, social, spiritual, intellectual and occupational. More employees from all parts of the college are trained to support students’ mental health than ever before. This is a community-wide effort.

Our partners are critical to enhancing our services. Hudson Headwaters Health Network’s mobile health care unit is a biweekly fixture on campus, providing care to campus community members. A nurse from Glens Falls Hospital maintains weekday hours in an on-campus wellness space to ensure students have access to the medical care they need.

The Community Hub, a SUNY Adirondack program that meets the non-academic needs of students, uses grant funding and donations to increase its offerings to include Wi-Fi access, gas cards, an array of toiletries and, of course, food and clothing.

The past three years revealed a lot about the world, humanity, interconnectivity, health care, politics and the importance of preparing a well-rounded person and workforce. And, once again, it proved SUNY Adirondack is here, committed to the needs of our region and ready to provide each individual the support, inspiration and opportunity to succeed. Thank you for being with us during the hard times and for celebrating with us during our best times.