| Initiative Title | 3. Fund a budget line for student experiential learning opportunities |
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| Submitted in Previous Year(s) | 2014 |
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| Critical Information, Notes, Justification, Rationale | One of the characteristics of a Fully Developed Honors Program is experiential learning for students. Experiential learning is also a SUNY initiative. We try to provide students with opportunities to attend--as presenters and attendees-- the Northeast Honors Regional Conference and the Beacon Conference. Both of these require funding. Our regular budget does not provide for this and some years, funding from other sources is insufficient, tenuous or non-existent. If we want to provide these opportunities and explore others (CUIR, etc) for students, we need an annual funding line, specific to honors. Conference attendance attracts students (recruiting), improves retention, improves students' transferability, and increases the College's reputation for academic excellence.
Additionally, we would like to partially offset some additional opportunities, such as museum or other cultural visits, speakers, etc.
We request $10,000 annually to support students attendance of conferences to showcase their research. |
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| Consequences of this initiative not being funded | Most of our students cannot afford to attend conference on their own; without funding, we will not be able to offer this type of experiential learning or seek to increase it.
Without a consistent and known annual amount, the coordinator does not know if she should promote student conference attendance or not. Being told to get the students accepted first with the hope that we will find the money later is neither appropriate nor sustainable. |
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| Department Goals | Provide annual funding for students & faculty to participate in conferences and other experiential learning and community-building opportunities, Improve recruitment of quality and committed traditional, non-traditional, and under-represented student populations by offering more program-specific scholarships |
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| Programs | |
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| Locations | Main Campus, Newburgh Campus |
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| Estimated Completion Date | |
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| Will this initiative span multiple budget years? | Yes |
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| Importance | Medium |
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| Funding Source | Request for Prioritization |
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| Created | 11/04/2025 10:30 am |
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| Updated | 11/06/2025 3:07 pm |
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Institutional Goals
| Goal |
How will the initiative support this institutional goal? |
- MIDDLESTATES STANDARDS
- 3 Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience
|
Opportunities for conferences and other forms of experiential learning provide students with enhanced academic and personal growth. They foster learning in different ways, improve recruitment and retention and enhance students' opportunities for transfer and scholarship. They also encourage important relationships with faculty and fellow students and create interactions with students and faculty from other institutions. These are experiences that are important for their educational and employment goals--as well as their personal growth. |
- MIDDLESTATES STANDARDS
- 4 Support of the Student Experience
|
Opportunities for conferences and other forms of experiential learning provide students with enhanced academic and personal growth. They foster learning in different ways, improve recruitment and retention and enhance students' opportunities for transfer and scholarship. They also encourage important relationships with faculty and fellow students and create interactions with students and faculty from other institutions. These are experiences that are important for their educational and employment goals--as well as their personal growth. |
- STRATEGIC PLAN 2025-2028
- Priority 1: Student Support & Success
- Objective #1: Refine curriculum design, instructional practices, and learning environments to maximize academic excellence, intellectual curiosity and student success.
|
Opportunities for conferences and other forms of experiential learning provide students with enhanced academic and personal growth. They foster learning in different ways, improve recruitment and retention and enhance students' opportunities for transfer and scholarship. They also encourage important relationships with faculty and fellow students and create interactions with students and faculty from other institutions. These are experiences that are important for their educational and employment goals--as well as their personal growth. Attending conferences is a meaningful way to showcase their service and capstone research projects. |
Action Steps
| Action Step |
Responsible Party |
Order |
| Find funding for annual budget line for experiential learning |
VPAAs office / VP for BUdget and FInance / Honors Advisory Board |
1 |
| Maintain current experiential learning opportunities |
Honors Advisory Board and Coordinator |
2 |
| Locate and offer additional experiential learning opportunities |
Honors Advisory Board and Coordinator |
3 |
Expected Outcomes
| Outcome |
Order |
| Enhanced learning opportunities and experiences for students |
1 |
| Potentially improved retention of students |
2 |
| Improved recruitment |
3 |
| Potential professional development opportunities for honors faculty |
4 |
| Improved reputation of program |
5 |
| Improved transfer opportunities for students (as their resumes and experiences grow) |
6 |
| Improved ability to seek articulation agreements |
7 |
Assessment Methods
| Method |
Description |
Other Method |
Responsible Party |
| Student Surveys: Satisfaction Need |
Surveys can be developed internally and administered to assess student frequency, importance, need and satisfaction institution’s staff, office and services and programming. |
|
Honors Advisory Board: Student members and coordinator |
Resources
| INITIAL YEAR COST: |
$10,000.00 |
| RECURRING COST: |
$10,000.00 |
Equipment
| Need |
Cost (Initial/Recurring) |
Supporting Departments |
| TOTAL: |
$0.00 / $0.00 |
|
Facility
| Need |
Cost (Initial/Recurring) |
Supporting Departments |
| TOTAL: |
$0.00 / $0.00 |
|
Supply
| Need |
Cost (Initial/Recurring) |
Supporting Departments |
| TOTAL: |
$0.00 / $0.00 |
|
Staffing
| Need |
Cost (Initial/Recurring) |
Supporting Departments |
| TOTAL: |
$0.00 / $0.00 |
|
Training
| Need |
Cost (Initial/Recurring) |
Supporting Departments |
| TOTAL: |
$0.00 / $0.00 |
|
Marketing
| Need |
Cost (Initial/Recurring) |
Supporting Departments |
| TOTAL: |
$0.00 / $0.00 |
|
Other
| Need |
Cost (Initial/Recurring) |
Supporting Departments |
| Money to fund experiential learning, including conference fees, travel, hotels |
$10000.00
/ 10000.00 (1st year)
|
- Academic Affairs and Student Services, Provost, VP Office
- SUNY Orange Foundation
- Administration and Finance, VP Office
|
| TOTAL: |
$10,000.00 / $10,000.00 |
|
Prioritization
This is initiative is ready for prioritization.
Assessment
| Date | Department Name | Status | Cost to Date | Funding Source | |
| No results found. |