Center Opens With Ceremonial Ribbon-cutting
January 22, 2009
Adirondack Community College has ushered in a new
era in higher education in the southern
Adirondack Region, with the ceremonial opening of
a new center for bachelor’s and master’s degrees
on its Queensbury campus.
The J. Buckley Bryan, Jr. ACC ’87, ’94 Regional Higher Education Center is devoted exclusively to the growing number of bachelor’s and master’s degree programs that are offered on the ACC campus by SUNY Plattsburgh, Empire State College and, in the future, other four-year colleges and universities. It is the first center of its type established by a New York community college, and will help to make advanced degrees more convenient and affordable for area residents. Students can now earn SUNY Plattsburgh and Empire State College bachelor’s and master’s degrees entirely on the ACC campus.
When classes begin for the spring semester on Monday, January 26, more than 350 students will be enrolled in bachelor’s and master’s level courses on the ACC campus, along with the more than 3,400 students enrolled in ACC’s 24 associate degree and 10 certificate programs.
“ACC was founded more than 40 years ago to provide quality, affordable educational opportunities for people across our region,” said President Ronald C. Heacock, Ph.D. “Our community’s investment in this wonderful new facility allows us to partner with our fellow colleges to expand those opportunities to a level local people have been dreaming of ever since.”
As part of today’s ceremonial ribbon-cutting ceremony, Dr. Heacock also announced that the center’s main entrance lobby will be named in honor of state Sen. Elizabeth O’C Little of Queensbury, a former school teacher and longtime ACC advocate, who was instrumental in securing a $2-million state grant for the center’s construction.
“The importance of this center to our region’s future cannot be overstated,” said R. Harry Booth, chairman of the ARCC Board of Trustees. “What looks like an academic center on the surface is actually a highly productive manufacturing facility, producing three vitally important products —education, entrepreneurship and economic growth — at a time in our region’s history when they are more critical than ever.”
The Adirondack Community College Foundation and a committee of community volunteers are working to complete a $2.5-million capital campaign for the new center. The total cost of the project will be $7.5 million, which includes a $500,000 endowment fund for future building maintenance. If the Foundation is successful in reaching its goal by December 1, 2009, it will be the recipient of an additional $350,000 grant provided by the prestigious Kresge Foundation.
The new center is named in honor of J. Buckley Bryan, Jr. of Bolton Landing, a retired airline pilot and lifelong entrepreneur who has earned four degrees at least in part on the ACC campus and now serves as an adjunct faculty member and as president of the ACC Foundation. Mr. Bryan has contributed more than $1.5 million to the campaign.
“My name may be on the building, but this center belongs to the community,” Mr. Bryan said. “If ACC has even half the impact on the lives of today’s students that it has had on mine, they will be far the richer for it.”
The J. Buckley Bryan, Jr. ACC ’87, ’94 Regional Higher Education Center is devoted exclusively to the growing number of bachelor’s and master’s degree programs that are offered on the ACC campus by SUNY Plattsburgh, Empire State College and, in the future, other four-year colleges and universities. It is the first center of its type established by a New York community college, and will help to make advanced degrees more convenient and affordable for area residents. Students can now earn SUNY Plattsburgh and Empire State College bachelor’s and master’s degrees entirely on the ACC campus.
When classes begin for the spring semester on Monday, January 26, more than 350 students will be enrolled in bachelor’s and master’s level courses on the ACC campus, along with the more than 3,400 students enrolled in ACC’s 24 associate degree and 10 certificate programs.
“ACC was founded more than 40 years ago to provide quality, affordable educational opportunities for people across our region,” said President Ronald C. Heacock, Ph.D. “Our community’s investment in this wonderful new facility allows us to partner with our fellow colleges to expand those opportunities to a level local people have been dreaming of ever since.”
As part of today’s ceremonial ribbon-cutting ceremony, Dr. Heacock also announced that the center’s main entrance lobby will be named in honor of state Sen. Elizabeth O’C Little of Queensbury, a former school teacher and longtime ACC advocate, who was instrumental in securing a $2-million state grant for the center’s construction.
“The importance of this center to our region’s future cannot be overstated,” said R. Harry Booth, chairman of the ARCC Board of Trustees. “What looks like an academic center on the surface is actually a highly productive manufacturing facility, producing three vitally important products —education, entrepreneurship and economic growth — at a time in our region’s history when they are more critical than ever.”
The Adirondack Community College Foundation and a committee of community volunteers are working to complete a $2.5-million capital campaign for the new center. The total cost of the project will be $7.5 million, which includes a $500,000 endowment fund for future building maintenance. If the Foundation is successful in reaching its goal by December 1, 2009, it will be the recipient of an additional $350,000 grant provided by the prestigious Kresge Foundation.
The new center is named in honor of J. Buckley Bryan, Jr. of Bolton Landing, a retired airline pilot and lifelong entrepreneur who has earned four degrees at least in part on the ACC campus and now serves as an adjunct faculty member and as president of the ACC Foundation. Mr. Bryan has contributed more than $1.5 million to the campaign.
“My name may be on the building, but this center belongs to the community,” Mr. Bryan said. “If ACC has even half the impact on the lives of today’s students that it has had on mine, they will be far the richer for it.”