SUNY, National Grid Announce Applied Learning Partnership To Support the Clean Energy Workforce
March 9, 2017
Farmingdale State College Success To Be Replicated On Campuses Throughout SUNY
Melville, NY – Following a successful pilot at Farmingdale State College, The State University of New York and National Grid today announced a partnership to train the next generation of clean energy employees. Joining the first class of Farmingdale graduates, all of whom now work at National Grid, SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher and National Grid President of New York Ken Daly said the program will be replicated at SUNY colleges and universities throughout the state, beginning with Hudson Valley Community College in Spring 2017.
The program – a Natural Gas Technician Certificate – is the first of its kind in the energy industry, and was co-created by Farmingdale State College and National Grid to address advances in the energy industry and a projected increase in retirement-eligible workers at certain National Grid locations. Chancellor Zimpher and President Daly signed a Memorandum of Understanding to offer the program throughout SUNY and to explore additional opportunities to support the delivery of clean, affordable energy.
“The results at Farmingdale State College are extremely encouraging, as every student left with a certificate in one hand and a job in the other,” said SUNY Chancellor Zimpher. “Having completed a combination of academic instruction and on-the-job training, these students are well on their way to enjoying a successful career at New York’s premier energy company. We look forward to bringing this program to more SUNY students on more SUNY campuses as part of our continuing partnership with National Grid.”
“We’re very proud of this one-of-a-kind program and our partnership with SUNY and Farmingdale State College,” said National Grid New York President Daly. “Bringing these students on board helps National Grid, the natural gas industry, and the Long Island economy. We look forward to the graduates providing the foundation for a safer, more reliable natural gas network that continues to grow.”
“The partnership between Farmingdale State College and National Grid is exactly the kind of relationship higher education and industry must forge – for the benefit of students, the industries that drive our economy, our academic institutions, and the communities in which we live,” said Farmingdale State College President John S. Nader. “This is a model that is already paying dividends, with these students now in well-paying jobs and National Grid enjoying an influx of highly motivated, expertly trained employees. This pairing of intensive classroom preparation and hands-on experience is a perfect representation of the value of applied learning that SUNY has made one of its top initiatives.”
“We’re excited to again partner with National Grid to fill the growing workforce needs of the energy sector in New York State,” said Hudson Valley Community College President Drew Matonak. “Ten years ago, National Grid worked hand-in-hand with Hudson Valley Community College to create an Overhead Lineworker certificate program that has built a direct pathway to good-paying careers through our state. This time, our Workforce Development Institute will work on this new SUNY-sponsored collaboration that will help train more New Yorkers for careers in the clean energy sector.”
Officials from Farmingdale State College and National Grid highlight the success of the SUNY partnership in a video here.
To learn more about Farmingdale State College’s program, visit here. To learn about applied learning opportunities at SUNY, visit here.
About National Grid
National Grid (LSE: NG; NYSE:NGG) is an electricity and gas company that connects consumers to energy sources through its networks. The company is at the heart of one of the greatest challenges facing our society - to create new, sustainable energy solutions for the future and developing an energy system that underpins economic prosperity in the 21st century. National Grid holds a vital position at the center of the energy system and it ‘joins everything up’.
National Grid delivers electricity to approximately 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. It manages the electricity network on Long Island under an agreement with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), and owns over 3,800 megawatts of contracted electricity generation, providing power to over one million LIPA customers. It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the northeastern U.S., serving approximately 3.4 million customers in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. For more information please visit our website: www.nationalgridus.com.
About Farmingdale State College, SUNY
Farmingdale State College prepares students with the education, skills, and critical thinking needed to meet tomorrow’s challenges. As the largest of SUNY’s colleges of technology (with more than 9,000 students), FSC equips students with the resources and knowledge sought by today’s emerging industries. Offering bachelor and associate degrees, FSC will soon offer its first graduate program. At FSC, students learn in small, personalized classes and have abundant opportunities for applied learning—internships, clinical training, and guidedresearch—that provide practical instructionand personal growth. Located an hour east of Manhattan, the campus offers residential halls, a lush 380-acre campus undergoing major renovation, and a highly successful NCAA Division III athletics program with modern facilities to make FSC one of the fastest-growing colleges in the region. In addition, since 2013, FSC was listed one of the best public colleges in the North and in 2013 FSC was the only SUNY school (and the only LI school) listed in the LEAST debt category in the section titled Student Debt Load at Graduation for regional colleges in the north. In 2015 UniversityPrimeTime.com again listed FSC the fifth safest college in the nation.
About the State University of New York
The State University of New York, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2022, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.
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