SUNY Announces New "Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher Scholarship for Teacher Education"
April 13, 2017
Association of Council Members and College Trustees (ACT) Establishes Scholarship to Support Students Who Follow in Zimpher’s Footsteps
Syracuse – The State University of New York today announced a new scholarship for students created by the university system’s Association of Council Members and College Trustees (ACT) in recognition of Chancellor Zimpher’s dedication and commitment to improving teacher preparation with SUNY and in service to all of New York State.
"Nancy Zimpher began her career more than 40 years ago as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse, and she has spent the last four decades advocating for advancements in the profession to ensure that all of our classrooms have teachers who are prepared for the job," said ACT President Vita DeMarchi, who serves on the board at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. "As ACT began thinking about how we could best honor Chancellor Zimpher and the profound impact she has had on SUNY, supporting students who will follow in her footsteps seemed most appropriate."
"Every student deserves a great teacher, and SUNY’s role in teacher preparation is paramount to making sure New York’s classrooms have the best of the best," said Chancellor Zimpher. "We prepare the teachers who teach the students who come to our colleges, ready or not. So we own the challenge of teacher preparation. I cannot thank Vita and all of ACT’s members for recognizing the importance of teacher education with new scholarship, and I am personally honored to have my name connected to it now and in the years to come."
The Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher Scholarship for Teacher Education will be awarded to students as part of ACT’s annual Excellence and Student Initiative Scholarship Awards program. Each year, beginning this fall, one SUNY student studying to become a teacher will receive the $1,500 scholarship, which will "recognize a teacher education major who personifies the vision and mission of SUNY Chancellor Zimpher’s commitment to excellence in the elementary and secondary teacher education profession."
Each of the 17 SUNY campuses with teacher preparation programs is invited to nominate one student annually for the Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher Scholarship for Teacher Education. Nominations can be submitted to ACT by the campus president. Scholarship awardees for 2017 will be guests of ACT and honored at a special luncheon ceremony September 16 in Albany.
In 2015, SUNY and the State Education Department launched TeachNY, a movement to lift up the teaching profession and ensure that New York and the nation will have the high quality educators needed for the future. TeachNY will: promote the power of teaching; cement a clinical practice profession; secure investment in innovative educator preparation; improve transparency about supply and demand; and support the entire educator preparation pipeline. For more information, visit www.suny.edu/teachny.
About ACT
The Association of Council Members and College Trustees of State Univewww.suny.edu/teachnyrsity of New York was founded in 1970. All council members and college trustees are automatically members of ACT as are the officers of the SUNY institutions and the officers and principal staff members of the SUNY system. ACT seeks to promote increased Council effectiveness, constructive government relations, and productive advocacy for public higher education.
The Excellence and Student Initiative Scholarship Awards offer both financial support and recognition of the extraordinary accomplishments of SUNY students. These awards focus on the students’ academic achievements and service to their campus and community.
About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, with 64 college and university campuses located within 30 miles of every home, school, and business in the state. As of Fall 2017, more than 430,000 students were enrolled in a degree program at a SUNY campus. In total, SUNY served nearly 1.4 million students in credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs in the 2016-17 academic year. SUNY students and faculty across the state make significant contributions to research and discovery, resulting in $1 billion of externally sponsored activity each year. There are 3 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 opportunity, visit www.suny.edu.
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Holly Liapis
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