Chancellor King Highlights SUNY’s Faculty Leadership and Digital Learning Excellence at 2026 Conference on Instruction and Technology
May 27, 2026
Annual Conference Convenes Faculty, Instructional Support Professionals, and Policy Makers to Explore Innovative Avenues for Integrating Technology into Teaching and Learning
SUNY Announces Winners of the 2026 FACT 2 Excellence Awards, and Awardees of the Open Education Resources Impact Grants and Innovative Instruction Technology Grants During the Conference
Stony Brook, NY — State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. today highlighted SUNY's academic excellence during the 2026 Conference on Instruction and Technology. The annual conference, hosted this year by the State University of New York at Stony Brook, brings together faculty, instructional support professionals, and policy makers, to explore innovative strategies for integrating technology into the teaching and learning environment. During the conference, SUNY also announced the winners of the 2026 Faculty Advisory Council on Teaching and Technology (FACT 2) Excellence Awards, and awardees of SUNY's Academic Innovation Grants.
"SUNY is at the forefront of responsibly harnessing technology to support the success of our students so they can achieve academic excellence," said SUNY Chancellor King. "It is vital that SUNY's faculty and staff have the opportunity to come together to share how they integrate technology in the classroom, and I applaud all of our excellent faculty and staff for their continued dedication to our students. I also want to congratulate the exceptional instructors, instructional support professionals, and administrative leaders who were honored with Excellence Awards, and the campuses awarded Academic Innovation Grants."
The SUNY Board of Trustees said, "The Conference on Instruction and Technology presents an excellent opportunity for our faculty and staff to discuss how technology can be used to support our students. Congratulations to the exceptional leaders selected to receive this year's Excellence Awards and the campuses awarded Academic Innovation Grants. We thank them for their work to advance the use of technology to support the academic success of our students."
The theme of this year's conference was "Designing the Future of Learning: Resilient Teaching, Innovative Practices, and Student Success." During the conference, SUNY announced the winners of the 2026 FACT2 Excellence Awards, and awardees of the Open Education Resources Impact Grants and Innovative Instruction Technology Grants.
The FACT 2 Excellence Awards are System-level honors that recognize the noteworthy achievements of instructors, instructional support professionals, and administrative leadership, across SUNY's community colleges, State-operated campuses, and statutory campuses, and encourages the ongoing pursuit of excellence.
Judith Littlejohn, FACT 2 Chair and Director of Online Learning at Genesee Community College, said, "Throughout the SUNY System, campuses, faculty, and staff are utilizing technology in innovative ways to support students. Thank you to Chancellor King for recognizing the hard work and dedication of SUNY's instructors, instructional support professionals, and administrative leaders during the Conference on Instruction and Technology, and through the FACT 2 Excellence Awards and Academic Innovation grants."
Awards are given to recipients in six categories, and the winners of this year's awards include:
Excellence in Administrative Leadership: Community Colleges:
Linda Contino Lamb, Dean of Academic Affairs for the Internet Academy and Continuing Education, Herkimer County Community College
Excellence in Instruction: Community Colleges:
Jean Wood, Professor and Department Head, Radiation Therapy Technology, Erie Community College
Excellence in Instructional Support: Community College:
Melissa Wild, Lab Coordinator for the School of Nursing, Genesee Community College
Excellence in Administrative Leadership: State-Operated or Statutory Campus:
Gregory Ketcham, Assistant Dean of Extended Learning, SUNY Oswego
Excellence in Instruction: State-Operated or Statutory Campus:
Dr. Ning Yu, Associate Professor of Computing Sciences, SUNY Brockport
Excellence in Instructional Support: State-Operated or Statutory Campus:
Nicky Beaudoin, Manager of Curriculum and Instructional Design, SUNY College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell
The Open Education Resources Impact Grants and Innovative Instruction Technology Grants are part of SUNY's Academic Innovation Grants, which support projects that advance teaching, learning, and student success. The objectives for this year's grant awards include harnessing artificial technology, openness, and accessibility to advance affordable, innovative, and equitable education across SUNY. Sixteen campuses were awarded Open Education Resources Impact Grants, and 21 campuses were awarded Innovative Instruction Technology Grants, including:
Open Education Resources Impact Grants:
- State University of New York at Buffalo
- SUNY Cortland
- SUNY Empire State University
- SUNY ESF
- Farmingdale State College
- Fashion Institute of Technology
- SUNY Fredonia
- Herkimer County Community College
- Hudson Valley Community College
- SUNY Maritime College
- SUNY New Paltz
- SUNY Niagara Community College
- SUNY Oneonta
- SUNY Orange Community College
- SUNY Oswego
- SUNY Polytechnic Institute
Innovative Instruction Technology Grants:
- State University of New York at Albany
- State University of New York at Binghamton
- State University of New York at Buffalo
- State University of New York at Stony Brook
- SUNY Brockport
- SUNY Buffalo State University
- SUNY Canton
- SUNY Cortland
- SUNY Delhi
- SUNY Erie Community College
- SUNY ESF
- Farmingdale State College
- Finger Lakes Community College
- SUNY Fredonia
- SUNY Morrisville
- SUNY New Paltz
- SUNY Oneonta
- SUNY Oswego
- SUNY Polytechnic Institute
- Rockland Community College
- Suffolk County Community College
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, 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, 12 Educational Opportunity Centers, over 30 ATTAIN digital literacy labs, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.7 million students across its 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 $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2025, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and annually one in three New Yorkers who earn a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.
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