About SUNY Erie

College Information

SUNY Erie Community College (SUNY Erie), New York State’s first multi-campus public community college outside of New York City, provides affordable educational opportunities for its residents in Erie County, and also other counties and states, as well as foreign countries. It offers degree and certificate programs, micro-credentials, workforce development, and other special programs under Pathways to Success including non-credit and tuition-free programs such as High School Equivalency (HSE), English as an Additional Language (EAL), and Pre-Collegiate Studies. 

Students interested in pursuing the Associate in Arts (AA), Associate in Science (AS), Associate in Applied Science (AAS), or the Associate in Occupational Studies (AOS) degrees will discover that SUNY Erie is responsive to their needs. The majority of our AA, AS and AAS degrees have established transfer paths with many four-year colleges locally, state-wide and in other states. Academic and Student Services support are offered as a means to help all students attain their educational and personal goals.

SUNY Erie is the local institution of choice. The primary reasons that draw thousands of students annually to SUNY Erie are the variety of curricula available, reasonable tuition, quality teaching faculty, small classes, availability of tutoring, and accessibility of three campus locations.

Over eighty degree and certificate programs plus career-focused credit training programs are offered to students. These programs span numerous areas of study, including Business and Public Service, Engineering and Technologies, Health Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Trades and Vocational Careers. Programs are designed to graduate well-prepared, well-rounded students ready to meet the demands of the work world and continuous learning. Ninety percent of SUNY Erie’s students start here and go anywhere, whether it is to transfer to a four-year school or to enter the workforce. SUNY Erie offers eight (8) fully online degrees and certificates through Distance Learning or internet web-based courses. 

SUNY Erie has always focused on making education practical and applicable to the lives and jobs of its students. Over 80 percent of SUNY Erie courses have an applied learning component. This focus is not in conflict with a love of knowledge and artistry for its own sake, but instead supports it by challenging the college to creatively apply what it knows to the community, the environment, and to future goals. As such, the focus on applied learning fits equally well into the transfer and the workforce track. Those who seek to continue their education at a four-year institution will need to apply their SUNY Erie learning to that future degree, while those who seek to enter the workforce directly will need to understand how their learning applies to their future jobs.

SUNY Erie’s Reverse Transfer program allows former students with 30 or more SUNY Erie credits to transfer courses from other schools back to SUNY Erie for credit towards their associate degree.

SUNY has created Transfer Paths that summarize the common lower division requirements shared by all SUNY campuses for similar majors within most disciplines.  SUNY Erie offers over 30 of these paths, which help students identify core coursework to prepare for multiple SUNY campuses.

SUNY Erie takes pride in the diversity of its students. To claim that there is a typical SUNY Erie student is misleading. Certainly there are profiles that emerge when various statistics are taken into consideration. The reality is, however, that SUNY Erie’s student body includes recent high school graduates, senior citizens, athletes, former homemakers, disabled students, business executives, veterans, transfer students, and international students. Approximately 90 percent of SUNY Erie’s students reside in Erie County.  

To help students achieve their goals, broad support services are provided. The English and Math Departments offer tutoring services to aid students in their academic quests; the Student Access Center advocates for and supports disabled students; each campus’s Career Resource Center provides career counseling and job placement. 

The Pathways to Success program offers three distinct college preparatory program pathways leading to college success. All programs are non-credit and tuition-free.  (1) High School Equivalency Preparatory (HSE) Program (formally known as the GED program) assists eligible individuals in obtaining their New York State HSE diploma and prepare for the national TASC exam.  (2) English as an Additional Language (EAL) Program helps to prepare incoming English Language Learners (ELL’s) for collegiate admission by offering courses to improve their English skills and college readiness; the program will assist both students that possess international high school diplomas and those seeking their high school equivalency diploma necessary for admission to the college.  (3) Pre-Collegiate prepares students to reenter the classroom and transition into one of the College’s more than 80 degree and certificate programs, all crafted to carry students from courses to careers.  

All programs are available at the three SUNY Erie campuses and are designed to work around busy schedules for development of College Level Skills; including:

• Pre-Collegiate Mathematics - PCMTH-001: Mathematics skills
• Pre-Collegiate Reading/Writing - PCRLT-001: Developmental English skills in reading/writing
• Pre-Collegiate Intensive English as an Additional Language (ESL) - PCESL-003: English vocabulary, grammar, speaking, and listening skills to prepare for college enrollment
• High School Equivalency Test Preparation - HSE001: TASC (Test Assessing Secondary Completion) exam
• English as an Additional Language (ESL) - ESL002: Literacy and English Literacy

Campuses - City, North and South

City Campus

The City Campus moved to its present site in 1982 following the renovation of the Old Post Office and is an architectural landmark in the center of downtown Buffalo. The site of the present City Campus, located at 121 Ellicott Street, is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places, and in 1964 was named in the Historic American Building Survey as one of the eleven most significant buildings in Buffalo. Bounded by Oak and Ellicott Streets, this urban campus is rich in architectural beauty, boasts an expansive skylight and atrium, high-ceilinged classrooms, and gourmet cooking laboratories. SUNY Erie offers a certificate program in Food Preparation and Safety at the City Campus that also utilizes the SUNY Erie Learning Garden at Canalside (near the Campus).

Erie Community College Alumni and Foundation Office

The offices of the Foundation SUNY Erie Community College, Inc. and Alumni Relations are located at City Campus, 121 Ellicott Street in Buffalo, NY. The mission of the Foundation is to grant an opportunity for deserving students in need to pursue their educational dreams and to preserve the college as a leading educational institution. The Alumni Relations office fosters positive relationships with SUNY Erie’s graduates.

45 Oak Street

SUNY Erie’s 45 Oak Street is across the street from City Campus and provides an additional 52,000 square feet of classrooms, academic laboratories, a student support center, and the Workforce Development (WFD) Division of Community Education and Corporate Training offices. The location includes the Radiation Therapy Technology program that offers students instruction/training in the VERT system, which is a virtual environment of a radiotherapy treatment room with captivating 3D views and life size visualizations.

The Burt Flickinger Athletic Center

The Burt Flickinger Athletic Center, located at 21 Oak Street, opened as a legacy to the World University Games in June 1994. The facility houses an Olympic size 50-meter swimming pool with a movable floor, a 25-meter warm-up pool, three regulation basketball courts, a large field house that seats 3,000, a 1/9 mile indoor jogging track, a state-of-the-art Wellness Center, Athletic Department offices and a number of classrooms.

North Campus

The North Campus is located at 6205 Main Street in Williamsville and is the oldest campus. It has the highest enrollment of the three campuses. Spreading over 120 acres, this campus offers its students several buildings for learning, including Gleasner Hall Administration, Bretschger Hall, Richard R. Dry Memorial Library, Kittinger Hall, Spring Student Center, and the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Building opened for the 2018 Spring semester.

SUNY Erie offers:

• Industrial Technology AOS degree and CNC Machining Precision certificate programs:  These programs continue to lead the way in Western New York advanced manufacturing by providing trained graduates to answer the region’s dire need for skilled laborers, manufacturers and technicians. With its surging enrollment over the past years, along with the addition of state-of-the-art training labs and advanced equipment, SUNY Erie is ready to train students eager to enter the area’s expanding industry. The department’s new equipment includes simulators purchased from FANUC America Corporation.
• Nanotechnology AAS degree: Housed in a 6,100 square foot annex on Bretschger Building at B100 with laboratories, clean room space, including a roof with 36 solar panels to provide clean power and employing a state-of-the-art energy recovery system. Highly specialized equipment helps to prepare students for career opportunities in its burgeoning fields, such as electronic and semiconductor fabrication technology, biotechnology, and environmental science. Graduates are part of a highly skilled homegrown workforce capable of filling the large number of nanotechnology-related jobs being created to ensure that there is a trained workforce to take advantage of forthcoming opportunities..
• Biotechnological Science AAS degree and certificate programs:  Industry experts suggest a shortage of qualified technicians exists within the regional workforce in Advanced Manufacturing practices in Western New York. To fill this need for trained technicians, the Biotechnological Science’s AAS curriculum has been carefully developed through a combined effort of local industry professionals and academians. The structure of the core curriculum offers training in the basic principles of advanced manufacturing; but most importantly, it offers multiple hands-on laboratory experiences enabling the student to apply the theory to the process.
• Brewing Science and Service certificate program:  This program provides graduates with necessary educational coursework and skills to enter into varied employment opportunities in its industry, preparing graduates for employment in the expanding brewing, microbrewing, and brewpub industries. Hands-on training, along with theoretical courses, enhances student knowledge in this specialized field: brewing technology, operations, sales and management, and advanced beer-related or brewery-related business sectors.

SUNY Erie One-Stop Career Center

SUNY Erie’s One-Stop Career Center is located in the Gleasner Adminstration Building. The Center provides cost-free employment resources to SUNY Erie graduates and jobseekers in Erie County. Services provided by the center include career coaching, assessments, grant funding for tuition assistance and books in Erie County’s Demand Occupations for eligible students, job readiness workshops, networking groups, résumé assistance, and referrals within a network of federal, state and local agencies. The Center hosts a Food Pantry with a variety of fresh, canned, and frozen foods through a partnership with FeedMore WNY that was established at the three campuses.

South Campus

The self-contained design of the South Campus offers buildings connected by enclosed bridges surrounding a central courtyard and is located at 4041 Southwestern Boulevard in the towns of Orchard Park and Hamburg. The offices of the Driving Programs, offered through the Workforce Development Division, are at South Campus. Since overall enrollment at the college (and across New York State) has decreased and cost cutting measures implemented, the South Campus footprint will be reduced in several years by 15 programs, which will continue to be offered at City and/or North Campuses.

Vehicle Technology Training Center

SUNY Erie now offers three distinctly different automotive programs, Automotive Technology, Automotive Service Technician, and the Automotive Maintenance Certificate Program.

• Automotive Technology - Students in this program pursue a SUNY Associate of Applied Science degree. The automotive lecture and lab classes are taught at the Vehicle Technical Training Center, 5885 Big Tree Road, Orchard Park, the required electives, and academic classes can be taken online or at any of the three campuses. Lab work consists of structured activities and live work on a variety of vehicles from various manufacturers.
• Automotive Service Technician - This program has 4 unique paid co-op offerings. Ford ASSET and Mopar CAP are manufacturer based. Curriculum, vehicles, specialty tools and components are provided by Ford Motor Company and Stellantis North America (formerly Chrysler Corporation) respectively. Students are employed by sponsoring dealers, alternating every 7.5 weeks between classroom / lab instruction at the 5885 Big Tree Road address and a paid co-op experience at a sponsoring dealership. Upon completion students will receive an Associate in Occupational Studies and manufacturer specific certifications. The SUNY Erie Automotive Co-Op (SEACO) is a joint venture with the West Herr Automotive group. It is like the manufacturer’s programs by design, however, students could be sponsored and placed at any of their different dealerships. Classroom / lab instruction is also housed at the Vehicle Technical Training Center, and upon completion students will receive an Associates in Occupational Studies. SUNY Erie has also partnered with the Northtown Automotive Companies to offer a similar co-op-based program except it is housed at their new Land Rover and Jaguar facility.
• Automotive Maintenance - This program is new for Fall 2022. SUNY Erie and the West Herr Automotive group combined their efforts to create a one semester, 15 credit certificate program. Students complete all their classroom and work experience at an off-campus West Herr facility.  

Green Building Technology Center (GBTC)

The center is located on Abbott Road next to South Campus. This 1,650-square-foot training center is utilized for SUNY Erie academic program-related training in renewable energy and energy efficiency in the Building Management and Maintenance AOS degree program and its related certificate programs of Building Trades/Residential Light Commercial; Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration; and Green Building Technology. Enhanced non-credit Workforce Development courses are taught pertaining to Western New York’s emerging green building technology field and as a showcase for local kindergarten through grade 12 STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) students. The facility is complete with multi-floor training rooms, electronic technology, and pole-mounted solar panels. SUNY Erie’s Green Energy training courses, which include both classroom sessions and field experience, prepare individuals for the Building Performance Institute’s (BPI) written and field exams. The equipment trains classes in solar photovoltaic, geothermal, and energy efficiency. Many of the solar photovoltaic classes are short-term customized professional development instruction for firefighters; building and code officials; architects for Continuing Education Units; professional licensed engineers; NYS Fire Prevention and Building Code Council major update to the NYS Uniform Electrical Code through a supplemental extension to the Photovoltaic Training Network (PVTN) grant in the areas of areas of building and permitting; photovoltaic architects, evaluation and design; safety and fire; and solar photovoltaic for engineers.

SUNY Erie Career Center

The SUNY Erie Career Center is located at the South Campus in Building 6. The Center provides cost-free employment resources to SUNY Erie graduates and jobseekers in Erie County. Services provided by the center include career coaching, assessments, grant funding for tuition assistance and books for eligible individuals pursuing Demand Occupations, job readiness workshops, networking groups, résumé assistance, and referrals within a network of federal, state and local agencies. The Center collaborates with Feedmore WNY to host a Food Pantry offering students and community members access to food.

History

SUNY Erie celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2021. 

On April 4, 1946, the Legislature of the State of New York, recognizing the need for technical vocational education at the junior college level, established the New York State Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences at Buffalo as one of the five, tuition-free, two-year technical institutes for high school graduates.

Two years later, in 1948, when the New York State Legislature founded the State University of New York, the Institute at Buffalo became one of the units of the University. On September 1, 1953, while maintaining ties with the State University of New York, Erie County assumed sponsorship of the college, changing its name to the Erie County Technical Institute.

Subsequently, in 1960, the Erie County Technical Institute moved to the present site of the North Campus at 6205 Main Street in Williamsville, NY. In 1969, the name of the college was once again changed to Erie Community College.

In 1971, the City Campus opened, housed in the former Bishop O’Hern High School in downtown Buffalo, making SUNY Erie the first multi-campus college in New York State outside of New York City.

The South Campus opened in the fall of 1974, providing accessibility for those in the southern parts of the county.

In January of 1982, the City Campus moved into its refurbished quarters in the heart of Buffalo.

In 2017, the college changed its name to SUNY Erie.

Through the years, SUNY Erie has undergone significant changes as it has moved to serve its constituents with state-of-the-art facilities, professionally accredited programs and an outstanding teaching faculty.

Accreditation and Affiliation

Middle States Commission on Higher Education

SUNY Erie Community College is an accredited institution and a member of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) www.msche.org. SUNY Erie Community College’s accreditation status is Accreditation Reaffirmed.  The Commission’s most recent action on the institution’s accreditation status on November 17, 2022, was to reaffirm accreditation. MSCHE is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

The college’s curricula are approved and registered with the New York State Education Department and have been vetted through the State University of New York (SUNY). Many of the professional curricula are accredited by specialized agencies. Such accreditations are noted in the program descriptions in this catalog. The college is also a member of the American Association of Community Colleges. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which was established in 1919, is a voluntary, non-governmental, peer-based membership organization dedicated to quality assurance and improvement through accreditation by peer evaluation. It is one of the commissions of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, whose purpose is to provide peer evaluation and accreditation for schools and colleges located in the Mid-Atlantic United States. The Commission defines, maintains and promotes educational excellence across institutions with diverse missions, student populations, and resources. MSCHE accredits degree-granting colleges and universities in the Middle States region which includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and several international locations. In so doing, Middle States accreditation instills public confidence in institutional mission, goals, performance, and resources.

Professional Accreditation

• ABET, Inc., Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission

• Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN)

• Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND®) (or the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics)

• Accreditation Council of Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE)

• American Culinary Federation Education Foundation (ACFEF)

• Automotive Service Excellence - National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation, Inc. (ASE NATEF)

• Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)

  • Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions (CoAEMSP)

  • Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT)

• Commission on Accreditation of Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIM)

• Commission on Dental Accreditation of American Dental Association (CODA)

• Commission on Opticianry Accreditation (COA)

• Committee on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC)

• Medical Assisting Education Review Board (MAERB)

• Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)

• National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS)

• New York State Education Department Board of Regents

• New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS)

Additional information about accreditation and affiliated agencies is available via the Office of Institutional Research, Assessment, Accreditation, and Planning. Please contact iraap@ecc.edu with any such requests.

The State University of New York (SUNY)

The State University of New York’s 64 campuses bring educational opportunity within commuting distance of virtually all New Yorkers and comprise the nation’s largest comprehensive system of public higher education.

When founded in 1948, the University consolidated 29 state operated but unaffiliated institutions whose varied histories of service date as far back as 1816.

Today, more than 425,000 students are pursuing traditional study in classrooms and laboratories or are working at home at their own pace through such innovative institutions as the SUNY Learning Network and Empire State College. The State University enrolls 40 percent of all New York State high school graduates.

The distinguished faculty at SUNY’s institution are recruited from the finest graduate schools and universities throughout the United States and many countries around the world. Their efforts are regularly recognized in numerous prestigious awards and honors, including the Nobel Prize.

SUNY’s research contributions are helping to solve some of today’s most urgent problems. State University researchers pioneered nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and the supermarket bar code scanner, introduced time-lapse photography of forestry subjects and isolated the bacteria that cause Lyme disease.

SUNY’s program for the educationally and economically disadvantaged, consisting of Educational Opportunity Programs and Educational Opportunity Centers, has become a model for delivering better learning opportunities to young people and adults traditionally bypassed by higher education.

The 30 locally sponsored two-year community colleges offer programs that are directly and immediately job related as well as degree programs that serve as educational experience or a transfer opportunity to a baccalaureate degree at a four-year campus.

In 2010, SUNY launched its new strategic plan, The Power of SUNY, which is pulling all 64 campuses together in a way that has never been seen before and drives the revitalization of New York’s economy while enhancing the quality of life of its citizenry.

The State University system’s involvement in the health science education is extensive. Hundreds of thousands of New York’s citizens are served each year by faculty and students in University hospitals, clinics or affiliated hospitals. The University’s economic development services programs provide research, training and technical assistance to the state’s business and industrial community. State University libraries, which support teaching and research activities, are an important community resource.

The SUNY Board of Trustees is their governing body and is comprised of 18 members. Fifteen of these members are appointed by the governor, by and with consent of the NYS Senate. In addition, the president of the Student Assembly serves as a voting member and the president of the University Faculty Senate and Faculty Council of community Colleges serves as ex-officio trustees.

SUNY’s motto is: “To Learn. To Search. To Serve.”

State University of New York Board of Trustees

Chancellor: Dr. James Malatras
Senior Vice Chancellor & Provost: Dr. Tod A. Laursen
Chairman: Dr. Merryl H. Tisch, New York City

Cesar Perales, Vice Chairman, Brooklyn
Joseph W. Belluck, New York City
Courtney E. Burke, Albany
Eric Corngold, Brooklyn
Marcos Crespo, Bronx
Robert J. Duffy, Rochester
Christy Woods Fogal, Rochester - President, Faculty Council of Community Colleges
James Haddon, New York City
Bradley Hershenson, New York City
Keith Landa, Purchase - President, Unviersity Faculty Senate
Eunice A. Lewin, Buffalo
Stanley Litow, New York City
Richard Socarides, New York City
Edward Spiro, New York City
Cary F. Staller, Old Field
Camille Joseph Varlack, Brooklyn

SUNY Erie Board of Trustees

The 10-member Board of Trustees of SUNY Erie is composed of four members appointed by the Governor, five members appointed by the Erie County Executive and approved by the Erie County Legislature, and a voting student trustee elected by the student body of the three campuses. The Board responsibilities include approving the annual budget, setting policies and requirements, responding to community needs, approving personnel appointments and guiding the college in setting and achieving its Mission and Goals.

Board of Trustees	Appointed
Danise Wilson, Chairperson	2015
Jeffrey Stone, Vice Chairman	2019
Melodie Baker	2022
Leonard Lenihan	2017
Amanda Lowe	2022
Candace Morrison	2022
Carrie Phillips	2019
Marcell Soares Pinheiro, Student Trustee	2022 to 2023

SUNY Erie’s Mission and Strategic Plan

The following statements provide the road map and guidebook the organization uses to develop its strategic thinking. These statements indicate where the college is going and helps to prioritize SUNY Erie’s strategic options. They also tell college officials what to bring along on the journey and provide benchmarks for determining progress.

Mission

SUNY Erie meets the needs of a diverse student body and contributes to regional economic vitality by providing high-quality, flexible, affordable and accessible educational programs committed to student success.

Vision

SUNY Erie will serve as an innovative learning resource by striving for universal access to lifelong learning, catalyzing economic and cultural development, and supporting a diverse and mobile student body.

Strategic Intent

SUNY Erie will become a national and regional model for the community college of the 21st century. We want to be known as the most student-friendly and accessible college where success begins. SUNY Erie will be an aspirational choice where students of all levels of ability attend because it is the best match to their lifestyle wants and a respected institution among employers, within higher education and throughout the region.

Value Proposition

SUNY Erie offers the most cost-effective and quality access to achievement of a degree, academic credits or acquisition of skills/certification that will propel the learner to his or her desired goal at any point in life.

Core Values

SUNY Erie is committed to four key values:

Efficiency:  SUNY Erie aims to streamline its operations in order to deliver the highest possible proportion of resources to students.

Relevance:  SUNY Erie will fulfill its vision by becoming a key player in the region’s economic and cultural renaissance.

Innovation:  SUNY Erie will innovate its way to achieving its key strategic targets.

Entrepreneurship:  SUNY Erie believes in promoting the entrepreneurial spirit in staff, faculty, and students.

SUNY Erie Excels Strategic Plan 2016 to 2023

SUNY Erie promotes its mission, vision, and core values through a comprehensive and ambitious strategic plan focused on five key areas: Access, Completion, Engagement, Operations, and Success. You can read more about SUNY Erie Excels at https://www.ecc.edu/about/administration/excels.html.