Higher learning calling

SUNY Orange officially opened its new Frontier TechLab, a state-of-the-art lab at the heart of the college”™s new telecommunication”™s degree program, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the college”™s Middletown campus recently.

SUNY Orange President William Richards and Maggie Wilderotter, chairman and CEO of Citizens Communications Co. (NYSE: CZN), the parent company of Frontier, hosted the event, which featured brief remarks from state Sen. John Bonacic, Orange County Executive Ed Diana and Joan Wolfe, chairwoman of the college”™s board of trustees.

The 1,400-square-foot lab, located on the third floor of the college”™s biotech building, should enhance the curriculum of SUNY Orange”™s new associates degree program in telecommunications, broaden students”™ academic transfer options and place students and graduates in position for internship and employment opportunities with Frontier.

The lab features an array of the latest telecommunications equipment, all linked directly to 20 computer workstations where students will be able to convert classroom discussions and theory into real-world projects and experience. The room also features an area where students can meet in small groups for lectures or class discussions. The college began offering classes in the telecommunications program this fall, culminating 18 months of work by SUNY Orange and Frontier employees.

“Few colleges at any level are fortunate enough to have a laboratory of this caliber on campus,” Richards said. “The Frontier TechLab adds instant credibility to our new telecommunications degree program. We are tremendously grateful to Frontier and its vendors for collaborating with us on this project and turning the lab into a reality.”

“The TechLab is a tangible reminder of Frontier”™s strong partnership with SUNY Orange and a place where technical skills are taught through actual experience,” Wilderotter said. “It”™s a good investment for everyone ”“ the community, the college, the students and Frontier. Communications is a technology that will never become obsolete.”

“We”™ve been given a great opportunity due to Frontier”™s willingness to be part of this project,” said Fern Steane, chairwoman of SUNY Orange”™s applied technology department, which oversees the telecommunications program. “Without a lab like this, you can”™t have an adequate telecommunications program at the two-year level when technicians today are expected to have ”˜hands-on”™ experience. You can”™t talk and work from a book when you are out in the field. What we”™ve created is an academic program that also includes an internship component with Frontier.”

“What is unique about our telecommunications degree is that it is designed not only to prepare a student to enter the work force after graduation, but also provides the opportunity for a student to transfer to a bachelor”™s program in telecommunications or electrical engineering technology,” said Melody Festa, former associate vice president for business, math, science and technology at SUNY Orange. “The last two years of upper-level courses are essentially theory and design. We think our program will assure that our graduates are leading candidates to be accepted into bachelor”™s programs because they will have the huge advantage of having worked in this new laboratory.”

As the college and Frontier moved forward with work on the lab, SUNY Orange and Rochester Institute of Technology finalized an agreement that facilitates smooth transfer to the RIT telecommunications bachelor”™s degree program for SUNY Orange students. Orange technology students have also transferred successfully to New York Institute of Technology, Fairleigh Dickinson, SUNY Utica and SUNY Farmingdale.