Community

The campus will come alive next week as SUNY Morrisville welcomes students back for the fall semester. Welcome Weekend activities begin with new student orientation Thursday, Aug. 20-Sunday, Aug. 23, featuring information sessions, campus activities and social events designed to help get students acquainted with campus, meet their classmates and prepare for the academic year. Move-In will be a team effort, with members of the college’s athletics teams pitching in to help students settle into their residence halls.

Weeks before the start of the fall semester, Zoe Hayes is already settling into college life at SUNY Morrisville. The 18-year-old Utica resident is one of many incoming students who participated in the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) Summer Academy, designed to help students transition to college by introducing them to campus life, academic expectations and the many support services available before classes begin. This fall, Hayes will begin the Ford ASSET program through automotive technology and turn her passion for hands-on problem-solving into a career path.

Thanks to the support of the Galbreath Family Professional Development Fund, members of the SUNY Morrisville Dairy Judging Team had the opportunity to represent the college on an unforgettable journey through Scotland, Ireland and England, where they competed internationally and gained firsthand insight into agriculture, history and culture.

When most students begin planning a research project, they start with books and online sources. For 16-year-old Evan Buhain, the search led more than three hours north to SUNY Morrisville. Driven by a fascination with soil health, the Millwood, New York, high school junior spent several days this summer in the laboratory of Jennifer Gilbert Jenkins, associate professor of agricultural science, turning an idea into a hands-on scientific study.

As part of Madison County’s Open Farm Day, held Saturday and Sunday, July 25-26, SUNY Morrisville’s Arnold R. Fisher Dairy Complex will be open to visitors on Saturday, July 25, only, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The complex is among the many farms throughout Madison County participating in the annual event, which gives visitors an opportunity to experience working farms, meet local farmers, enjoy tours and demonstrations, animals and sample products.  

SUNY Morrisville faculty and staff members were honored with Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence by the State University of New York and SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr., and another received a distinguished award.   SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service Rebecca Hargrave, of Norwich, associate professor of environmental sciences The SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service recognizes the consistently superior service contributions of full-time teaching faculty.

Students wheeled suitcases, carried bedding and moved boxes into Cayuga Hall today as families said their goodbyes and a team of energetic peer mentors welcomed SUNY Morrisville’s newest Arthur O. Eve Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) students to campus. For 130 incoming students — one of the largest EOP Summer Academy cohorts in the college’s history — the day marked the beginning of a three-week residential experience designed to ease the transition to college before fall classes begin.

By early morning, before much of the SUNY Morrisville campus has stirred, the organic farm on Eaton Street in Morrisville is alive with activity. Students and interns move between high tunnels and garden beds, harvesting flowers, tending crops and preparing for another busy day.

SUNY Morrisville welcomed hundreds of high school juniors for this year’s American Legion Boys State program, which runs through July 2.   Held annually by the American Legion, Boys State is a premier leadership and citizenship program that gives students a hands-on look at government and public service. Throughout the week, participants learn how government works, campaign and run for office, and develop leadership skills while participating in activities that emphasize teamwork, discipline and physical fitness under the guidance of U.S. Marines.    

Participants in SUNY Morrisville’s second electric vehicle (EV) training program spent the week gaining hands-on experience with cutting-edge technology, from working on a 2026 Tesla to diagnosing hybrid vehicles and learning the skills needed for the rapidly growing EV industry.   The hands-on training, offered through a Workforce Development Grant, brought together automotive instructors, renewable energy faculty, students and industry professionals eager to expand their knowledge of EVs and the growing clean-energy sector.