MVCC and SUNY Oneonta sign agreement completing pathway for education students

vanwagoner cardelle signing agreementMohawk Valley Community College and SUNY Oneonta signed an agreement today that extends an existing agreement between the two colleges and creates a cohesive pathway for students to complete all their requirements to become professionally certified to teach grades 1-6 in New York State. 

The existing agreement allows students to dually enroll in MVCC’s Childhood Education AS degree program and SUNY Oneonta’s Elementary Education BS degree program, and students take all these courses on MVCC’s Utica Campus. The addition to the agreement states that students who successfully complete their bachelor’s degree will be automatically accepted into one of SUNY Oneonta’s education master’s programs, all of which can be completed online, including:

  • Educational Technology Specialist (K-12) 
  • Literacy Education (B-6) and (5-12)
  • School Counselor (K-12)
  • Special Education - Early Childhood (Birth-Grade 2)
  • Special Education - Childhood (Grades 1-6) 
  • Special Education - Generalist (Grades 7-12) 

“Mohawk Valley Community College and SUNY Oneonta both have a proven, steadfast dedication to our respective student populations,” said MVCC President Randall VanWagoner, Ph.D. “Through this expanded partnership, collectively, we will be able to collaborate more effectively with our regional school districts by providing solutions to their teacher workforce challenges, and this pathway expands access to these programs to more diverse groups of students.”

The joint program between MVCC and SUNY Oneonta was first established in 1995 to help regional schools meet a significant demand for teachers and was later renewed in 2016 after a several-year hiatus. Over the years, 1,454 students have successfully completed the program. 

“When I first started at SUNY Oneonta, it was this kind of institutional ecosystem that I looked forward to creating to provide the dynamic pathways that not only serve our students but that serve childhood education throughout the state and the region,” said SUNY Oneonta President Alberto Cardelle, Ph.D., MPH. “This partnership also embraces the opportunities to expand our collaboration in other areas and I look forward to … this being one of many visits in the future to MVCC.”