SUNY News Release

SUNY will Monitor and Fulfill Technology Needs While Remote Learning Continues

For Immediate Release: Monday, April 20, 2020
Contact: Holly Liapis; Holly.Liapis@suny.edu; 518-320-1311

Albany – State University of New York Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson today announced that SUNY is distributing more than 8,800 laptops and Chromebooks to students in need who are currently completing their spring semester coursework online amid the COVID-19 health crisis. SUNY will continue to monitor and fulfill technology needs while remote learning continues.

“In alignment with Governor Cuomo’s direction, SUNY moved quickly to transition our students to remote instruction and online education, thus reducing the density of exposure on campus, which helps stop the spread of the coronavirus. We did this to ensure the safety of our SUNY family—our students, faculty, staff, and the people in the communities we serve—that is our number one priority,” said SUNY Chancellor Johnson. “To allow our students to continue their coursework remotely and complete the spring semester, we purchased and delivered thousands of laptops for students in need, and we will continue to do all we can to support our SUNY students.”

As SUNY and campuses began planning the shift to distance learning in March, SUNY System Administration surveyed all 64 campuses and colleges to gauge student technology needs. Based on those findings, SUNY System Administration purchased approximately 8,800 laptops and Chromebooks, which are being distributed to students based on need. SUNY provided instructions for how to track and allocate these computers, and is continuing to assess the evolving technological needs of students throughout this health crisis.

For more on how SUNY is handling the COVID-19 pandemic, the SUNY health care professionals and medical experts on the front lines, and how faculty, staff, and students are finding creative ways to give back to their communities, click here.

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, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. As of Fall 2019, more than 415,500 students were enrolled in a degree-granting program at a SUNY campus. In total, SUNY serves about 1.3 million students in 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 exceeded $1.7 billion in fiscal year 2019, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu, and for more information about additional COVID-19 fundraising efforts, visit #SUNYTogether.

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