For Release:         Immediate - February 24, 2015

Contact:                Jerry Gretzinger, V.P. of Strategic Communications and Public Relations

(518) 956-7359 |  jgretzinger@sunycnse.com

National Indicator Points To Program’s Continued Excellence

Utica, NY – In accordance with Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s commitment to address New York State’s growing need for qualified health care professionals, SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s College of Health Sciences and Management today announced the certification exam pass rate for the 2014 class of Master of Science in Family Nurse Practitioner graduates was 96%, compared to an 88% national pass rate in 2013.  The exam pass rate, provided by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioner Certification Program, is a key indicator of professional success for graduates.

“This is a tremendous endorsement, not only of the hard work and dedication of our nursing students, but the world-class caliber of SUNY Poly’s faculty,” said Dr. Alain Kaloyeros, President and CEO of SUNY Poly.  “When our students enter the workforce, they do so with the skills and knowledge necessary to lead the next generation of healthcare professionals.  I extend my congratulations and gratitude to our students, faculty and staff for their unyielding commitment to excellence.”

“This distinction offers real-world evidence that SUNY Poly educates and graduates some of the finest healthcare professionals in the country,” said Dr. Robert Geer, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of SUNY Poly. “SUNY Poly has a long and proud history of impressive passing rates among its Family Nurse Practitioner graduates, and our passionate and dedicated faculty are to be commended for that success.”

SUNY Poly continues to outpace national exam results and has averaged a 97% certification exam pass rate over the past 4 years, twice earning a perfect 100% pass rate.  In 2014, SUNY Poly’s nursing programs received a 10-year reaccreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

“I congratulate our graduates and our nursing faculty. These pass rates are a wonderful indicator that our nursing students work hard to be the very best at what they do, and that translates into the best healthcare for the patients they will be treating,” said SUNY Polytechnic Institute Provost, Dr. William Durgin.

"One important practice that enables our nursing program’s success is that our nursing department conducts continuous improvement processes by constantly reviewing our nursing students’ learning outcome and updating the assessment standards to achieve the optimal academic program performance,” said Dr. Robert Yeh, Dean of SUNY Poly’s College of Health Sciences and Management.  “The entire learning quality assurance is professionally managed and supervised by our highly qualified nursing faculty and academic leadership team."

“This is an important recognition, not only of our recent graduates and the excellence that we see in our current students, but of the overall quality of our graduate nursing programs at SUNY Poly,” said Nursing & Health Professions Department Chair Dr. Louise Dean-Kelly. “It’s also a tribute to the excellent work that our amazing faculty do, as SUNY Poly’s Family Nurse Practitioner program has seen tremendous growth in enrollment the past five years.”

"It is truly an honor to be part of such a noble profession as nursing, but even more so to be able to shape the next generation of healthcare professionals.  My colleagues and I at SUNY Poly are incredibly fortunate to work for an institution that, like nursing, is committed to community.  We are equally fortunate to have such tremendously capable students whose passion for caring for others is exemplary,” said Dr. Jennifer Klimek-Yingling, Assistant Professor of Nursing and Health Professions. “As the performance of our graduates demonstrates, our nursing students are second to none.  We are incredibly proud of their achievements and wish them success as they enter the workforce.”

The public has voted nursing as the most honest and ethical profession in the U.S. for the past 13 years, according to an annual Gallup poll, with 80 percent of Americans rating the honesty and ethical standards of nursing as “very high” or “high.” In January 2015, U.S. News and World Report ranked Nurse Practitioner as the 2nd best job in the U.S.

SUNY Poly’s academic offerings in nursing include: R.N. to Bachelor of Science in Nursing, 1+2+1 AAS/BS program in collaboration with St. Elizabeth College of Nursing, and Master of Science degrees in Family Nurse Practitioner, Nursing Administration and Nursing Education. SUNY Poly also offers advanced certificates in Family Nurse Practitioner, and Nursing Education. SUNY Poly’s undergraduate and graduate nursing programs are registered by the New York State Education Department and accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE, 1 Dupont Circle NW, Washington, DC, 202-887-6791). The CCNE is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as an accrediting agency for nursing programs at both the baccalaureate and graduate levels. For more information, see: www.aacn.nche.edu/accreditation/.

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About SUNY POLY.  SUNY Polytechnic Institute. SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) is New York’s globally recognized, high-tech educational ecosystem, formed from the merger of the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and SUNY Institute of Technology. SUNY Poly offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the emerging disciplines of nanoscience and nanoengineering, as well as cutting-edge nanobioscience and nanoeconomics programs at its Albany campus, and degrees in technology, professional studies, and the arts and sciences at its Utica/Rome campus. As the world’s most advanced, university-driven research enterprise, SUNY Poly boasts more than $20 billion in high-tech investments, over 300 corporate partners, and maintains a statewide footprint. The 1.3 million-square-foot Albany NanoTech megaplex is home to more than 3,500 scientists, researchers, engineers, students, faculty, and staff, in addition to Tech Valley High School. The Utica/Rome campus offers a unique high-tech learning environment, providing academic programs in technology, including engineering, cybersecurity, computer science, and the engineering technologies; professional studies, including business, communication, and nursing; and arts and sciences, with degrees and course offerings in natural sciences, mathematics, humanities, and social sciences. Thriving athletic, recreational, and cultural programs, events, and activities complement the campus experience. SUNY Poly operates the Smart Cities Technology Innovation Center (SCiTI) at Kiernan Plaza in Albany, the Solar Energy Development Center in Halfmoon, CNSE’s Central New York Hub for Emerging Nano Industries in Syracuse, the Photovoltaic Manufacturing and Technology Development Facility in Rochester, and the Smart System Technology and Commercialization Center (STC) in Canandaigua. SUNY Poly founded and manages the Computer Chip Commercialization Center (Quad-C) on its Utica campus and also manages the $500 million New York Power Electronics Manufacturing Consortium, with nodes in Albany and Rochester, as well as the Buffalo High-Tech Manufacturing Innovation Hub at RiverBend, Buffalo Information Technologies Innovation and

Commercialization Hub, and Buffalo Medical Innovation and Commercialization Hub. For information visit www.sunypoly.edu and  www.sunycnse.com