New scholarship established in memory of alumna Carmella M. Teti

UTICA, NY – The generosity of SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s community of supporters was on display during this year’s SUNY Poly Foundation Annual Day of Giving, with a record $210,000 raised — shattering last year’s total of $185,000. This total includes the establishment of a new endowed scholarship created in honor of alumna Carmella M. Teti ’80.

SUNY Poly’s Day of Giving, a 24-hour fundraising campaign held on March 28, encouraged alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of SUNY Poly to make gifts in support of students and the programs that help them succeed. The funds raised will benefit several areas of support on campus, including Wildcat Athletics, student scholarships, the Educational Opportunity Program, SUNY Poly Emergency Fund, Poly Pantry, and the SUNY Poly Annual Fund. The new scholarship will help further defray already-low college costs for students attending SUNY Poly.

“More than 200 people came together in support of SUNY Poly on this special day,” said Andrea LaGatta, Vice President of Institutional Advancement. “The collective generosity of our community, through gifts of all sizes, will make an important impact on our campus and in the lives of our students.” 

Of great significance was the fact that more than one third of the gifts were made to the annual fund, an area of great need for SUNY Poly. Gifts to the annual fund are unrestricted, meaning they can be more flexibly used to support a wide variety of needs and strategic goals.

Sponsorships

The Annual Day of Giving was made possible through partnerships with several sponsors and community supporters. 

President Sponsors:
•    Gift in memory of a ‘Remarkable Man’ 
•    An anonymous alum '78
•    The Carmella M. Teti Memorial Scholarship
•    First Source Federal Credit Union
•    NYSTEC
•    SUNY Poly Student Government at Utica (SGU)
•    The Dan Ryan Memorial Scholarship (more info on this next year)

Provost Sponsors: 
•    Berkshire Bank
•    Pepsi 
•    Wildcat Hospitality (Aramark). 

Scholar Sponsors included: 
•    Assured Information Security (AIS)
•    Bank of Utica
•    Clifford Fuel
•    Kevin Volk '83
•    Passero Associates

Community Supporters:
•    Knucklehead's Brewhouse
•    Lafa Mediterranean by Zeina's
•    Stewart's Shops

Carmella M. Teti RN Scholarship
The children of Carmella Teti have generously established a $25,000 scholarship in their mother’s memory, which will be awarded to undergraduate students enrolled in SUNY Poly’s nursing program.

For nearly 48 years, Carmella cared for patients as a registered nurse, beginning at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Utica. After relocating to Florida, she spent time as a nursing supervisor at Naples Community Hospital, in addition to being a nursing instructor at Lorenzo Walker Technical Institute and Edison Community College. 

“Our mother received a wonderful education at the St. Elizabeth College of Nursing and SUNY Poly,” said Stephen Teti, on behalf of his siblings. “Many students are now following a similar path through the recently established 1-2-1 program between both colleges. She’d be ecstatic knowing that this scholarship will help other young nurses currently on the path she lived. Our family believes that creating these opportunities for nursing students is a terrific way to honor her memory.”

SUNY Poly's 1-2-1 nursing program, offered in collaboration with partner community colleges, is designed to provide a streamlined pathway for students to earn an Associate’s degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. The program structure involves one year at SUNY Poly, two years of hands-on clinical learning at St. Elizabeth’s College of Nursing, and another year at SUNY Poly, combining the strengths of both institutions. This innovative approach allows students to benefit from different program types, affording significant tuition savings and a partial residential college experience, all while gaining comprehensive nursing education and clinical experience, ultimately preparing them for the NCLEX-RN licensure exam and a successful nursing career.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Teti family for their generous investment in our nursing students through the establishment of this important endowed scholarship,” said SUNY Poly Foundation Chair Anthony Vennero ’97. “We know that this gift will have a lasting impact in the years to come, and hope it will also inspire others to give, regardless of the size, making it easier for our Wildcats to achieve their dreams.”

Both current and new students can learn about available scholarships by visiting SUNY Poly’s main admissions scholarship web page. Those who would like to establish a scholarship at SUNY Poly should contact Andrea LaGatta, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, at andrea.lagatta@sunypoly.edu. (For other gifts, please visit: https://sunypoly.edu/foundation/giving.html.)

“SUNY Poly is consistently ranked as a Top Performer for Social Mobility among universities in the northeast by U.S. News and World Report,” explained LaGatta. “That means we do an outstanding job of elevating the lives of our students, by providing strong return-on-investment, hands-on preparation, and career pathways. Scholarships like the one created in honor of Carmella Teti help us to do this — and we are incredibly grateful for the impact these gifts help us to make.”