Frequently asked questions about the transfer of CNSE back to UAlbany
On December 13, 2022, the Board of Trustees voted to formally begin the process of reintegrating the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) into the University at Albany. CNSE was founded at UAlbany in 2001 but since 2014 has been affiliated with SUNY Polytechnic Institute.
The Trustees have directed UAlbany leadership to work with leadership at SUNY Poly to come up with a master plan and timeline for this transfer to take place no later than December 2023. Many of the specific questions about how reintegration will occur will be answered as part of this planning process.
CNSE currently enrolls approximately 140 students in undergraduate and graduate nanoscale science and nanoscale engineering programs, and the vast majority are already located in Albany. Under existing agreements, many of these students already live in UAlbany campus housing and use UAlbany transportation and other student amenities. These existing agreements also permit students from each institution to take classes at the other. The Trustees charged both campuses with “ensuring proper consideration of student interests,” and the planning process will prioritize holding students harmless and maximize to the extent possible their flexibility to continue to their educations in the manner of their choosing.
No. CNSE is and has always been physically located on Fuller Road in Albany. The vast majority of CNSE students attend classes in Albany, and most CNSE faculty already have offices here.
No. Albany NanoTech is a collection of industry and higher education research and development partnerships largely overseen by NY CREATES, a not-for-profit corporation. Albany NanoTech is a separate entity from the college and not explicitly part of the transfer plan.
The master plan (as noted on page 3 of the Dec. 13, 2022 Memorandum to the SUNY Board of Trustees) will address the best way to integrate CNSE’s programs with UAlbany’s growing portfolio of engineering programs to maximize interdisciplinary academic and research collaborations – among engineering disciplines and among other disciplines across UAlbany’s academic enterprise.
The transfer of CNSE into UAlbany will not impact UAlbany’s ongoing renovation of the Former Albany High School into its new engineering building, which is scheduled to open for partial occupancy in late 2023.
SUNY Poly has more information on what this change will mean for the SUNY Poly-Utica campus on its transition webpage.