President Jones Rallies for System-Wide EOP Support

ALBANY, N.Y. (February 9, 2016) — On Monday, President Jones was a featured speaker during the Joint Legislative Budget Hearing on Higher Education in downtown Albany. He joined other government officials and representatives of higher education advocacy groups from across the state in addressing the Senate and Assembly fiscal committees.

President Robert J. Jones

The President’s message was focused on the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP). The program currently operates on 43 of the 64 SUNY campuses, including 14 community colleges — with two additional programs currently under development. And in the past year alone, SUNY received 30,000 applications for only 2,500 available EOP seats.

As the program continues to grow exponentially across the System, SUNY has requested $15M in additional support. Chancellor Nancy M. Zimpher invited President Jones to speak on this issue as the University at Albany is among SUNY’s most successful EOP sites. The President talked about the achievements of the UAlbany program and the potential for the program system-wide if more funds are made available.

Read President Jones’s full remarks in support of EOP.

The joint hearings will conclude today and will be available for viewing on the Senate and Assembly websites. The Legislative Channel (on cable systems throughout the state) also will carry the proceedings, which will be preempted when the houses are in session. At the conclusion of the legislative deliberations, the channel will resume televised coverage of the hearings.

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