From left, B. Ramaswamy, Sasikala Ramaswamy, NEF Chairman Appu Kuttan, SUNY Potsdam President Kristin Esterberg and M.B. Gururaj attend the official launch of the NEF Training Center.
SUNY Potsdam’s Department of Business Administration recently received a $20,000 grant from the National Education Foundation (NEF) to open a training center that supports international skill development. This contribution is part of $900,000 in support for STEM education and skill development that the NEF has provided through collaboration with SUNY Potsdam since 2012.
The NEF Training Center, located in Dunn Hall at SUNY Potsdam, will serve as a central hub for supporting the development of employability skills—notably entrepreneurship, cybersecurity, project management and STEM education. Courses will be offered on SUNY Potsdam’s campus and online, with some classes being a hybrid—combining both in-person and online education. Some of the classes will provide graduate level credit, which is transferrable into SUNY Potsdam’s new graduate program in management. The other courses offered through the training center are non-credit certificate courses.
The training center was officially opened on Dec. 14, 2018, when NEF Chairman Dr. Appu Kuttan and NEF-India President Professor M.B. Gururaj met with SUNY Potsdam President Dr. Kristin Esterberg, SUNY Potsdam Provost Dr. Bette S. Bergeron and NEF-SUNY Potsdam Program Director Dr. Anthony Betrus.
“It was a great privilege to welcome our colleagues from the National Education Foundation to SUNY Potsdam. We are so proud of the collaborative work we are doing on skill development with the NEF and grateful for their recent grant to support a training center on campus. As a campus dedicated to applied learning and to providing international opportunities for our students, partnerships like this one are critical. I look forward to continuing this important collaboration with our partners from India,” said Esterberg.
Dr. Sasikala Pushpa Ramaswamy, a member of the Parliament of India, also attended the opening of the new training center with her husband, Dr. B. Ramaswamy, who is himself a social scientist, educator and author. During their visit, B. Ramaswamy was invited to serve as an adjunct professor in SUNY Potsdam’s Department of Business Administration.
For more information about the SUNY Potsdam / NEF Skill Development Initiative, visit http://www.potsdam.edu/nefindia.
SUNY Potsdam’s Department of Business Administration offers flexible bachelor’s and master’s degrees in competitive fields, and provides students with an understanding of how for-profit and non-profit organizations function efficiently and effectively. The College offers its business administration programs both at the Potsdam campus and in Watertown, N.Y., at the SUNY Jefferson Higher Education Center. For more information, visit http://www.potsdam.edu/academics/SOEPS/BusinessAdmin.
About the National Education Foundation:
The National Education Foundation (NEF) is a nonprofit organization, headquartered in metropolitan Washington D.C. Founded in 1989, after consultations with national leaders including former President Bill Clinton and Intel founder Dr. Gordon Moore, NEF is a leading nonprofit organization bridging the employment, digital, academic and STEM divides by providing high quality affordable 21st century online education to millions of students and jobseekers in many countries including the U.S., India, Egypt, Jordan and Mauritius. For more information, visit www.nefuniversity.org.
About SUNY Potsdam:
Founded in 1816, The State University of New York at Potsdam is one of America’s first 50 colleges—and the oldest institution within SUNY. Now in its third century, SUNY Potsdam is distinguished by a legacy of pioneering programs and educational excellence. The College currently enrolls approximately 3,600 undergraduate and graduate students. Home to the world-renowned Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam is known for its challenging liberal arts and sciences core, distinction in teacher training and culture of creativity. To learn more, visit www.potsdam.edu.
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