Academic Support Resources

Oswego has many resources and facilities that support student learning and complete the nurturing environment of our academic community. An overview of some of them follows.

106 Campus Center, Poucher Wing
315-312-3094

www.oswego.edu/ols

SUNY Oswego provides academic and tutoring support services to all students enrolled at the college. The Office of Learning Services (OLS) houses three particular services, the Writing Center, the Learning Center, and the Center for Mathematics and Natural Sciences which students, especially lower division students, find helpful. Students who would like to work on improving particular skills, on mastering a particular subject, or are interested in improving their ability to succeed on tests in a particular course can take advantage of these services. Supervised by full-time professional staff of the college, tutoring is typically provided by undergraduate students who have been successful in a particular course or an academic major and who have received training in how to effectively assist students in improving their basic skills, mastering their understanding of course content, or in learning how to be a better student. Tutorial support is available for all lower division courses. Students may request services by applying in person or on-line.

The Office of Learning Services also administers the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) and the First Year Select program. The EOP program combines access, academic support, and supplemental financial assistance to make higher education possible for those students who have the potential to succeed. EOP admission is part of the general college admissions process and the program requires the successful completion of a mandatory summer program prior to the start of freshman year. The First Year Select program is designed for first year students who would benefit from a learning community designed to foster the development of sound study and critical thinking skills. It is a series of courses combining a composition course, a mathematics course (based on placement), a learning to learn course, and either a gateway course or a General Education course. The community provides study groups and coordinated syllabi, which enhance good study and learning techniques and ensure that the student makes progress toward meeting the college’s basic skills requirements

315-312-3456

help@oswego.edu
www.oswego.edu/cts

Campus Technology Services (CTS) is an integrated service organization caring for administrative computing, instructional computing, network services, technology user support and telecommunications. Together, we deliver a broad set of infrastructure, applications and services that are vital to the operation and mission of SUNY Oswego.

Students can get started using the technology services on campus by activating their account. Activating your account is required to use many of the services on campus including email, the residence hall network (ResNet), wireless computing, the computer labs, and more. Online account activation is available via our web site, www.oswego.edu/admin.

The computer account is also an official college email address used for campus communications. Electronic mail (e-mail) is an official mechanism of communication for SUNY Oswego. Students, faculty, and staff have the responsibility to use this e-mail in an efficient, effective, respectful, ethical and lawful manner. All are expected to check their e-mail on a frequent and consistent basis in order to stay current with college-related communications. Please refer to www.oswego.edu/cts/policies for more information on technology policies.

Internet services include ResNet and wireless computing. ResNet is the network in the residence halls. Students living on-campus may use a wired network connection to their personal computer to get connectivity to the campus network as well as the Internet right from their room.

There are many wireless computing spaces around campus, identified by a wireless logo. The wireless areas on the SUNY Oswego campus are intended to cover classrooms and public gathering spaces such as academic commons, dining halls, Penfield Library, and the Campus Center.

There are many computer labs available on campus. CTS provides over 250 Windows and Macintosh computers for general student access and over 700 computers in specialized departmental labs. There are general access computer labs for student use in Penfield Library (including the 24-hour room), Mahar Hall, Snygg Hall, and Campus Center. There are also labs available in three of the residence halls - Oneida, Scales, and Hart.

Departmental computer labs are available to students in their instructional programs. These are located in the Art, Graphic Arts, Chemistry, Communication Studies, Computer Science, Mathematics, Modern Languages, Music, Physics, Psychology, and Technology departments as well as the School of Education, and the School of Business.

Phone and voice-mail service are available to students living in the residence halls. On-campus phone calls can be made and incoming calls received at no charge. A billing plan is required to make off-campus phone calls. To set up a billing plan visit our website www.oswego.edu/cts/services/telecommunications or visit our office on the first floor of Culkin Hall.

The myOswego web site is used to take care of your business online. Just point your web browser to myoswego.oswego.edu for access to your personal college records. Students can register for classes, pay their bill, review financial aid, check your grades, sign up for campus emergency communications, and more.

CTS also provides technology for student and faculty use in the classroom. Many of our classrooms are equipped with video/data projection, audio system, VCR/DVD player, document camera, and networked computer access.

Our Technology Support Center (TSC - aka the Help Desk) is available to assist students with any of the technology services that is provided by CTS. Located in 26 Lanigan Hall, the TSC provides a central location and single point of contact for technology support and information.

310 Piez Hall

Contact: Director, Environmental Research Center, Department of Chemistry

The Environmental Research Center (ERC) is a specialized research unit of the College housed within the Department of Chemistry. The ERC provides state-of-the-art analytical services for multidisciplinary environmental, human health, and Great Lakes research projects. The ERC specializes in the analysis of congener-specific polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and organochlorine pesticides in a variety of environmental matrices. The ERC has two environmental chemistry laboratories equipped with research-grade analytical instrumentation for sample preparation and the measurement of organic contaminants in the environment, including two Agilent 7890 GC/EDC with PTV for congener-specific PCB analyses, Agilent 7890/5975C Inert XL EI/CI MSD with PTV, Waters HPLC-GPC preparation system, and Zymark TurboVap II Workstation.

Recent studies conducted at the ERC have included: Great Lakes Fish Monitoring Program, Lake Ontario Air Deposition Study (LOADS), congener-specific analysis of PCBs in human placental tissues; reductive dechlorination of PCBs in an anaerobic bioreactor systems; analysis of native Alaskan foods; development of analytical methods for the determination/separation PCBs/PCTs in industrially contaminated sediments; and utilization of snapping turtles and zebra mussels as environmental biomonitors. Research funding is provided through collaborative grants from USEPA, ATSDR, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NYS Great Lakes Protection Fund, Great Lakes Research Consortium, Alcan Aluminum Corporation, and World Wildlife Federation.

Opportunities exist for interested faculty and students to become involved in collaborative and multidisciplinary research projects. Highly qualified undergraduate and graduate students are supported with extramural research funding and environmental fellowships. Independent study and Capstone research experiences are also offered for qualified students through the Department of Chemistry.

103 Rich Hall
315-312-3492

obcr@oswego.edu
www.oswego.edu/obcr

The Office of Business and Community Relations:

• Administers the Small Business Development Center, which uses SUNY Oswego faculty, staff and students to counsel individuals who want to start or expand a small business.
• Provides classroom training and workshops to groups of individuals who want to start small businesses.
• Administers the Workforce Development Board of Oswego County, which writes and obtains training grants for the private and public sectors.
• Administers the Leadership Oswego County program, a nine-month program that teaches community trusteeship, leadership skills, current issues and networking to a diverse group of community residents.
• Provides technical assistance to and conducts workshops for not-for-profit boards that teach governance and organizational development.
• Provides technical assistance, research, impact analysis and grant writing for local government and community agencies, using SUNY Oswego faculty and professional staff.
• Serves as a conduit for research projects from the business community to various campus departments.
• Administers the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), which places people aged 55 and older in volunteer assignments they find meaningful, while at the same time satisfying community needs.

315-312-2560

www.oswego.edu/library

Penfield Library, located in the heart of campus, is a high tech information center featuring Internet access to information repositories worldwide, an integrated computer catalog, and our own cyber café. The Library houses a growing collection of over 470,000 bound volumes, two million pieces of microform, and partial U.S. and New York State government documents depositories. Additionally, the Library subscribes to over 24,000 print and/or electronic journals, magazines and newspapers. Over seventy public Internet stations and thirty laptops available for loan inside the building provide access to numerous research databases and full-text resources. Campus Technology Services maintains a computer lab on the first floor of the building which provides students with access to an additional fifty-eight PCs and Macintoshes and networked printing. The lab is open during standard library hours. CTS also maintain twenty-five computers in a separate 24-hour study room on the first floor. The first through third floors are wireless-enabled for further Internet use, as is the Lake Effect Café, which provides pastries, sandwiches, and Starbucks coffee to hungry researchers.

The four-story, air-conditioned building has seating for more than one thousand two hundred students. In addition to the Café, seating accommodations include large tables, individual open carrels, locked carrels, lounge chairs, and couches. Other spaces are provided throughout the building for individual study and group project work. One entire floor is designated as a Quiet Study Area.

Rapid improvements in information storage and retrieval mean that the business of using a library is constantly changing. Penfield’s well trained, friendly staff provides library users with assistance in choosing and accessing pertinent print and electronic sources for the many academic and personal concerns that are part of today’s college environment. Reference librarians are available whenever the library is open, answering information queries in person, by telephone, and electronically. Librarians serve as liaisons to academic departments, and hand-choose materials specifically for the use of SUNY Oswego students and faculty. Oswego students are exposed to instruction on how to use the library and its resources as part of their English 102 classes, through online tutorials, and in group and one-on-one “Xtreme Research” consultations. Over 80% of students take advantage of library instruction programs every year.

Penfield Library also provides access to materials in other libraries through its interlibrary loan networks, featuring a special, high-speed SUNY university-wide delivery system. Our large media area has equipment for using the library’s collections of videotapes, DVDs, slides, compact discs and other media. The Library’s Special Collections houses the College archives, rare books, and local history materials, including the papers of the United States’ thirteenth president, Millard Fillmore.

315-312-2343

www.oswego.edu/ricecreek

The College operates a field station located one mile south of the main campus as a year-round facility providing opportunities for field oriented biological and earth science teaching and research. The building, constructed in 1966, contains two laboratories, a lecture/seminar room and a small museum area housing collections of plants, vertebrates and invertebrates, and a sheltered outside self-guiding visitors center. The grounds surrounding the station include an herb garden and 300 acres of fields, forests, ponds and streams that are used by students in formal course work and independent study projects. In addition to academic offerings, the Field Station provides public programs in nature education for groups and individuals, school age to adult. Four nature trails, open to the public, provide opportunities for hiking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. The Orange trail, about two miles in length, is also open for bicycling. The trails pass through fields and woods in several stages of succession. Trial maps are available at the field station building.

131A Sheldon Hall
315-312-2587

www.oswego.edu/other_campus/children

The Children’s Center provides child care and preschool programs for children ages 18 months-5 years. The curriculum areas include art, science, music, cognitive and language development, and outdoor play. Meals and snacks are provided. Tuition is based on a sliding scale according to household income and child care tuition subsidies are sometimes available for low income students. Call the center as early as possible to be put on the waiting list

Tyler Hall Box Office
315-312-2141

tickets@oswego.edu
www.oswego.edu/theatre

Waterman Theatre is located in the Fine and Performing Arts building. This 500 seat continental style theatre includes strong support facilities. The theatre is equipped with counter weighted fly lines, electronic dimmers, stage traps, elevated orchestra pit, a complete intercommunications system and sound system. Support areas include well equipped scene and costume shops, a lighting and electronic experimentation room storage galleries, make-up and dressing rooms, quick change rooms, a green room, and a flexible black box space used for classes and production. Waterman Theatre is used by the Departments of Theatre and Music for their performances, by ARTSwego, and college clubs such as Del Sarte and Gospel Choir.

101 Sheldon Hall
315-312-5660

esl@oswego.edu

The International Language and Education Center administers the Summer Intensive English Program and the English For Academic Purposes Program for students who are required or are interested in improving their proficiency in English. The Summer Intensive English Program offers credit courses for beginner, intermediate and advanced speakers of English as a Second Language. Students receive formal instruction daily to improve their skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Additionally, instructors focus on grammar and pronunciation. Students also participate in required and optional after-class activities that include weekend trips, presentations, and tutoring sessions. The English for Academic Purposes Program (EAP) offers credit courses each fall semester to exchange, undergraduate and graduate students who are required to or desirous of developing their academic proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing. These courses count as Art and Science electives in most undergraduate programs.