SUNY Oswego

Oswego continues to actively participate in research, creative work, and other scholarly activities. The total funds requested during the past year was over seven million dollars. Despite declining federal support opportunities, the College was awarded over five million dollars in funded grants and contracts.

Begun in 1990, the Oswego Project is a large-scale, prospective, longitudinal study designed to investigate cognitive and behavioral changes in newborns an children who have been exposed to environmental contaminants.
The project currently tracks three groups of children that were born between 1991-92, 1992-93, and 1993-94. The design of the study was constructed with the goal of providing a data set that could be used to inform the population about the effects that exposure to PCB and other environmental contaminants have. With 199 children still participating, The Oswego Project is ideally suited to answer questions regarding eh effects of prenatal PCB exposure on child behavioral and cognitive development.
Since the birth of the children in the Oswego study, we have found repeated evidence of PCB-related neurotoxicity. These effects include PCB-related impairments on multiple behavioral and cognitive assessments, associations between PCBs and impulsive responding at multiple stages of development, and data which strongly suggests that the underlying mechanism of impulsive responding in PCB exposed children is impaired response inhibition (the inability to stop or inhibit behaviors that are no longer appropriate).
Over the years, the Oswego Project has come to believe that they may indeed be a common pathway for the effects of some of the most widespread contaminants in North America and the world. What comes from this is the knowledge that the true impact of environmental contaminants may be much larger than has been documented to date. The extensive database, large and representative sample, and treatment of variables that could potentially interfere with the accuracy of the results has created a research context that guarantees the successful investigation of low level PCB exposure on the behavioral and cognitive development of children.

Rice Creek Field Station is an instructional and research unit of the College concentrating on all aspects of natural history, especially in the natural sciences and environmental education. The Field Station is located on approximately 300 acres of College property about two miles from the main campus and the shore of Lake Ontario. A variety of habitats, including open fields, mature forests, a 26 acre pond, and fields in several states of succession are represented on the Field Station properties.

The main building at the Field Station consists of two teaching laboratories, lecture room, collection storage, and an exhibit room-viewing gallery. The laboratories are equipped for work in both terrestrial and aquatic field biology. Small boats are available for use on ponds and streams, and a Boston Whaler for use on Lake Ontario. A pavilion provides shelter for outdoor group activities and a series of trails provides access to the various sections of the property.

The Field Station supports on-site research devoted to inventory, documentation, and evaluation of biological populations; analysis and description of habitats; and development of educational curricula and exercises. The facilities and resources of the Field Station are also available for off-site research focused on the biology, ecology, and environments of Oswego County and adjacent areas of the Lake Ontario Coastal Plain, the Oswego River Basin, and the Tug Hill Plateau.

The facilities of the Field Station are available to students and faculty of Oswego and to other qualified students, educators, and researchers.

 The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) is responsible for the development, coordination and administration of Oswego’s sponsored research and scholarly activity programs. All proposals, grants, and contracts are managed through ORSP which serves as the representative for the SUNY Research Foundation. The Office is located in room 4, Penfield Library. ORSP’s primary objectives and functions include:

1. Enhancement of the campus research climate including recognition and identification of research activities, publications, papers presented and other creative academic accomplishments;
2. Improvement of departmental and interdisciplinary communications regarding shared research interests;
3. Assistance to faculty and staff with the identification of funding sources;
4. Assistance with preparation of institutional proposals;
5. Negotiations, as necessary, for awarded research grants and/or contracts;
6. Enhancement of the College’s ability to compete for available research support; and
7. Fiscal administration of all funded projects in accordance with applicable policies and procedures.

The Environmental Research Center (ERC) is a specialized research unit of the College housed within the Department of Chemistry. The RC provides state-of-the-art analytical services for multi-disciplinary environmental, human health, and Great Lakes research projects. The ERC specializes in the analysis of congenerspecific polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and organochlorine pesticides in a variety of environmental matrices. The RC has two environmental chemistry laboratories equipped with research-grade analytical instrumentation for sample preparation and the measurement of organic contaminants in the environment.

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 or 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 f 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 multi-disciplinary 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. The ERC is located in 310 Piez Hall. For additional information on ERC activities contact: Director, Environmental Research Center, Department of Chemistry.

The Institute for Interdisciplinary Educational Studies (IIES) is a research and development center and facility for the interdisciplinary study of teaching and learning in core curricula areas and education.

The IIES was established in 1980 through a grant from the National Science Foundation for the study of wait time in middle school science teaching. The laboratory has received grants from national, state and private foundations since its inception, with total external funding amounting to more than $2 million.

The IIES has developed into a comprehensive research facility for the interdisciplinary study of teaching and learning. Faculty members in biology, curriculum and instruction, office of learning services, elementary and secondary education, mathematics, chemistry, physics, technology, psychology, and science education have had grant support for their research through the Institute. In addition, the IIES staff members support the thesis research of many graduate students in childhood and adolescence education, counseling and school psychology.

The IIES is a unique enterprise. At SUNY Oswego, there are many programs that prepare teachers for lifelong careers in education. The IIES serves as a catalyst for interdepartmental collaboration for grants, colloquia, and faculty development activities. Currently, the central focus is on the improvement of instruction at the K-12 levels through Project SMART.

Oswego offers a large number of courses during Summer Sessions aimed at meeting the needs and interests of undergraduate students wishing to accelerate, make up, or transfer course work and graduate students desiring to complete master’s degrees and/or state education certification requirements or wishing to build unique competencies in special fields of interest. Summer Sessions at Oswego also offers students exceptional opportunities in interdepartmental study, laboratory course work, and workshop programs. 

In addition to regular daytime courses, late afternoon, evening, and Saturday classes are scheduled on and off-campus during the academic year.

Generally administrative and departmental offices operate from are 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM weekdays except for holidays. Some administrative offices remain open on weekends by appointment. Academic buildings generally open by 7:00 AM and close by 10:00 PM weekdays except for certain buildings, such as Penfield Library, which have more flexible hours. Some academic buildings are open on weekends. During specific holiday periods and between semesters the residence and dining halls are not open. Administrative offices close at 4:00 PM during the summer.

Specific information is published in the Official College Calendar, the faculty/staff newsletter, and the student newspaper.

To find out if classes are canceled because of inclement weather, members of the campus community have several options: check www.oswego.edu, the SUNY Oswego Web site; call 312-3333, the SUNY Oswego Information Line; listen to radio and television; or check with the front desk of the residence where they live.

They may receive direct notification as well, if they have signed up to receive campus alerts through NY-Alert. Students indicate their preferences through myOswego under personal information. Faculty and staff enter their contact information by logging on to the employee portal on www.suny.edu, the SUNY Web site.

Classes will proceed as scheduled unless official announcements of cancellation are made. When classes are canceled, faculty and commuting students are advised not to come to campus.

Among the TV and radio stations making this college’s class cancellation announcements are TV Channels 3, 5, 9 and 10 in Syracuse, the WRVO Stations (FM 89.9 to 91.9 throughout Central Upstate New York); WWTI Newswatch 50 in Watertown; Clear Channels in Syracuse (WSYR AM 570, Y94 FM 94.5, etc.) and Rochester (WHAM 1180, etc.).

The public announcement of class cancellations only occurs when the entire campus of thousands of students and faculty are affected. Individual class cancellations do not require radio broadcast across central New York. Faculty members wishing to cancel their own classes should follow the same procedure used when they are ill. Faculty teaching classes off-campus should follow the weather closing policy governing the class site and inform students how to find out if their class is canceled.

All students who own automobiles are granted permission to use campus parking areas provided their automobiles are properly registered during the fall, spring and summer registration periods and the parking fee has been paid. Upon payment of the fees for registration and parking, a registration sticker is issued authorizing parking in designated campus lots. A student failing to comply with parking regulations may be denied the privilege of using College parking facilities. For additional information go online to: www.oswego.edu/police/parking.

Each student is required to obtain an official identification card which is used as proof of registration at Oswego. The card allows the individual to use the library, eat in dining centers, and take advantage of recreational acilities at Fallbrook, Laker Hall, and the Campus Center. The card must be carried at all times and presented, on request, to administrative, faculty, security and other authorized personnel.

The Disability Services Office of SUNY Oswego coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities. Accommodations are tailored to individual student needs, but can include extended time on tests, alternate testing arrangements, readers, note takers, and interpreters. The office can help coordinate benefits with outside agencies (VESID, Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic) in addition to advocating for students to ensure that they have the physical and programmatic access to all college programs that will effect their mainstreaming into the campus community. All students with disabilities in need of assistance should identify themselves early (pre-semester preferred) and should make regular contact with the office.

SUNY Oswego’s accommodations of students with disabilities extend beyond basic moral responsibility and beyond our university’s commitment to fulfill the promise of access and our obligations to federal law. Additional information regarding Disability Services may be found at www.oswego.edu/dis_svc/, in person at 183 Campus Center, or by phone (315) 312-3358. The Disability Services email address is DSS@oswego.edu.

Notwithstanding anything contained in this catalog Oswego expressly reserves the right, whenever it deems advisable (1) to change or modify its schedule of tuition and fees, (2) to withdraw, cancel, reschedule or modify any course, program of study, degree, or any requirement or policy in connection with the foregoing, and (3) to change or modify any academic or other policy. Please be advised that, due to printing deadlines, information contained in this catalog may be outdated. Changes in information contained in this catalog and new academic regulations, policies, or programs will be published on the college’s web site. It is the responsibility of each student to ascertain current information that pertains to the individual’s program, particularly with regard to satisfaction of degree requirements, through frequent reference to the registration newspaper and by consultation with the student’s advisor, the office of the student’s dean, and other offices as appropriate (such as the Registrar or Financial Aid). In preparing this catalog, efforts are made to provide pertinent and accurate information. However, Oswego assumes no liability for catalog errors or omissions.

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