1.25.24 - UAlbany to embrace roots as a teachers college
' ALBANY — Three-quarters of a century after the University at Albany left its humble beginnings as a teachers college, it will once again offer undergraduate courses in the field of education.
The State University of New York has approved a university request to add three undergraduate programs: childhood and special education; adolescent education; and early childhood education. If the state Education Department also approves the request, UAlbany will offer all three programs this fall. Officials asked for expedited approval in hopes of getting the programs started in time for College of Saint Rose students to enroll for the fall semester.
While UAlbany officials had “preliminary discussions” about launching the education programs, they moved quickly when The College of Saint Rose announced it will close later this year.
“We were a teachers college,” UAlbany President Havidán Rodríguez said at a Times Union Editorial Board meeting Wednesday. “Saint Rose plays a critical and crucial role in that space.”
With Saint Rose’s pending closure, it was time for UAlbany to step forward, he said.
In the 1960s, UAlbany left its teacher college roots behind and became a research university under Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller’s plan for an expansive public university system, but it did not phase out the last of its undergraduate education offerings until 2004. Rodríguez noted that UAlbany is now one of the most diverse research universities in the country. This suggests that the university might be able to not only fill a growing demand for teachers, but also play a role in diversifying that workforce.
“Can we help fill (teaching jobs) with a workforce that represents New York? We know we definitely can,” said spokesman Jordan Carleo-Evangelist.
UAlbany was the first school to announce a teach-out plan for College of Saint Rose students to complete their degrees there. When that was announced just before spring semester, the plan caused some consternation among students because it did not include any education programs, which are some of the biggest majors at Saint Rose.
Rodríguez said there was no way to add those to the plan before SUNY and NYSED approval.
“We can’t advertise a program we don’t have,” he said.
But after the new programs are approved, they will be added to the teach-out plan for Saint Rose students who transfer to UAlbany, he said. '