State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. has announced additional financial support and technical assistance to strengthen student retention and completion rates through SUNY’s Academic Momentum Campaign. The campaign was first addressed in Chancellor King’s 2025 State of the University Address to advance evidence-based student retention and success initiatives to support all SUNY students.
SUNY’s Academic Momentum Campaign builds on the success of ASAP|ACE, the nation’s leading evidence-based strategy for college retention and completion. Thanks to investments made by Governor Kathy Hochul and the legislature, more than 7,000 SUNY students are currently enrolled in ASAP|ACE, and the academic momentum campaign provides an opportunity for campuses to learn from these successful models and scale several of their strategies, including high-quality advising and personalized student support.
In addition, SUNY campuses will draw on proven best practices from across the country that are used at colleges with the greatest success in retention and completion, particularly for students furthest from opportunity.
“Nobody goes to college thinking they will drop out, and SUNY’s Academic Momentum Campaign is furthering our efforts to help every student thrive at SUNY campuses,” King said. “SUNY is providing historic levels of support to make sure our campuses can help each student succeed academically and grow personally. Through evidence-based strategies and strong support from SUNY, we know that our students will benefit from this initiative.”
“Student success is at the heart of our mission at Stony Brook because our students are the future innovators and leaders within industry, academia, government, and their communities across our great state and around the country,” said Stony Brook President Andrea Goldsmith. “I am grateful for the opportunity to collaborate closely with Chancellor King and the SUNY Board of Trustees as they launch the Academic Momentum Campaign. This ambitious initiative will ensure that we are supporting and preparing all Stony Brook students for professional and personal success while bringing our university to new heights of excellence and impact.”
SUNY campuses are developing action plans to support increased retention and completion rates for students who enter in Fall 2026. To support these locally driven efforts, SUNY is announcing:
- Additional resources to campuses to increase student success in key “gateway” general education courses. SUNY has invited campuses to join a voluntary Professional Learning Community for SUNY faculty and staff leading gateway course redesign work that will be led by a technical assistance provider with expertise in improving success in the courses that students use to meet general education requirements in written/oral communication and mathematics. Campuses will receive up to $15,000 each to support faculty and staff participation in the learning community, which will launch in February 2026.
- Leadership opportunities for faculty and staff to support academic momentum across the SUNY System. In recognition of the expertise of SUNY faculty and staff, SUNY will name up to 20 SUNY Faculty & Staff Academic Momentum Fellows to support campuses in the development and early implementation of their action plans. Ten faculty and staff will be identified across each of the community college and state operated campus sectors to work in concert with the SUNY Office of Student Success to provide ongoing technical assistance to campuses.
- Financial support for campus teams to work together on academic momentum solutions. Every SUNY campus is eligible for up to $20,000 to bring together teams to develop their action plan. These funds can be employed to provide release time for faculty and staff to engage in this important work, among other uses.
As part of the Academic Momentum Campaign planning process, campuses will receive individual technical assistance support from SUNY Student Success staff, have access to written resources and webinars to learn more about evidence-based practices in place within SUNY and from national exemplars, and join regional planning summits.
“We are committed to supporting every SUNY student to succeed and make the most of their experience at the SUNY institution of their choice, and the Academic Momentum Campaign is part of that ongoing effort,” said the SUNY Board of Trustees. “We will work with each of our campuses to ensure all SUNY students have the support and services they deserve to thrive academically and be ready to move forward after graduation.”
Add comment