Chancellor King talks with students during his campus visit.
SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. visited SUNY Fredonia recently, celebrating paid internship opportunities during a meeting with students.
Fredonia is entering its third year of a comprehensive paid internship program, which provides advising, stipends, and wrap-around support in order to ensure more undergraduate students may participate in internship opportunities on and off campus.
SUNY has set the ambitious goal that every student will participate in a high-quality internship or other experiential learning opportunity before they earn their degree.
SUNY Fredonia’s program focuses on helping students participate in public service-related internships in areas like education, social work, music therapy, and medical laboratory sciences that that are typically unpaid by providing students with $1,000 SUNY Internship & Living Stipends. Of the 371 internships last year, 203 students were eligible to receive a stipend, up from 112 the previous year. The stipend and internship resources are funded by increases in annual reoccurring operating aid approved by Governor Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature since the 2023-2024 Enacted Budget.
“By setting the ambitious goal of an internship for every SUNY student, SUNY is empowering our future leaders with the benefit of real-world experience to reinforce and apply what they learn in the classroom,” said Chancellor King. “Thanks to the support of Governor Hochul and state leaders, we are able to grow these successful programs and provide resources for even more student interns. I applaud SUNY Fredonia for being a leader in the effort to provide all students with high-quality internships that will help them succeed after graduation.”
SUNY Trustee Eunice A. Lewin, co-chair of the Student Life Committee, said, “SUNY provides an excellent education and opportunities to enrich their academics with hands on experience. It has been a pleasure joining Chancellor King as we met with SUNY Fredonia students and discussed how SUNY could empower these future leaders to achieve academic excellence and pursue their dreams.”
SUNY Fredonia President Stephen H. Kolison Jr. said, “Paid internships give every student the chance to apply their learning, build connections, and serve their communities. We are deeply appreciative of SUNY and New York State’s investment in this program, which is already making a real difference for Fredonia students by removing financial barriers and expanding access to meaningful, career-shaping experiences.”
In addition to meeting student interns, which also includes students in the Empire State Service Corps, Chancellor King and President Kolison also met with students on campus within the Educational Opportunity Program and Advancing Completion through Engagement (ACE). ACE targets baccalaureate students and provides financial resources and wrap-around supports to remove barriers to full-time study, helps students gain and maintain academic momentum, and creates a connected community among students, all in service of increasing timely degree completion. This fall, 250 SUNY Fredonia students are expected to participate.
State Senator George Borrello noted, “Internships give students the chance to apply their education in real-world settings, and that experience is invaluable. I’m glad to see SUNY Fredonia connecting students with these opportunities and ensuring they’re paid for their work. Our investment in these programs is really an investment in building a stronger, better-prepared workforce for our region.”
Credit-bearing internships coordinated by SUNY Fredonia were hosted at organizations such as Brooks Hospital, the Buffalo Bills, the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office, Chautauqua Institution, DFT Communications, the Disney College Program, Interlochen Center for the Arts, the National Comedy Center, Paychex, Inc., Say Yes Buffalo and the Super Bowl – New Orleans Host Committee. Additionally, 188 internships were supervised by on-campus offices, departments, and programs.
Last year, four SUNY Fredonia students participated in Governor Kathy Hochul’s Empire State Service Corps, and eight are expected to join beginning this fall. Governor Hochul and the state legislature committed $2.75 million to continue to fund the Empire State Service Corps in the FY26 Enacted Budget. The Empire State Service Corps also received an AmeriCorps grant, which allows the students to earn an education award that can be used towards college expenses such as tuition or books and supplies. Empire State Service Corps is a proud AmeriCorps partner.
