The State University of New York was established in 1948 to provide the finest possible system of public higher education and to complement private higher educational institutions. Some of the institutions which comprise the State University of New York existed for many years prior to 1948 as publicly supported institutions of higher education; others have come into existence since the state university was established.

Today, all state-supported institutions of higher education, with the exception of the senior colleges of the City University of New York, are part of SUNY. Thus, the state university encompasses two-year community colleges, agricultural and technical colleges, colleges of technology, four-year liberal arts colleges, comprehensive university centers, and specialized statutory institutions such as the Maritime College, the College of Forestry, and the School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Suffolk County Community College is sponsored by the County of Suffolk and is governed by a local board of trustees, four of whom are appointed by the governor, five by the county legislature. A student trustee is elected for a one-year term by students on the three campuses.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK AND THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

For all practical purposes, the "University of the State of New York" and the State Education Department are synonymous. However, the State Education Department and the State University of New York are very distinct entities, each having clearly defined roles and responsibilities.

The State Education Department (which is also designated "the University of the State of New York") is the governmental agency charged with overseeing all public and private education at all levels, elementary through college and professional schools, within the State of New York. The Department is governed by the Board of Regents, which holds constitutional as well as statutory authority over all educational matters in the state. The Board of Regents' responsibilities include the licensing of professional personnel practicing in the state, supervising elementary and secondary education, and "registering" (the New York State equivalent of "accrediting") curricula, courses of study, or degree programs in all institutions of higher education, public and private, large and small.

The State Education Department is administered by the Commissioner of Education and his/her staff. The following information outlines the relationship between the State Education Department and Suffolk County Community College:

1. The State Education Department promulgates standards which must be met by each college in such areas as physical facilities (e.g., adequate number, size and equipment in classrooms, laboratories, studios) to support its instructional programs and academic policies (e.g., admissions requirements, grading policies, graduation requirements), curricula (e.g., credit requirements for degrees, provision of suitable number of hours of instruction for each semester hour of academic credit), and various other matters.

2. The State Education Department registers any new curriculum introduced at a college provided the stipulated standards are met, thus granting to the institution the legal authority to confer degrees upon students who successfully complete the specified requirements.

3. Periodically, the State Education Department sends representatives to visit each college campus to make a general assessment of the adequacy of faculty, facilities, and other resources to support the programs being offered by the institution. The State University of New York is the aggregate of state-supported instructional institutions of higher education. The State University of New York has the following relationship with Suffolk County Community College and other community colleges in the state:

The president of a community college must be confirmed by the SUNY Board of Trustees, after being selected by the local board of trustees. Any new associate-degree curriculum proposed by a community college must be approved by SUNY. All budgets, including the annual operating and capital equipment budgets and capital construction project budgets, must be approved by SUNY. Plans for new facilities must be approved by SUNY. In general, each individual community college articulates its plans and programs with the Master Plan for the state university. Community colleges are under the program of SUNY and operate under their own board of trustees.

In addition to the foregoing, Suffolk County Community College also has a relationship to the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. This is a non-governmental organization, in no way part of the State University of New York or the State Education Department. Membership includes most of the public and private colleges (as well as secondary schools) located in the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Virgin Islands, and the Panama Canal Zone. Through this association, each member institution is periodically evaluated by its peers and "accredited" if its resources, facilities, and instructional programs are adequate and appropriate for the fulfillment of its educational objectives.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE LAW

New York State Education Law, Article 126, sets forth the nature and scope of the community colleges, as follows:

Community colleges shall provide two-year programs of post-high school nature, combining general education with technical education relating to the occupational needs of the community...and those of the state and the nation generally. Special courses and extension work may be provided for part-time students...The curricula in community colleges shall be designed to serve the needs of students who seek two years of post-secondary education and whose needs would not ordinarily be met by the usual four-year college curriculum. However, such colleges shall nevertheless provide sufficient general education to enable qualified students who so desire to transfer after completion of the community college program to institutions providing regular, four-year courses.

Thus, Suffolk County Community College is authorized by law to offer post-secondary educational programs of several broad types:

1. programs designed to prepare students for entry into a variety of technical and paraprofessional occupations, leading to the associate in applied science degree;
2. programs designed to prepare students with two years of academic work for transfer to baccalaureate, degree-granting institutions, leading to the associate in science or the associate in arts degree;
3. evening and extension college programs for part-time students, consisting of regular degree credit courses, as well as special programs of adult education and extension classes for part-time students.

Further insight into the nature of the community college is provided by statements of the Board of Regents and the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York. For example, the Board of Regents, in a policy statement supporting state university plans for the development of public two-year colleges, summarized the role to be played by community colleges in higher education in New York State, as follows:

Two-year comprehensive community colleges, characterized by low cost to the student, geographic availability and direct responsiveness to community needs, offering both transfer and technical terminal programs, are considered to be the best single means of (a) accommodating future demands in higher education, (b) embracing the increasing heterogeneity of abilities represented in the students graduating from the secondary schools, and (c) providing the education necessary for an emerging group of paraprofessional occupations.

Community colleges have a meaning and a competence in their own right. They can provide, as well as technical terminal education, competent pre-professional and general education instruction. The board of trustees of the State University of New York has described the role of the two-year colleges within the state university as follows: