SUNY Oswego - Alumni Association - September E-Newsletter

September 2010 • Vol 6 No 6

Oswego Ranks with Region's Best, Guides Say

U.S. News Media Group advanced Oswego seven places on its “America’s Best Colleges” list of best regional universities in the North for 2011 and Princeton Review included Oswego in its book The Best Northeastern Colleges: 2011 Edition.

Princeton Review seal of approval Oswego’s numerical rank improved to 67 on the U.S. News list of regional universities in the Northern region. This region includes 178 accredited four-year institutions that appear in the guide: 133 numerically ranked schools plus another 39 in a “second tier” grouping and six “unranked” schools.

The ever-watched and oft-disputed U.S. News rankings encompass more than 1,400 colleges nationwide, compared on a set of 15 performance indicators from freshman retention to financial resources to peer assessment.

Oswego’s big improvement in freshman retention came after U.S. News collected the data for the 2011 rankings, noted Joe Grant, vice president for student affairs and enrollment. He reckoned that, a year from now, Oswego would get another bump in the rankings based on the latest 81 percent freshman retention plus improved graduation rates.

‘A-plus school’
U.S. News also selected Oswego for its “A-Plus Schools for B Students” list. Across Carnegie categories, the A-Plus list encompasses such New York schools as Rochester Institute of Technology, Ithaca College, Syracuse University, SUNY’s University of Buffalo, and Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Northeastern college guide
Oswego is one of 218 institutions Princeton Review recommends in the 2011 edition of its guide, The Best Northeastern Colleges, published Aug. 10 by Random House/Princeton Review Books.

“From hundreds of institutions we reviewed in each region, we selected these colleges and universities primarily for their excellent academic programs,” said Robert Franek, Princeton Review’s senior vice president and publisher. “We also took into account what students attending the institutions reported to us about their campus experiences at them on our student survey for this project.”

Some student comments about Oswego the company chose to include in its book: “excellent business program,” “strong education program,” “successful honors program” and “good study-abroad options.” The college’s professors “really care about what you do and want to help you in every way to make sure you do well.”

Nationwide, the colleges that Princeton Review named “regional bests” represent about 25 percent of the nation’s 2,500 four-year colleges.

The Best Northeastern Colleges: 2011 Edition is the seventh edition of the book. SUNY Oswego has appeared in every edition.

— Julie Harrison Blissert and Jeff Rea '71

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Who doesn’t want to save the world? Michael Kite ’02 does that for a living through World Wildlife Fund.

As marketing specialist for one of the world’s leading conservation organizations, Kite and his team of three work to raise more than $5 million each year. The majority of that money comes from licensing partnerships and promotions with the likes of Barnes & Noble, Gap, Hewlett-Packard, Dial and Coinstar.

Retail partnerships help WWF spread its message to the general public and raise funds for its conservation work around the globe. For example, Bank of America contributes $100 for every special Visa account opened and Nabisco is supporting WWF’s “Year of the Tiger” initiative with special packaging and a $100,000 donation. The new CVS Green Bag Tag program rewards reusable bag-toting customers, and generates five cents for WWF for each tag sold.

All support WWF’s mission of protecting the future of nature, down to the finest details, Kite said.

“We like to see that the product is made from recycled material and is recyclable itself, and somehow ties into our mission,” Kite said. The Green Bag Tag, for instance, is made from a corn-based material and features a 100 percent recycled silicone lanyard.

As a broadcasting major at Oswego, Kite got involved with WRVO-FM and WNYO-FM.

“I think it gave me a lot more confidence in talking to people,” he said. It was an important part of his early career in broadcast sales and remains an important piece in the message he “sells” today.

“The best part of my job is seeing a product in the store with the WWF logo after months of working with a company to launch it,” said Kite, who joined the organization in 2006. “It’s rewarding to give people a fun, unique way to protect our planet.”

— Shane M. Liebler