Through its established strength in serving veterans and active military, as well as a variety of non-traditional students, SUNY Oswego was one of six SUNY campuses to enter a new partnership with the Medical Education and Training Center recognizing military medical training for academic credit. In this file photo, Ken Cisson (center), SUNY Oswego's veteran services coordinator, meets with student Air Force veterans Madison Crego and Shane Burrows.
SUNY Oswego has entered a new partnership with the Medical Education and Training Center, an outcome of an initiative between SUNY and the Defense Health Agency, providing educational pathways for service members trained in health care-related fields, including active duty, National Guard and Reserve servicemembers and veterans who are previous METC graduates.
Through the METC-SUNY Degree Bridge Partnership, announced in mid-May, six SUNY campuses including Oswego will recognize military medical training for academic credit, enabling military students to graduate sooner ready for healthcare careers.
"There is a place at SUNY for every student, and SUNY is committed to supporting our military students throughout their academic journeys," SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said in announcing the METC-SUNY expansion on May 14.
"This partnership with the Defense Health Agency’s Medical Education and Training Campus will remove barriers for our military students, while also providing clear pathways into meaningful careers in healthcare,” Chancellor King added. “We are proud to support our military and veteran students.”
Because SUNY Oswego has a long history of support for military and veteran audiences, including 41 years serving nearby Fort Drum and where Oswego led the former SUNY North Country Consortium, the university was a natural fit for this expansion, said Jill Pippin, dean of Extended Learning.
“When SUNY System Administration embarked on efforts to further grow capabilities to serve military servicepeople, SUNY Oswego had to be involved,” Pippin said. “It's in our DNA!”
As part of the partnership, participating SUNY campuses evaluated METC coursework to connect the program requirements to academic courses and created structured pathways for entry into associate and bachelor’s degrees in programs such as healthcare management, allied health, human development and public health.
“Being a partner with METC enables more service people in the medical fields to have clearer pathways to a SUNY Oswego degree,” Pippin said. “By evaluating military education and training for credit equivalencies, we have taken away the guesswork so that military and veteran students can pursue higher education faster and with less bureaucratic hurdles.”
SUNY Oswego has been a Best for Vets College by Military Times since 2016, Military Friendly School by Military Advanced Education since 2013, Military Friendly School by G. I. Jobs since 2014, and currently ranks #11 among the Best Colleges for Veterans in the Regional Universities – North category, according to U.S. News and World Report.
Record of service
Oswego’s track record of providing existing pathways for adult students from many backgrounds and needs dovetails with the purposeful nature of expanding this initiative, Pippin noted.
“SUNY Oswego already emphasizes pre-assessing prior learning to connect students with many degree pathways, but credit may be optimized from this training and more in our award-winning integrative professional studies degree program, which was designed with adults, and specifically military and veteran affiliated adults, in mind,” Pippin said.
SUNY organized the six institutions to review 10 METC courses across 19 degree programs, developed centralized degree connections that translate military training into academic pathways, launched a dedicated online resource hub, and has begun coordinated outreach to military education centers, Veterans Affairs hospitals and partner organizations to connect service members directly with SUNY campuses.
The Medical Education and Training Center, which operates under the Defense Health Agency and is located at Joint Base San Antonio, is the U.S. Department of Defense’s largest enlisted medical education campus, training personnel across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.
“We have never wavered in our support of active duty, reserve and guard individuals and veterans of all branches of the military,” Pippin said “SUNY Oswego is dedicated to providing multiple on-ramps and off-ramps for adult learners so they can achieve their higher education goals, without duplicating effort and while maximizing the use of time and money.”
For more information, visit oswego.edu/extended-learning/metc-bridge-program-transfer-pathways.