Sophomore Kevin Mackin was selected as the SUNYAC Scholar Athlete of the Year in men's basketball.

Forty members of SUNY OnMark, SUNY Oneonta's Chapter of the American Marketing Association, attended the American Marketing Association's 40th Annual International Collegiate Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, where they earned an impressive award and gained professional development. After a long drive, challenging competitions, and a year of hard work, the club was awarded 7th place in the 'Chapter of the Year' competition out of about 400 colleges and universities. They also received an honorable mention for the excellence of their website.

Artwork by many student artists will be on display in SUNY Oneonta's Martin-Mullen Art Gallery for the "Annual Student Juried Art Exhibition 2018" in the Fine Arts Center from April 5 to May 12. A reception for the artists along with live music and food is planned for Thursday, April 12, from 5 to 7 p.m. Featured art works were chosen from an open jury process and works entered by the art faculty. Painting, drawing, sculpture, digital print, digital video, and an assortment of mixed media make up this year's offerings. All are invited to attend the reception and the exhibition.

Four SUNY Oneonta seniors are among 249 State University of New York students chosen to receive the 2018 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence. SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson presented the awards to the students during a reception in their honor Tuesday, April 10, at the Albany Capital Center. "I am immensely proud of these students, who have demonstrated academic excellence and dedication to enriching their campuses and communities," Johnson said. "From research publications in industry journals to volunteering in hospitals and local clinics to holding leadership roles at their institutions, I am inspired by each student we recognize today. Congratulations to all of the students receiving this year's award." The Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence is the highest honor that SUNY bestows upon students. It is presented annually to SUNY students who demonstrate academic excellence and integrate it with accomplishments in other areas, such as leadership, career achievement, campus involvement, athletics, community service, or creative and performing arts. Since 1998 when the Chancellor's Award program was implemented, 88 SUNY Oneonta students have received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence. The four SUNY Oneonta students selected to receive the 2018 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence are Kayla Belush, Daniel Prince, Jonelle Reyes and Anthony Vecere Jr.

SUNY Oneonta students took part in the 8th annual Canstruction event April 8 at the Southside Mall, where teams made up of local business employees, community members and students used design and problem-solving skills to create canned food structures and give back to the community. Teams built sculptures using thousands of unopened cans of food. Participants had to use cans with original labels, and they couldn't use glue or anything that would affect the cans during construction. The structures will stay up all week so that the community can see them. Canstruction is a national charity committed to ending hunger one can at a time. The drive collected 6,336 cans this year and in eight years has totaled more than 32,000 cans. The donations will be delivered to 15 local food pantries when the displays are taken down Sunday.

In a whirlwind, multi-country trip, students enrolled in a European History course called The Norman Conquest spent spring break in Norway, England and Scotland visiting countless historic sites. They listened to lectures, examined artifacts in museums including viking ships and the Rosetta Stone, took long train rides through beautiful countryside, saw medieval walls and churches, and visited the White Cliffs of Dover and Westminster Abbey, to name a few popular sites. They were accompanied by their professor, Dr. April Harper.

More than 300 students met requirements for graduation from SUNY Oneonta following the Fall 2017 semester. Graduates were honored at a December recognition ceremony hosted by College President Nancy Kleniewski and held in the Dewar Arena of the Alumni Field House. They also are eligible to participate in the college's commencement on May 12.

A total of 185 SUNY Oneonta students earned Provost's List honors for the fall 2017 semester. To qualify for the Provost's List, a student must earn a perfect 4.0 grade-point average while carrying a course load of 12 hours or more.

A group of SUNY Oneonta students' community outreach project has helped educate an entire elementary school of children this semester on the basics of environmental sustainability and stewardship. Through the college's Harvest Share Buddies service learning initiative, biology and sociology students spent time in 12 different classrooms at Riverside Elementary School in Oneonta, teaching children about food, the environment and plant biology. In their assigned K-5 classrooms, SUNY Oneonta students presented weekly interactive lessons and got to know the children. Concepts literally came to life for the kids, as vegetable grow boxes were built and installed in the classrooms, giving students a firsthand look at where food comes from. Students grew tomatoes, lettuce and a variety of herbs and spices. When full-grown, the ingredients will be harvested and used to make pizza for the children. This is the second year of the program, which is organized by Assistant Professor of Biology Sean Robinson and Associate Professor of Sociology Greg Fulkerson. On the last visit of the semester, fourth graders in one classroom recalled all they had learned from the SUNY Oneonta students and brainstormed ways to help "reduce, reuse and recycle." Takeaways included riding a bike instead of driving, not polluting, starting a compost pile, shopping local and growing food at home. Third-grade teacher Jacqueline Scanlon said her pupils loved having the college students come in each week. "We called them our SUNY friends, and whenever it was time for a visit, their eyes would light up," Scanlon said. "It's great for these kids to meet the college students and gain a mentor of sorts, and it's also something I appreciate because, with pressures on curriculum, this is a topic we don't often get to talk about. But it's so needed!"

A new project developed by SUNY Oneonta's Psychology and Sociology departments will give six students an immersive applied-learning experience in the fields of health care and human service while simultaneously looking to alleviate some serious community problems. During the year-long venture, student researchers Joshua Garufi, Kathryn Kilichowski, Taryn More, Judson Parisi, Stacy Pinto and Peter Richardson will work with several local health and social service agencies to examine the well-being of area residents and identify areas that need improvement. To learn more about the area and its residents, students will conduct survey research at the Southside Mall in Oneonta. This research will focus on knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of residents of Chenango, Delaware, Herkimer, Otsego and Schoharie counties. Specifically, it will assess residents' risk of alcohol/illegal drug abuse and mental illness and identify challenges to health wellness in rural areas. Funding for the research is being provided by LEAF Inc. (the Leatherstocking Education on Alcoholism/Addictions Foundation) and by a grant from the SUNY Oneonta Faculty Center for STEM-related applied learning. In its annual Community Health Assessments, the Otsego County Department of Health routinely names promoting mental health and preventing substance abuse as two of its top priorities, with an emphasis on affordability, since many residents are living at or near poverty level. "It is so important to include our students in this project and have them gather data from members of our community," said Julie Dostal, executive director of LEAF, "so we can better define the problems and also refine the resources we are offering." The project will culminate with students developing a county-wide map of substance abuse treatment and mental health services and resources. Students will also assist local agencies with program evaluations and run an analysis to identify gaps within the county's continuum of care. Each of the six student researchers will receive a $600 stipend for the project.

SUNY Oneonta's Fed Challenge team of economics and business economics students took third place overall at the 2017 College Fed Challenge, held Nov. 14 at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Donning blazers and nametags and standing in front of an audience and panel of judges, the students delivered a 15-minute presentation in which they analyzed economic conditions and recommended a course for monetary policy. Five students - Melissa Voyer, Heather Teichman, Carlos Salomon, Mike Deyak and Kevin Stearns - presented, while a group of non-presenters supported teammates and toured the vault at the Fed. Forty-three teams competed in the preliminary rounds on Oct. 31. Twelve teams advanced to the Nov. 14 semifinals, and three teams made it to the finals, where SUNY Oneonta took third place, Rutgers University - New Brunswick took second, and Pace University came in first.

SUNY Oneonta recognized six students for academic excellence at the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences' annual Majors' Night in October. Now in its 41st year, Majors' Night offers the department's undergraduates the opportunity to network with alumni who return to campus for the event, where they share their experiences and offer advice to current students.

Eight SUNY Oneonta students participating in the Pine Lake Archaeological Field School this summer are seeing firsthand what it would be like to work as archeologists. The immersive learning experience takes students to Hartwick College's Pine Lake Environmental Campus in West Davenport, about eight miles from SUNY Oneonta. There, they spend about eight hours a day learning basic methods in field archaeology, including surveying and excavating techniques, mapping and laboratory analysis. The summer program, which is offered every other year, is a collaborative effort of SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick, with SUNY Oneonta providing most of the equipment. Students can earn six credits by taking the summer course.

Three SUNY Oneonta students received funding totaling $5,700 to support summer internships through the Dewar Foundation Fund for Internship Support. The new fund, which will offer $12,500 to SUNY Oneonta students over the course of the year, helps make internship experiences more accessible. Permanent residents of Otsego County and contiguous counties who are interning for academic credit either in the United States or abroad are eligible to apply. Award preference goes to students who graduated from Oneonta High School.

Four students were elected to the College at Oneonta Foundation Board of Directors at the April 14, 2017, board meeting. All terms begin in June 2017.

A total of 14 new members were inducted into the SUNY Oneonta Alpha-Kappa-Iota chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honor society, during a ceremony on April 7.

Twenty-eight members of SUNY Oneonta's Zeta Beta Tau fraternity chapter helped organize SUNY Oneonta's third annual Gift of Life Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive on Oct. 26 and 27.

This fall, SUNY Oneonta will welcome approximately 1,100 freshmen and 600 new transfer students hailing from across New York, as well as from 12 other states and countries. New students moved in on Aug. 24, and the fall 2016 semester starts Aug. 29. Our newest Red Dragons will officially join the Oneonta family when they walk through the historic pillars of Old Main during the traditional Pass Through the Pillars ceremony on the campus quad the night before classes begin.

Seventeen SUNY Oneonta students participated in the 2017 National Model United Nations Conference in New York City from March 19-23. The Oneonta delegation represented South Africa.

A total of 27 students were elected this spring to Student Association positions for the 2016-2017 academic year at SUNY Oneonta. Students are elected to Student Association positions by their peers in the student body. Elections for executive board positions were held April 7-8, and senators and judicial officers were elected April 14-15.

SUNY Oneonta recently recognized nearly 100 alumni during the 2015 Alumni of Distinction Presentation of Honors.