SUNY Maritime College Annual Report 2021-2022

Reviving Women’s Basketball When the Athletics Department announced the addition of women’s basketball as a varsity sport in the fall 2021 semester, the College community was thrilled. The new program was started with a three year grant totaling over $385,000 from the Foundation. The funding was essential in providing the program’s start-up costs including the recruitment of a full-time basketball coach.

Launching a Boat Donation Program The Boat Donation Program - managed by the Foundation - was established to provide support for the College’s waterfront activities and training. In 2019, the Program received its first boat donation. The Program serves as an educational benefit to students, allowing them to receive the hands-on training needed to master their boat handling skill and expertise.

Boosting Faculty Excellence Empowering faculty members for excellence into the Future is essential for top quality student learning. The Foundation recognized the roles of Maritime College’s faculty as teachers, mentors and scholars, and provided multi-year support in the amount of $26,000 for faculty who showed promise and achievement. The Foundation committed to supporting of the Center, which included a $1 million naming gift from William F. Austen ’80, the largest individual gift to Maritime College. Helping to Realize a Seamanship Center The spring of 2022 heralded the groundbreaking of a new state-of-the-art major construction project on campus, the William Austen Marine Education and Seamanship Center. When complete, the new Center will boast a wet lab on the first floor consisting of aquaria touch tanks for teaching and research. The second floor will support seamanship and offshore wind training for students and professional mariners.

Funding an Unprecedented 134-Day Summer Sea Term

In 2021, the College Training Ship, Empire State VI, embarked on extraordinary 134-day Summer Sea Term. Due to the pandemic and federal travel restrictions, the 2020 Summer Sea Term was canceled. Support in the amount of $200,000 on behalf of the Foundation was instrumental in allowing those students with substantial financial need to participate in the lengthy Sea Term and compensate for the previous year ’s summer semester. Since its inception, the Foundation has provided a total of almost $5 million in student scholarships.

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