livE lEarn 40th Anniversary Edition Exc Elsior collEgE MagazinE sp Ecial anniv Er sary issuE and annual r E port IOR CO R C LS LL SIO OL This special edition of E E EL LE C G C G X E X E It is my pleasure to announce E E 2 2 1 0 1 0 7 1 7 1 1 the kick-off of Excelsior’s 40th 9 1 9 1 1 will introduce you to some anniversary year. Not only do E E X E X E C G of the men and women E E C G we commemorate 40 years of LS LL EL LE IOR C O SIOR C OL who founded the College success, but more importantly, we celebrate 40th Anniversary forty years ago. Through the College’s very bright future. Steering Committee interviews, we have begun CHAIR As a volunteer and 1987 graduate, my direct involvement with Excelsior to collect an oral history. Jerry L. Neff* College began in 2008, when I received an Alumni Achievement Award. Brig. General, ARNGUS (Ret.) Regional President, We are greatly indebted to Since then, I have been overwhelmed with the professionalism and M&I Bank (Ret.) those who are generously generosity of the many and varied people connected to the College. Bradenton, FL Over the next 18 months, it is my hope that you, too, will be able to sharing their time and William E. Cox participate in some way in the activities that are planned. President stories of the early years. Cox, Matthews and Excelsior is supported by a committed and caring faculty and staff and Associates, Inc. In coming issues of the is guided by many learned individuals. President John F. Ebersole is an Fairfax, VA magazine, you will meet outstanding leader who has taken the College into the 21st century with John Amidon* great vision. The Board of Trustees guides Excelsior to greater success, Attorney General of Texas many more of these Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and members of the President’s Advisory Council give generously of their Austin, TX extraordinary individuals, time, expressing their opinions and offering advice on important issues Mary O’Connor* facing the institution. whose dedication to the Assistant Professor The College is dedicated to the success of adult students and facilitating College of Notre idea of the College led to Dame of Maryland a brighter future for graduates. The Alumni Association also gives liberally its reality. Baltimore, MD of its time to serve and unite all of the College’s alumni. Graduates that I Eric Harter* have met at Commencement the past three years have told me amazing President stories about the impact Excelsior has had on their lives. Dean, The Graduate School Sullivan University I invite you to participate in whatever way you can. Come to Louisville, KY Live & Learn Commencement in Albany or attend a regional event. Meet and socialize Carol Tiger, Editor-in-Chief Mary Ellen Duncan with fellow alums. These are great ways to celebrate. In recognition Dana Yanulavich, Senior Editor Synergies Consulting Group Nick Klercker, Art Director/Designer of this 40th anniversary, you can also consider making a donation to Marriottsville, MD Jason Hughes, Graphic Designer assist current and future students. Excelsior College is known through its Arthur J. Gregg Deb Marrow, Graphic Designer graduates. We are an integral part of it. If you can, please volunteer your Lt. General, U.S. Army (Ret.) Ron Pavoldi, Production Manager Dumfries, VA Cheryl Renodin, Production Coordinator time and promote the College in the area where you live and work. Diana Lindsay* Join me and the many other members of the Excelsior community who Live & Learn is published by Human Resource Specialist the Excelsior College Office of are committed to the College and its 40th anniversary celebration. NYSUT Institutional Advancement Latham, NY Cathy Kushner, Vice President Thank you for your interest and support. John Cavalier All rights reserved. Unauthorized Former Chairman and CEO reproduction or use prohibited. MapInfo Copyright © 2010 by Excelsior College. Loudonville, NY For general information about Excelsior College, call 888-647-2388. www.excelsior.edu *Alumni of the College Jerry L. Neff Chair, 40th Anniversary Steering Committee EraIn anof Change tHE collEgE Emeg r Es a Sept. 15, 1970 “Confident that appropriate assessment techniques can be developed, I am proposing to the Board At his inauguration as President of The University of Regents that The University of the State of of the State of New York New York award undergraduate degrees to those and Commissioner of who are able to demonstrate that they possess Education, Ewald B. (“Joe”) knowledge and abilities equivalent to those of a Nyquist a first proposed degree recipient from a New York State college or this idea to the New York university, regardless of how the candidates have State Board of Regents. prepared themselves.” — Ewald B. Nyquist Live & Learn 40th Anniversary Edition | 3 “There are thousands of people in the world today who have college degrees who wouldn’t have them if it weren’t for Excelsior College.” — Robert Stone Nyquist’s bold proposal was based in part on the rec- ommendations of a special committee, appointed 10 years earlier by New York State Governor Nelson E. Rockefeller, that was tasked with examining the future of higher educa- tion in the state. The group documented their findings in the Heald Report, and among its recommendations were that the Regents establish a credit-by-examination program, allowing students to acquire regular college credit for their achieve- orty years ago, the country’s social and economic ments without attending traditional college classes. conditions created an atmosphere ripe for change Serving as the first director of this Regents External and experimentation. Concern over equal rights Degree Program was Dr. Donald J. Nolan b . He recalls, Fand debate over the Vietnam War marked the early “I think it [the external degree program] broke ground that 1970s, but the decade was also characterized as a time for new would not have been broken otherwise. Other states tried endeavors, including plans for educational innovation. The to imitate. [But] nobody [else] had the wherewithal to pull it Age of Aquarius wasn’t just a song from the musical Hair, together.” Today, the College’s contribution to postsecondary noting Jupiter had aligned with Mars; it was a time for social education holds a special place in history. Nolan explains, and economic forces to come together to create new educa- “It made acceptable in all circles the fact that an institution tional opportunities. that didn’t have a campus, didn’t have resident faculty, didn’t have a resident student body, could actually confer degrees. And that changed the landscape of higher education in 1971, and I don’t think it’s been As the decades rolled by, and matched since then.” the education endeavor begun 40 years ago evolved into The College’s mission, above all, has been b Excelsior College, oh, how the at the center of its growth as it seeks to provide times have changed! In 1971, opportunity to adult learners with an empha- a gallon of regular gasoline sis on those historically underrepresented in Genesis of Educational Change was 36 cents versus $3.00 by higher education. In the 70s, there were few today’s standards; an average options for those who neither followed a tradi- In that genesis of change, the foundation home cost $28,300 versus tional path due to work or family commitments was laid for the institution that would one today’s $171,700, and the nor had the means to pursue concentrated day become Excelsior College. In 1970, in his median household income was college study due to lack of financial resources. inaugural address as commissioner of the New $9,028 compared to the current Robert D. Stone, the College’s first general York State Education Department, Ewald B. $52,029. But throughout all counsel, notes, “Excelsior College today, and Nyquist outlined a plan to create an exter- the changes, one thing has presumably forever, is and will be recognized nal degree program, one that would provide stayed steadfast and true — the as an institution that has given opportuni- an additional avenue to a college diploma. College’s founding philosophy: ties to an array of students who wouldn’t From its humble beginnings in 1971, when the have been able to find that opportunity any- Regents External Degree Program (REX) was where else. There are thousands of people established by the New York State Board of What you in the world today with college degrees who Regents of The University of the State of New know is more wouldn’t have them if it weren’t York, Excelsior College has undergone a dra- for Excelsior College.” matic metamorphosis — from a state initiative, important to an independent college recognizing college credit earned elsewhere, to the broad-based than where institution it is today, offering its own online or how you instruction. learned it®. 4 | Live & Learn 40th Anniversary Edition Support Structures Fall into Place New York State was uniquely positioned to support the somewhat radical idea Nyquist proposed with the founding of the external degree program. The state legislature back in 1787 created The University of the State of New York, governed by the Board of Regents. In 1971, the Regents External Stone explains that, from a legal perspective, Degree Program (REX) was The University of the State of New York is established by the Board of Academic Quality considered a separate, private, and non-public Regents of The University of Helps Build Programs corporation, creating a platform on which an the State of New York.