NEW PALTZ — Once again signaling its commitment to, and leadership in, international education, SUNY New Paltz has established a position of dean of international programs.
President Roger Bowen and Provost David Lavallee recently announced the promotion of Bruce Sillner to the new position. Sillner has been serving as director of the Center for International Programs.
The Center for International Programs, established by Bowen in 1988, provides coordination and support for New Paltz international activities, including study abroad and exchange programs, international student and scholar services, intensive English as a second language instruction and binational programs.
“Dean Sillner has earned his title through many years of devoted service to New Paltz and to the critically important cause of international education,” said Bowen.
Sillner first came to New Paltz in January of 1986 to direct the Haggerty English Language Program, the only such program offered by a SUNY college. He developed and coordinated the graduate program in second language education and later assumed responsibility for the Center for International Programs.
An evaluation team of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education recently reported that it “was particularly impressed with the scope, organization and impact that the international programs have on the New Paltz educational experience. It is one of the gems of the SUNY system.”
In recent years, New Paltz has more than doubled the number of overseas study opportunities available to its students, who can now choose to study in any of 34 different programs on any continent except Antarctica. New Paltz was the first public university in the United States to offer a freshman semester abroad program and was one of the first American universities to establish academic links with Cuba.
According to the Open Doors Report published by the Institute for International Education, New Paltz enrolls more international students than any of the SUNY colleges and ranks in the top fifth of universities in the United States in terms of the number of its own students who study abroad.
Most recently, SUNY New Paltz received considerable attention within the international education community for its role in the development of the federally funded Gilman International Scholarship Program and the pending New York State International Scholarship. Both scholarship programs are designed to help low-income students gain the advantages offered through international study.
More information about SUNY New Paltz’ international study opportunities is available online at www.newpaltz.edu/oie.
A photograph of Bruce Sillner is available on the SUNY New Paltz Web site at: http://hawk.newpaltz.edu/news/images/sillner.html.
