SUNY New Paltz promotes student accomplishments using Merit, a third-party platform that lets the College share news of students’ academic and co-curricular excellence with print and online newspapers and on social media.
New Paltz has become one of the most prolific and effective of Merit’s user colleges. Several hundred students are “active engagers,” who check in on their profiles regularly and update them with photos and new jobs and activities – in fact, New Paltz students engage with their Merit profiles at a higher rate than the national average.
No achievement is too big or too small to be published on Merit, and new ideas are always welcome. Recent Merit publications include:
Honor society induction
Dean’s List and other academic honors
Degrees conferred
Art exhibitions and music and theatre performance
Membership and leadership roles in clubs and organizations
Research, publications, and conference presentation or attendance
Scholarships
Community service
Jobs and internships – on or off campus
Athletic achievements
When students are recognized on Merit, they receive an email notification inviting them to share their achievement on social media or professional sites like LinkedIn. The College also draws from Merit’s extensive media database to send press releases to students’ hometown news outlets and to government officials.
For students who choose to participate, Merit helps build a digital résumé of academic and co-curricular performance, complementary to the co-curricular transcript, while also showcasing the culture of student excellence at SUNY New Paltz.
If students choose not to engage with Merit, they can opt out with just a few clicks, and be removed from all future publications.
Anyone can nominate students for recognition on Merit. If you know of students who are doing great things in your department or in your office, we want to hear from you!
Visit https://newpaltz.meritpages.com/contributions/new to share information about student achievements, or contact Mallika Rao, writer & content coordinator, at raom@newpaltz.edu for more info.
More information about Merit, including their policy for protecting students’ privacy, is available online.
