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About SUNY Orange



College Overview

Founded in 1950 as the first county-sponsored community college in the State University of New York (SUNY) system, Orange County Community College (SUNY Orange) is fully accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The College offers or provides access to accredited academic programs that are designed for transfer and/or career preparation.

MIDDLETOWN CAMPUS
115 South Street
Middletown, NY 10940
845-344-6222
NEWBURGH CAMPUS
One Washington Center
Newburgh, NY 12550
845-562-2454


Throughout its existence, SUNY Orange has touched the lives of countless Orange County residents through its academic degree offerings, non-credit enrichment programming and cultural events. With campuses in Middletown and Newburgh, the College has grown to meet the needs of its students, while also addressing the demands of a growing and diverse population in Orange County.

With its picturesque beauty, cozy confines and contemporary functionality, the SUNY Orange Middletown campus has become a comfortable and safe second home to students who seek academic challenge, friendship and lively activity. The Newburgh campus is located in downtown Newburgh with breathtaking views of the Hudson River. Students stroll an urban campus that provides the latest amenities in its labs, classrooms and study spaces. 

Students may enroll in coursework that leads to the completion of one of three academic degrees—the Associate in Arts, Associate in Science or Associate in Applied Science—as well as one-year certificates. Accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the College offers academic credits that may be earned through full- or part-time study, with courses primarily offered during weekday and evening hours, as well as online. Some weekend classes are available.

Consistent with its mission to provide high-quality and accessible educational and enrichment opportunities, the College is noted for its commitment to ensuring student success. With the support of caring faculty and staff, each student has the ability to achieve his or her academic and career goals. Advising, counseling, and career guidance and exploration are available to all students, as well as co-curricular and leadership opportunities that serve to complement the academic experience.

Public and private four-year colleges actively seek our graduates for transfer into baccalaureate programs. Our graduates have built a longstanding reputation for excelling at their transfer institution, and those students who instead choose to enter the workforce upon graduation from SUNY Orange find success as well. 

Over the years, the College has earned its reputation as a pioneer and innovator in meeting the needs of its students and the area it primarily serves. The College was the first two-year college in the nation to offer the associate degree nursing program and studies in electron microscopy; and in 1982, the College was the first community college to plan and co-sponsor a business institute with local chambers of commerce.

Today, under the guidance of an innovative and energetic president and armed with a clear vision that emanates from its Strategic Plan, the College is poised to further elevate its profile within the greater Orange County area as well as the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The College is comfortable building off of its history of academic innovation and is actively engaged in revamping its curriculum and student support programs so that they continue to meet the needs of our students and the community-at-large.

As a respected partner with many businesses, community organizations and civic groups, the College strives to mold the members of its diverse student body into the accomplished professionals and leaders they wish to become, all within an inclusive atmosphere where creativity and forward-thinking ideas are welcomed.

SUNY Orange is governed by a 10-member Board of Trustees, with five members appointed by the Orange County Executive, four members appointed by the Governor of New York and one student trustee elected by the student body.

The Middletown Campus

From its original configuration of two buildings—a mansion and carriage house—in 1950, the Middletown campus has grown to its present size of 37 acres that houses 13 academic and student services buildings. The College’s beautiful and picturesque grounds are landscaped with trees and flowers indigenous to the region, while many paths and walks bisect the former estate. 

The mansion, called Morrison Hall in honor of its donors, houses administrative and faculty offices. The architectural centerpiece of the Middletown campus, Morrison Hall is a magnificent example of turn-of-the-century craftsmanship, featuring beautiful wood carving, mosaic work, stenciling, ornate marble fireplaces and a large stained glass window designed by Louis Tiffany. Horton Hall, the former carriage house, now provides additional administrative space for the College.

Expansion over the years has infused the campus with significant additional educational space. The Middletown campus now boasts more than 60 general classrooms and lecture halls, along with a wide array of medical, technical and instructional laboratories. Dedicated laboratory space exists for programs in the health professions, as well as biology, chemistry, physics, architecture, criminal justice, cyber security and visual communications. 

Hudson Hall, Harriman Hall and the Bio-Medical Technology Building contain classrooms, lecture halls, laboratories and faculty offices. Orange Hall features a well-equipped theater as well as rehearsal rooms and performance spaces. The Library can accommodate 700 patrons who are afforded access to more than 95,000 print and non-print resources, videotapes, computer software and digital collections.

The George F. Shepard Student Center houses the College bookstore and nearly every student support function at the College. The Physical Education Center contains five handball/racquetball courts, an aerial yoga studio, a swimming pool, the Chris Schmid gymnasium (capacity 3,000), human performance lab, three classrooms and an exercise room. Adjacent to the building are soccer and softball fields.

The Gilman Center for International Education contains a lecture room, student study space and an aluminum and glass foyer, along with casework displaying papers and memorabilia from Congressman Ben Gilman’s long tenure in Washington, D.C. The Devitt Center for Botany and Horticulture includes a functioning greenhouse, the foundation of which is original to the estate, along with a combined classroom and laboratory space.

The Rowley Center for Science & Engineering offers students and faculty in the STEM-related programs of science, biology, engineering and architecture the finest technological advances and state-of-the-art laboratory space, all under one roof. The Morrison Lab School at Middletown, as well as the Newburgh Campus Lab School, house the College’s child care services and serve as working laboratories for the College’s education students.

The Newburgh Campus

Certified as a branch campus by both the State University of New York and the New York State Education Department, the Newburgh campus offers selected academic degree programs in their entirety, enabling students in those programs to complete all of their degree requirements at the Newburgh site without having to commute to the Middletown campus. The full degree programs available in Newburgh include business administration, business management, criminal justice, criminal justice-police, healthcare administration, human services, individual studies, liberal arts (humanities and social science) and nursing.

In addition to its credit courses and programs, the Newburgh campus provides a variety of non-credit courses, certificate programs and personal enrichment classes, as well as a number of grant-funded employment and training initiatives and a program in ESL, all under the direction of the College’s Continuing and Professional Education Department (CAPE). 

The campus features Kaplan Hall and the Tower Building, both of which offer students contemporary, state-of-the-art classrooms and laboratories. Kaplan Hall, an 87,000-square-foot building that opened in January 2011, houses classrooms and science laboratories, as well as a two-story library, a one-stop center for all student services, a micro market café where students can mingle, and office spaces. A secure underground parking garage is accessible off First Street near Ebenezer Baptist Church. Additionally, a spectacular Great Room with a capacity of approximately 200 people provides a gathering space for campus and community groups alike.

The six-story Tower Building, at the corner of Broadway and Colden Street, features general purpose classrooms, computer labs, art studios, a forensics lab, student government and activity space, a bookstore, a childcare center, a fitness center, and administrative offices.

The College operates a free daily shuttle service between its Newburgh and Middletown campuses.

Student Profile

SUNY Orange students come from all walks of life and are committed to their education. Our graduates speak highly of a curriculum that challenges them and prepares them to thrive when they transfer to four-year institutions.

Enrollment reports for the 2022 Fall semester reveal that slightly more than half (52.6 percent) of SUNY Orange’s students attend the College on a full-time basis, while the average age of the SUNY Orange student is 23 years old. Females comprise 60.9 percent of the College’s enrollment. A sizable majority (80.2 percent) of students reside in Orange County while 72.5 percent of SUNY Orange students fall into the “traditional” category (age 24 or younger).

Of those who reported data, 25.2 percent of SUNY Orange students are Hispanic/Latino while 15.0 percent are African-American. The College’s diversity demographics within the student body mirror the diversity of the overall population of Orange County. Other race/ethnicity classifications account for 6.1 percent of the student population. The remaining 40.6 percent are white. A total of 13.1 percent are unknown.

The State University of New York

SUNY Orange is one of 30 two-year community colleges that comprise part of the State University of New York, the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating more than 360,000 students in more than 7,500 degree and certificate programs on 64 college and university campuses, and online through Open SUNY. SUNY students and faculty across the state make significant contributions to research and discovery, resulting in approximately $1 billion of externally-sponsored activity each year. There are more than 3 million SUNY alumni worldwide.

SUNY is governed by a board of trustees, appointed by the governor, which directly determines the policies to be followed by the 34 state-supported campuses. Community colleges have their own local boards of trustees whose relationship to the SUNY board is defined by law. The State University motto is: "To Learn—To Search—To Serve."

The 30 two-year community colleges operating under the SUNY program play a unique role in the expansion of educational opportunity by:

  • providing local industry with trained technicians in a wide variety of occupational curriculums
  • providing transfer options for students who wish to go on and earn advanced degrees, and
  • providing the community with yet another source for technical and professional upgrading as well as personal enrichment.

Your Right to Know  

Federal Student Right to Know legislation requires colleges and universities to report the percentages of full-time students who began and completed their program requirements within 150% of the normal time for completion – three years for an associate degree.

Additionally, the federal government requires institutions to track and report the percentages of first-time, full-time students who return to college for their second year of instruction.

In both measurements, SUNY Orange performs consistently well. Fifty-two percent of the Fall 2019 cohort (the most recent to complete 150 percent of their time since entering the college) have either graduated or transferred to another institution, while 56 percent of the first-time full-time students entering SUNY Orange in the Fall of 2021 returned for the Fall 2022 semester.
 
For more information, or to compare SUNY Orange to other institutions, please visit the National Center for Education Statistics.

Campus Safety and Security Statistics

In compliance with the Campus Safety and Security Act of 1998 (Clery Amendment) and New York State Education law Article 129-A, SUNY Orange maintains crime statistics related to crimes reported to campus security and local law enforcement agencies.

These statistics can be obtained by visiting the U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education website or by visiting the SUNY Orange Safety and Security website.

The federal government site offers the statistics for colleges across the nation. You may search the web site for SUNY Orange by name or by using our OPE ID. The OPE ID is an identification number used by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) to identify schools. SUNY Orange's ID is 00287600. For more information or a hard copy of the report, contact the Director of Safety and Security.

Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Prevention

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination, which is unlawful in the workplace under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and the New York State Human Rights Law. Under Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, sexual harassment also is prohibited in the provision of educational services and protects students and employees from sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment is prohibited and will not be tolerated at SUNY Orange. The College has implemented measures to address and prevent sexual harassment and is taking additional affirmative steps to increase awareness of, and sensitivity to, all forms of sexual harassment in order to maintain a workplace and learning environment free of its harmful effects.

Sexual harassment is a form of workplace discrimination and employee misconduct, as well as a form of discrimination in the academic setting, and all employees and students are entitled to work and learn in a campus environment that prevents sexual harassment. All employees and students have a legal right to a workplace and a campus free from sexual harassment, and employees and students can enforce this right by filing a complaint internally with the College, or with a government agency, or in court under federal or state anti-discrimination laws, as detailed in the College's Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Complaint Procedure.

In accordance with applicable law, sexual harassment is generally described as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:

  • Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of employment or academic benefit; or
  • Submission to or rejection of the conduct is used as the basis for an employment or academic decision affecting the person rejecting or submitting to the conduct; or
  • The conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an affected person's work or academic performance, or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work or learning environment.

Sexual harassment can include physical touching, verbal comments, non-verbal conduct such as leering or inappropriate written or electronic communications, or a combination of these things. Examples of sexual harassment may include, but are not limited to:

  • Seeking sexual favors or a sexual relationship in return for the promise of a favorable grade or academic opportunity;
  • Conditioning an employment-related action (such as hiring, promotion, salary increase, or performance appraisal) on a sexual favor or relationship; or
  • Intentional and undesired physical contact, sexually explicit language or writing, lewd pictures or notes, and other forms of sexually offensive conduct by individuals in positions of authority, co-workers or student peers, that unreasonably interferes with the ability of a person to perform their employment or academic responsibilities.
  • Physical acts of a sexual nature, such as:
    • Touching, pinching, patting, kissing, hugging, grabbing, brushing against, or poking another person's body;
    • Rape, sexual battery, molestation or attempts to commit these assaults.
  • Unwanted sexual advances or propositions whether they involve physical touching or not, such as:
    • Requests for sexual favors accompanied by implied or overt threats concerning a target's job performance evaluation, a promotion or other job benefits or detriments, or an educational benefit or detriment;
    • Subtle or obvious pressure for unwelcome sexual activities.
    • Sexually oriented gestures, noises, remarks, jokes or comments about a person's sexuality or sexual experience, which create a hostile environment.
  • Sexual epithets, jokes, written or oral references to sexual conduct, gossip regarding one’s sex life, comments about an individual’s body, comments about an individual’s sexual activity, deficiencies, or prowess.
  • Discussion of one’s sexual activities.
  • Sex stereotyping occurs when conduct or personality traits are considered inappropriate simply because they may not conform to other people's ideas or perceptions about how individuals of a particular sex should act or look.
  • Sexual or discriminatory displays or publications, such as:
    • Displaying pictures, posters, calendars, graffiti, objects, promotional material, reading materials or other materials that are sexually demeaning or pornographic. This includes such sexual displays on computers or cell phones and sharing such displays while in the workplace or classroom.
  • Hostile actions taken against an individual because of that individual's sex, sexual orientation, self-identified or perceived sex, gender expression, gender identity, and the status of being transgender, such as:
    • Interfering with, destroying or damaging a person's workstation, tools or equipment, or otherwise interfering with the individual's ability to perform employment or academic duties;
    • Sabotaging an individual's work;
    • Bullying, yelling, name-calling.

Such behavior can constitute sexual harassment regardless of the sex, gender, sexual orientation, self-identified or perceived sex, gender expression, status of being transgender, or gender identity of any of the persons involved. Sexual harassment is considered a form of employee and student misconduct, which may lead to disciplinary action. Further, supervisors and managers will be subject to discipline for failing to report suspected sexual harassment or otherwise knowingly allowing sexual harassment to continue. Employees and students who believe they have been subjected to sexual harassment may refer to the College’s Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Complaint Procedure for more details on how to have their allegations reviewed, which includes a link to the College’s complaint form.

Retaliation against a person who files a complaint, serves as a witness, or assists or participates in any manner in this procedure, is unlawful, is strictly prohibited and may result in disciplinary action. Retaliation is an adverse action taken against an individual as a result of complaining about or providing information regarding unlawful discrimination or harassment, exercising a legal right, and/or participating in a complaint investigation as a third-party witness. Adverse action includes being discharged, disciplined, discriminated against, or otherwise subject to adverse action because the individual reports an incident of sexual harassment, provides information, or otherwise assists in any investigation of a sexual harassment complaint. Participants who experience retaliation should contact the College’s Civil Rights Compliance Officer/Title IX Coordinator and may file a complaint pursuant to the procedures outlined in the College's Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Complaint Procedure.

The Student Handbook contains more detailed information regarding students’ rights, responsibilities, confidentiality, grievance procedures, and Code of Student Conduct.