Two years after launching, SUNY’s Empire State Service Corps has more than doubled in size at SUNY Oneonta and expanded its reach throughout the greater Oneonta community.
SUNY Oneonta played a leading role in the program's launch in 2024, with 48 students in its inaugural cohort—the most of any participating SUNY campus. This year, 100 students are participating, making Oneonta’s 2026-27 cohort one of the largest in the SUNY system, alongside Binghamton University and the University at Buffalo.
Through the Empire State Service Corps, or ESSC, students complete paid public service in areas ranging from K-12 education and basic needs outreach to sustainability, civic engagement and mental health. Placements now include area state parks, schools, nonprofits, food banks, Head Start programs and other community organizations, as well as on-campus services such as the Red Dragon Food Pantry and Bugbee Children’s Center.
“One of our biggest goals has been to build meaningful partnerships throughout the community,” said Francis Carter, director of SUNY Oneonta’s Center for Volunteerism and Community Engagement, who leads the ESSC at Oneonta. “Students want to make a difference, and our local organizations have incredible opportunities for them to do just that.”
Building Community Partnerships
The Arc Otsego, which serves more than 500 individuals with intellectual and other developmental disabilities throughout Otsego County, is one organization that has seen the partnership grow.
Six ESSC students have served at its Otsego ReUse Center, which provides affordable, gently used materials to the public while keeping reusable items out of the waste stream. Three are serving there this semester, including one participating for her third ESSC term, while another former ESSC student was hired as a part-time employee.
“These students come with a focus on sustainability and have been able to lend their knowledge and experience to our reuse, recycling and sustainability initiatives,” said Faith Tiemann, chief marketing officer for The Arc Otsego. “As a nonprofit, having extra staffing through the Service Corps has allowed us to increase the impact the dollars raised at the Otsego ReUse Center have on supporting people with disabilities throughout Otsego County.”
From Service to Leadership
ESSC now includes six student cohorts working across 15 impact areas, allowing students to connect service with their interests and career goals.
For Olivia Leffler, a junior Adolescence Education major, that meant spending last year working with students at a local middle school through ESSC’s Education Cohort. This year, she is a member of the inaugural ESSC Ambassadors Team, working in the Center for Volunteerism and Community Engagement to support Oneonta’s 100 ESSC students and help coordinate the growing program.
“Through my experience with the Empire State Service Corps, I have been able to see the direct impacts I am making in my community,” Leffler said. “Nothing beats the feeling when you can help make a difference, whether it be teaching a middle schooler how to multiply fractions or helping one of my ESSC peers complete an application.”
In just its third year, ESSC is giving more SUNY Oneonta students the opportunity to make that experience and impact part of their education.
“Community organizations gain energetic, dedicated volunteers, while students graduate with stronger resumes, expanded professional networks and a deeper understanding of civic responsibility,” said President Alberto Cardelle. “We are creating a culture in which community engagement isn't an occasional volunteer opportunity—it’s becoming part of the student experience.”