MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. – Seeking to enhance community awareness and more closely align its workforce training and certification courses, as well as its non-credit education and enrichment courses, SUNY Orange announces the rollout of SUNY Orange Plus, a rebrand and restructuring of its longtime Continuing and Professional Education (CAPE) division.

Under the guidance of Dr. Jean Leandre, the College’s new Vice President of Workforce, Strategy and Innovation, SUNY Orange Plus will encompass workforce training and certification programming (which will retain the CAPE name) along with educational services (English as a Second Language and High School Equivalency), community education (short enrichment courses) and Orange County FoodTEC (the 501©3 affiliate of the College providing services for the area’s growing food, beverage and hospitality industry).

“One of the goals of this rebrand is to further showcase SUNY Orange as a full-service educational hub for residents of Orange County and the greater Hudson Valley,” Leandre says. “Whether you are looking for a two-year degree or want to enhance your skills in any number of areas with quick and accessible courses, you can find what you are looking for here. We offer the traditional SUNY Orange academic degrees and certificates, ‘Plus’ much more.

“Additionally, we are working to build and showcase greater pathways from our non-credit workforce training and certification programs into academic degree programs, as well as aligning degree programs with supplemental training or certifications where possible,” Leandre adds. “The SUNY Orange Plus realignment will also allow us to more efficiently market, promote and recruit new students by uniting our efforts across each of the four branches of SUNY Orange Plus.”

Among the first initiatives for SUNY Orange Plus has been the rollout of new course offerings this Spring, including: Clinical Medical Assistant, Certified Medical Billing and Coding Specialist, Certified Pharmacy Technician, Certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), CDL Training: Class A & B Truck Driver, Manufacturing Machine Operator (HAAS), Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC-T), Certified Fiber Optic Technician and Family Development Credential Program.

These courses, some of which are brand new while others are longtime offerings that have been refreshed, are designed to efficiently train or upskill students for rewarding careers with sustainable salaries in a competitive work market, SUNY Orange Plus courses are affordable, flexible, and convenient programs that allow students to access quality training that fits their needs and schedule. All courses lead to a credential or certification, and financial assistance may be available for those who qualify.

Additionally, SUNY Orange Plus will manage the College’s sought-after High School Equivalency (GED) and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs. For students from those programs, according to Leandre, the next logical step, if they desire, is to move into either degree programs or workforce skills offering at the College.

“We have always had tremendous interest and participation in HSE and ESL, and many of those students perform well in the classes,” Leandre explains. “My hope is, moving forward, we can do a better job of showing them all of the options before them here at the College so they can decide if we fit into their future plans. We want to provide meaningful pathways for whatever career or academic direction they want to go.”

SUNY Orange Plus is also blending Orange County FoodTEC into its organizational structure. FoodTEC was established to provide and support workforce development and job training opportunities, certification, and internships to assist job seekers and workers in obtaining and advancing in jobs that provide sustaining wages and benefits while supporting the economic development of Orange County and its surrounding areas.

FoodTEC will prepare interested individuals and companies in the region’s food, beverage, hospitality and tourism sectors with industry-recognized training and certifications for a wide range of industry occupations.

“FoodTEC is off and running with online certification courses, and we are in the process of renovating our commercial kitchen in the Tower Building on the Newburgh campus,” Leandre says. “Once the kitchen is complete, we’ll be able to greatly expand what we can offer to individuals and companies. We know the region is ripe for food, beverage, hospitality and tourism growth, and those sectors will need a pipeline of trained workers.”

Prior to the pandemic, SUNY Orange offered enrichment courses in such areas as music, technology, art and business, but curtailed those during and after the pandemic. Leandre indicates that some of those will be making a return in the near future, once the training and certification programs, as well as FoodTEC, are more firmly established.

For more information, visit www.sunyorange.edu/plus or contact Leandre at jean.leandre@sunyorange.edu.