SUNY Empire Addiction Studies Students, Faculty Featured on NYS Podcast

(Saratoga, NY — October 31, 2023) — Two Empire State University students and a faculty member in the addiction studies degree program were featured on the podcast Addiction: The Next Step, a New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) initiative. The podcast highlights addiction and harm-reduction services available in New York state. The October 31 episode, hosted by Jerry Gretzinger, featured professional, personal, and academic experiences and insights from members of the SUNY Empire community.

Students Gary Lunderman, a clinical counselor at PYHIT Albany, and Melissa Fritsch, a case manager at The Addictions Care Center of Albany, are working toward their bachelor’s degree in addiction studies at SUNY Empire, thanks in part to a scholarship offered by OASAS supported through the New York Opioid Settlement Fund.  

“I had been planning to go down to part-time and just kind of pay for things as I could because I didn’t want to take out more student loans,” Fritsch said. And thanks to the scholarship, she doesn’t have to.

Thalia MacMillan, Ph.D., professor and chair of SUNY Empire’s addiction studies program, who was also featured in the podcast, said nearly 700 students contacted her over the summer due to growing interest in this important field. She said a big draw of the OASAS scholarship is reducing the time it takes a qualified student to earn their degree, due to SUNY Empire’s credit for relevant experience and prior learning.

“For so many people, there’s a lot of obstacles to trying to go back to school or to get your degree, and this really provides such a really unique opportunity to allow them to do it. It’s just phenomenal,” MacMillan said.

Lunderman agreed. He said he originally planned to earn his degree one class at a time, but the OASAS scholarship allows him to take two or three courses a term, speeding his time to degree.

The scholarship is awarded to eligible Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselors (CASAC), eligible Credentialed Prevention Specialists (CPS), and other students who meet the admissions criteria to enroll at SUNY Empire and complete at least one semester toward the Bachelor of Science in Addiction Studies program. Scholarship funding may be available to complete the entire degree program.  

SUNY Empire is one of three SUNY campuses offering addiction studies courses and degrees participating in the OASAS scholarship program. As SUNY’s leading online university and New York state’s only public online university, addiction studies students can earn their degrees fully online with some independent study options.

To listen to the OASAS podcast episode, Free College Tuition Opportunity: Yes, You Can! visit www.buzzsprout.com/2186676/13871698.

For more information about the OASAS partnership and scholarship at SUNY Empire, email OASAS.Scholarship@sunyempire.edu or visit www.sunyempire.edu/partnership-programs/government-partnerships/oasas.