In one classroom, immigrant students concentrate on a test. Across the hall, students in white lab coats practice their dental assisting techniques, while medical assisting students labor away at their computers. Three floors below, two young women in an advanced essay class share their stories and receive constant guidance from their professor.

These classes are not unlike hundreds of others being taught throughout SUNY. Thousands of first-rate academic and professional faculty are committed to giving students a well-rounded, high-quality education.

But these classes are unique in two fundamental ways: They are being taught for free at a state-operated Educational Opportunity Center (EOC); and the students are academically and economically underserved.

The demographics of SUNY EOC students are as wide-ranging as their needs: refugees from war-torn African countries and immigrants searching for the American dream; non-English speakers looking for work, promotion or U.S. citizenship; baby boomers forced to retrain due to outsourcing; people from poverty-stricken neighborhoods and rural communities looking to earn a high-school diploma, prepare for college or learn a vocation.

“The EOCs provide education, training and counseling for students who are academically disadvantaged, facing financial hardship or who have learning disabilities,” said UUP member Mary Jo Jenson, an assistant professor in the EOC medical assisting program at SUNY Buffalo. “We help them to achieve their goals — whether it’s to work or to enter college — and to become self-sufficient.”

While The Voice this month features programs specific to the Buffalo EOC, the mission, services and dedication of faculty are the same at all of SUNY’s 10 Educational Opportunity Centers.

“The EOCs have a long-standing reputation as the model for college preparation and workforce training programs that are often the first step people take toward attaining their goals,” said UUP Executive Board member Lorna Arrington, a professor of math at the Buffalo EOC and chair of the union’s statewide EOC Concerns Committee.

When the dental assisting program at the Buffalo EOC was first established 40 years ago, no one dreamt it would be the success it is today. The 32-week certification program is one of only three in New York state accredited by the American Dental Association and the only one in Erie County.

The program gives students the practical skills they need to work in a variety of dental fields, such as dental radiology, infection control and chair-side dental assisting. All students are required to complete a 300-hour clinical externship at area dental offices.

The externships are a win-win situation: Students get hands-on training and dentists get qualified assistants. Nearly 70 percent of certified graduates are later hired by the local dentists, while more than 45 percent of the dental assistants currently employed by the SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine came through the EOC.

“Our students are constantly telling us that it’s a life-changing experience for them, to go from working menial jobs in food service to having a profession, to being a respected member of the dental community,” said Buffalo EOC associate professor and UUP member Nancy Robinson.

“Employers tell us all the time how the Buffalo EOC is the ‘best-kept secret’ in Western New York,” said UUP member Karen Coffey, an associate professor in the medical assisting program. “Employment opportunities are excellent, and our students see this as a chance for a career and not just a job.”

Not all EOC students enroll in vocational training programs. Many come to the EOC looking for nothing more than to improve their language abilities, and still more enter to develop a better aptitude for learning.

UUP member Dorothy Taylor, an associate professor in the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at the Buffalo EOC, said there are countless reasons students take her courses. One woman from Somalia has six children and wants to learn more about American education; a Latino man needs to improve his speaking skills in order to be promoted; others want to help their children with schoolwork, converse with a physician, get a job or go to college.

“Every day when I leave, I know I have helped someone,” Taylor said. “Even if it’s just that they were able to read one sentence.”

Her sense of accomplishment dovetailed that of her officemate, UUP member and associate professor Sharon Amos, who said she is “constantly motivated and engaged” in meeting the challenges of this diverse population. “How do I move a person from writing one sentence to writing a critical essay?”

One such student is Sonia Ruiz, who has aspirations of entering college to become a social worker — once she feels ready to handle the curricula.

“I hope to improve my writing skills, and my skills in general, and then I’ll know if I’m ready to enter Buffalo State in January,” Ruiz said. “I want to be fully prepared for college so I don’t drop out like lots of other people do.”

“I feel a sense of pride when I see a student come into the program tentatively and leave confidently,” Amos said.

The EOC mission has caught the attention of Vice Provost Pedro Caban, the new head of SUNY’s Office for Diversity and Educational Equity, which was formed in large part by the efforts of UUP. Caban sees the EOCs as a pipeline to a SUNY education, and is looking to tap the expertise of EOC faculty in his quest to make SUNY more accessible to more New Yorkers.

“Under Dr. Caban’s leadership, we should see a groundswell of nontraditional students again on SUNY campuses — as it should be — and the EOCs will have a prominent role in preparing and transitioning these students,” said UUP member Beverly Dove, EOC director of marketing and promotions at SUNY Buffalo.

UUP President William Scheuerman couldn’t agree more, and pledged the union’s support in the fight for more funding.

“The new Office of Diversity and Educational Equity is a well-thought-out response to the higher-than-average dropout rates among Hispanic and low-income students, who are historically underrepresented on college campuses,” Scheuerman said. “We’re now monitoring the budget process to ensure that this new office gets sufficient funding to hit the ground running.”

UUP delegates to the union’s policymaking convention in late September passed a resolution calling on lawmakers to fully fund the Office for Diversity and Educational Equity, which opened its doors in mid-August. The resolution asks that a minimum of $15 million be added to the SUNY budget, along with ongoing increases, to fully meet the financial and educational needs of people in protected classes.

Meanwhile, three members of the union’s EOC Concerns Committee seized the chance to meet with Caban in his first weeks in office, and were encouraged when Caban asked for their input on how the EOCs can help him meet his objectives.

“The luncheon meeting was held at UUP’s suggestion to welcome Dr. Caban to SUNY, to let him know about the history of the EOC Concerns Committee and its successes, and to pledge our support to him as he starts his tenure,” said Brian Maher, a senior staff associate in EOC Business Affairs at SUNY Farmingdale. “He strongly indicated that he looked forward to working with us.” James Engle, an EOC associate professor and chapter president at SUNY Morrisville, captured the essence of SUNY and its EOCs when he told Caban, “The EOCs are like the minor league teams for SUNY. We take the underserved, underprepared populations and get them ready for the big leagues.”

— Karen L. Mattison