SUNY Adirondack celebrates 45 years serving Saratoga

College hosts event to mark 10 years in building, four decades in city

WILTON, New York (Jan. 3, 2022) — SUNY Adirondack celebrates its 10th year at Saratoga Center in Wilton and its 45th year of serving Saratoga residents.

“We are honored to be Saratoga's educator of choice since 1977,” said Kristine D. Duffy, Ed.D., president of SUNY Adirondack. “SUNY Adirondack started off in Saratoga with just a few evening classes and, throughout more than four decades, has greatly expanded its presence, and is proud to be celebrating this milestone.”

The event welcomes educators, business professionals, elected officials and others to Saratoga Center, a facility that features state-of-the-art laboratories, spacious classrooms and a lecture hall, at 696 Route 9 in Wilton. 

SUNY Adirondack’s Wilton location provides convenient options to residents of the Saratoga area. Over the past year, the college has increased the number of health education courses and began offering “high-flex” courses in which students can attend in person, via livestream from anywhere or watch recorded sessions at their convenience.

Many Early College Career Academy courses are also offered at Saratoga Center. The program — a collaboration between SUNY Adirondack and Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex (WSWHE) BOCES in which high school students attend classes that teach analytical, theoretical and hands-on elements of high-demand jobs — includes fields of study in Media Arts, Advanced Manufacturing, IT: Cybersecurity and Business Administration. 

“SUNY Adirondack has a long history of serving Saratoga,” Duffy said. “Throughout the years we have adapted to ensure we are providing the region the well-rounded, highly trained employees our economy needs.”

The college first offered eight evening courses in rented space at Saratoga Central Catholic High School in 1977. By the early 1990s, 35 classes were offered, leading SUNY Adirondack — then still Adirondack Community College — to open a branch in McGregor Village Plaza on Route 9 in Wilton in 1995. 

In fall 2001, the college for the first time outlined a three-year sequence of classes to complete five different degree programs entirely in its Saratoga facility, including Information Technology: Information Systems; Associate of Arts and Associate of Applied Science degrees in Business Administration; Liberal Arts & Science; and Health Information Technologies. Two years later, daytime classes were added to the lineup.

In 2012, SUNY Adirondack was moved to its current location. Today several degree programs can be completed entirely at Saratoga Center, or in conjunction with online courses or classes at the college’s Queensbury campus. 

So far this academic year, nearly 400 students enrolled in at least one class at SUNY Adirondack Saratoga. Saratoga County residents in fall 2021 comprised 39 percent of SUNY Adirondack’s student body, with more than 1,000 students from the county attending.