UAlbany taking over management of Nano College

The college will still exist. But it will be under UAlbany’s administration.

SUNY Poly Utica will remain as a separate Polytechnic school.

Also on Tuesday, school Dean Andrew Russell was named temporary officer in charge of SUNY Polytechnic Institute and the SUNY Poly College Council was authorized to begin a national search for a permanent president of SUNY Poly Utica.

The resolution approved by the trustees cited specific strengths for SUNY Poly Utica.

“Governor Hochul’s transformative vision for SUNY includes the empowerment of — and investment in — SUNY Poly Utica to strategically grow their successful programs in engineering and nursing while strengthening their position as a premier public polytechnic and destination for economic and workforce development focused on nanotechnology and the integration of chip technology in new and innovative ways, including the needs of the Air Force Research Laboratory,” the resolution said.

Meanwhile, according to the resolution, the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering is geographically near UAlbany and the two could benefit from each other. The trustees said they envision a “revitalized” college working with the research university to coordinate on nanotechnology research. The college was founded in 2004 and became part of SUNY Polytechnic Institute in 2014. But then founding president Alain Kaloyeros resigned in 2016. He was convicted on federal wire fraud charges, which he has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Justices heard the case last month.

Hochul’s 2022 State of the State called for the two to merge, partly for more effective day-to-day management. Three weeks ago, the college’s third temporary leader left for another job.