Empire State Service Corp applications open

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)---SUNY is looking for 500 of its students to join the Empire State Service Corp. The students involved would be doing things such as working with environmental organizations, helping students fill out FAFSA forms for federal student aid, and tutoring grade school children.

"For a lot of our K-12 students, their education was disrupted by COVID, so there is still ground to make up in reading and math, so there is a lot of opportunity for SUNY students to help younger students catch up academically through tutoring," explained John King, SUNY's Chancellor.

Kate Cochran, managing director for the National Partnership for Student Success, said this is a great opportunity for college students to make a difference.

"Having a caring adult in school, who knows and cares about a student on a one-to-one basis, we know can have a really positive impact both on academic success, and also one other factors— mental health, wellbeing," said Cochran.

Through the Empire State Service Corp, students are expected to complete 300 hours of service per year. Corp members would be paid $16 dollars an hour, but that could vary depending on whether students participate in their college’s work study program as well.

"The hope is students who might not otherwise be able to do that service because they’d have to work in a part time job, that might not be advancing the public good——they’d be able to choose service because we want to make sure that serving a community isn’t something that’s just available to affluent students, but all of our students," said King.

Applications to become a member are currently being accepted. SUNY is hoping to fill the positions by the time the fall semester begins.