02/10/2026
New opportunities are coming to SUNY Cortland thanks to the university’s partnership in a statewide Advancing AI for the Public Good Initiative.
Cortland will work with lead institution Binghamton University and SUNY Broome, SUNY Delhi, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Oneonta and Tompkins Cortland Community College to find the best ethical and effective uses for the growing artificial intelligence field within academics and research.
Part of New York’s Empire AI program, the initiative will introduce students to more information on the topic, including workforce applications and ethical considerations, and allow the partnered schools to work together and create a free noncredit AI Prep for Careers microcredential.
The microcredential will be developed this spring and is expected to be ready for students by the fall semester.
Professor Chris Badurek, chair of the Geography Department and co-coordinator of the university’s Computer Applications Program (CAP), was approached by colleagues at Binghamton to bring Cortland into the group. He described the new initiative as a great opportunity for students in CAP, an interdisciplinary minor designed to provide computing skills. The curriculum will see updates through the partnership’s new resources.
“One of the required courses in the minor used to be called CAP 104: Computers in Society, but we’re changing the name and the thrust of that course to AI, Technology and Society,” said Badurek, who also co-directs the SUNY Cortland Regional Geographic Information Systems Laboratory. “The emphasis is going to be more aligned with the curricular conversations that are part of the AI for Public Good Initiative. We’re having that going on right now and it’s an immediate campus impact.”
The proper use of AI is one of the most relevant, in-demand technical skills across a variety of careers, he noted. Generative AI models like Chat GPT or Claude enable users to speed up day-to-day work tasks. Another side of AI research involves algorithm development.
“We have students that do quantitative work,” Badurek said. “And they can apply some algorithmic functions to quantitative data in business, health care, sport management or whatever the case may be. And they learn to apply those functional tools in the way that’s going to bring value to the workplace.”
In total, Cortland will receive close to $100,000 in state funding, including money used to support two new summer undergraduate research fellowships through the initiative.
Those students would work at Binghamton for their projects with input from Cortland faculty advisors. As an example of what the fellowships might look like, Badurek cited his current work mentoring undergraduate research projects integrating AI and geographic information systems to better understand how residential development may affect water quality in the Finger Lakes.
In January, New York state Governor Kathy Hochul announced Binghamton as home to the first independent university artificial intelligence research center in the country.
The statewide effort will also be aided by the planned Empire AI supercomputer at the University at Buffalo. That computing power is planned to promote advanced research and learning throughout SUNY.
“Through Empire AI, New York is ensuring the power of AI is harnessed responsibly,” Hochul said. “By bringing together SUNY institutions through these campus partnerships, we are furthering the use of AI for the public good and shaping a brighter future for all New Yorkers.”
SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said the Empire AI program places the state as a leader in AI while giving students exceptional experience with the technology.
“SUNY is proud to leverage the largest comprehensive system of public higher education in the country to ensure more students can drive research and move innovation forward,” King said.