Courtesy SUNY Empire State
Meg Benke has been named provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at SUNY Empire State College.
Benke, of Saratoga Springs, first joined the college in 1991, and previously served as provost and vice president for academic affairs, 2011-12, as a member of the faculty and a department chair with the college’s School for Graduate Studies. Most recently she has been serving as provost on an interim basis.
She is nationally and internationally recognized for her expertise in individualized learning, educating adult students, online learning, and as an award-winning scholar.
Benke held several leadership positions with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, an accrediting organization that assures academic quality and integrity in higher education.
Her state service includes participation with the Board of Regents Advisory Council, the Department of Education, and the SUNY system, in programmatic quality assurance, online learning, and other initiatives.
“Dr. Meg Benke is a national expert and leader in individualized learning, adult education, prior learning assessment, and online learning,” said SUNY Empire State College President Jim Malatras. “Meg’s continuing leadership on a permanent basis assures the college’s students of the high-quality education – online, face-to-face at one of our campuses across the state and in seven countries, or a combination of both – they have come to expect and deserve. At the same time, Meg will support the college’s world-class faculty and staff and the vital academic mission of SUNY Empire.”
Anastasia Pratt, chair of the Empire State College Senate, which, together with the College Assembly, engages with the college administration in shared governance, said Benke’s “experience, history of success, and dedication to our mission, provides us with the leadership we need to continue our forward momentum in improving the excellent education we provide to our students.”
“Educating adults, who comprise the majority of students enrolled in higher education nationally, is a passion I can best pursue with my colleagues at SUNY Empire,” said Benke. “I am grateful for the opportunity to be of continuing service to SUNY Empire State College. I look forward to working with Jim Malatras, my colleagues in the Office of Academic Affairs and the faculty and, most importantly, the students as we work to improve the education we provide them each and every day.”
As SUNY Empire’s vice president for academic affairs and provost, Benke oversees all facets of the academic enterprise of SUNY Empire, including more than 500 faculty and an annual budget of $42 million.
Her national and international awards and recognition include:
• Recipient of the Noflett Williams Service Award from the National University Technology Network.
• Induction into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame.
• Named to the inaugural class of Sloan-C Fellows, now known as the Online Learning Consortium.
• Most Outstanding Achievement in Online Learning by an Individual, Sloan-C.
• Benke’s leadership roles as a member of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education include serving as: corporate secretary to the commission; membership on the executive committee; chair of the committee on substantive change and commissioner.
A native of Pennsylvania, Benke holds a doctorate in Student Personnel, Higher Education, and a master’s in Student Personnel, both from Ohio University. She completed a bachelor’s in Business Administration from Youngstown State University.