More than 900 students are eligible to participate in the ceremony, which will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 21, in the College’s brand-new athletic center, nicknamed Roos House. The live web video feed will be available via www.canton.edu.

SUNY Canton President Joseph L. Kennedy praised the College’s Information Services Department for making the live streaming broadcast possible.

“Friends and family and even graduates can watch the video feed if they are unable to attend the ceremony,” Kennedy said. “It is a continuation of the phenomenal work that our faculty and staff members do annually in preparation for the event.”

During commencement there will be also be video conference between SUNY Canton and the American University in Bosnia Herzegovina so Kennedy can recognize 70 students who will be receiving degrees from both colleges.

College representatives will be updating the College’s social media outlets throughout the day. To follow along, visit www.canton.edu/twitter or visit www.facebook.com/suny.canton.

With a couple of weeks left until New Years, overall website traffic is up significantly from 2009’s year-end total of slightly more than 1.9 million visits. The website received a total of more than 4.6 million page views during 2010 and frequently surpassed 10,000 visitors a day during the academic year.

“The website is a gauge to measure our overall growth and popularity to prospective students,” said President Joseph L. Kennedy. “We’ve had record enrollments for the past three years, with 3,686 students enrolled this fall. The web traffic and our enrollments signify that we are growing in two incredibly important areas – current students and prospective students.”

Traffic was up among international visitors. The country with the most visits outside the United States was Bosnia. The College is well known for its international partnerships with the American University in Bosnia Herzegovina among others. Other top-referring countries included Canada, Russia, China, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, and Japan. “We are seeing more global interest in our College as we increase our international presence through SUNY Canton OnLine,” Kennedy said. “Students from around the world and locally can earn a SUNY Canton degree without traveling from their homes.”

More than 57 percent of the webpage hits were generated by direct traffic, or when users typed in the College’s address into their browser’s address bar. Among the top referring sites, or sites that include links to canton.edu were Google, Facebook, North Country Now, and the SUNY Learning Network (which highlights the College’s online courses).

“In addition to incrementally redesigning the site, we’ve added more vibrant content and delivered our updates to users through social media sites including Facebook and Twitter,” said Assistant Vice President for Advancement Randy B. Sieminski, who oversees the College’s public relations department and athletics. “Whether it’s information on our growing academic offerings or connecting with the alumni office, it is easier than ever to find exactly what you are looking for on our site. Our Web Designer Travis Smith has done a wonderful job integrating the latest technologies to facilitate the latest web resources and organizing the College’s online assets.”

Top referring cities within the state included New York, Watertown, Syracuse, Rochester, Plattsburgh, Utica, and Albany. The cities with the most visitors in the entire United States included Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, and Orlando. The number of pages visited and the time spent on the site also increased during the year.

Media inquiries should be directed to Gregory Kie, Media Relations Coordinator, or call 315/386-7528.

“Similar to social network sites like Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn, we’ve decided to create our own SUNY Canton specific social networking sites,” said SUNY Canton President Joseph L. Kennedy. “This is one of the primary ways young people meet and communicate. We want to utilize the technologies that students are using to help ease their transition into college life, or help our alumni reconnect with their alma mater.”

The college constructed “Be a Roo” for admitted students who plan on attending SUNY Canton in Fall 2008 and “MyCanton” for current students and alumni. Both are user-controlled and self-modifiable networking gateways that allow users to select friends, create a photo gallery, stream music, and communicate via message board or “wall” posts. Be a Roo has an integrated live chat feature that allows students to talk directly to admissions counselors.

“Admitted students are communicating directly with each other, forming friendships, and becoming familiar with SUNY Canton,” said Director of Admissions Jonathan Kent. “If they have questions about accommodations, services and scholarships, we have people to answer in an easy access and fun format.”

Some admitted students have been finding peers with like interests and preparing for their first-year as college students. A number of integrated applications add fun to networking site. Users can add post-it notes, get concert and event information, add YouTube videos and import “widgets” for their personal pages. They have also been joining each other in groups relating to athletic teams, academic majors, and social interests.

The MyCanton network has garnered campus-wide attention. Users have the option to create their own groups within the MyCanton site, so clubs and organizations have been using it as a tool to communicate and recruit new members.

The groups on MyCanton vary from the college’s student government to a forum for New York Giants fans at SUNY Canton.

MyCanton will also help create connections between current students and alumni at the college. Alumni can mentor students, find out about current happenings on campus, lend insight into post graduate career opportunities, or even make a job offer to a qualified senior.

Admitted students who want to join Be a Roo, need to email superroo@canton.edu and current students or alumni email webmaster@canton.edu.

SUNY Canton offers a wide variety of career-driven bachelor’s, associate, and certificate programs, as well as three master’s degrees in conjunction with SUNYIT, Utica. Most of SUNY Canton’s new four-year programs are designed so students can take them on-campus, online, or both. SUNY Canton OnLine features more than 65 courses online each semester. The college’s athletic teams have joined the NAIA’s Sunrise Conference, enabling students to compete in their respective sports for four years.

Media inquiries should be directed to Gregory Kie, Media Relations Coordinator, or call 315/386-7528.