SYRACUSE — New York officials have formally designated the SUNY Oswego Metro Center in the Atrium building in Syracuse as a branch campus of the university.

The New York State Education Department’s Board of Regents first approved the designation in January, SUNY Oswego said in a news release distributed on June 1. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Education Department later OK’d the designation in May.

As an official branch campus, people can complete “in-demand” degree and certificate programs at the SUNY Oswego Metro Center, located at The Atrium at 2 Clinton Square.

“Opened in downtown Syracuse in 2008, our off-campus site grew quickly into a significant asset for the Central New York region,” Deborah Stanley, president of SUNY Oswego, said in the news release. “Now as a branch campus, it will meaningfully extend our access and excellence.”

SUNY Oswego has offered courses for master’s degrees and graduate-certificate programs for more than six years, but the new designation allows students to take all courses necessary to complete a degree or certificate at the Metro Center, the school said.

With its new branch-campus status, the school has hired a student-resources adviser for the Syracuse campus to link students with support services that include financial aid, career counseling, and accessing library materials, according to the school’s news release.

SUNY Oswego established the Syracuse location as an extension site in 2008 “to help meet the growing needs of part-time adult students.”

Enrollment grew “faster than expected,” prompting the university to seek the state’s approval for a formal extension-center designation first and then the branch-campus status later, the school said. 

The enrollment figure grew from 61 students in the fall of 2008, when SUNY Oswego offered courses in two areas, to a total of 771 students in 2014, when the site offered 18 programs of study, it added.

In addition to providing advanced education and degrees, the SUNY Oswego Metro Center has also become a community resource, the school contends. 

The facility has developed academic and experiential partnerships with the region’s schools, colleges, businesses, and community agencies.

Community members can also rent the facility for their events, and employers can use it for training programs.

The Metro Center is also home to SUNY Oswego’s Active Aging and Community Engagement Center, which its website describes as an academic research center “promoting active aging through education, applied research and innovative community partnerships.”

SUNY Oswego has been “very engaged” in downtown Syracuse, Jill Pippin, SUNY Oswego’s dean of extended learning, contended in the news release. 

“The college has been collaborating closely with other regional collegiate and business entities to serve the area and looks forward to continue doing so with graduate degrees, certificates, and completion-undergraduate degrees.”