SUNY Canton is introducing and implementing esports to enhance campus life for online students, who make up 41% of the student body. The initiative aims to foster community, improve retention, and develop leadership and soft skills among participants, while also aligning with industry growth and preparing students for careers in esports management. The esports program includes a state-of-the-art arena and aims to increase participation, particularly among women.

1. Introducing and Implementing eSports at SUNY
Canton
Dr. Molly Mott, Associate Provost and Dean of Academic Support Services and
Technologies
Randy Sieminski, Director of Athletics
Kyle Brown, CIO
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2. In the beginning…..
• Our online students launched the discussion (41% of our students
are enrolled in fully online programs)
• Students at a distance seeking opportunities to engage in campus life
• How do we do that, especially with things like athletics ……through eSports
• eSports offers opportunities for this population to become student athletes and deepen
their connection to the college community
• Received grant funding from SUNY to develop campus life for online
students and elevate our online enterprise; subsequently hired a part-
time eSports coach
• One of our first online gamers played competitive League of Legends from his residence
in Florida with his teammates in New York.
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3. Enrollment and retention strategy
• Students involved in eSports (whether on campus or online) build
community with one another, whereas they may have been
isolated before
• As student athletes, they develop leadership skills, work
collaboratively, strategize as a team, work through failures,
develop soft skills (how to negotiate, compromise, communicate
with teammates): student development
• The GPA standards and student conduct expected of our
traditional athletes are expected of our eSports athletes
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4. Preparing students for the future industries
• Interest in eSports is escalating, impacting enrollment
• Expected to grow to $1.4 billion by 2020 across the world, at a rate of 40
percent a year
• We are currently developing an eSports Management degree that
prepares students for the business of eSports
• Job opportunities incl. sports sales, sports marketing, public relations and
social media, video editor, event and tournament management, account
manager, broadcaster, coach
• Aligns and complements our Game Design, Graphic and Multimedia Design,
Technological Communication, and Cybersecurity programs
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5. Who are you?
• Higher Ed
• Business
• Interest in starting an eSports team or hosting a tourney
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Who am I?

6. Starting your eSports Team
• Do you have a location and
equipment to compete?
• Find a champion… or two
(technical champion and game
champ)
• Gauge interest (there are
numerous games to choose from)
- Sign ups, email or even start with a
quick, fun tourney
• Play!!!
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7. Student-Athlete
Experience
Competitive eSports athletic
program, joining the National
Association of Collegiate
Esports
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• Not the traditional student-athlete
• eSports – leadership, sportsmanship,
teamwork, social skills, pride, represent
the college, et…
• Academic synergy with great majors
• Ability for online students to compete

8. Infrastructure supporting the effort
Partnerships with Extreme Networks, provides a high-bandwidth, low-latency wireless network
to support our programs and enable flawless gaming and learning.
The eSports Arena:
• 1800sqft two story room
• 24 gaming stations
• Alienware Area-51 PCs with Threadripper processors, GTX 1080Ti video cards and 32Gb of RAM.
• Alienware 25” 240Hz monitor
• Alienware mechanical keyboards and gaming mice
• Vertagear SL500 gaming chairs
• Logitech G933 Artemis headsets
• 1 Alienware shout caster / streaming station
• Five 55” 4K LCDs each with PS4 Pro and Xbox One X for console gaming
• Team game review and meeting space with 80” 4K LCD.
• Lockers for team members to store peripherals and equipment.
• Indirect RGB lighting.
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9. Infrastructure supporting the effort
• Challenges and lessons learned:
• Sufficient electrical, networking, and HVAC to support the arena.
• Balancing performance with security and management (both PC and
network).
• Accommodating bandwidth and software management requirements.
• Designing room to be multipurpose – competition, practice, and events.
• Creating atmosphere to reduce eye strain and physical fatigue.
• Partner with trusted vendors to assist! We leverage Extreme Networks
and Alienware for our project.
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10. Next steps
• Grow online cohort
• Increase women in eSports
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