Chartered by the New York State Board of Regents in 1970, the Associated Colleges of the St. Lawrence Valley has four members: SUNY Canton, Clarkson University, SUNY Potsdam, and St. Lawrence University. The four presidents of the campuses serve as the governing board for the organization.
The consortium is a regional, multipurpose organization which fosters cooperative endeavors in a range of academic and administrative areas. These endeavors are organized to augment and complement institutional programs without supplanting them or reducing their individual importance.
Projects of the consortium are organized by steering committees with representatives from the four colleges. The consortium is supported through annual assessments and some individual projects are funded by the member colleges. The consortium represents more than 12,000 undergraduate students.
Each member institution has a distinct character, history and curriculum and among them they bring a wealth of educational opportunities to northern New York. The collaborative work of the consortium is designed to enhance educational experiences while retaining the best of the members individual traditions and provides innovative methods of investing in new services while containing the cost of higher education.