Now that SUNY Orange”™s Kaplan Hall is open for the business of providing education, its next step is to open its doors to the community to let it know it”™s there for meeting space and to brainstorm with the college on programs for the city ”“ and beyond.
Kaplan Hall, which houses the college”™s science, technology and nursing programs, is hosting all the former Newburgh Extension”™s programs while the Key Bank/Maple Street buildings undergo renovation to complete the college”™s footprint, which is expected to happen by fall.
The total project is expected to cost slightly over $80 million, with Newburgh philanthropist William Kaplan donating $10 million towards the new college ”“ with the stipulation it be built in the city.
Michael Albright, SUNY”™s communications director, said the renovation of the campus”™ two other buildings, which formerly housed Key Bank, the college”™s extension program and several other offices, will allow students and programs to be reconfigured once the remodeling is completed by Holt Construction.
Kaplan Hall”™s new library has 64 workstations, a one-stop college aid office where applications, financial assistance and the bursar”™s office are all in one central location, a feature, said Albright, that helps streamline the process for incoming students and take the task of enrolling much less daunting. The new building is Wi-Fi friendly, so students have several “quiet” areas to get work done in ”“ and a million-dollar view of the Hudson Valley from the campus”™ windows.
There are 1,600 full- and part-time students based in the 85,000-square-foot Kaplan Hall. Its nursing program will begin in April, with all 24 slots filled and a waiting list already growing.
The college”™s Middletown campus has 128 students in its nursing program and another 500 in its pre-nursing program. “It”™s very competitive,” Albright said. “The fact that we”™re able to offer the nursing program in this building in the spring is going to give students the option of not waiting for the fall semester to register.”
One of the challenges SUNY schools face, said Albright, is that many of the incoming students are not college ready. “More than 65 percent of new students come with some remedial work needed and it can be a roadblock to a degree. Once in a developmental class, they can only take electives, which have no credits. It is a stumbling block to achieving success for students because it can also become a cost factor that will stop them from continuing their education.”
To try to remedy the situation, SUNY Orange and Minisink Valley High School are working together on a pilot project to help its seniors prepare for assessment tests.
The new SUNY Orange Newburgh campus offers seven academic degrees ”“ business management, criminal justice, criminal justice-police, human services, liberal arts with humanities and nursing. “We offer more than 40 at the Middletown campus,” said Albright, “but the beauty for students taking these degrees are that it can all be done at the SUNY Newburgh campus, rather than traveling back and forth between Middletown and Newburgh.”
When the Key Bank/Maple Street buildings are retrofitted, there will be new educational space, lab rooms, a bookstore, a cafeteria, a fitness center and the reintroduction of the campus”™ Kinder College. Holt Construction is overseeing that renovation, which is costing approximately $25 million and is part of the overall projected cost for the entire campus.
One of the JMZ Architects”™Â innovations was to create a park on top of the campus”™ parking garage, with walkways, benches and a filtration system that captures rainwater and reroutes it into cisterns below the roof. The water captured can then be reused to keep the flora on the rooftop green ”“ and without adding additional cost to the college. Lots of southern exposure gives the interior a bright, comfortable and energy-friendly design for students and faculty.
In the meantime, SUNY Orange”™s new campus is also reaching out to the surrounding community. It will be hosting a Reconstructing Families summit on April 9 to connect families with resources available in the community, from after-school programs for teens to job opportunities and nutrition programs.
It will also host a six-part mentoring series in conjunction with the Orange County Chamber of Commerce on Tuesdays beginning March 29 and running weekly through May 18. Guest presenters will include Vincent Cozzolino of the Solar Energy Consortium, Hank DiMarco from IBM and Diannae Ehler of Stewart Airport, among others. The cost, at $120 per person, covers participation in all six workshops. For more information on the Topics in Leadership series, contact Linda Gramm Ferris at (845) 341-4380 or at linda.grammferris@sunyorange.edu.
“We don”™t expect this college to be the answer to Newburgh”™s revitalization prayers,” said Albright, “but we certainly expect it to be a positive part of the fabric of the community, to complement and help give lift up the city. We are an educational facility…what we hope to bring to Newburgh is a new foundation for education and something to be proud of. Dr. Richards, our college president, expects great things from this school, and I know with his leadership and vision, we are going to achieve all his goals.”
