Manhattanville College has allocated funds for a $4.5 million investment in its infrastructure.
The two-phase project will begin with a $2.75 million appropriation for residence hall and academic building renovations.
It will be followed by a second phase of $1.75 million in upgrades.
“I think these are challenging times in terms of enrollment, and our ability to stay on top of that is crucial to our resources and our needs,” said Molly Easo Smith, president of the Purchase-based liberal arts institution.
Though she admitted the college is “a little short of our target from last year” in enrollment, the dorms are full and applications are up ”“ all contributing factors in the board of trustees”™ giving the investment a green light.
The renovation is expected to begin this summer with work continuing throughout 2011, Easo Smith said.
Student housing choices will increase with the introduction of independent cottages complete with full kitchens and surrounded by garden space.
Easo Smith has appointed a campus task force to prioritize investments.
“They are going to look at all dorms and all classroom upgrades and then determine what shape those upgrades should take and which things go first,” she said. “In construction, some things are better done in bulk than in small stages and we want them to have to weigh those options and decisions and to make a good recommendation to me based on those steps.”
Combining the input of select students, faculty and administrators for executive decisions is nothing new for Manhattanville”™s 11th president.
Immediately following her spring 2009 inauguration, Easo Smith addressed the importance of uniting faculty and staff and understanding the Manhattanville brand name.
“I felt a good opportunity would be to get faculty and staff who had just joined the college to meet once a week through the fall, and we had everything from having our archivist come in and talk about the history of the college to a tour of the campus, so we understood the names behind buildings,” she said.
Another addition was a freshman congregation and retreats for faculty and the board of trustees, which drew from tradition dating back to 1948.
Heritage is important to the India-born Easo Smith, who was just as comfortable talking about the job market as she was sharing a Manhattanville memory.
“During the war years, Manhattanville offered a nursing degree, and it was our contribution to the war effort to produce nurses who could go and serve the country,” she said. “You look back to your history and think, ”˜It”™s lovely to be part of a community in whose soul and psyche lies a rich tradition of open embrace, of a constant willingness to change and adapt, and always open to new ideas and ahead of that changing world.”™ ”
The vertical integration of graduate and undergraduate coursework is high on Easo Smith”™s list of curriculum change.
“Just as we have strong art programs at the undergraduate level, one thing we have to think about is arts administration at the graduate level,” she said.
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