State University of New York at Old Westbury
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The State University of New York College at Old Westbury was founded in 1965 by the State University of New York Board of Trustees. It began in 1968 at Planting Fields, the former Coe Estate and arboretum located in Oyster Bay, New York. In 1971, the College moved to its present Old Westbury site in Nassau County on Long Island — an estate formerly owned by agriculturist, industrialist, sportsman and philanthropist F. Ambrose Clark.
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[edit] Academics
Students enrolled at the College can select a course of study from one of 13 departments: American Studies; Biological Sciences; Business; Chemistry and Physics; Computer Information Science; English Language Studies; Humanities and Languages; Mathematics; Politics, Economics and Society; Psychology; Sociology; Teacher Education; and Visual Arts. At the graduate level, a Master of Science degree in Accounting is offered.
The College enrolls approximately 3,000 students (78 percent full-time and 22 percent part-time).
The College's current president is Calvin O. Butts, III.
[edit] Four Credit System & Four day school week
Old Westbury differs from most schools in that its credit system is based on four credits instead of three. This allows for students to complete their degrees with fewer courses than they would if they were to attend a three-credit school. However this proves to make transferring out of SUNY at Old Westbury quite difficult.
The college is also unusual in that its normal school week runs on a Monday through Thursday schedule, instead of Monday through Friday as at most colleges and universities. Students taking science courses usually have labs scheduled on Fridays.
[edit] Student Life & Student Government
Old Westbury's student life is one of the most diverse in the Northeast. While the majority of enrolled students are white, the school has large Asian, Black, and Hispanic populations. A majority of the students who live in Old Westbury's dorms are minorities and there have been recent complaints by students that the dorms do not reflect the diversity of the campus itself. Another complaint of students is Old Westbury's lack of student life on the weekends. Since classes do not meet on Friday, many students go home to New York City and Long Island, which leaves the campus with very few students on the weekends.
The Old Westbury Student Government Association is comprised of an Executive Board which includes a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, public relations officer,Executive Staff Officer and a Governor of Social Affairs who is responsible for managing clubs and organizations on campus as well as organizing student activities. The Student Government also has a student senate and a judicial court.
The current Student Government President is April Davis and she can be reached at: (516)876-3274 or MsAprilDavis@gmail.com.
In addition there are many clubs and organizations on campus serving a variety of student interests.
[edit] The First Year Experience Program
The College has an unusual program for first-year students: the First Year Experience Program. Headed by Dr. Laura Anker (with Cynthia Anderson serving as Assistant Director and Patricia Cheshire as Administrative Assistant) the program gives freshman students a crash-course in collegiate life and study habits. With offices located in the Student Union, the program's offerings include a year-long first-year experience seminar course where students earn eight college credits while engaging in a diverse range of experiences. The first-year-experience office also offers first year students one-on-one emotional support to help form a bridge during the often rough transition between high school and college. The program's office includes a lounge in which students can relax, and light refreshments. Another popular component of the program is a series of educational and cultural field trips, mostly to Manhattan, that the program provides during the school year.
[edit] Media And Print
The college's media outlets includes the Catalyst student newspaper, pubished once a month throughout the school year, and the College radio and television stations, WCOW.
[edit] Live from Old Westbury
The Clark Athletic Center, the athletic facility on campus named for the former property owner, is a prominent recreational facility on Long Island.
The basketball gymnasium at the Clark Center was the home of the Nassau County championship high-school basketball games in the mid 1980s and 1990s and has again hosted the tournament since 2001. Most recently, the popular post-season event has been aired on Cablevision, one of the nation's largest cable systems, on a live or tape-delayed basis.
[edit] Controversies
The administration has had a very strained relationship with the student body which has caused a number of students to lose trust in their president, Dr. Calvin Butts. Numerable students have complained that Dr. Butts "ignores the campus and its needs and instead focuses more on his church." Other controversies include:
- Dr. Butts hired Mona Rankin, a woman with no higher education experience who served as his assistant, to serve as executive vice president of the college without the backing of the college nor the students.
- In September 2005, 12 students were kicked off campus for having an "illegal" party with alcohol after it was reported that the R.D. did not follow proper procedure and walked into the room without knocking. Many of the students were allowed to return back to campus.
- In 2005, the provost of the college decided to remove remedial math courses from the campus curriculum due to the fact that he felt the college should not be responsible for "remediation of students". The change left hundreds of students, already enrolled in school with no chance of taking the remedial algebra class needed to pass to the college algebra course which is required for graduation under New York State law. The move will force students to head elsewhere to take their Math courses then transfer the credits into Old Westbury.
- In the fall of 2006, Student Government Association was questioned by the student body concerning the acquisition of laptop computers while the organization was having financial trouble and did not receive money from the administration to cover the costs at the time. The executive board also cut funding for the school newspaper, honor society, Inter fraternity-sorority council and the Activities Management Team- a group of students who served as security guards for on-campus events. It was also discovered that the SGA had not paid the State of New York for worker's compensation for the past 13 years the group has been around. The actions of the SGA have convinced many students to unite in a growing discontent for the SGA.
- The Student Government Association has been infamously known on campus for a number of reasons, which may be considered opinion but have been seen and confirmed by many. Students have especially questioned the 2006-2007 executive board for being "unprofessional" and has lead to students and executive board members arguing. There is a growing number of students who have recently accused the SGA of caring about their own self interests over the student body with many calling for impeachment of the entire executive board.
- Since 2005, Briarcliffe College and New York Institute of Technology have been living in the old dorms of the campus despite a growing need for housing by its own students and enrollment increasing every year.
- Old Westbury's recruitment practices have been the subject of many complaints from students who felt that they were mislead into attending the college. In addition, many parents complained that when their children were given a tour of the new dormitories, many of them were left living in older dorms at the same price of the new dorms but did not have the amenities that the new dorms had.
[edit] External link
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