Staten Island campus to end university housing

[RedStormNC]

[URL]https://www.google.com/amp/s/w...using-at-staten-island-campus.html?outputType[/URL]=amp

I've never been to the SI campus. I know overall population is small and didn't even know there were any housing options there.  Surprised that article mentioned international students on that campus. Would have thought almost any would be in Queens.  

Wonder how financials of this campus stand up on its own.

 

[otis]

President Shanley is likely considering trimming the Staten Island campus to focus resources on Queens.

 

[BrookJersey Redmen]

As a proud alum of the Staten Island campus ('75) and Queens ('78 Law), I am saddened by this news and Otis's comment about possibly closing. I hope that the Staten Island campus is not closed for a number of reasons.

First, that campus is much prettier than the Queens campus. It sits upon Grymes Hill one of the highest points on the eastern seaboard and has alot of trees and older beautiful buildings. The campus is surrounded on three sides by beautiful large handsome older style homes. For decades before St. John's University purchased the campus, it was a private women's college with a strong history of educating young women for the workforce and especially in the field of education. My college diploma proudly says, Notre Dame College of St. John's University. I think SJU was required to keep the old college's name under the headline name for some period of time. It was formerly Notre Dame College for women.

Second, for working class students like myself from the middle, southern and western parts of Brooklyn it was a much easier commute to Staten Island than to Queens, and when you got there it had a nicer atmosphere. I always found the Queens campus especially around the law school sterile. Staten Island being closer to New Jersey than to the other boroughs made the commute for NJ students very easy. Plus, Staten Island while population size tiny compared to the other boroughs is not that small compared to other places and they have a lot of good high schools and working class kids had a nice option other than city college or Wagner.

Third, the small class sizes and excellent professors meant you could graduate with a top notch small college experience but still be part of a large major urban univesity, so the best of both worlds. Academics when I was there were rigorous and much like a small liberal arts college experience. If a student wantded to take classes in Queens they could do so for classes not offered in SI.

I was thrilled when I learned that the school I applied to SJU downtown Bklyn, in essentailly, an office building on Schermehorn Street, was closing and moving to Grymes Hill, S. I., I was happy. So when the notice came that I could go to either SI or Queens and I went to visit SI I thought to myself, this one is easy, this place is beautiful.

Now back then there was zero campus housing, the garden apartment complex was next door but the school did not offer housing.  Almost all of the students commuted from their parents' homes and many of them worked a job after classes. I'd say 90% were first in their families to go to college. We had some older students who had families and held jobs and a few students found housing on their own, but not many.

It was a great experience, I made great friends there, met my wife of 42 years in the Honors Program there; however I have to credit the Queens campus with being the catalyst to bring us together. Friends on the SI campus, but we re-connected when I was in law school and she was in grad school and so Utopia and Union has a sweet spot in my heart too.

I imagine the old Notre Dame campus will continue since probably most students still commute from BK, SI and NJ.

In that this sounded like a snap decision, I feel very bad for international students. By in large they will probably transfer to the Queens campus.

Otis, I will be very sad if SJU decides to close my alma mater.

 

[Knight]

Maybe the financial woes that SJU is currently experiencing warrant the closing and sale of the property.  Desperate times, desperate measures.

 

[SJU Double Alumn]

SJU should shut it down. The school needs to downsize and reduce cost. The academic profile of the students on SI are lower than the rest of the University. And that campus has had some recent past social issues. I know personally of a student that had significant problems with the culture there. Time to move on.

 

[mm52]

Given that Queens and Staten Island are similarly "suburban-type" campuses, it seems prudent to devote more resources to Queens, as the dominant campus, and to its growing Manhattan presence.  Many large urban universities, like Fordham, Loyola Chicago, Univ of Chicago, Northwestern and even DePaul, to name a few, have successfully created progams and schools in the urban center.

 

[BrooklynRed]

Nice thoughts BrookJersey Redmen
Similar experiences for my wife and I.  I was in grad school at SI campus with classes at both SI and Jamaica to complete the program and always enjoyed the experience/learning at SI much more.  My wife was also SI undergrad and then law school after you.  I later recruited for my firm at SI and thought the world of the students who I interviewed.  The ones we hired all are doing well in their careers to this day.  
Sadly, it could be a cost based decision to maintain a small campus; not sure what enrollment is there.  Also College of Staten Island is more of a factor now than it was in the 1970's as far as SI competition.

 

[RedStormNC]

Here you can see enrollment reports


[URL]https://www.stjohns.edu/enrollment-reports[/URL]]Enrollment Reports | St. John's University[/url]

For SI (Spring 2020) [URL]https://www.stjohns.edu/sites/default/files/2020-06/Enrollment%20Reports%20Spring%202020%20-%2012%20pages.pdf[/URL]]Enrollment Reports Spring 2020 - 12 pages.pdf (stjohns.edu)[/url]

1,883 total students
1,805  undergraduate students ( 918 full time / 887 part time) + 77 total graduate students
so, ~50% full time on SI campus, where as Queens campus is ~75% full time undergrad / ~70% full time total

 

[BrookJersey Redmen]

I respect those saying "shut it down", but I trust that is not what the new Presient thinks. Removing themselves from subsidizing off campus housing (which is really what those apartments are), is a much different calculus than closing the entire campus.

SI is a commuter school, and unless it changed I think its students equal or exceed those on the Queens campus. If not, then the decision to close the school will hurt hard working lower and middle class students who want to earn a degree. 

I believe if they ever had a "save the Grymes Hill campus" campaign the donations would pour in. I was in a business class there in 1973 and two young business majors, got the idea and for class wrote up a Business Plan of opening a yogurt (as soft serve ice cream) store in the Wall Street area. This was as a business major idea. Those two students ended up creating an empire of Everything Yogurt stores and eventually franchised in most malls in America. They then opened a chain of Philly Cheesesteaks, again a huge success. Mini-Milke Repoles, but very successful in their own right. 

We had multiple other success stories in NYC with the SI alums, many prominent business people, investors, doctors, lawyers, judges, educators, equal to, or better than, the Queens campus.

Beat the drum very slowly on this one, please.
 

 

[RedStormNC]

Here's some history and old pics of the SI campus.  

I read elsewhere the property size is 16.5 acres..... wonder what market value would be ?  

[URL]https://www.stjohns.edu/150th-anniversary/our-history/digital-history-exhibit/staten-island-campus-history[/URL]]Staten Island Campus History | St. John's University[/url]

 

[SJU Double Alumn]

I don't think it is accurate to say the SI students are equal or exceed the Queens ones academically. The last statistics I saw, the SI numbers (SAT, HS grades), were significantly lower. There is also a big culture difference there that is not a positive thing for the University. There are other colleges on Staten Island, SJU should focus on Manhattan and Queens and the international campuses. 

 

[BrookJersey Redmen]

Sometimes it is not just about the money; educating working class kids is a noble mission whether in Queens or on Staten Island. Sending almost 2,000 students away is not something I want to see.

 

[SJU Double Alumn]

So we should have lower standards to admit anyone who is "working class"? And thus lower our reputation and opportunities for our grads who are top students (and are also working class)? I disagree with you wholeheartedly.

 

[jerseyshorejohnny]

I have met more than a few S.I. grads who were accounting majors and they are all great reps of the university

Couple of things to keep in mind re the S.I. campus for better or worse:

It's the only Catholic college on S.I. and

Many S.I. students (or potential students) would not dream of crossing the bridge to travel to the Queens campus.

 

[SI1996]

I did graduate from the SI campus in 96 hence the name SI1996. Was a Computer Science/Mathematics major.  I couldn't get all the advanced courses I needed so I went to Queens for a few classes. I worked in the computer lab on the SI campus for 4 years. Have very fond  memories of those days. Would be sad to see it close. I have met, from both campuses, very successful people from all walks of life so I think its silly to compare the two. 

 

[BrookJersey Redmen]

So we should have lower standards to admit anyone who is "working class"? And thus lower our reputation and opportunities for our grads who are top students (and are also working class)? I disagree with you wholeheartedly.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Proud Alum, you can disagree wholeheartedly, but I think you missed my point.

I am not advocating for lower standards or damaging our reputation, that is the last thing I would want to happen.

 My thinking is we can have the best of both worlds; raise the standards and still keep educating Brooklyn, Staten Island and NJ students of all backgrounds. St. John's on Staten Island has a long, proud history of graduates going onto great success in many different fields, and I would like to see that continue.

In my class on Staten Island alone we had four Regis High School grads who picked St. John's over many other colleges. They went on to great things, burnishing our reputation, not damaging it.

 

 

[SJU Double Alumn]

So we should have lower standards to admit anyone who is "working class"? And thus lower our reputation and opportunities for our grads who are top students (and are also working class)? I disagree with you wholeheartedly.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Proud Alum, you can disagree wholeheartedly, but I think you missed my point.

I am not advocating for lower standards or damaging our reputation, that is the last thing I would want to happen.

 My thinking is we can have the best of both worlds; raise the standards and still keep educating Brooklyn, Staten Island and NJ students of all backgrounds. St. John's on Staten Island has a long, proud history of graduates going onto great success in many different fields, and I would like to see that continue.

In my class on Staten Island alone we had four Regis High School grads who picked St. John's over many other colleges. They went on to great things, burnishing our reputation, not damaging it.






 

The Staten Island campus brings down the University's SAT and HS grades profile. That hurts the reputation. Anecdotal occasional success stories don't change that. In order to elevate the standards of the Staten Island campus, it wouldn't have enough enrollment to justify the costs. And there have been serious problems with the social climate at that campus. I don't think SJU will exit it entirely, but I would like to see that. Reallocate the resources and enhance the academic standing of the overall University.

 

[SI1996]

So we should have lower standards to admit anyone who is "working class"? And thus lower our reputation and opportunities for our grads who are top students (and are also working class)? I disagree with you wholeheartedly.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Proud Alum, you can disagree wholeheartedly, but I think you missed my point.

I am not advocating for lower standards or damaging our reputation, that is the last thing I would want to happen.

 My thinking is we can have the best of both worlds; raise the standards and still keep educating Brooklyn, Staten Island and NJ students of all backgrounds. St. John's on Staten Island has a long, proud history of graduates going onto great success in many different fields, and I would like to see that continue.

In my class on Staten Island alone we had four Regis High School grads who picked St. John's over many other colleges. They went on to great things, burnishing our reputation, not damaging it.







 

The Staten Island campus brings down the University's SAT and HS grades profile. That hurts the reputation. Anecdotal occasional success stories don't change that. In order to elevate the standards of the Staten Island campus, it wouldn't have enough enrollment to justify the costs. And there have been serious problems with the social climate at that campus. I don't think SJU will exit it entirely, but I would like to see that. Reallocate the resources and enhance the academic standing of the overall University.

You have facts to support that?

 

[BrookJersey Redmen]

I think the SATs and HS grade profiles might be lower than Queens (IDK), but of course, there is a huge debate about each of these different criterion, and many schools discount or don't even consider some of them, so, using them entirely might be unthinking.

Proud Alum, I guess you went to the Queens campus, but I am afraid your slightly veiled references to "reputation" and "social climate" put me off somewhat. I know for one thing, the Staten Island campus did not have the Lacrosse fiasco that crushed our reputation many years ago. Nor did it have the BB players in Pittsburgh nightmare that brought disreupute to our University. I could go on but won't.

I hate to go back and forth, but an "elitist" feeling about the SATs, and HS Grades, and the "social climate" on Staten Island is not something I want to be the hill I die on, (apparently, not-so), Proud Alum.

This proud Staten Island Grad went on to get a scholarship to the QUEENS Law School at St. John's and is proud of both parts of our great University. My wife is a double SI and Queens grad too (earning her way to a grant and a PhD), and we are both proud of the fine education we received at both campuses.

 

[SJU Double Alumn]

[URL]https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-bo...university-after-another-student-posted-photo[/URL]

I'm not elitist in the least. I don't believe the University should lower academic admission standards, thus hurting its reputation and the opportunitites for its grads, for students who don't get Bs in high school and have below average SAT scores. That was the way under Harrington and it damaged the University a great deal. If they can't maintain the same higher standards at the SI campus, and I have heard first-hand about the toxic student environment there, then cut it and better utilize resources.