Two at-large positions on College committees are open for election this Spring: one
position on the Academic Affairs Council (currently held by Seth Greenberg), and one
position on the Student Affairs Council (currently held by Jim Adrian).
Both positions are three-year terms.
Elections will be held at a faculty meeting later this term. Other nominations may be
sent to Therese McCarty, chair of the Faculty Executive Committee, in economics.
Information and applications for Fulbright Scholarships for graduate study and research
abroad are available from Prof. Andrew Feffer in the history department. Applications are
due Sept. 30. For information, call ext. 6787.
March 29, 1999
1. The minutes of March 8, 1999 were approved as corrected.
2. The recommendations of the Subcouncil on Courses and Program for approval of HST
118, HST 114, MTH 53, BIO 64 and ACC 011 were discussed and approved for course credit.
GMI 200 will be discussed by the AAC with the Acting Director of GMI.
3. The AAC will set up meetings for discussions of the calendar outline with students
and faculty and then proceed with drafting a proposal for “a semester plan” and
a time line for the consideration of the proposal.
4. Next week the meeting will be on Friday, April 9. The chair of Anthropology will
present the departmental external review.
April 9, 1999
1. The minutes of March 29, 1999 were approved.
2. Professor George Gmelch, Chair of Anthropology, presented the departmental external
review done in May, 1998. He responded to the points raised by the reviewers, including
some problems with adjuncts, course offerings that due to staffing are narrower than
students desire, the desirability of offering more theory, and students' request for
a yearly field program. The review proposed increasing the teaching load for the second
tenure line to 9 courses. The review also noted the increasing number of majors (34 at
present).
Gmelch pointed out that there are several models of anthropology programs and the Union
anthropology department has chosen a model that emphasizes field experience. He also noted
the limitation placed on offerings by the size of the faculty.
3. Bill Thomas, director of International Programs, came to discuss a term abroad that
would be done in conjunction with Hobart William Smith College. Funds from the Mellon
Foundation have supported the planning. The first term abroad under this consortial
relationship will be in San Cristobal in Mexico. It is an established program at Hobart
and William Smith and will be led by a Union professor, William Garcia.
If this consortial arrangement continues, the AAC must address the issue of granting
graded course credit for courses offered by another school. In any case, however, the
departments would maintain the right to accept courses for the major (as currently
applies).
Schenectady, N.Y. (April 13, 1999) – Union College unveiled today its comprehensive architectural plan for the Union-Schenectady (US) Initiative, and introduced organizations that have joined the effort to revitalize the neighborhood to the west of the campus.
“Rather than simply an architectural plan for what this neighborhood will look like in the future, the US Initiative is a statement about the importance of contributing to our communities,” Union College President Roger H. Hull said. “We are committing $10 million to this project that, when complete, will benefit all of us. Homeowners will regain a sense of pride in their reborn neighborhood; neighborhood children will have brighter futures; Union students, faculty and staff will enjoy first-class housing within walking distance from the campus; and Schenectady will have a vibrant neighborhood which we believe will spur the rebirth of downtown.”
Dagit Saylor Architects, a leading Pennsylvania-based firm that specializes in college/community revitalization projects, provided the design concept for Union's acquired properties and the surrounding streetscape that, according to the authors, “creates a cohesive living-learning community.” To date, the College has acquired 35 properties; up to 40 may be acquired pending negotiations with current owners.
Architectural plans call for extensive interior and exterior renovations and restoration of Union's acquired properties; development of a uniform and attractive streetscape along Seward Place; and expansion of parking in the area.
The architectural plan includes:
Restoration of the buildings' distinctive exterior architecture: Architectural elements of the facades – porches, columns, balustrades – will be preserved or restored largely to their original condition, and paint colors will reflect the historic (Late Victorian, early 20th century) character of the neighborhood. The College will make available its color schemes and architectural plans to interested neighborhood residents. The exterior structures, according to Dagit Saylor, “are largely intact and represent an irreplaceable piece of Schenectady's historic urban fabric.”
Interior building renovations for student, faculty and staff residences: Apartment-style housing for about 100 students on 13 properties along Seward Place will be completed by the fall. The remaining properties on Park Place and Huron Street will be rented to College staff and faculty at below-market rates. Architectural elements – mantels, stained glass windows, decorative stair moldings-will be preserved in the renovation process.
Elements of the streetscape design include:
development of a landscaped, pedestrian-friendly “gateway” from the campus into the initiative area;
installation of identifiers for major pedestrian crosswalks – signage, pavings – at Huron Street and South Avenue to control traffic flow along Seward Place;
repairs to the existing sidewalk and construction of a new sidewalk on the east side of Seward Place as a means to increase pedestrian activity on both sides of the street and transform the area into attractive frontage facing the Initiative area;
introduction of an “institutional standard” for lighting and street furniture – trash cans, signage, benches – to establish a distinctive character for the neighborhood;
establishment of a uniform, quality landscape treatment for trees, shrubs, hedges, and low-flowering perennials to unify the streetscape and improve perceptions of the neighborhood. According to the architects, “next to the rehabilitation of the houses, this strategy will have the greatest impact on the Initiative area,” adding that it “provides a visual link” with the aesthetic of Union's campus.
New partnerships and progress on US Initiative projects:
Scholarship Program: Union College and Schenectady County Community College have established an admissions agreement, which includes a tuition scholarship benefit, for eligible residents of the US Initiative area. The program, which builds on Union's commitment of $1 million a year in scholarship funds to children of qualified homeowners, will enable students to begin their studies tuition-free at SCCC following one of five approved degree programs. To be eligible to transfer to Union under the admissions partnership, students must maintain a 3.0 GPA in an approved program, including Humanities and Social Sciences (A.A.), Mathematics and Science (A.S.), Science (A.S.), Teacher Education (A.S.), and Computer Science (A.S.).
To be eligible for the admission scholarship program, homeowners (and their children) must reside in the area for five years preceding access to the benefit, continue to reside there during the period of matriculation at the College(s), and maintain their property in accordance with the standards set by the to-be-established Union-Schenectady Neighborhood Association. This association, which will include a five-member review board from the community and Union College, will establish standards for continued enjoyment of the tuition benefit, such as exterior esthetics, trash handling, landscaping and other maintenance issues. A group of College staff and neighborhood residents are currently drafting by laws for the Association.
Attractive Mortgage programs: Trustco Bank has joined Union College in providing special mortgage programs for potential homebuyers in the US Initiative area. The Trustco program provides a 50 percent discount on bank fees on all residential mortgage applications, grants of five percent of the purchase price ($2,500 maximum) for properties purchased that involve transfer from landlord status to owner-occupied, and annual amounts of up to $100,000 in grants and fee discounts for five years (500,000 total) in support of the Initiative. Trustco will also donate a bank-owned property on Park Place for use by the College.
As part of the Initiative, Union has created a Community Mortgage Program, which includes no down payment, no closing costs, exterior façade improvement funds of up to $10,000 to be added to the mortgage amount and amortized over the life of the mortgage, payroll deduction, and a fixed interest rate two percent below local banks' no-points first mortgage rate. To date, three College employees have purchased homes in the US Initiative area; an additional 15 individuals have expressed interest.
College Park Community Center: To create a center for community-focused activity and for the needs of area children, the US Initiative includes the development of the College Park Community Center. An $8,250 grant from Campus Compact, an organization funding higher education community service initiatives, will enable Union, Van Corlear Elementary School and the GE Elfuns to develop a specialized mentoring program for Van Corlear students. Union is one of only 16 institutions in the country to receive funding under Campus Compact's “Generating New Models for Building Communities” initiative. In a space to be called the “Homework Center,” Union students and GE Eflfun volunteers will help children from Van Corlear School prepare for New York State standardized tests. Other local organizations joining Union to sponsor programs at the Center include St. Clare's Hospital, which will conduct health and wellness programs, and Girls Inc. of Schenectady, which will present education and recreation programs for girls. The proposed address for the College Park Community Center is 257 Park Place. The center is expected to be open by the fall, pending conclusion of negotiations with current owners.
Safety: The College will operate a satellite Safety and Security Office at 712 Huron Street (corner of Seward St. and Huron), pending final sale of the parcel. As part of the College's 25 member security function, an officer of the staff will be assigned to the US Initiative area on a daily basis; bike patrol officers will also perform regular patrols in the area.
While not a community policing entity, Union officers in the satellite office will work with neighbors and the Schenectady Police Department to establish a neighborhood watch program in the Initiative area. The office will be operational by the fall.
Upgrade of the Nott-Seward parking lot: In July, the College will pave and line the lot at the northwest corner of the campus. When complete, it will accommodate College staff and students living in renovated residences along Seward Place. The lot will hold about 200 cars.
Relocation of residents: The College has initiated a comprehensive relocation program for tenants residing in Union-acquired properties. As part of the program, Union meets with residents to identify housing needs, pays for the costs associated with the move, and provides two months rent. To date, 15 families have been moved at a cost of roughly $25,000.
Read MoreSchenectady, N.Y. (April 13, 1999) – Robert D. Richardson Jr., author of acclaimed books on Emerson and Thoreau, will speak on “Sinking Ships, Erupting Volcanos, and the Writing of Literary Biography” on Wednesday, May 5, at 7:30 p.m. in Everest Lounge (near Old Chapel) at Union College.
The talk is free and open to the public.
Richardson is the author, most recently, of Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind (1986) and Emerson: The Mind on Fire (1995), for which he won the Bancroft Award in History.
His work is widely acclaimed. The Thoreau book is called “definite, outstanding, fundamental, superb;” his biography of Emerson has been praised as “graceful, humorous, acute and essential.”
He has taught at Harvard University, University of Colorado and Wesleyan University.
Of Emerson: the Mind on Fire, Bryce Christensen of Booklist wrote, “Richardson shows how Emerson's volcanic genius ignited flames of kindred enthusiasm in Thoreau, Whitman, Fuller, and other gifted Americans. Careful analysis of his vast reading reveals how Emerson drew inspiration from the world's classic literature yet maintained a fierce self-reliance that still defines one of the primary themes of our national culture. As in his biography of Thoreau, Richardson focuses principally on his subject's inner life, the life of his mind and spirit. But in this subtle portrayal of Emerson the thinker, the reader also sees the clearly lined portrait of Emerson the social activist, outraged by slavery and by oppressive Indian policies … by referring to many previously unavailable private letters and manuscripts, Richardson sheds light on both Emerson's emotions and his intellect. A masterful work, this biography will attract the attention of scholars and serious general readers for decades.”
Richardson's talk is sponsored by the English department at Union College.
For more information, call 388-6231.
Read MoreTrustees agree to spend $10 million on rebuilding neighborhood
He's skied 100 miles across Germany, hang-glided over the French Alps and sailed the Nile from Cairo to Khartoum. He's hitchhiked across East Africa and huddled with missionaries in the Andes Mountains. And he's run up all 1,575 steps of the Empire State Building.
But now Union College President Roger Hull, a man who enjoys living dangerously, is facing a different kind of challenge: keeping his own board of trustees on board with his plan to rebuild a broken Schenectady neighborhood.
“They're rightly wondering how far out on a limb we're going to climb,'' said Hull, driving to a practice session of tae kwon do, the martial art in which he holds a black belt. “But I feel if you're lucky enough to be in a position of responsibility, you should be willing to take prudent risks.''
The trustees took the gamble, voting last Wednesday to invest $10 million in the renovation of College Park, the neighborhood that abuts the west end of campus. The investment marks one of the largest commitments nationally of academic dollars into neighborhood revitalization. In a news conference Tuesday, Union will show how the plan that was announced in October with 20 houses and $4 million evolved into a project more than double the scope. Prior to Union's vote, the largest commitment of this kind is believed to be the $6 million Trinity College devoted to rebuilding Hartford, Conn.
From Berkeley to Worcester, college presidents are rolling up their sleeves to tackle problems outside their campus walls. The motive is a combination of public service and self-interest. At Union, more than 60 percent of prospective students who turn down the college do so because of Schenectady, the college has found.
But unlike Trinity, Union is starting out on its own — without help from government or the private sector. By borrowing the $10 million to get the project started, Union hopes to loosen purse strings in the community and elsewhere.
“Trinity started with $6 million and leveraged it into $175 million,'' Hull told a group of Schenectady business people last week. “We're putting down quite a bit more and leveraging it into exactly what we have put on the table.''
Few in the community openly criticize the initiative, although Hull is known to have some enemies in the County Legislature who believe he has ignored their economic development ideas. He seems to take an impish delight in publicly lambasting these “naysayers.''
“This community, as good as it is, suffers from an inferiority complex and the belief that one should attack everything and anything that's proposed,'' Hull told the business group.
Hull, 56, has neither a contract nor tenure and seems to exist without a trace of self-doubt.
“He's one of the most creative, innovative and bold presidents in the country,'' said David Warren, president of the National Association of Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C. “I've known him for 20 years, and he's one of the best in the business.''
Born in New York City, the son of German immigrants who fled Nazi Germany, Hull came to higher education late in life. Bored with his career as a Wall Street lawyer, he was invited by an old boss, Republican Gov. Linwood Holton of Virginia, to sit on the board of trustees of William and Mary College. He distinctly remembers his first meeting, just a week after the shooting of four students at Kent State University in 1970.
“I realized that none of the trustees and none of the administrators wanted to be there,'' he said. “It was then I decided I wanted to be a university president.''
The incident reminded him of a letter his grandfather wrote when Hull was a shy boy of 17. Ludwig Stern co-founded the German Democratic Party, one of the first groups to openly oppose Hitler in the early days of his reign, and escaped in 1933 when his daughter discovered the word Jew painted on their house.
“Be a politician, but be an honorable one,'' his grandfather wrote him. “Then and only then do you have the right to be proud.''
The words of his grandfather and the scene after Kent State convinced Hull that the presidency of a university could be a bully pulpit to address social concerns.
The route to his goal was circuitous: Hull was counsel to Gov. Holton and a lawyer for the National Security Council before becoming president of Beloit College in 1981. Beloit, a Rust Belt city in Wisconsin, paralleled Schenectady. It was a place of massive unemployment, run-down streets and faded hopes. Hull joined with local businessmen to create Beloit 2000, an organization credited with restoring the riverfront and returning major corporations to the once-dying city.
Soon after coming to Union in 1990, Hull sparked the restoration of the college's symbolic center, the Nott Memorial. Once an architectural marvel in steel and stained glass, by the '90s the Nott had gone to the birds — literally. Scores of pigeons, flying through the broken windows of the top floor, made it their home.
He brought the college back to fiscal health, balancing the budget every year and raising its endowment from $100 million to $240 million. It is Hull's fiscal conservatism, in part, that allowed him to sell his trustees on the massive investment in College Park.
“He's probably scored more points with the community with that project than any of his predecessors,'' said Neil Golub, Union trustee and president of Price Chopper supermarkets.
With a $1 million bequest from Golub's father combined with Hull's experience in Beloit, the pair created Schenectady 2000 — by all accounts, taking the lead in bringing the city back to life. Their dreams for Schenectady include an eight-screen movie theater, hotel, trade center and a combination bus and train station that will greet the high-speed, commuter friendly trains that will come from New York City.
“They're like the Lone Ranger and Tonto,'' said John Tracy, a local Realtor and economic development booster. The plan got a major boost when Governor George Pataki created the Metroplex Development Authority, which will receive $50 million in bonds to spend in the city and the county.
Hull's local counterparts have taken notice. Last week's meeting of the Hudson-Mohawk Association of Colleges and Universities was a virtual love-in for campus presidents seeking to enhance their communities. Seated around the table were Jeanne Neff of Sage Colleges, who is trying to clean up the University Heights community in Albany, and University at Albany president Karen Hitchcock, who is fostering greater ties with the community as president of the Albany Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“The great thing is that you are really preaching to the choir,'' said Hitchcock. Hull laughed and paraphrased the famous pitch line of Ronald Reagan, a man he resembles in his optimism and singularity of vision.
“Maybe it's morning on our campuses,'' Hull said.
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