Honors College at CSI received
250G donation
Staten Island Advance - May 5, 2004
Freshmen entering the CUNY Honors College at the
College of Staten Island this fall, along with current students,
will benefit from a $250,000 donation to the program.
The money, from an anonymous donor, was earmarked
specifically for CSI, one of seven CUNY campuses to offer the Honors
College.
School officials are now in discussions with the
program’s faculty advisory committee to determine how to use the
donation. Some suggestions include financing study abroad
opportunities or upgrading the Honors College computer lab,
according to Dr. David Podell, vice president for academic affairs.
CUNY launched the Honors College in September 2001
the first students at CSI were enrolled the following year — for
what is called a “challenging undergraduate experience.”
Open only to freshmen who graduated at the top of
their high school classes, the program offers core courses
supplemented by seminars using the entire city as a campus. Students
also work on projects with their counterparts across the CUNY
system.
“We find it is a very effective approach,” Podell
said.
A “Cultural Passport” provides free or reduced
admission to the city’s richest institutions, including the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of the American Indian, New York
Hall of Science, queens Museum of Art, New York City Ballet and the
Whitney Museum of American Art.
Between 20 to 25 students each year-from an
application pool of 6o to 100- have taken advantage of the
opportunities at CSI.
“One thing the CUNY Honors College does is, it
allows CUNY to attract students who are really outstanding and might
have not come to CUNY,” Podell said. “We are able to attract a
really excellent student body.”
Donations from businesses and foundations- totaling
$4.3 million since the program’s inception - cover full tuition and
benefits for each student.
Additionally, each student receives a laptop
computer and a $7,500 expense account to be used for “academically
enriching” items such as cameras, software or study abroad expenses.
“There is a lot of interest in the program,” Podell
said.
by Stephanie Slepian
Reprinted here with permission from the
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