 
Dorms Might Be Ready in 2 years, CSI Head Says
3 new residence halls would house 600
students and herald new era for CUNY commuter school
Staten Island Advance - Monday, February 11, 2008
 Residence halls housing 600 students may be ready in two years at
the College of Staten Island, serving to lure scholars from around
the nation and the globe to the school, its president told the
Advance.
The three new buildings would herald a new era for CSI, a commuter
school since its founding in 1976 with the merger of two former
schools -- Staten Island Community College and Richmond College.
"It's an exciting project, a long time in coming," Dr. Tomas D.
Morales, CSI's president, said in an interview last week. "We're
hoping to provide students with the opportunity to have a collegiate
residential experience. Students from Staten Island will live with
students from other parts of the country and other parts of the
world. We feel it's going to be a major transformational development
at the college."
Morales said he hopes to break ground in October and finish the
buildings by May 2010. The board of trustees of the City University
of New York (CUNY) must approve final plans, and could do so in the
spring.
According to preliminary designs, the residence halls would consist
of two four-story buildings and one five-story building. The three
halls will contain a total of 600 beds, some of which faculty
members could occupy to foster a closer relationship with students.
Individual units will have one to four bedrooms, with three-bedroom
units containing four beds.
The buildings would be erected on about nine acres near the Student
Center where the current outdoor basketball and handballs courts
stand and also next to the soccer field. The basketball and handball
courts would be relocated nearby.
The buildings would collectively total about 240,000 square feet and
be more energy- and environmentally-efficient. Landscaped with trees
and wide paths, designers are striving for a residential-village
feel on the 204-acre campus.
The project's cost has yet to be determined. The Austin, Texas-based
American Campus Communities Inc. (ACC) would construct and manage
the halls. On its Web site, the company touts itself as one of the
nation's largest developers, owners and managers of "high-quality
student-housing communities."
RESIDENTIAL CAMPUS
 "The transformational experience that this campus will go through,
moving from a commuter campus to a residential campus will raise its
profile in the entire region," said Angelo J. Aponte, CSI's outgoing
vice president for finance and administration, who is helping
shepherd the project. "There are kids from other parts of the
country and the state who want a New York college experience."
Aponte said CSI has lost countless students who want to board at
college to schools in the State University of New York system. Only
two other CUNY schools -- Hunter College and the City College of New
York, both in Manhattan -- presently have boarders. CSI has about
12,500 students.
Aponte added there will be ample parking. The school intends to add
about 120 spaces to Lot 4 by year's end and about 200 spaces to Lot
6 sometime thereafter.
Lillian McGinn, CSI's campus new facilities officer, said the new
buildings would have laundry rooms and other amenities to include
lounges and a business center with computers. One, the South
residence hall, will feature a large multi-purpose space that could
be used to hold classes or other activities, she said. The South
hall would also have a fitness center. Boarding costs haven't been
determined.
"The plan is to build a residential community as opposed to simply a
place where you sleep," said Dr. Morales.
The current plan marks CSI's second stab in recent years at building
student housing. In 2006, the school, amid protest, dropped a
proposal to erect dormitories on adjoining state land occupied by
the developmentally disabled community.
On Friday, about two dozen CSI faculty members and administrators
toured dual ACC residence halls in Newark, N.J. The joined
buildings, opened last September, house more than 800 students from
23 schools. Painted outside in brown and beige earth tones, the
buildings feature carpeted floors, and clean, accessible common
areas. They had more the look and feel of an upscale motel or
apartment building than a cramped dormitory.
Sara Fahey, a CSI junior who took the trip, said she supports
student housing -- even though she'll graduate before they're built
here.
"I'd love it. You'd be able to have that dorm experience without
having to go away," said the 20-year-old Meiers Corners resident.
Another student was more circumspect. He questioned whether
residence halls were meant to benefit students -- or the college, by
bringing in extra cash.
"I think it's a good idea, but it looks like too much of a
business," said the St. George resident, who declined to give his
name. "It's a way to make money."
[For more information visit:
www.csi.cuny.edu/presidentsoffice/residencehall]
By Frank Donnelly
Reprinted here with permission
from the
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