Community support mounts for a SUNY in Yonkers

Westchester County Business Journal, Mar 12, 2007 by Occhipinti, Christina

In the midst of an economic renaissance, the city of Yonkers is in prime position take advantage of its technological innovation history in the form of a SUNYYonkers school.

That's the feeling of the members of the Committee for SUNY-Yonkers, a community group whose mission is to establish a four-year technology, engineering and environmental science college aimed at keeping Westchester's brightest students within the county, said Julie Weiner, a Yonkers resident, education advocate and committee member.

"As the fourth-largest city in the state, it's kind of bizarre that Yonkers doesn't have a SUNY school. We want a school that will really help to rebuild our manufacturing economy," Weiner said. "The problems of the 21st century are going to be solved by people with engineering and technical education. We want technically savvy kids, we want engineers."

The idea for a higher-education institution in Yonkers began in 2005 with Rev. Jesse Brown, a Yonkers resident who works for the Westchester County Department of Health. He felt there had to be an educational component included with the city's redevelopment plans.

In order to currently obtain a four-year technical or engineering degree, Westchester students must leave the county.

"SUNY Yonkers would serve the purpose of keeping people at home (in the city so they don't have to go away to further their education)," Brown said. "The affordability and accessibility of SUNY as opposed to a private university is another thing. We need something that's competitive to serve a population that can really expand."

A GREAT NEED

With a handful of science- and technology-based high schools in Yonkers, the city would be a natural fit for a SUNY campus. Saunders Trades and Technical High School, Roosevelt High School and Gorton High School have plenty of pre-engineering, science and technological curriculums. A new school - the Riverside High School of Engineering and Design - is in the process of being established by the Yonkers Board of Education, said Chuck Lesnick, Yonkers City Council president.

"We have some 28,000 kids in the school system in Yonkers and we would like to give them the opportunity to go to school close to home," Lesnick said. "This is a real grassroots project in the community."

The idea of a prospective SUNY school in Yonkers is exciting because it will diversify the educational opportunities for Westchester students, said Dr Andres Fortino, associate provost and dean of Polytechnic University's Westchester Graduate Center in Hawthorne.

"I think it's a great thing. It's incredibly important because in the Hudson Valley, especially in Westchester, there is no public tech school. The nearest public school or state university that offers engineering is SUNY New Paltz or City College (of New York)," Fortino said. "There are a lot of private schools, Polytechnic being one. It's a great opportunity for students to study engineering, technology, science and math, which is very important for America. We need to have it available for those who need the access."

If the SUNY Yonkers plan comes to fruition, Fortino said other schools, colleges and universities in Westchester, such as Polytechnic University, will be able to take advantage of students looking to continue their education. "I benefit (at Polytechnic) because I will have more people going to graduate school after getting their four-year degree."

ECONOMIC IMPACT

One of the driving factors in the Yonkers City Council's backing of the SUNY project is the significant financial boost the school would bring to the city.

"(The proposal) was supported unanimously. There's no question that SUNY will provide a tremendous economic development benefit to the city of Yonkers," Lesnick said. "One important statistic is that every dollar spent on a SUNY campus gets circulated eight times locally before it leaves the community It will bring more people into downtown and it will give our students something to do."

With only a handful of state schools in the Hudson Valley, the Committee for SUNY-Yonkers believes the educational organization could be doing more to improve the shape of the economy here.

"We don't feel that SUNY is really fully supporting the downstate economy in the way it could be as far as helping with universityindustry partnerships ... and developing a manufacturing economy," said Weiner.

A LONG ROAD

The formation of the Committee for SUNY-Yonkers is the first step in what win be an extensive plan geared toward the creation of the campus, said Lucinda SloanFullan, a committee member and former vice president of the board of trustees at SUNY Orange who helped to launch the Newburgh Extension Center (NEC) of SUNY Orange.

"My prediction is it's going to be a long process. The need seems to be there," Sloan-Fullan said, "and the committee is doing some more needs assessment. It's not going to happen over night."

The NEC, which is a satellite campus of SUNY Orange, opened Jan. 19, 1990, and has grown in popularity among students in Orange County since its inception. The proposal for SUNY-Yonkers is very similar to that of the NEC, Sloan-Fullan said.