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.