For years ive wracked my brain on what SB can do to make the experience and the campus even better. They do so many things right. And we discuss ad nauseum. I do think there are some things they can do better. Along with this, i do understand that things are easier said than done, and that with a large state institution, things like red tape, local residents, NCAA regs, funding, etc. all get in the way.
I started to think about this because of the other thread about building a college town in SB. Here's some ideas im curious for your thoughts:
-Quads: This may sound silly, and purely aesthetic, but the classic university feel is to have open grass fields with the crossing paths, whether in the academic mall or dorms. How expensive can this be?
http://fe.fs.cornell.edu/img/mainPage/ArtsQuad.jpg -Halls: other than Harriman Hall, we dont name our schools nor our buildings as halls. Bring in some donors, put their names on the schools, call it a hall. I know this is a public school, but its done for dorms, so lets do it for buildings. Staller Hall. Pritchard Hall. Dubin Hall. Etc. Take our presidents' names to make the example- Toll Hall, Marburger Hall, Kenny Hall, Stanley Hall.
-Schools: same as above, we have an arts & sciences school, slap a name on it. Take the engineering school, for example, think about it. The Casado School of Engineering!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stony_Brook_University#Colleges_and_professional_schools-Tower: i guess we have a tower now with the Wang Center right? Something that when kids today go to google images and plug in SB, they will immediately recognize our campus with an identifiable something. Im talking about something that's smack in the middle of campus, perhaps a giant clocktower. Long term project.
-Stone/Brick buildings: i know this is not our thing, as we are not the traditional private university. But i dont believe that kids would rather go to school in a super modern glass building than something like this:
http://conmedisys.com/img/12/128/Virtual_Tour_Perkins_Library_Duke_University.jpg-NYC Club: we cant yet afford our own club, however, with the large alumni base working/living in the NYC area, we should tap this. There are clubs that allow any university grad (maybe the University Club?) but SB should in the future try and foster a relationship with an existing club, and hold events there. For example, the Cornell Club has reciprocity with Gtown and a few other schools.
-Campus Housing: kids are either relegated to the dorms or somewhere in a suburban house a few towns away. We need to find how we can get more apartments on/near campus to enhance the experience. The atmosphere will remain the same if kids live in Selden, and others in Sound Beach, for example. I know for a fact that freshman are routinely tripled up in dorms. This can even become a cash cow. Or privatize the operation, whatever.
-College Town: other than PJ, which is a few miles away, weve already discussed the building of a college town, which could likely only happen on 25a, or perhaps in some of the open space they have immediately south of main campus, or perhaps in the open space near Nicholls Road. Perhaps more student housing could go here as well in the future. Look at this map and tell me we dont have the space:
http://tinyurl.com/agyyy59 -Hierarchy: when i got to SB, there were no "freshman dorms". I lived amongst sophomores, seniors, freshman, everything. Get all the freshmen into the Mendelsohn and H Quads, building relationships right from the getgo. These are the corridors, not the private suites where you dont meet as many people. Then give them the option to move up to the other nicer apartments. Dont have freshmen living with seniors, different interests. Then make those dorms your target for getting kids out to games and events (right near the stadium!). Enforce the honors dorms (Roth Quad) and make it something to shoot form.
-Tradition: we are relatively young and deficient when it comes to tradition. I dont even know where to start. Cornell has an entire page dedicated to Cornelliana. In time we will have it. But we need to start building this now. Do we have a statue anywhere on campus? We need our students to build these, i understand, but we also should start taking some queues from other universities on this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelliana -Legends: this one we have covered- the bridge to nowhere, the Melville Library was built backwards, etc. Unfortunately for us, both are not the "good" kind of legends. Again, mostly up to the students.
-Rivalry: we have at times built rivalries, but since conferences change, we havent had steady rivals. SJU/Hof dropped football, Hof wont play us in other sports, BU is leaving the AE, we are leaving the Big South, and we may leave the AE in the future. We need to have a rivalry week and get the students fired up, or something like that.
-Student Activities: many other schools enhance the student experience by having things like senior week, theme weekends, school sponsored activities, etc. We dont do enough of this, or, the ones they do students arent interested in. The Roth Regatta is great, but most students dont go. And the Strawberry Fest isnt something to get all that excited about (and i like strawberries).
-Weekends: this has always been a problem because kids are from the NYC area and can easily get the train home on thursday afternoon. Maybe start admitting kids from out of state (more $$$) or from further away, to entice kids to stay on campus. From what i understand, decades ago this wasnt a problem, but during the Marburger years the campus has quieted down and has never recovered.
-Fight Song: we finally got a fight song, and the kids are learning it at games. But what we need is for kids is a little brainwashing if you will, like give out posters with the lyrics, send emails that link to the mp3, get people to listen to it. Same for the alma mater. Play them both over the PA at LaValle and Pritchard, have the band play it more, have the band sing the words and let the students pick up on it.
http://tinyurl.com/abnyrgj -A little brainwashing: right when kids arrive, put t-shirts in their welcome pack, buttons, a phone cover with the SB logo, get it everywhere. You want them and their friends to see it everywhere. Put bball schedules and football schedules in there, magnets for the fridge, everything, a key chain, a hat, whatever it takes. Get a poster of the sports teams and give them out, kids will put them on their walls.
*I understand these ideas are mostly far fetched, expensive, and maybe even not welcome. However, i will add to them, as i truly believe SB will become better and better! Im trying to help, and rant at the same time. Have at it....