College attracts talented class of 1,300

At 10 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 21, the State University of New York at New Paltz will open its residence hall doors and welcome 1,300 first-year students for its annual Moving In Day.

David Eaton, vice president for enrollment management, said that the college continues to offer admission to the very best applicants and due to New Paltz’s rising reputation, many of them have accepted. This is reflected in this year’s exceptionally high yield rate of 24 percent for accepted freshmen, which is a 14 percent increase over last year’s 21 percent yield. In other words, more students than in previous years that were offered admission have accepted, Eaton said.

This year’s larger-than-normal freshman class was selected from an applicant pool of 13,868, which represents the 18th consecutive year that New Paltz has received the most new student applications among all SUNY colleges. The number of freshman applications has risen 54 percent since 2000 and as a result, New Paltz remains one of the most selective universities in the Northeast, accepting only 35 percent of its applicants.

In addition, Eaton said that the quality of the students New Paltz attracts continues to rise. This year, 100 percent of New Paltz’s accepted freshmen came from the top two of five SUNY quality groups, up from 98 percent last year and 75 percent in 2001. First-year students from the top two groups have a mean SAT score of 1160 and a high school average of more than 90.

“We are becoming known as the quality institution that we really are,” said Eaton, “and many more students are making us their first choice. It seems the distinction is accurate – we are the hottest small state school in America.”

These new students will be joined over the weekend by about 500 transfer students, for a total of 1,800 new students. The acceptance rate for transfers also continues to be a selective 34 percent of this year’s total 2,566 applicants.

The college continues to attract qualified students from all backgrounds. Of the first-year students reporting their ethnicity, one-quarter come from traditionally underrepresented groups.

New full-time faculty

Also this fall, the college welcomes 32 new full-time faculty members to its teaching roster. Of the new cohort, seven positions are new lines and the remaining hires fill teaching positions in a variety of different departments throughout campus. The student-to-faculty ratio at New Paltz is 13-1.

Campus improvements

This fall, new and returning students will notice a significant amount of campus improvements as the college continues to enhance its academic and student life buildings and services.

During the summer, crews emptied the contents of the Old Main Building and all occupants have temporarily relocated as the college prepares for a $27 million renovation, ($23.7 million of which came from State Sen. John Bonacic and state Assemblymember Kevin Cahill ’77) that includes complete electrical, mechanical and technological upgrades, as well as newly laid out office and classroom space throughout the building. The School of Education staff has been temporarily relocated to the South Classroom Building, the Faculty Office Building and the South Secondary Ed. Building. For more details on the relocation of Old Main offices, visit www.newpaltz.edu/oldmain. Demolition will begin in September and the project is scheduled to be complete in the spring of 2011.

Also this summer, there have been many significant residence hall upgrades. Crispell, Dubois and LeFevre Halls have new carpeting, paint, lighting, signs, bulletin boards and kitchenettes throughout the buildings.

In addition, working with the New York State Department of Transportation, the campus made significant safety improvements to the crosswalks and associated pathways leading to and from Lot 28 across Route 32 from the campus’s busy Main Entrance, Hopfer Undergraduate Admissions Office and Hasbrouck Residence Hall Complex.

This fall, students will also see the college prepare for the construction of the Student Union Building Extension. Bonacic and Cahill also secured $10 million for this 15,000 -quare-foot SUB expansion to include the creation of additional campus conference space, impromptu student presentation/gathering space and a more grand entrance to the campus. For more project details, visit www.newpaltz.edu/construction/view.cfm?id=122.

In addition this fall, students will benefit from a new ala carte café dining option in the lobby of Parker Theatre. According to David Rooney, vice president for student affairs, this additional dining option is being created to offer students, faculty and staff more choice in a convenient location on campus. It is scheduled to be ready for service in early October.

Also this fall and into the winter, the entire campus will benefit from the newly installed and energy-efficient high-temperature-hot-water lines. The college is nearing the end of a multi-year project to replace aging pipes that supply heat to most campus buildings. It is expected that the open trenches throughout campus associated with this project will be closed by early October. For a detailed construction map with 2008 summer projects, and for more information on campus improvements, visit www.newpaltz.edu/construction.