College to welcome 1,100 new students
from record number of applicants

The State University of New York at New Paltz will open its residence hall doors and welcome 1,100 first-year students for its annual Moving In Day at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 20.

L. David Eaton, vice president for enrollment management, said the college selected its fall 2009 freshman class from a pool of more than 15,400 applicants, which represents the 19th consecutive year that New Paltz has received the most new student applications among all SUNY comprehensive colleges. This fall, the college accepted only 34 percent of its freshman applicants and 36 percent of its transfer applicants.

These new students will be joined over the weekend by 675 transfer students, for a total of 1,775 new students. This year more than 3,400 transfer students applied to the college, up from about 2,500 applicants in 2008.

“We saw a record number of students apply – 19,000 applicants. Such popularity, combined with the college’s intention to maintain a steady-state undergraduate enrollment, has made New Paltz one of the most selective public colleges in the Northeast,” said Eaton.

In addition, Eaton said that 100 percent of New Paltz’s accepted freshmen class continues to come from the top two of five SUNY quality groups.

This fall, freshmen in the highest SUNY selectivity group make up more than 40 percent of the entering class. In 2002 twenty percent of the freshman class was constituted of such students.

“Thanks to our growing stature and effective recruiting by faculty and staff, more of the strongest students are choosing us,” added Eaton. “This year’s class will be the best and brightest ever.”

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

New Provost
The college also welcomes Dr. Donald P. Christian, the new provost and vice president for academic affairs, who arrived on campus Aug. 3. Christian, who will also hold tenure in the Biology Department, will join 15 new full-time faculty members to the college’s teaching roster this fall. Dr. Christian comes from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he was the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor of biology.

Quadricentennial Celebrations
This fall the campus will also continue to celebrate New York State’s Hudson 400th celebrations with art exhibitions, a symposium and educational activities. The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art’s headliner exhibition, “Hudson River to Niagara Falls: 19th-Century American Landscape Paintings from the New-York Historical Society,” will be on display through Dec. 13. Forty-five landscape paintings of the Hudson Valley from the historical society’s collection are featured in the show, thanks to a $143,449 Federal grant from Congressman and New Paltz alumnus Maurice Hinchey (’68, ’70g).

In addition, the college will host an international symposium, “Henry Hudson, New Netherland and Atlantic History,” Sept. 25-26. The symposium’s agenda includes panel discussions by scholars from the Netherlands, Germany, France and the United States, teaching workshops and two luncheon addresses. Presenters will give talks on topics closely related to the character and effects of the European exploration and colonization of the Hudson Valley, which arose from Hudson’s voyage.

Campus improvements
Also this fall, new and returning students will notice a significant amount of campus improvements. In particular, there have been many residence hall upgrades. The interiors of College, Shango and Bouton halls were improved to include electrical upgrades, new paint and carpet. The windows in Gage Hall have been replaced with new, energy efficient units and a new sprinkler system was installed. The roofs on College and Shango Hall are being replaced, as well.

Returning students will also notice a new dining venue in Hasbrouck Dining Hall. Hawk Street Station, a New York City subway station-themed sandwich venue, will “make the late night food service operation much more efficient and pleasant,” said Steven Deutsch, director of Campus Auxiliary Services.

Students will also notice the steel structure of the Student Union addition. The $13.4 million, 15,000-square-foot expansion will provide additional campus conference space, impromptu student presentation/gathering space and a more grand entrance to the campus when complete in May 2010.

Also this fall and winter, the entire campus will benefit from the completion of the final phase of the newly installed and energy-efficient high-temperature-hot-water lines. This project, which includes an upgrade of several of the campus’ main pedestrian routes, is a multi-year project that replaced the aging pipes that supply heat to most campus buildings.

For a detailed construction map, and for more information on campus improvements, visit www.newpaltz.edu/construction.