THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

 

TO:	The Honorable the Members of the Board of Regents
FROM:	Johanna Duncan-Poitier
COMMITTEE:	Higher Education and Professional Practice
TITLE OF ITEM:	Dowling College: Approve Amendment to Master Plan Authorizing the College to establish a branch campus in Shirley, NY
DATE OF SUBMISSION:	January 28, 2004
PROPOSED HANDLING:	Approval (Consent Agenda)
RATIONALE FOR ITEM:	Dowling College needs the Regents approval to establish a branch campus
STRATEGIC GOAL:	Goal 4
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY:

 

Dowling College requests branch campus status for its Brookhaven Campus, an extension site at 1300 William Floyd Parkway, Shirley, 17 miles east of the College’s main campus at Oakdale.  The Brookhaven campus, which was established in 1993 on a 105-acre site in Shirley, Long Island, New York and originally designated as Dowling College’s National Aviation and Transportation (NAT) Center, has been “re-purposed” to become a branch campus of Dowling College.  The site is adjacent to the Brookhaven Airport located close to the geographic center of Long Island, about 48 miles from the statutory border with New York City (Queens County) and about 60 miles from Manhattan.

 

The Office of Higher Education has determined that Dowling College meets the standards for establishment of a branch campus and the registration of curricula.

 

Recommendation: Based on the these findings, I recommend that the Regents take the following action:

 

VOTED, that the Regents authorize Dowling College, effective February 23, 2004, to operate a branch campus in Shirley, NY. The amendment will be effective until February 28, 2005, unless the Department registers a program offered at the branch campus prior to that date, in which case master plan amendment will be without term.

 

Attachment
Dowling College

Branch Campus

1300 William Floyd Parkway

Shirley, NY

 

Institutional Information

 

Dowling College originated as Adelphi Suffolk College in 1955 when Adelphi College offered extension classes in Port Jefferson, Riverhead, and Sayville. In 1959, at the urging of community leaders, Adelphi Suffolk College became the first four-year, degree-granting liberal arts institution in Suffolk County. The first graduating class was in 1963. In 1968, the College was chartered as a separate institution and was renamed after its chief benefactor, Robert Dowling, a noted city planner, philanthropist, and aviator.

 

The Brookhaven Center, which was created in 1993 on a 105-acre site in Shirley, Long Island (17 miles from the main campus), was originally designated as Dowling College’s National Aviation and Transportation (NAT) Center. The Brookhaven Center has been “re-purposed” to permit it to fulfill the requirements of a full branch campus of Dowling College.  Offerings at the Brookhaven campus will initially include the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Aviation, Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), advanced certificates and a doctoral degree in education administration.  The operation of the Brookhaven campus is the responsibility of the Associate Vice President, who reports to the Vice President for Institutional Advancement.

 

Dowling College has 132 full-time faculty and 400 adjunct faculty members in four schools:  Business, Aviation, Education, and Liberal Arts and Sciences.  All College faculty are hired, supervised, and supported by their respective departments.  The administrations of the main campus and the Brookhaven campus are tightly coupled, enabling the College to function as a single entity. The contract existing between the College and the faculty includes a requirement to teach at the Brookhaven Center. During the fall 2002 and spring 2003 terms, full-time faculty taught partial loads ranging from one-quarter to three-quarters - and in one case a full load - at Brookhaven. As a matter of policy and contract, full-time faculty teach at both College campuses or, from time-to-time, at various extension sites.

 

The library at the Brookhaven campus is an integral part of the Dowling College library. While the majority of books and periodicals are housed at the main campus in Oakdale, intercampus delivery services are in place for prompt delivery. The library at the Brookhaven campus is staffed by full-time members of the library faculty, from 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday with more limited hours on the weekend.

 

There are six classrooms in the main (B) building along with shared offices for Student Services, Counseling, Bursar and Financial Aid.  The bookstore is also located in this building, along with the offices of the faculty of the School of Aviation, the flight operations center, the aviation planning and briefing facility, flight simulation center and full-time faculty who have their primary offices at the main campus in Oakdale.  The Brookhaven campus also provides office resources for adjunct faculty.

Enrollment at the Brookhaven campus is expected to hold steady over the next year.  For the fall term of 2004, it is expected that enrollment will increase due to recruitment efforts and the changing demographic of the east end of Suffolk County.  Enrollment is expected to be about 1,900 students at the Brookhaven campus in the fall of 2006.

 

The College’s total enrollment has grown 25 percent since the fall of 1992, from 5,146 to 6,446.  Today, the College has more graduate students (3,400) than undergraduates (3,046).  It offers undergraduate and graduate curricula in the biological sciences, business, education, English, the liberal arts, the humanities, the physical sciences and the social sciences.  Ninety percent of the College’s students commute.  Degree conferrals in 2002 included 636 baccalaureate, 711 master’s, and 27 doctoral degrees.

 

Staff Analysis

 

To assess the ability of the College to operate a branch campus, staff accompanied the evaluation team that visited Dowling College for renewal of accreditation by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools on March 23–26, 2003.  Dowling College’s accreditation was reaffirmed for a period of ten years.

 

A canvass was conducted of the degree-granting colleges and universities in the Long Island region. Two responses were received indicating no objections.