Release

Class of 2010 Joins Campus Community; Drawn from Record Number of Applicants
Campus engages in $25M campus beautification and improvement project

Contact: Catherine Herman (518) 956-8150

ALBANY, N.Y. (August 31, 2006) -- The University at Albany applicant pool for the 2006-07 calendar year surpassed 18,000—a 12 percent increase in freshmen applications above last year and a record number for UAlbany. From that, the University enrolled 2,350 freshmen to the class of 2010—200 fewer students than last year's record class of 2,556.

The smaller class allowed UAlbany to be more selective in admissions, with an acceptance rate of 55 percent, down from 63 percent. As a result, the class has a higher mean GPA of 89.6, compared to 88.5 last year, with a mean SAT of 1146. The University also received a record 4,710 transfer applications and expects to enroll 1,400 new transfer students this fall. Total enrollment is expected to increase 2.1 percent with a projection of 17,399 combined undergraduate and graduate students.

This fall, 110 incoming freshmen will be admitted to the new interdisciplinary Honors College, headed by Assistant Vice-Provost for Honors Programs Jeffrey J. Haugaard. The Honors College provides motivated students with special learning opportunities, including a year-long research experience in their senior year, community service learning projects, and preparation to successfully compete for national and international scholarships. The Honors College boasts a total of 145 including three student-athletes. The University aims to recruit 600 top-flight undergraduate students to the college over the next four years.

"We're working to create a vibrant University and an intellectual hothouse of activity," said Provost and Executive Vice-President for Academic Affairs Susan V. Herbst. "We're pleased to welcome students and faculty to embrace the challenging educational opportunities, enhanced services, and new look."

The University has embarked on a $25 million Campus Beautification Project to create a more welcoming environment that's easier to navigate. Key areas of focus include the completion of University Hall—where new and prospective students are greeted and experience their first view of the University—a downtown renewal, with the addition of new signage, lights, and cameras at Alumni Quad to enhance safety and accessibility; a University-wide signage improvement initiative; and special emphasis and scope on the University entrance plaza bordering Collins Circle with improvements to the podium and Campus Center entranceways, landscaping, canopy, and deck.

The University also welcomes 36 new faculty to the campus. This includes new faculty in the College of Computing and Information, the School of Criminal Justice, the School of Education, the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, the School of Public Health, the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, the School of Social Welfare, University Libraries, and to 14 departments within the College of Arts and Sciences.

UAlbany's Task Force for Environmental Sustainability, created by the late President Kermit L. Hall, reinforces the University's eight-year-strong recycling program through promoting research and education aimed at lowering consumption, protecting environmental resources, improving transportation efficiency, and reducing waste. In the past four years alone, UAlbany has recycled more than 3,000 tons—including an average of 1.7 million pounds of paper a year—or approximately 83 pounds per person. The University spends more than $15 million in utility costs in one year and the campus Physical Plant Department maintains an annual budget of $96,000 for recycling and refuse removal. Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to "think green" by embracing the University's responsibility, as a 20,000-person-strong community, to conserve, recycle, and beautify the campus and environment. The Great Beginnings welcome packet provides tips and resources to be environmentally responsible and events and activities—including UAlbany Goes Green days Oct. 12 and 13—are scheduled throughout the calendar year to educate and engage the campus.

This fall also marks the academic tribute to Encounter Albany's Architecture, with a semester-long series of events and programs aimed at rekindling campus pride in the distinctive architecture of the uptown campus, designed by internationally renowned architect Edward Durell Stone in 1962 to 1964. The campus is an important example of modernist design characterized by its soaring colonnades, symmetrical patterns, and large, central, reflecting pool. The newest building, University Hall, and even the campus landscaping was designed to "mirror" the architecture, with trees planted in squares and rectangles. Stone is noted for his work designing the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, and the New York Cultural Center in New York City. The fall "Architecture Semester" will showcase Stone's work through movie screenings, guided tours, and more including an Open House at University Hall on October 16. For a schedule of upcoming events, visit Architecture at Albany.

The success of the University's Campus Book Reading Project continues with the announcement of the 2006-07 selection: Elizabeth Kolbert's Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change. And, the University fosters its commitment to excellence in undergraduate education this fall with the addition of a new journalism major to the University's 54 degree programs.

UAlbany's Great Danes hope to continue the momentum of the 2005-06 season, when nearly 200 student-athletes were named to the America East Conference and Northeast Conference academic honor rolls. The Danes captured five conference championships (men's basketball, softball, and indoor and outdoor track, and women's outdoor track), two regular-season titles, and five individuals earned All-America honors recognition in their respective sports. The University's football (Northeast) and women's volleyball (America East) teams have already been picked as the preseason favorites to win conference titles in the fall of 2006.

UAlbany's University Auxiliary Services (UAS) has also made several additions and upgrades to their dining room in Dutch Quad and are making preparation for opening a Wendy's on campus. Gone are the days of rolled quarters and swipe cards on laundry day as the University unveils "unlimited laundry" for all residential students and Freedom Quad residents, utilizing 422 new front-loading washers and dryers. Students at Empire Commons retained the individual washers and dryers in each unit.