Is SUNY embarassed?

[scrabbleship]

On another board I sometimes contribute to (not about sports or UA), someone wrote this when a mention about that BU-NY students might make up the bulk of ridership of a proposed NYC-Binghamton train:

 

"I really find it rather offensive that the 4 SUNY University centers (though SUNY Fredonia is the 5th one now) call themselves "xxxx University" as though to masquerade as private instituitions that do not get state subsidies."

 

One of the replies to said post seems to dig more dirt on SUNY:

 

"To my mind, it's driven by a fear that SUNY isn't good enough for their ends. A lot of other public university conglomerates, e.g., University of California, Rutgers, CUNY, etc. take pride in the resources they can draw on as part a system. Ideally, a state school would take part both in its own name and that of the system to which it belongs, e.g., University of California - Berkeley, CUNY Hunter College, Rutgers - New Brunswick, etc. "

 

The first poster's claim that Fredonia is a University Center (!!!) notwithstanding, I don't know if these people are misinformed or are just plain critical of the SUNY system. Should we embrace our SUNY heritage and make the name more well-known? Or is the system of naming as it is right? Personally, I think they're just critical and uninformed, just keep them away from Virginia because in their world George Mason would be "UVA-Fairfax", James Madison would be "UVA-Harrisonburg", etc. Anyone agree or disagree?

[ATL_DANE]

Anyone agree or disagree?

 

Everyone knows my position. We should embrace "New York" as a brand. I'd love to see our teams with "New York" on the jerseys. We should be proud of our system. We should be clear that we're a state school. Stop taking actions to mask who we are... we are not a small private school. We should

• Establish Flagships
  
• Rebrand to UNY, NY State (My two favorites ala NC)
  
• Eliminate duplicate campuses and/or programs
  
• Increase enrollment in the flagships (UB is already doing it)
  
• Have tiered academic standards with flagships at the top
  
• Stop hiding New York's universities behind a myriad of names
  

To the last point there is alot of confusion in the general public. UA, Albany, SUNY Albany, SUNY, UB, Bingo, Canton. All SUNY?

 

I was watching Discovery last night and they were talking about Brookhaven National Labs. I think that's SUNY but even I wasn't sure. If I don't know, how does the average Joe? My girl friend is from Tennessee and she couldn't name 1 SUNY school before I met her. Now she wishes I'd shut up about SUNY hah ha

[danefan]

How about this:

 

20 Ugliest Campuses in the US:

http://campussqueeze.com/static/20-ugliest...in-the-USA.html

 

8. Albany/Bing/UB (combined)

 

8. SUNY campuses- Buffalo, Binghamton, and Albany- (pictures from top to bottom) I’m sandwiching these all together because I don’t think they deserve separate spots on the list. They may have some green space, but that doesn’t make up for the ugly buildings. Buffalo’s campus (I’ve driven through it multiple times, considering it is about ten minutes from my house) has some nice upperclassmen apartments on a lakeish-thing, but its buildings look like Lego land. It’s so bizzare. They are just squares that protrude from a main structure. Binghamton’s just awful in the middle of rural nowhere with random squares, again. Like that’s supposed to be a cool design. And Albany’s buildings are just drab and rundown pieces of concrete.SUNY needs some serious face lifts, the whole system and its buildings.

[GODANESGO]

Where in g*d's name did they get that Fredonia is a new UC??..lol.

 

Brookhaven Lab has a partnership with Stony Brook. It's not a SUNY itself, but does get state funding for SUNY initiatives.

 

I think it'd be great to have a UNY and a NYSU and I'm sure a lot of people would as well..including people at UB, UA, Bingo, SBU..and to a lesser extent places like Geneseo, etc. It is a HUGE step to go from 64 campuses w/o no flagships for the past 60 years to 50(??), 40(??), 30(??) campuses with one or two flagships. Easily one of, if not the, largest educational reorganizations in at least recent history.

 

It would be faught like HELL against, and while that doesn't make it right or wrong, it is reality and must be considered in a decision such as this.

[ATL_DANE]

I agree. I didn't say it was going to happen. It's what should happen.

 

I just think it's a damn shame that New York is kicking in $2.3 Billion this year and what are the New York tax payers really getting? Arkansas beats us academically and athletically. They may beat every SUNY school, I'd have to double check my US News. They definately beat us on the field and court. It pains me... Arkansas!

[madDOG]

How about this:

 

20 Ugliest Campuses in the US:

http://campussqueeze.com/static/20-ugliest...in-the-USA.html

 

8. Albany/Bing/UB (combined)

 

8. SUNY campuses- Buffalo, Binghamton, and Albany- (pictures from top to bottom) I’m sandwiching these all together because I don’t think they deserve separate spots on the list. They may have some green space, but that doesn’t make up for the ugly buildings. Buffalo’s campus (I’ve driven through it multiple times, considering it is about ten minutes from my house) has some nice upperclassmen apartments on a lakeish-thing, but its buildings look like Lego land. It’s so bizzare. They are just squares that protrude from a main structure. Binghamton’s just awful in the middle of rural nowhere with random squares, again. Like that’s supposed to be a cool design. And Albany’s buildings are just drab and rundown pieces of concrete.SUNY needs some serious face lifts, the whole system and its buildings.

 

I don't disagree. I'm just glad we weren't singled out!

 

Why did 60's architecture have to suck so badly?

[ATL_DANE]

Sorry, it was Alabama I was thinking of. We're still beating Arkansas

[Zalman B]

 

How can you say that isn't beautiful?

 

For the record, I happen to like the way UAlbany/UA/SUNYA/SUNY Albany (anything but Albany State please) looks.

[alum73]

I like the look of the architecture at UA.

[ATL_DANE]

I'd prefer a traditional campus but we're certainly not unsightly. That's just a slam. We could use some capital imporovements but most of the complaints are about design... that my friend is a personal opinion.

[olddog71]

I have also always liked the architecture at , , , our school. It has a classical look, and classical never goes out of style.

 

The maturation of the trees in the 40 years since I began attending UA has added to the look. It was even starker before.

[UAlbany09]

I have also always liked the architecture at , , , our school. It has a classical look, and classical never goes out of style.

 

The maturation of the trees in the 40 years since I began attending UA has added to the look. It was even starker before.

 

Personally, I love the architecture of the downtown campus. I think an uptown campus with a similar setup as the downtown one would look awesome. But I guess back in the 60's the concrete look was seen as futuristic and utopian. Like something out of Dune.

[GODANESGO]

I'm also a big fan of the architecture. It can certainly seem extra grey during the winter with all the concrete, but I believe that's called upstate New York.

 

I'm quite proud to have a campus that was designed by one of the most famous American architects of his time, Edward Durrell Stone.

[Clickclack]

I'm also a big fan of the architecture. It can certainly seem extra grey during the winter with all the concrete, but I believe that's called upstate New York.

 

I'm quite proud to have a campus that was designed by one of the most famous American architects of his time, Edward Durrell Stone.

 

I think where the campus gets it's "unsightly" tag is that the grounds don't look nice and landscaped. You can certainly integrate the building better into the surroundings etc. There is plenty from an ascetics perspective that can be improved.

[madDOG]

I think where the campus gets it's "unsightly" tag is that the grounds don't look nice and landscaped. You can certainly integrate the building better into the surroundings etc. There is plenty from an ascetics perspective that can be improved.

 

Agreed, that was always my biggest complaint about our campus. The grounds looked beat up and unkempt, at least when I went there. Big concrete planters with nothing planted, or worse...a tree stump. Dirt trails btw the quads and podium because there were no paved walkways. Not enough greenery. Seems like the school has been taking some positive steps to correct that though.