Article in Newsday
Hey guys. I found the article in Newsday from a few days ago about Southampton at CW Post. It's definately not as extensive as I had hoped, but hey, what are you gonna do?
FROM SOUTHAMPTON TO C.W. POST
BY OLIVIA WINSLOW
STAFF WRITER
December 4, 2005
They are now traversing the hallways and grassy landscapes at Long Island University's C.W. Post campus in Brookville, more than 60 miles west of Southampton College, where they had once been students.
It is clear that some among more than 300 former Southampton students are feeling out of sync at Post, an institution many noted was a beautiful campus in its own right with many impressive facilities - facilities that, for the most part some students ruefully noted, Southampton didn't have. Yet Post isn't Southampton and doesn't have its intangible rewards, many said.
"Southampton was really a home," said Peter Saltanis, 19, a sophomore from Monroe, Conn., who reflected on his experiences recently with two former Southampton colleagues, Elisha Gibson, 20, of Springfield, Mass., and Jen Ellendorf, 20, of North Babylon in his dorm room in Kings Hall.
All three are active in a former Southampton student club, Protecting Every Aspect Concerning the Environment, or P.E.A.C.E. It's now a student group at Post, and Saltanis is its president.
They miss what they say was the familiar, close-knit environment of Southampton - LIU's small, liberal arts campus of about 1,000 students. Citing Southampton's growing deficit, LIU announced in June 2004 that it was "relocating" Southampton's undergraduate division this fall to Post, causing surprise and dismay among many Southampton students, faculty and residents of the surrounding Southampton community. Southampton's graduate programs remain on the campus, however.
The former Southampton students have either "transitioned" from Southampton to C.W. Post, or transferred outright to their new campus. Those who transition stay with their Southampton course of study, adhering to similar requirements. Those who transfer opt to be fully integrated into the Post curriculum and its set of majors.
For a dozen students interviewed recently about how they have adjusted to their new collegiate environment, the heartache remains palpable. Some said they have made it a point to participate in the activities Post has to offer, and getting to know their Post peers. Post's Student Government Association even changed its rules and delayed elections till this semester to ensure that Southampton student government leaders would be "fully integrated within our student government in these major roles as senators," said Sherri CoePerkins, Post's associate provost for student affairs. Six former Southampton senators are now senators at Post, she said.
Still, many former Southampton students concede they find themselves associating with their Southampton friends and taking part in the seven Southampton clubs that have now been officially sanctioned as clubs at Post.
"I know how hard C.W. Post tries" to help the former Southampton students make the transition, Saltanis continued. But, he added, "It will never be Southampton. I know I lost the college where I wanted to be."
Administrators aren't surprised that disappointment persists.
"The atmosphere at Southampton was obviously very different," said Paul Forestell, dean of undergraduate programs for Southampton College at C.W. Post, who helps Southampton students select the courses they need and other issues, such as maneuvering through complicated financial aid applications that caused problems for some students who made the transition to Post.
Southampton was in a "different location, a different size school and so on," Forestell said. "For many students, it's a change. It's not a change they wanted, but they're taking it on board and moving ahead. Other students are finding, just for reasons of their own personality, they cannot make that adjustment quickly."
It is a change that he also has had to contend with, along with other former Southampton faculty, and one he has been preparing the Southampton students for for more than a year. "I think we have made Herculean efforts to collaborate and work together to do the best job we can for students," Forestell said. "I'm not surprised some students are not happy. They didn't go to Southampton to end up at Post."
Joseph Shenker, Post's provost, said: It "sounds like a position that a normal new freshman would have coming into a new environment."
"I'm sure there are some complaints and issues," he added, "but all of the promises we made to the Southampton students last year on the big important issues have been kept. We did create 120 additional rooms for 250 or more students.... We promised them they would keep their financial aid package, and they did.
"In some cases, we made mistakes. But in terms of the whole relocation [of students] and faculty and staff, I think we just accomplished a very smooth, very professional relocation."
As the students get acclimated to the Post campus, comparisons between Southampton and Post faculty are invariably made.
Saltanis described his Southampton professors as "mentoring friends," people he knew on a first-name basis. He was not alone.
"I'm a transfer student, so all of my classes are with C.W. Post professors," said Ellendorf, an elementary education major. With Southampton professors, she said, she had "a much closer relationship."
The difference in the size of the two institutions is often mentioned. Southampton had about 1,000 students, while Post has more than 4,000 undergraduates and a similar number of graduate students.
That difference is striking to James Ridgway, a senior who lives in Southampton and now commutes an hour-and-a-half each way, four days a week, to Post. As he sat in the commuter lounge of Hillwood Commons recently, he thought back to his days at Southampton College, lapsing into the present tense.
"It's like a small community," Ridgway said. "You know everyone on campus." At Post, he suggested, he's just another face in the crowd.
"I think the biggest letdown at Post," Ridgway said, is "I don't think a single teacher knows my name. ... I'm literally just another desk."
Kasey Jacobs, 20, a senior from Levittown, found it "odd" that a Post professor called out students' last names when taking attendance. "It was more personal at Southampton," Jacobs said. "They definitely take the time to know you, to meet with you outside class," she said of Southampton professors.
But there is a bright side to Post, many said.
"I know we've been complaining," said Gibson, the junior from Springfield, Mass., "but there are a lot of good things about the [Post] campus. The dorms are definitely nicer. The meal plan is definitely better." While she preferred what she considered Southampton's rigorous academic environment, all was not lost at Post. "I feel like I'm learning," she said. "I'm satisfied with the classes I'm taking."
But a feeling of loss is never far from the surface.
Take Tom Seals, 21, a senior from Phoenix, who is active in several programs, including serving as a senator in student government and as a resident assistant in Kings Hall. It's all part of his plan "to make the best of my senior year."
Asked if he feels welcome at Post, Seals paused, then replied: "We kind of got thrust here. We had to deal with new rules and change. It's not as welcoming as Southampton." He considered that statement for a second, then added, "I think it's going to be hard to find any other place as welcoming as Southampton."
Damn straight.
FROM SOUTHAMPTON TO C.W. POST
BY OLIVIA WINSLOW
STAFF WRITER
December 4, 2005
They are now traversing the hallways and grassy landscapes at Long Island University's C.W. Post campus in Brookville, more than 60 miles west of Southampton College, where they had once been students.
It is clear that some among more than 300 former Southampton students are feeling out of sync at Post, an institution many noted was a beautiful campus in its own right with many impressive facilities - facilities that, for the most part some students ruefully noted, Southampton didn't have. Yet Post isn't Southampton and doesn't have its intangible rewards, many said.
"Southampton was really a home," said Peter Saltanis, 19, a sophomore from Monroe, Conn., who reflected on his experiences recently with two former Southampton colleagues, Elisha Gibson, 20, of Springfield, Mass., and Jen Ellendorf, 20, of North Babylon in his dorm room in Kings Hall.
All three are active in a former Southampton student club, Protecting Every Aspect Concerning the Environment, or P.E.A.C.E. It's now a student group at Post, and Saltanis is its president.
They miss what they say was the familiar, close-knit environment of Southampton - LIU's small, liberal arts campus of about 1,000 students. Citing Southampton's growing deficit, LIU announced in June 2004 that it was "relocating" Southampton's undergraduate division this fall to Post, causing surprise and dismay among many Southampton students, faculty and residents of the surrounding Southampton community. Southampton's graduate programs remain on the campus, however.
The former Southampton students have either "transitioned" from Southampton to C.W. Post, or transferred outright to their new campus. Those who transition stay with their Southampton course of study, adhering to similar requirements. Those who transfer opt to be fully integrated into the Post curriculum and its set of majors.
For a dozen students interviewed recently about how they have adjusted to their new collegiate environment, the heartache remains palpable. Some said they have made it a point to participate in the activities Post has to offer, and getting to know their Post peers. Post's Student Government Association even changed its rules and delayed elections till this semester to ensure that Southampton student government leaders would be "fully integrated within our student government in these major roles as senators," said Sherri CoePerkins, Post's associate provost for student affairs. Six former Southampton senators are now senators at Post, she said.
Still, many former Southampton students concede they find themselves associating with their Southampton friends and taking part in the seven Southampton clubs that have now been officially sanctioned as clubs at Post.
"I know how hard C.W. Post tries" to help the former Southampton students make the transition, Saltanis continued. But, he added, "It will never be Southampton. I know I lost the college where I wanted to be."
Administrators aren't surprised that disappointment persists.
"The atmosphere at Southampton was obviously very different," said Paul Forestell, dean of undergraduate programs for Southampton College at C.W. Post, who helps Southampton students select the courses they need and other issues, such as maneuvering through complicated financial aid applications that caused problems for some students who made the transition to Post.
Southampton was in a "different location, a different size school and so on," Forestell said. "For many students, it's a change. It's not a change they wanted, but they're taking it on board and moving ahead. Other students are finding, just for reasons of their own personality, they cannot make that adjustment quickly."
It is a change that he also has had to contend with, along with other former Southampton faculty, and one he has been preparing the Southampton students for for more than a year. "I think we have made Herculean efforts to collaborate and work together to do the best job we can for students," Forestell said. "I'm not surprised some students are not happy. They didn't go to Southampton to end up at Post."
Joseph Shenker, Post's provost, said: It "sounds like a position that a normal new freshman would have coming into a new environment."
"I'm sure there are some complaints and issues," he added, "but all of the promises we made to the Southampton students last year on the big important issues have been kept. We did create 120 additional rooms for 250 or more students.... We promised them they would keep their financial aid package, and they did.
"In some cases, we made mistakes. But in terms of the whole relocation [of students] and faculty and staff, I think we just accomplished a very smooth, very professional relocation."
As the students get acclimated to the Post campus, comparisons between Southampton and Post faculty are invariably made.
Saltanis described his Southampton professors as "mentoring friends," people he knew on a first-name basis. He was not alone.
"I'm a transfer student, so all of my classes are with C.W. Post professors," said Ellendorf, an elementary education major. With Southampton professors, she said, she had "a much closer relationship."
The difference in the size of the two institutions is often mentioned. Southampton had about 1,000 students, while Post has more than 4,000 undergraduates and a similar number of graduate students.
That difference is striking to James Ridgway, a senior who lives in Southampton and now commutes an hour-and-a-half each way, four days a week, to Post. As he sat in the commuter lounge of Hillwood Commons recently, he thought back to his days at Southampton College, lapsing into the present tense.
"It's like a small community," Ridgway said. "You know everyone on campus." At Post, he suggested, he's just another face in the crowd.
"I think the biggest letdown at Post," Ridgway said, is "I don't think a single teacher knows my name. ... I'm literally just another desk."
Kasey Jacobs, 20, a senior from Levittown, found it "odd" that a Post professor called out students' last names when taking attendance. "It was more personal at Southampton," Jacobs said. "They definitely take the time to know you, to meet with you outside class," she said of Southampton professors.
But there is a bright side to Post, many said.
"I know we've been complaining," said Gibson, the junior from Springfield, Mass., "but there are a lot of good things about the [Post] campus. The dorms are definitely nicer. The meal plan is definitely better." While she preferred what she considered Southampton's rigorous academic environment, all was not lost at Post. "I feel like I'm learning," she said. "I'm satisfied with the classes I'm taking."
But a feeling of loss is never far from the surface.
Take Tom Seals, 21, a senior from Phoenix, who is active in several programs, including serving as a senator in student government and as a resident assistant in Kings Hall. It's all part of his plan "to make the best of my senior year."
Asked if he feels welcome at Post, Seals paused, then replied: "We kind of got thrust here. We had to deal with new rules and change. It's not as welcoming as Southampton." He considered that statement for a second, then added, "I think it's going to be hard to find any other place as welcoming as Southampton."
Damn straight.