Doors close as numbers fall

By AMEARA DITSCHE
Executive Editor

Student’s received an email with important updates about the upcoming Fall Semester on July 30 2021. In this email was the unceremonious announcement that Brubacher Hall would no longer be used, due to “the pandemic’s impact on enrollment and students’ request for housing.” according to Interim President Marcia White’s email.

The College of Saint Rose began renting Brubacher Hall from UAlbany in 2000. As Saint Rose’s population increased, so did the need for housing. UAlbany happened to have extra space in Brubacher, a dormitory located on Alumni Quad about one block north of Saint Rose. According to previous Chronicle reports, the original lease was set to expire in October of 2020. In accordance with a 2009 lease amendment, Saint Rose must let UAlbany know at least two years in advance if they plan to renew.

However, Carleo-Evangelist Jordan, a spokesperson for UAlbany says that the lease was due to expire in June 2023, but “in light of our longtime partnership as neighbors and colleagues, UAlbany agreed to end the lease 12 months earlier than planned (June 2022 vs. 2023).” Jordan clarified that Saint Rose will retain control of the building until June 2022 and that the termination of the lease is not yet final; it will probably take several months of state approvals.

Brubacher Hall was previously the largest dorm at Saint Rose. It housed over 300 students in traditional double rooms at its peak and 253 before it’s closing according to Saint Rose spokesperson Jennifer Gish. Due to its size, when incoming freshmen requested a roommate, they were automatically placed in Brubacher because Res. Life could honor most requests that way.

Saint Rose’s total enrollment was at 4,650 for the 2015-16 academic year according to the New York State Department of Education’s archives. In the midst of that academic year, a wave of program cuts were announced. 25 programs were cut and 23 faculty members, some tenured, were laid off. The following year, enrollment dropped to 4,442.

“We anticipated some level of retention impact due to the academic program reductions announced in December 2020 that affected 10% of students,” said Gish.

In 2018, enrollment was below 4,000 for the first time in years. The total enrollment for the 2018-19 school year was 3,993. The number has continued to drop relatively consistently since then.
However, for the 2019-20 academic year enrollment spiked back up to 4,004. Then, in March of 2020, COVID-19 hit the United States and a nationwide lockdown had a harrowing effect on higher education. Enrollment took another decline, falling to 3,863 for the 2020-21 school year. The number’s for the current school year have yet to be announced.

“I think what the college can do is make students have confidence in themselves coming to college… The college can offer more activities that are tied into academics” said Senior Pat Driscoll.
Saint Rose is not the only school to be affected by COVID-19; according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, there was an overall 3.2% decrease in undergraduate enrollment.

However, other local private colleges have seen an increase in enrollment, so what is making Saint Rose stand out?

Siena College, a private institution in Loudonville, NY about 20 minutes north of Saint Rose, had a steadily increasing enrollment at least up until COVID hit. In 2015-16 they were smaller than

Saint Rose with a total enrollment of 3,239. Then, by 2019-20, the schools were a bit closer in size with Siena’s population at 3,478.
Another wave of cuts was introduced in Dec. 2020, and based on previous data we can expect to see another significant drop.

Kaylee Boerner, a Music Industry major, despite not being affected by the cuts herself, has many friends who were. She thinks the school can appeal to students by being more forthcoming,

“They can be more transparent. They can give more notice. I knew tour guides who were told not to say anything because they might deter them from attending the school.”

Already enrolled students who’s programs were cut were promised they’d be able to finish their degrees, with upperclassmen seeing little change, but freshmen and sophomores had to rework their curricula.

“The same quality of education they were promised should be fulfilled up until they are leaving.” says Boerner. She expressed concern that due to faculty layoffs and redesigning of programs, students would not be getting what they came here for.

These falling numbers have been given as the cause for why Brubacher is closed, but why are these numbers falling so steadily anyway?

If the number drops as much as expected, it could be inferred that program cuts have a negative impact on enrollment, which begs the question, is it worth the money they claim to be saving?

The reason programs were cut is because the college needed to cut $6 million from the budget deficit. $5.97 million were saved by eliminating most of the art and music programs at Saint Rose in Dec. 2020. These programs were chosen because of historically low enrollment and lack of revenue generation. Several tenured professors were informed their positions would cease to exist, and some are currently suing the college. According to court documents, Music Education was popular enough to deserve to stay, but because it relied so heavily on the Music B.A. program’s courses and faculty, it would be impossible to save money if Music Education was saved.

There is a blogpost on the Saint Rose website titled “The Financial Crisis: How did we get here?” but the post seems to be deleted when you click on the link.

The cuts were designed to save money by nixing programs that weren’t generating revenue, but evidence shows our enrollment numbers are negatively affected by these decisions.

According to their website, Saint Rose boasts a 73% retention rate, just above the national average. However, some students are becoming more and more disappointed with the administration, some choosing to leave altogether. According to Gish, that number has dropped to 58% most recently, presumably in light of the pandemic.

“It became clear that Saint Rose didn’t care about their students or their faculty; it, unfortunately, no longer felt like a place where I could grow and thrive like I had in the past. The announcement that they were cutting music and art programs came shortly after my decision to take time off from school and definitely solidified my decision to not return to Saint Rose. The Saint Rose administration has demonstrated time and time again that it does not value the Saint Rose community and its needs.” said Saga Stranden. Stranden studied English at Saint Rose until they transferred to SUNY New Paltz following a gap year.

Students aren’t the only people leaving the college though. Faculty members are also exiting in swarms. Marcia White’s presidency will continue through June 2023, then the search must continue. In terms of residence life, supervisor Mackenzie Wright left to pursue other opportunities, and Teresa Belfance left the position to assume the one of Student Development, following the resignation of Chereva Mclellan. According to a source, a high ranking official in Res. Life is also on their way out. Other notable figures who’ve left are Dr. Shai Butler, VP of Student Development, library head Drew Urbanek, Jenny Bogda, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions, and Communications Department Chair Cailin Brown.

Some of the first to know about the Brubacher decision were the Resident Advisors in Brubacher. One RA, Kaylee Boerner even went live from her room in Brubacher in April, presumably to show off the room to prospective residents. Boerner recalled realizing something was changing last year when she noticed that no new RA’s were being hired. In order to avoid having to let anyone go, residence life chose to forgo the hiring process. Boerner said no new RA’s were hired until this fall, when a hire had to be found to replace some who resigned.

Maia Kirk is a senior living on campus in a Centennial Hall apartment. She started off her Saint Rose residency as a freshman in Brubacher and says, “I feel like my money was wasted living there, kinda jealous after seeing Lima. At least others won’t have to waste their money now.” The most notable differences between Brubacher and Lima are the locations, Lima sits right on campus, no walking across Western Ave. like Brubacher requires. Lima Hall is also air conditioned in the hallways and lounge areas. So if student’s get too hot in the dorm room’s that don’t allow for AC, they can cool off in the hallway, computer lab, or lounge. Nowhere in Brubacher is air conditioned; during the 2018-19 school year, students were offered the opportunity to bring sleeping bags to the gym if they got too hot. Students felt this was unfair considering they had to choose between a bed or comfortable temperatures.

In the email from former Director of Residence Life Jen Richardson on Aug. 31, 2018, students were informed that the EAC would be accessible from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. to sleep in, save for the Tuesday of that week when a priorly scheduled event pushed the night to 11 p.m.. In addition to an 8 a.m. wake-up time, ID access was turned off at midnight. If students needed to get in after that time they would need to wake up a friend inside or call security.

Boerner lived in Brubacher as a resident her freshman year and RA her sophomore year. Despite noting conditions like faulty bathrooms, roaches, mice, and high temperatures, Boerner highlighted the culture of Brubacher.

“I loved it, as much as I did not like the conditions I loved living there. It’s a weird thing to say, but I really enjoyed entering the building and seeing a chandelier. Or going downstairs to get food was so accessible. The lounge was really nice. It made me feel at home. That was something I haven’t felt in any other residential building on campus.” said Boerner.

“Yeah, the walk can be scary at night but it’s nice to get away a bit (from campus). It’s like living somewhere new.” Brubacher is located at 750 State St., and students would walk north on the Partridge St. border of campus to turn into the building’s entrance.

“Should we part ways with Bru, it is important to us to give the students who built lifelong friendships there and hold the residence hall close to their hearts an opportunity to celebrate those relationships and Bru’s role in them.”says Gish.

“We’ll be looking for a way to do that.”