Attention: All prospective Syracuse Art and Design students

Parents Forum
1

<p>I found the following thread in the Arts Forum about some art majors being moved 5 minutes OFF campus. You may want to call Syracuse and confirm whether the information contained herein is true. If it is, you may want to reconsider attending Syracuse.</p>

<p>Here is the thread:</p>

<p>#121<br>
jerzgrlmom
Junior Member</p>

<p>Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 39 Was just at Syracuse for an Open House for Accepted Students. Seems the new Chancellor has bought property downtown and SU is "really excited by this acquisition" since they want to promote the arts more. What that really means (a tour guide let it slip) is that the Communications Design, Advertising Design and Architecture Depts are moving downtown (10 minutes away from campus - approx 3-5 miles away). When we asked at the Design admissions dept about this news, we were given the "we don't know for sure what the Chancellor is planning." My daughter wanted more info. Says it will affect her decision. So she pressed the issue. We were then told it's true about the move. Apparently Architecture will be moving back on campus eventually but no one knows what will happen to CD and AD. As it is, the art building is quite a distance away and now this. My daughter was very disappointed to say the least. She had been having a great time and was excited about the program. She's been offered a nice merit scholarship to SU, but the prospect of taking a bus (SU uses town buses for transportation) back and forth every day (and night) is a bit upsetting. I also found it disappointing that CD and AD students weren't told this news. We just happened to hear about it. Another CD student walking around with us said she had come all the way from CA and wouldn't have made the trip if she had known this</p>

2

<p>I attend Syracuse (broadcast journalism major) and you should be concerned. The problem with those majors is that the students are frequently at their studios and whatnot until 1, 2 a.m. It might not feel like you are attending SU, but rather just some urban college.</p>

3

<p>Sportsguru5, this is exactly why I have posted this thread. If this is true, I will be writing a scathing letter to the Provost about this. In addition, my daughter will certainly not attend Syracuse unless her safety can be guaranteed to my satisfaction. This will have a drastic affect on art and design applicants.</p>

4

<p>Tax Guy - here is the write up in the Daily Orange. Sounds like the move will affect mainly architecture students. There will be some communication design classes at the new location, but I would check to see how many and if they can be avoided by scheduling on campus classes. There is also info. in the article about plans for a 24-hour shuttle service. It also sounds like this may be a temporary move while Slocum Hall, the main art facility, is being rennovated over the next year.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.dailyorange.com/news/2005/01/21/News/Su.To.Move.Locations.Of.Some.Departments.Downtown-837571.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.dailyorange.com/news/2005/01/21/News/Su.To.Move.Locations.Of.Some.Departments.Downtown-837571.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

5

<p>Thanks for the link Carolyn. My daughter, however, is interested in communication design. Thus, she will be squarely impacted by this.</p>

6

<p>Ugh, then I think you are right to be concerned. When I read that article and realized they were talking about foodservice, it suggested to me that it will be quite a bit farther than "10 minutes" from campus.
Boy, this sure throws a wrench in the works, doesn't it?</p>

7

<p>Enclosed is Syracuse's response to my letter. What may alarm some of you is that this relocation may apply to a number of majors in the School of Visual Art and not just to Communication Design and Advertising Design. I think his letter is self-explanatory, but I have another letter that I sent him asking for some more details:</p>

<hr>

<p>My colleague Jeff Charboneau passed your message on to me. I'd like to try to address your concerns and respectfully disagree with your contention that "no one is happy."</p>

<p>It is true that the School of Architecture, the Communications Design and Advertising Design programs in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), and the Goldring Arts Journalism Program (a graduate program) will all be located in downtown Syracuse beginning with the Spring 2006 semester. </p>

<p>The University's Admissions Office, Parents Office and students, faculty and staff in Architecture and VPA are all apprised of the move. The site is a large warehouse facility that the University has purchased and to which has committed several million dollars for renovation. </p>

<p>The move is a necessity--in order to carry out the renovation of Slocum Hall, the current home to the School of Architecture and the two VPA programs--that we are turning into an educational opportunity for the students. The Warehouse is located at the edge of the Armory Square District, a thriving portion of the city that features old buildings that have been renovated and are now filled with restaurants, specialty shops and artisans. The Warehouse provides students with an opportunity to be immersed in a prosperous downtown environment that can serve as a living laboratory for the study of urban design. </p>

<p>I won't deny that the students (and some of the faculty and staff) had some initial concerns, but as they have learned more they are embracing the opportunity. In all, more than 500 students, faculty and staff will be located at The Warehouse.</p>

<p>The initial concerns focused primarily on transportation, food and safety. </p>

<p>Transportation--A free campus bus shuttle service will run 24 hours per day, seven days a week during the times classes are in session. Point-to-point (express) service will be offered from College Place (on main campus) to The Warehouse and back. </p>

<p>Food--Food services will be offered via a cafe in the building, which will honor student meal plans and the SUpercard. The cafe will be open likely for 12 hours a day, dependent on class schedules. Vending machines will also be available during all hours. Wireless Internet access will be accessible in the cafe seating area, and hard-wired computer access will be available elsewhere in the building.</p>

<p>Safety--SU's Department of Public Safety will staff and monitor the building on a 24-hour basis, similar to their coverage of SU's other academic buildings. During peak hours, two DPS officers will patrol and secure the premises. Cameras will be installed to monitor activity in specific locations. </p>

<p>In addition, a small retail shop will be located in The Warehouse to cater to the academic supply needs of the VPA and Architecture students. </p>

<p>The renovation of Slocum Hall is expected to be completed for the start of the Fall 2008 semester, at which time the School of Architecture will move back to the main campus. At that time, additional VPA programs are anticipated to move to The Warehouse, along with some other SU departments and community arts organizations. </p>

<p>It should also be noted that The Warehouse is also serving as a high-profile anchor for Syracuse's Connective Corridor project (<a href="http://sunews.syr.edu/fullstory.asp?id=3150515)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://sunews.syr.edu/fullstory.asp?id=3150515)&lt;/a>, which has drawn a lot of attention in our local community.</p>

<p>We are in the process of creating some Web materials describing the University's space initiatives, including The Warehouse, the planned edition to the Newhouse School and the $107 million Life Sciences Complex. This site will offer a great deal of information, including drawings and schedules. </p>

<p>In the meantime, if you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.</p>

<p>Best regards,</p>

8

<p>Sigh. Oh Syracuse.</p>

<p>Thank you for sharing! My friend is going to Syracuse's School of Architecture, so I'm going to pass this his way. </p>

<p>This won't affect any Newhouse kids will it? Well, they do have like two buildings already, and making a third so I recall.</p>

9

<p>Is Syracuse really awful? Because I'd think art students would find a downtown locale more exciting anyway.</p>

<p>It's good you posted this, of course. Just as a heads-up, though, everyone should keep in mind this can happen almost anywhere. Many schools do construction, and projects are too big to confine to summers only. Programs get moved around. At many schools you have no guarantees that the building your program is in now is the building it will be in all the years you are enrolled. Sometimes that will work to your favor, other times not.</p>

10

<p>Hoedown, they're not just talking about moving buildings. They are talking about moving off campus altogether! They estimate about 10 minute bus ride. However, this doesn't take into account waiting for buses, inclement weather etc Check out the alphabetical Listing for Syracuse. I have a lot more information on this.</p>

11

<p>Taxguy, I understand your concern. But the truth is Syracuse is already a BIG school in terms of geographic area. Back in the day, I remember taking the shuttle bus just to get to the other side of campus from where I lived. And, when I moved off campus, I took the school shuttle all the time to get to campus. It's just a fact of life at Syracuse. The funny thing about Syracuse is that the city does an AMAZING job of clearing roads during inclement weather so I would not let that aspect be overly worrisome.
But I can understand how this must feel like a bait-and-switch to you and your daughter and you have my sympathies.</p>

12

<p>
[quote]
They are talking about moving off campus altogether!

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Still, I'm not sure that's so unusual. You wouldn't believe how much rent Michigan pays out in off-campus properties. For the most part they try to put offices, not classrooms and student spaces off-campus, but they can't avoid it all the time. I believe nearly all their graduate students in one program in the school of Art and Design have studios in a big warehouse off campus.</p>

<p>I'm not saying this is ideal; I'm just saying it's part and parcel of how colleges and universities make do with limited space (which is sometimes squeezed even tighter by renovation projects). It could happen to other students on CC, too, at other colleges.</p>

13

<p>Here is a recent letter elaborating on bus schedules:
Sandy:</p>

<p>I spoke with my colleague Mike Riley, director of SU's Office of Parking and Transit Services, who is the architect of the bus plan, working with assistant deans in both VPA and Architecture.</p>

<p>It is a rather extensive plan, so please bear with me.</p>

<p>The plan follows the premise that architecture students and most VPA design students are studio-oriented. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, all 450+ architecture students will be collectively in studio classes at The Warehouse from 1:30 to 6 p.m.</p>

<p>Bus schedule:</p>

<p>Weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon, buses will depart College Place bound for The Warehouse (and conversely leave The Warehouse bound for campus) every 20 minutes. </p>

<p>Since we know of the afternoon studio classes, weekdays from 12:30 to 1 p.m. six dedicated buses will be lined up at College Place to take students to The Warehouse.</p>

<p>Weekdays from 6 to 6:30 p.m., after the studios let out, four dedicated buses will be lined up at The Warehouse to transport those students who want to return to campus. We know, based upon knowldege of architecture and design students' work habits, that some students will want to go and others will likely stay at The Warehouse later. </p>

<p>Weekdays from 7 p.m. to midnight, buses will depart both College Place and The Warehouse every 20 minutes.</p>

<p>At all other times--throughout weekends and during the 1 to 6 p.m. and the midnight to 9 a.m. weekday hours--buses will depart from College Place and from The Warehouse every 40 minutes. </p>

<p>Every student who will be studying at The Warehouse will be informed of the bus schedule. In general, our students tend to be very savvy about bus schedules.</p>

<p>This is the initial plan approved by both the School of Architecture and the College of Visual and Performing Arts. As it goes into operation in January 2006 it may be adjusted to reflect any changes noted in students' study and riding patterns.</p>

<p>Kevin</p>

<p>Kevin Morrow
University Spokesman
Executive Director, News Services
Syracuse University
(315) 443-3784</p>

<hr>

<p>My original letter to him:
Kevin, thanks again for your response. I do feel better that kids can wait in the building for the bus. This avoids both the bitter cold and possible mugging. I will be waiting for your response on bus frequency. I will be coming to Syracuse to see how long it takes to drive to the Armory building from campus. </p>

<p>Admittedly, I do feel a bit better IF there will be a lot of buses with little wait time. However, feeling better is still not great. I would have MUCH preferred for her to be on the main campus.</p>

14

<p>Here is the reason for this move. I will let you parents decide on its validity:
Sandy, in response to your first question, the University concluded the purchase process for The Warehouse earlier this month and has already begun work on the structure. It is our intention to have all of the renovation work completed in time to begin moving faculty and staff, office equipment, classroom equipment and computers, etc. to The Warehouse in December in preparation for the start of spring semester classes in January. The basic structure will remain intact, so it will have a nice feel, and additional windows and interior amenities will be added. </p>

<p>Please note the potential for disruption to student learning because of construction is the principal reason why students, faculty and staff now working in Slocum Hall are being relocated while that building undergoes its renovation.</p>

<p>Regarding your second question, I believe you'll find the answer in this excerpt I have pulled from an article in the Spring 2005 issue of Syracuse University Magazine, which has just come out:</p>

<p>[School of Architecture Dean Mark] Robbins believes the downtown move is particularly appropriate for the architecture school, which will occupy the renovated West Fayette Street building for two to three years while Slocum Hall is renovated. “Architecture intersects with our daily life at literally every turn,” he says. “The earlier students can begin to learn about interacting with people who may be neighbors or clients, the better. Our obligation is to educate students as broadly as possible in a liberal arts tradition, in a history of ideas. When our students graduate and design buildings, those buildings will have more profound links to the city and the community—links that are based on an innovative, inventive understanding of the realities of culture and society.”</p>

<p>The building, now referred to as “The Warehouse,” is a 1920s concrete structure adjoining the city’s Armory Square district, one of the most vital, pedestrian-oriented areas of downtown Syracuse. The renovation project is consistent with the mission of the School of Architecture’s Upstate Institute, a newly created design think tank that will focus on rejuvenating the upstate New York region. Nationally prominent architects will be invited to collaborate. When renovated, The Warehouse will include design studios, classrooms, and faculty and administrative offices. As the project evolves, a street-level bookstore and café overlooking Onondaga Creek and gallery space are envisioned. “The building provides the ideal flexible space required for studio and gallery space,” Robbins says. “The industrial loft space mirrors the professional environment that architecture and design students will one day work in. The setting provides a unique, creative laboratory for our students—the future architects of our cities and neighborhoods.” The new facility will also encourage interdisciplinary work with VPA design students, who will have studios in the building. </p>

<p>Robbins acknowledges that several logistical considerations are inherent in this undertaking, but affirms that careful thought has been given to such issues as security, transportation, and making this a seamless transition for students. A shuttle-bus service from Main Campus will be in operation, class schedules will be adjusted to allow for travel time, and security will be provided for the building and parking lot. “There are definite challenges,” Robbins says. “But the benefits in terms of curricular enrichment are worth all the very real issues, which we will resolve. We have an exciting opportunity to make a real difference in the education of our students and their development as architects—and as citizens.”</p>

<p>Long-range plans for The Warehouse include a permanent home for the Upstate Institute, as well as residences for visiting artists and architects. “What is most important to me about the downtown space is that the University’s presence in the Syracuse community is now tangible, not simply symbolic,” says VPA Dean Carole Brzozowski ’81. “We can use this opportunity to collaborate with other arts organizations—as we have done in the past—but with the advantage of a physical presence.” Brzozowski is working with CRC director Leo Crandall to identify community partners who will share space within the facility. “I view our presence downtown as a chance to further develop mutually beneficial relationships with local arts organizations,” Brzozowski says. “These groups often provide our students with critical practical learning experiences, and if we can offer additional space for meetings, exhibitions, and rehearsals, the arts community as a whole can only grow stronger.”</p>

<p>The magazine's online version, with the complete article titled "Creative Connection," has not yet been posted but will be soon, found at <a href="http://sumagazine.syr.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://sumagazine.syr.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Kevin</p>

<p>Kevin Morrow
University Spokesman
Executive Director, News Services
Syracuse University
(315) 443-3784</p>

<p>My letter to him:</p>

<p>Kevin, in addition to the bus schedule that you will be sending me, my wife raised two other questions, if I may:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Will the Armory building, which will currently be used for Architecture, and some Design disciplines, have a lot of constructiona and remodeling going on while the kids are taking classes there? If so, this could be hugely disruptive to the kids.</p></li>
<li><p>You mention that there are tremendous educational benefits to this relocation. Frankly, all I see are negatives to the kids. However, maybe I don't know the whole story or am being too closeminded. Thus, what exactly are these tremendous benefits? Will the new building be getting all new computers and software and drafting tables? What are these benefits?</p></li>
</ol>