New Construction, Capital Upgrades to Enhance the Student Experience
QUEENS, NY – Borough President Melinda Katz announced an allocation of $5 million of her Fiscal Year 2016 discretionary capital funds to support capital projects at all five City University of New York (CUNY) public institutions of higher learning in Queens. The $5 million in funding will enhance the educational experience for the CUNY students who attend Queens College in Flushing, York College in Jamaica, Queensborough Community College in Bayside, LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City and the CUNY School of Law in Long Island City.
“CUNY has a long history of providing a high-quality, competitive and remarkably affordable higher education that produces job-ready graduates with respected academic credentials,” said Borough President KATZ. “We are particularly proud of the five CUNY schools located in Queens. This $5 million allocation will help guarantee that the physical infrastructure of these five institutions remains top-of-the-line and fully able to support a first-class experience for CUNY’s hard-working students.”
The $5 million allocation for capital projects at the Queens CUNY campuses breaks down as follows:
•$1.25 million for the construction of a “one-stop” student services center at Queens College that will allow students to address registration, financial aid, academic advising and other administrative issues in one single and modern office on campus, rather than in the different and outmoded offices currently located across campus;
•$1 million for laboratory and classroom upgrades in the Science and Modern Languages departments at York College. The upgrades will result in instructional space equipped with the latest technology and teaching devices. This projects also includes upgrades for York College’s data center;
•$1 million for the construction of a customized business and entrepreneurial training center at LaGuardia Community College. The center will deliver high-quality business and entrepreneurial training programs that will incubate new businesses and connect LaGuardia students with jobs at these businesses;
•$1 million to create a modern kitchen and dining hall at Queensborough Community College that will replace the college’s current undersized basement dining hall;
•$750,000 to improve the auditorium at the CUNY School of Law. The improvements will include an upgrade to the auditorium’s audio-visual systems and the addition of teleconferencing and lecture-capture systems. These improvements will allow the Law School to implement distance-learning capabilities for the auditorium, which is the Law School’s largest lecture hall. They will also include upgrades for the auditorium’s audio transcription systems, allowing the Law School to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements for the hearing-impaired.
This year’s $5 million allocation comes on top of $1.3 million that Borough President Katz allocated last year for CUNY capital projects. Last year’s allocation from the Borough President’s Fiscal Year 2015 discretionary capital funds included $750,000 for the LaGuardia Community College business and entrepreneurial training center and $550,000 for the creation of a modern kitchen and dining hall at Queensborough Community College.
Follow Borough President Katz via @melindakatz or www.facebook.com/queensbpkatz