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Number of minority students more than doubles at SUNY Canton, SUNY Potsdam as colleges recruit heavily downstate

Posted 12/5/15

By CRAIG FREILICH The number of minority students at SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Canton has more than doubled in recent years, and the rise is expected to continue as school officials aim to maintain or …

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Number of minority students more than doubles at SUNY Canton, SUNY Potsdam as colleges recruit heavily downstate

Posted

By CRAIG FREILICH

The number of minority students at SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Canton has more than doubled in recent years, and the rise is expected to continue as school officials aim to maintain or increase enrollment and local jobs.

The number of freshmen who self-identify as non-white has grown from 18 percent in 2010 to 42 percent this year at SUNY Potsdam, according to school officials. Students from New York City represented 2 percent of undergraduates in 2005, but are 18 percent of undergrads this year. In 2005, 7 percent of total undergrads were minorities and in 2015 are 29 percent.

At SUNY Canton, the proportion of total minority undergraduate students has more than doubled in 10 years, from 13 percent in 2005 to 28 percent in 2015.

“And as the population of St. Lawrence County declines, in order to stay even or grow, we have to bring students in from other parts of the state,” said SUNY Canton President Zvi Szafran. “We’re looking to the growing metro areas such as New York City” to maintain their enrollment goals and the number of jobs at the schools.

“Demographically, there has been a real decline in the number of families choosing to stay in the North Country,” SUNY Potsdam President Kristin Esterberg said.

“For us to stay healthy,” she said, “we need about 4,000 students. But the North Country population (of high school graduates) is shrinking.”

A stronger student recruiting effort statewide is underway to keep enrollment up at the two SUNY colleges. It is drawing more students from New York City and elsewhere around the state to make up for the fewer North Country students enrolling.

Szafran says SUNY Canton’s enrollment is about 3,200, and they are working not only to maintain that but to grow to 3,800 before long.

“Some people have asked, why not just recruit mainly up here and become a college for the North Country,” Szafran said. “But that would be a bad thing for the college.”

Population Changes ‘Dramatically’

“The student population has changed pretty dramatically in the last five years,” Pres. Esterberg said. There are more African-American, Latino, and Asian students and a small but significant population of Native Americans on campus.

But in addition to maintaining healthy enrollments, Esterberg said “we recruit downstate because that helps make for a vibrant program.”

Squadrons of admissions counselors from SUNY Canton and Potsdam have fanned out across the state to find promising young people to come north for their educations.

“Our staff of admissions counselors are in every region of the state – New York City, the five boroughs, and Long Island, the lower Hudson Valley, the Capital region, Central New York, the North Country, St. Lawrence County, western New York and the Southern Tier,” said SUNY Canton Director of Admissions Melissa Evans.

They have been succeeding, according to figures from both schools.

The proportion of undergraduates from St. Lawrence County at SUNY Canton in 2005 was 58 percent. That has declined to 35 percent in 2015. In the North Country as a whole, the number has declined from 70 percent in 2005 to 48 percent in 2015.

SUNY Potsdam shows similar trends: 25 percent from St. Lawrence County in 2005, 18 percent in 2015; 46 percent from the North Country in 2005, 36 percent in 2015.

Meanwhile the proportions of students from New York City and of minority students show an opposite trend.

In 2005 at SUNY Canton, the proportion of students from New York City was 7 percent and is now 18 percent. Minority students made up 13 percent of undergraduates in 2005 and are 28 percent now.

At SUNY Potsdam, New York City students were 2 percent of undergraduates in 2005, and are 18 percent this year. In 2005 7 percent of undergrads were minorities and in 2015 are 29 percent.

Overall enrollment at SUNY Canton in 2005 was 2,481 and rose to 3,183 in 2015 as the college saw significant growth as it offered more four-year degrees.

At SUNY Potsdam enrollment has been steadier, at 3,570 in 2005 and 3,595 in 2015.

Incidents Strain Trust

But the alleged assault and robbery of a pizza deliverer by some SUNY Canton minority students from New York City in September, an incident in which a taxi driver had the fare taken from him, and two bicycle thefts are making some local residents wonder if the increase in minority recruitment is a good idea. And school officials say some students are feeling less welcome in the community.

“Obviously we weren’t happy when this happened,” Pres. Szafran said of the pizza delivery incident. “We hope students are dedicated to their studies, and 99.5 percent are.

“I didn’t enjoy calling the pizza shop owner. And once the charges were confirmed, those students were immediately suspended.

“It was terrible. They had a wonderful opportunity and they chose to waste it in this way.

“Unfortunately, a lot of the time people want to extrapolate” behavior like that to the whole student body or a segment of it, while “the vast majority are doing just what they should be doing,” Szafran said. “And they resent being tossed into the same barrel” with the bad apples, he said.

Some people have suggested that the schools should do a better job of screening students before they are admitted, by means of face-to-face interviews, for instance.

But the admissions process is fairly standard, with standard SUNY and federal application forms, Evans said. An interview is not an official requirement for admission.

“We do prefer to see the students,” Szafran said. “You get a more intimate understanding of their needs and goals,” but it’s not always practical, as in the case of a current student from Cameroon, where a pre-admission interview “was quite impossible.” But some of the goals of an in-person pre-admission interview can be accomplished by the admissions counselors on their recruiting trips. And online Skype meetings are becoming more common.

Esterberg said there are distinct advantages to an on-campus interview, such as providing a chance for evaluation of the student and for the student to evaluate the school. Some programs at SUNY Potsdam do require an interview, and in the case of the Crane School of Music, also an audition.

But among the most important predictors of success on campus are grades and a record of other accomplishments, Esterberg said.

Financial Aid Misunderstood

How financial aid is awarded is widely misunderstood by many, school officials said.

Using perceptions of students based on stereotypes, some people presume students from New York City get “a free ride,” as one writer to North Country This Week said.

“There is no financial aid offered here that is not available to everyone in New York State, whether they are from St. Lawrence County or Kings County,” Szafran said. He pointed to state and federal programs aimed at helping students who are less well off than others, such as Pell Grants, Equal Opportunity Program grants, and Tuition Assistance Program grants. “That’s a very good thing because there is a very high poverty rate in St. Lawrence County.”

On top of that are the merit-based scholarships that SUNY Canton awards from “money we raise right here,” Szafran said. Evans said two-thirds of those go to students from St. Lawrence County.

Welcoming Students With Respect

“We want nothing more than to have our students feel comfortable in the North Country and feel a part of the campus. And how do we provide a welcome to students in our midst” but in the broader community, Esterberg asked. She quoted one student as asking “How do we replace judgment with curiosity?”

“You’re different. That’s interesting. How do we remain respectful?” she said.

SUNY Potsdam points to a number of on-campus programs aimed at encouraging a broad view of diversity and its benefits.

There is a faculty-led discussion project called Circles of Understanding. Another year-long project has 60 members of faculty and staff exploring issues with expert consultants on things such as the psychology of stereotypes.

A new program starting in January will train all staff about how to recognize bias and to report it if they see it. A similar program for all first-year students, begun this year, encourages discussion of diversity and bias. And a survey has been conducted and is being analyzed to better understand concerns od students from different backgrounds.

SUNY Canton points to several recent student-led vigils “to show support for current racially charged situations,” and administration-facilitated “diversity discussions” where students are welcome to air their concerns, according to college spokesman Greg Kie. He also notes that students have organized marches, gatherings and speeches to promote discussion.

The school also points to events such as the college’s Living Writers Series of author appearances and a Leadership Lecture Series, both of which feature diverse points of view.

Both schools have orientation programs to familiarize new students with the general ins and outs on and off campus.

In the community, both SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Canton have programs designed to get students downtown during one weekend early in the school year, to familiarize the students with the community and to introduce students to merchants and their offerings. That encourages them to participate in the local economy.

“Students have a lot of choices,” Esterberg said. “We want to be sure they see all the opportunities here.”

And both college presidents emphasized the importance of the students to the community, not just during the time they are in school but also afterward, when some might choose to stay and build working lives here.

All of the efforts to get students here will be wasted if the students don’t feel welcome on campus and in the community, Esterberg said.

“We need to attract talent” and keep them here, Szafran said. “If we make people feel uninvited, they’re not going to want to stay. And we want them to stay.”