College of Staten Island - History

History

It was established in 1976 from the merger of Richmond College (opened in 1965) and Staten Island Community College (opened 1956). Richmond College had been threatened with closure because of New York City's financial crisis, while the older school, because of its status as a community college, received state support. The merger was particularly logical since the community college offered two year degrees, while Richmond College was an "upper divisional" college (the third in the nation) that offered degrees to those in their third and fourth years of schooling.

The College of Staten Island has been located on the grounds of the former Willowbrook State School since 1993. It is the largest campus, in terms of physical size, in New York City. Before the relocation to Willowbrook, the college had a split campus, located at the former Staten Island Community College (in Sunnyside, on Todt Hill) and Richmond College (in St. George).

The first president of the college, Dr. Edmond Volpe, an American literature scholar, retired in 1994, after having successfully handled the merger of the two colleges and the unification of the two campuses. He was succeeded by Dr. Marlene Springer, as the second president of the college, an English and American literature scholar, under whose leadership the College improved academic standards, introduced two doctoral programs and several master's programs, raised the level of the faculty, added research institutes, and introduced an Honors College, the Verrazano School, and the CSI High School for International Studies.

Springer retired in August 2007 and was succeeded by Tomás D. Morales, with an Ed.D. in Educational Administration from SUNY-Albany in 1998, as the third president of the college. He arranged for a free bus from the Staten Island ferry to the Willowbrook campus. On March 22, 2012, the Faculty Senate of the College passed a motion of "no confidence" in Morales and his Provost. This was overturned on a procedural issue and discussions in the subsequent April 19 meeting became so "bogged down" that the measure didn't go to a vote again. Less than a month later, on May 10, 2012, Morales announced that he would be leaving the College of Staten Island to become president of California State University at San Bernardino. Morales's departure did not allow sufficient time to undertake a search for his replacement, so the CUNY Board of Trustees named the Provost, Dr. William J. Fritz, interim President for a period of up to two years. On June 28, 2012, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education re-accredited the College but required that the College submit a monitoring report by December 1, 2013 addressing issues pertaining to general education (Standard 12) and assessment of student learning (Standard 14).