If the student activity fee were increased, would the benefits to student life on campus outweigh the financial burden this would put on students? That question is not so easily answered. Queens College’s student activity fee is currently $162 per student. With approximately 20,000 students attending QC, this means there is an estimated amount of $3.24 million dollars devoted to fund over 100 clubs at QC. The money also covers organizations such as the Committee for Disabled Students, the Child Development Center and services for students such as the QC shuttle bus. Clubs and student life are vital to the college experience and important resources that all students should have…
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Budget Crisis Sends a Ripple Effect Throughout Queens College
Queens College is bending to demands forced upon it in recent years by an increasing budget issue that’s rapidly spreading across the entire CUNY system. “A disturbing trend in faculty hiring at QC is that we increasingly hire lecturers rather than professorial lines,” an anonymous professor wrote in a statement, “simply because lecturers’ salaries are lower and they are contractually required to teach more — 24 credits a year instead of 18 credits a year for a professorial line.” The professor chose to remain anonymous due to conflict of interest. The professor further explained that the simple money-saving strategy contributes to a snowball effect for students. Professors have an annual…
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Interview With Interim President Dr. William Tramontano
“Scientists are expected to be good humanists, but humanists are not expected to be good scientists.” This was proclaimed by none other than Dr. William Tramontano, the interim university President of Queens College. A lover of science, Tramontano received a degree in biology at Manhattan College and eventually obtained a doctorate in cell biology from New York University. Tramontano, who has spent about 40 years in administration has dedicated a vast amount of his career to serving both the private and public sector. Tramontano started off as a department chair at Manhattan College for 18 years, but after some time was ready to look into other positions. He spent a…
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Call for More Funding for CUNY Schools in 2020
CUNY schools are said to be some of the most affordable schools there are for undergraduate and graduate education, but is that really the case? According to Student Debt Relief, the national average for undergraduates during the 2017-2018 school year was $9,970 for in-state residents at public universities, and $25,620 for out-of-state residents at four-year institutions. For four year private schools, the average is $34,740. Either way, more people are graduating with debt than ever. According to CNBC and the College Board, “the average cumulative student debt balance in 2017 was $26,900 for graduates of public four-year schools and $32,600 for graduates of private nonprofit four-year schools.” CUNY’s website lists…
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QC’s Questionable Ability to Maintain Sustainability On Campus
Queens College is known for its large spanning campus, with a well-kept Quad, tables and chairs carefully strewn all over the grounds, and not a single piece of litter in sight. But inside the buildings, which stand shiny and new as if they were built just yesterday, a different picture reveals itself. The QC Buildings and Grounds (B&G) department, whose sole priority is the maintenance of the shiny image QC boasts of, is under fire when it was discovered by a student’s investigation that it may not be properly disposing recycled materials. In every building, on every floor , in every hallway, the trademark blue and green bins sit, waiting…
