Part 1: Campus Profile - SUNY Cobleskill

SUNY Cobleskill Facilities Master Plan – Phase 1 Report
November 2011
A
HISTORY
1966 Designated a State
University Agricultural
and Technical College
1987 Renamed State
University of New York
College of Agriculture and
Technology at Cobleskill;
First Bachelor’s degree is
offered
1996 SUNY founded the
Technology Colleges sector,
linking SUNY Cobleskill with
other SUNY colleges of
agriculture and technology
2005 New full-service
Equestrian Center opened
2011 Anticipated
construction start date for the
new Center for Agriculture
and Natural Resources
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Major era of campus facilities growth
2000 New Dairy Complex
completed
2016 Hundredth
anniversary of College
2001 First Bachelor of Business
Administration applicants are accepted
several new buildings were constructed as a result of the GI Bill. In 1948,
when the State University of New York [SUNY] was officially established,
the New York School of Agriculture was one of the original member
institutions. Four years later, the College received its first accreditation
by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. In
1957, during the tenure of its fifth president, Ray L. Wheeler, the College
was renamed the State University of New York Agriculture and Technology
Institute at Cobleskill.
SUNY Cobleskill experienced a major period of growth from the 1960s
to the early 1970s. The majority of existing campus facilities was
constructed during this time, including Van Wagenen Library and many of
the dormitory buildings. The campus expanded south and west from the
original quad of Frisbie Hall, Alumni Hall, the Home Economics building,
and the Old Gym, with new additions joining Hodder Hall, the University
Police building, the Carriage House, and the Plant Annex Storage on
the west side of Route 7. The western portion of the campus, separated
from the main campus by Route 7, developed as an agricultural zone
with dairy and horse barns, a fish hatchery, a meat processing plant,
and instructional facilities for plant science and fisheries and wildlife.
Enrollment surpassed 1,000 and the student population became more
diverse as the newly established Equal Opportunity Program [EOP]
encouraged the inclusion of a wider range of applicants.
The year 1987 marked a milestone in the history of the College, when
SUNY Cobleskill began offering its first baccalaureate degree, the Bachelor
of Technology in Agricultural Science. In the same year, the school was
renamed the State University of New York College of Agriculture and
Technology at Cobleskill, as it is known today.
From the 1990s to the present day, SUNY Cobleskill has continued to
evolve both physically and academically. In 2001, the College introduced
its first Bachelor of Business Administration degrees. Four years later,
SUNY Cobleskill was approved to begin a Bachelor of Science in Child
Care and Development. A state-of-the-art dairy facility, a new child care
center, and an addition to Bouck Hall were also constructed in the early
2000s. More recently, the College added a new full-service equestrian
center to support its degree programs in Equine Studies. In 2010, the
12,000 sf research space for its Center for Environmental Science and
Technology research center opened, affording Cobleskill a facility to
research 1 cutting-edge biomass energy generation applications.
Sources: A History of Cobleskill College (1911-1990) by Freeman
Ashworth, Editor; SUNY Cobleskill Faculty Member Francine Apollo,
11/30/10;
“Back to the Farm,” NY Times, September 25, 1921
Graphic A1
Campus Timeline
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