Ramapo Magazine


	The Angelica and Russ Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts was the centerpiece of the Capital Campaign.

	Oak Hall opened fall 1999 with housing for 250 students.

	The pavilion houses a dining facility and recreation center.

Keeping our eyes on the road ahead fuels Ramapo's commitment to empowerment through technology and dedication to enhancing, refurbishing, and expanding our facilities. The inaugural season of the Angelica and Russ Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts fulfilled a dream of a showplace for the arts, not only for our campus family but for the community as well. New residence halls, recreational and dining facilities, and modern energy alternatives are hallmarks in Ramapo's quest to stay on the cutting edge and meet the needs of all students.

Highlights

Demand for on-campus housing was greater than ever. Approximately seventy-nine percent of new freshmen chose to live on campus. To meet this growing need, the College opened Oak Hall on schedule and the adjacent Pavilion, a student dining and recreational building, in fall 1999.
Entech Engineering completed a facilities condition audit of all campus facilities and formulated a database useful for planning and prioritizing future building projects.
A fuel cell installed near Oak Hall supplied eighty percent of the electrical requirements of the residence hall and the lighting in the parking area. This alternative energy source is environmentally-friendly, comparatively inexpensive, and provides a reliable backup in case of loss of power.
The Center for Computing and Information Systems (CCIS) oversaw operations in twenty computer labs as well as managed all other computing and telecommunications support. Students have twenty-four hour access to the labs and state-of-the-art software with more than 300 computers campus-wide. All students living on campus have individual Internet access.
The Angelica and Russ Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts, which celebrated its inaugural season in fall 1999, houses the Sharp Theater, a 350-seat proscenium theater engineered without obstructions to visibility or sound; the Myron and Elaine Adler Theater, a blackbox theater which can seat up to 150; and the Kresge and Pascal art galleries. State-of-the-art classrooms, a rehearsal hall and labs, plus photography, art and music studios make the Berrie Center the premiere arts and learning venue in the area.
The first year of Web registration — no phone calls, mailings, or waiting on a line — proved very successful through the College's new OnCourse tool. Exam schedules, academic calendars, and graduation information were also available to students online.
Online, Web-enabled survey research was fully implemented during the 1999-2000 academic year. Two graduating senior and alumni surveys were distributed with an option for online response, as was one survey linked to the evaluation of services provided during freshman orientation.
Web-enabled placement testing using the College Board's Accuplacer test was successfully piloted in fall 1999 and fully implemented in spring 2000 for new freshmen.
The fall pilot of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) furnished useful information on our students' involvement in learning and their satisfaction with the campus climate.
The campus Technical Education Center provided faculty and staff up-to-date resources and training to manage professional responsibilities and teach using technology.
A three-year $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation gave high school teachers hands-on technical learning about environmental issues. The project, called Targeted Investigations in Environmental Science, or TIES, included an "On-Line" Institute, a Web site designed specifically for TIES, and use of Geographical Information Systems. The project will ultimately produce a combination of Web-based instructional materials and CDs for educators to be distributed nationally.
WRPR, 90.3 on your FM dial, acted as a broadcast training lab as well as serving the campus and surrounding areas. The station brought the campus music, news, sporting events, and talk shows.
Ramapo College Television and Video (RCTV) provided a creative forum for students to express themselves on the air. RCTV, Channel 10, carried student programs and variety shows such as weekly news, interviews, cooking shows, sports, movie reviews, and more.