Union College

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From the College

Union College is an independent, undergraduate, residential college for men and women of high academic promise and strong personal motivation. Founded in 1795, it was the first college chartered by the Regents of the State of New York and is one of the oldest nondenominational colleges in the country. The first college in America with a unified campus plan, Union was the first liberal arts college to offer engineering (in 1845). It has more than 22,000 alumni and an endowment of approximately $400 million. The College seeks a geographically and socially diverse student body; at this time, the 2,192 undergraduates represent forty states and thirty countries. Approximately one third of each graduating class continues directly on to graduate or professional school, and Union has earned an excellent reputation for the placement of its graduates in medical, law, and business schools.

Union believes that a student’s life outside the classroom is a vital part of his or her total education and therefore encourages a variety of student organizations–approximately 100 at last count–and a rich cultural and social life. Union also offers an extensive program of intercollegiate, intramural, club, and recreational sports. Among the athletic facilities are the Alumni Gymnasium, with an eight-lane swimming/diving pool and squash and racquetball courts; a 3,000-seat ice rink; a state-of-the-art hardwood-floor venue for basketball and volleyball; Astroturf fields; and an all-weather track. The Reamer Campus Center provides space for social and community activities and services for the entire campus. Dining facilities, the College bookstore, an auditorium, a radio station, and multiple student activities spaces are important parts of the building. The historic Nott Memorial has been renovated into a discussion and display center for students and alumni.

Students are expected to live on campus during their undergraduate years. Union’s innovative Minerva Houses are designed to provide additional social, academic, and residential opportunities for students; they join a residence life program that includes student-initiated theme houses, traditional residence halls, apartments, and fraternities and sororities.

Union is located in the city of Schenectady, part of a metropolitan area based on Albany, the capital of New York. The Capital District’s population of nearly 900,000 includes more than 55,000 college and university students. Schenectady is 3 hours from New York City and Boston and 4 hours from Montreal. Wilderness camping, white-water canoeing, skiing, and cross-country ski touring are available in the nearby Catskills, Adirondacks, Green Mountains, and Massachusetts Berkshires. A great number of volunteer opportunities are available within the Schenectady community.

Union offers the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in anthropology, art (art history, music, theater arts, and visual arts), astronomy, classics, economics, English, history, modern languages, philosophy, political science, and sociology. The Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree is awarded in biology, chemistry, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, geology, mathematics, mechanical engineering, physics, and psychology. Formal interdepartmental work is offered in Africana studies; American studies; biochemistry; East Asian studies; environmental studies; Latin American and Caribbean studies; managerial economics; neuroscience; Russia and Eastern European studies; science, medicine, and technology in culture; and women’s and gender studies. Transdisciplinary studies, individually designed majors, and concentrations within departments are also available. Programs in which a student may earn two baccalaureate degrees are available in the following combinations: engineering and Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts or two engineering degrees. Students may also declare up to two academic minors in any of fifty-two disciplines. In addition, Union offers programs that lead to a B.A. degree from Union and a law degree from Albany Law School or to a B.S. from Union and an M.S. or M.B.A. from Union Graduate College and an M.D. from Albany Medical College. Union also offers a variety of programs that combine a Union College degree with an advanced degree from Union Graduate College.

As a college committed to the liberal arts ideal, Union prepares students for roles as useful, informed citizens and leaders as well as jobholders. Students are encouraged to strive for a breadth of learning to complement the expertise acquired through studies in their major. In its General Education program, for example, Union ensures that its students are exposed to important areas of knowledge in history, literature, science, mathematics, and social science and offers strong incentives to study other cultures. Union’s premium on inter-disciplinary study is highlighted by courses that cross traditional disciplinary boundaries. Students may explore such areas as bioengineering, mechatronics, nanotechnology, neuroscience, and pervasive computing. Independent study and undergraduate research are strongly encouraged. To foster initiative in educational programs and individual academic exploration, Union’s own Internal Education Foundation makes grants for special projects to students, faculty members, and administrators. The College annually sends one of the largest delegations to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Degree requirements include successful completion of a minimum of 36 term courses in all programs except engineering, which may require up to 40, and the successful completion of the requirements in the major and the general education program. Students who pass examinations taken under the College Board’s Advanced Placement Program with a score of 4 or higher (except in calculus, for which a score of 3 is acceptable) are typically given college course credit and are exempted from any requirement to take the equivalent college courses. Union’s calendar consists of three 10-week terms, and students normally take three courses each term. The academic year begins in early September and ends in early June.

Union participates in programs of cross-registration that enable students to take courses at fourteen consortium colleges and universities in the Capital District, including Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). Union’s own international resident-study programs are among the most extensive of any American college. Terms abroad are available in China, England, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and Tasmania. There is a term of marine studies in Bermuda and Newfoundland and at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts as well as a summer program in which students examine the national health programs of Canada, England, and Holland. Union, in conjunction with Hobart and William Smith Colleges, also offers programs in Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Vietnam, and Central Europe (Germany, Hungary, and Romania). The College has six formal exchange programs: a full-year exchange in Japan, a two-term exchange in France, and one-term exchanges in Barbados, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Korea. Political science internships are available in the New York State legislature and in Washington, D.C.

The F. W. Olin Center, a high-technology classroom and laboratory building, contains a multimedia auditorium, collaborative computer classrooms, and a 20-inch remote-controlled telescope. Available for student use in the nearby Science and Engineering Center are such research tools as a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, a Pelletron accelerator, X-ray diffraction equipment, a centrifuge, and a scanning electron microscope. A state-of-the-art music center and the Yulman Theatre greatly enhance the arts program.

Housed in the Stanley G. Peschel Center for Computer Science and Information Systems, Union’s central computer facility consists of multiuser servers on a campuswide fiber-optic-based network. Included in the network are Linux, Windows, and Apple Macintosh servers. Connected to the network are more than 1,500 College-owned personal computers and workstations. More than forty electronic classrooms are used to enhance the integration of technology and academic studies through the use of the Internet and multimedia materials. Each residence hall room is wired with one Ethernet network connection per resident, providing access to the College’s computing resources and the Internet. Wireless network connectivity is available in all academic buildings, study and common areas in all residence halls, and the library. Personal computer laboratories with Windows, Apple Macintosh, and Linux workstations are available for student use. Departmental computer labs provide access to specialized computing needs. Access to the Internet, personal Web page space, and e-mail is provided for all Union students and faculty and staff members. Scanners, digital cameras, video capture and editing resources, and other equipment are also available for student use.

Schaffer Library houses more than 600,000 volumes and approximately 1,600 periodical subscriptions, a periodicals reading room, faculty studies, and more than 500 individual study spaces. The library operates on the open-stack plan and offers bibliographic instruction, interlibrary loans, online bibliographic retrieval services, electronic document delivery, and Internet workstations for access to indexes, abstracts, full-text journals online, automated circulation of books, and other library materials as well as the online catalog. Professional reference service is offered during nearly all the hours that the library is open.

Charges for 2008–09 included a comprehensive fee of $48,552.

Union has a strong philosophical and financial commitment to ensure the affordability of a high-quality education for its students and recognizes students’ outstanding academic performance with scholarship assistance. Scholarship awards are based on academic performance and financial need. In 2008–09, Union’s total financial aid program amounted to approximately $41 million; about $30 million came from the College itself and the rest from federal, state, and private sources. More than 60 percent of Union’s students receive some form of aid each year (e.g., scholarships, guaranteed loans, and job opportunities), and the average aid package is $25,400. Union strives to keep students’ total debt as low as possible. Candidates for aid should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the College Scholarship Service’s PROFILE form and mail them directly to the appropriate agencies by February 1.

Union believes that the close relationship between its students and faculty members motivates students to learn through inquiry and discourse. Faculty members are chosen with specific reference to their capabilities as teachers. Excluding the library staff, 95 percent of the faculty members hold the doctorate, first professional, or terminal degree, and faculty salaries are above the national averages for colleges of comparable size. Union does not determine the functions of faculty members on the basis of rank; full professors often teach introductory courses. Class size generally is small; many upper-level courses function as seminars.

Students have full voting rights on the two councils that recommend educational policy and student life policy to the president. Students also have seats in groups that advise the president on such matters as budgetary planning and long-range needs.

In evaluating each application, the College considers the secondary school record, including rank in class and the quality of courses taken; the recommendations of secondary school teachers; and the personal qualities and extracurricular record of the applicant. A student can choose not to submit his or her SAT or ACT scores for review, except for accelerated programs. Those interested in accelerated programs must submit the SAT and two SAT Subject Tests. Normally, 16 units of secondary school preparation are required for admission. These should include credits in certain fundamental subjects, such as English, a foreign language, mathematics, social studies, and science. It is strongly recommended that students visit Union for an admission interview and a student-guided tour. Alumni interviews may be requested online.

Early decision candidates have two options. The application deadline for Option I is November 15, with notification by December 15. Option II has a January 15 deadline and February 1 notification. All supporting credentials are due November 15 for Option I and January 15 for Option II. Applications for regular admission should be filed by January 15, with the exception of the accelerated programs. Applications to the eight-year leadership in medicine program must be filed no later than December 15, and applications for the six-year law and public policy and the five-year B.A./B.S. and Master of Business Administration programs must be filed no later than January 1. Those deferred under early decision and all regular applicants are given a final decision by early April. Union adheres to the Candidates Reply Date of May 1.