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Stanford and Cornell Pull the Drapes Off Proposed NYC Campuses

October 26, 2011, 7:02 pm

By Goldie Blumenstyk

Stanford renderingStanford U. says that if it is selected to build a new technology campus on New York City’s Roosevelt Island, it will start a $1.5-billion, 10-year campaign to pay for it. (Ennead Architects rendering)

The one-upping continues. Days after Cornell University unveiled a rendering of the sleek, solar-powered campus it is competing to build on a 10-acre site on New York City’s Roosevelt Island, Stanford University made public a rendering of its own proposed “iconic, state-of-the-art, environmentally sustainable” campus. Stanford and Cornell are among the contenders bidding for the city’s blessing to build a new applied sciences campus and they both want the same 10-acre site.

Stanford submitted its proposal to the city on Wednesday,  promising a $2.5-billion, 30-year plan for “StanfordNYC” complete with academic buildings, student housing, and a business incubator, all of which would achieve LEED platinum status for energy efficiency.

Stanford is in the final months of a fund-raising campaign that will bring in more than $4-billion. In a news release announcing its bid, the university said that if selected, it would commence another campaign to raise $1.5-billion for the new campus over 10 years.

Cornell, which has proposed to build its campus in partnership with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, has said its campus would be about the same scale, and include geothermal wells to provide heating and cooling to the site. Some of the buildings would be equipped with solar-energy systems that could produce more electricity than the buildings consumed.

Cornell U. renderingCornell U. released this illustration of its proposed Roosevelt Island campus. (Photograph by Getty Images)

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  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2VBOURSIAFHFMV5B7J4JPQ6TKE Steve

    Where better to learn that freedom of speech is not truly free than law school!

  • oldcommprof

    Steve, free speech is as free as ever from state action; from private action, not so much. Stupidity, however, always carries consequences of some kind.

  • 22228715

    Interesting to compare and contrast this snippet with the other Chronicle article appearing today, in which a Virginia Tech faculty member wrote about the Arizona and VT shootings, and advocated for “mandatory” psychiatric evaluations whether the person of concern returns to campus or not.

  • mtboots

    It seems to me that a tenured professor at a law school would have enough sense to refer to the hypothetical shooting victim as Jane Doe instead of one of his colleagues. I think he needs his head examined…literally.

  • kryon77

    I’ve been to law school (nothing to really brag about), and it was unremarkable for professors to refer to other professors in hypotheticals, including on final exams; I rememebr one instance in which my Torts professor subjected another professor – a friend of his – to several grievous injuries in the Final (I forget exactly why; it might have been to test our knowledge of the “substantial factor” standard when there are multiple causes of injury or death.) It’s a technique for breaking up boredom, or in the case of an exam, breaking up tension. Others can chime in with their experiences, but I don’t think the culture of my law school was unique.

  • goodeyes

    I  hope my new Dean reads this article.   She has destroyed lots of trust. 

  • ebrownst

    Just like anything, there needs to be a balance. Listening is essential, but sometimes it can lead to delayed decisions or even make it so decisions are never made. Paralysis is common in higher education. However, decisions without listening means less creative solutions.

  • cbres

    Great advice and observations. My only suggestion would be to add to this line

    ‘listening to those who have been there longer’

    the words, ‘and also to the newcomers.’ Just as a new administrator, especially from outside the institution, brings insight and new approaches, so too can newer faculty and staff.

  • bhay9341

    I assumed that the author was talking about a leadership style.  Just because you follow a style does not mean you cannot act in another fashion.  A good leader must recognize when a situation truly calls for immediate decisions and actions and then act in that fashion.  When the situation is otherwise a more deliberate, listening, consensus building style can be followed. 

  • kmessina

    I presume that you are referring to those leaders who are bullies with your sniveling, leech comments, rather than all leaders? Because there are in fact many administrators who do listen, have humility, and carefully consider input, both in higher ed and industry. I am sorry that you have not been fortunate enough to work with them. Maybe you could become that type of leader?

  • tgroleau

    “Even in an academic setting?”  Maybe.

    Suppose you take over an academic division that offers five different flavors of an introductory tools/techniques course (more or less one from each department).  Upon examination you learn that these are courses are 80 to 90% similar in content and objectives but came about over time due to various divisional spats about staffing and/or pet topics.  Add to the mix that every department involved claims they are short handed and need more faculty resources.

    I tend to be a laissez faire leader but should I really ignore this situation and just get out of way of my people?  Should I issue a firm edict to the departments telling them to work together to create a unified staffing plan for a new single course and don’t bother bringing me any new faculty requests until you’ve done it?

    Personally I’ve chosen a middle-of-the-road route.  I raised this issue with our division’s strategic planning team (playing the collaborator role) and made it a goal in our strategic plan.  This way I’ve cued people that there’s an issue and given them about a year’s notice that they’re going to have to deal with it.

    However, when we start working on it next year I guarantee that there will be resistance. At some point I may have to put on a hard-nosed controller hat and twist some arms. 

    I can easily see that in some situations academic leaders need a far more controlling style than most faculty would like.   Hopefully the above situation won’t become one of them.

  • dxg197

    I wish my Provost would read this.  He treats faculty more like lines on an expense report than professionals and keeps hiring incompetent administrators to make critical decisions.  These are the kinds of things that can kill an organization.

  • robjenkins

    So send it to him anonymously via The Chronicle’s e-mail function. Or print it and put it in the campus mail. I wrote this for administrators like the one you describe, although with no great hope that many of them would read it, or that they would recognize themselves if they did.

  • hvaline

    Here here to leadership through servitude and humility, indeed!  Coming from a Jesuit tradition, I strongly believe that a leader works for his/her staff and faculty. It’s not about ordering people , but rather persuading them through dialogue and collaboration.   It’s with much appreciation that I remember my  former boss who always thanked us ( the staff) for allowing him to work for us and with us.  It made us feel valued and contributing  members of the university community.

  • hh

    Well said.
    Sun Tzu: ”A leader leads by example not by force.” 
    Lao Tzu: ”The more laws and order are made prominent, The more thieves and robbers there will be.”  
    Mahatma Gandhi: ”I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.” 

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