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for larger version       CUNY Rolls Into Rockaway As University Reaches Out To Residents
The promise of higher education is about to become a reality in Rockaway as the City University of New York begins a program that eventually will see the old courthouse on Beach 90 Street and Beach Channel Drive transformed into a CUNY facility. On March 1, the university is literally rolling out the first step in linking the Rockaways with the rest of CUNY with a new program called "CUNY on Wheels" - a mobile classroom and informational center. "CUNY on Wheels" is a collaboration between the Queens Borough President's Office and the university. "Borough President Helen Marshall obtained the capital funds needed to secure the bus and fit it with computer and Internet access and put equipment on the bus to allow students to register [at any CUNY college]," said Dan Andrews, a spokesman for Marshall. The $220,000 provided by Marshall made it possible to install state-of-the-art and high-tech educational tools and equipment on the bus that will enable prospective students to learn more about programs offered throughout the university.
There will also be such services as access to CUNY credit, degree and non-credit programs, financial aid counseling, GED preparation and 15 workstations for workshops Andrews told The Wave. Sandra Waston, the Dean of Adult and Continuing Education at LaGuardia Community College is the Chair of "CUNY on Wheels." She said the program would be presented in two phases. "The first is an informational outreach to community groups - faith-based, civic and others who serve the public," said Waston, who encourages all local organizations to take part. "They will be invited to call and schedule informational outreach sessions…that will be presented to their staffs." According to Waston, the sessions will be given from March to June of this year. "After the informational sessions, if an organization wants to schedule sessions for their constituents they can," continued Waston. CUNY's involvement in Rockaway will broaden in 2009. "On my many trips to the peninsula, I always admired the beautiful old courthouse at its gateway," said Marshall during her State of the Borough Address in January. "After exploring the possibilities, I am happy to announce that next year we will begin to transform that abandoned courthouse into CUNY By The Sea." "Work on the courthouse for CUNY By The Sea is scheduled to begin in Spring 2008," said Community Board 14's district manager Jonathan Gaska. When it opens in 2009, the building will be a one-stop CUNY admissions and informational center. "It will have credit, degree and continuing education programs," said Andrews. Creating a CUNY presence in Rockaway has been a goal of Marshall's for a long time, but it is also something much more. "I am keeping my promise to the late Assemblywoman Pauline Cummings [who represented Rocaway] to establish a CUNY program in the Rockaways," Marshall said in January. Marshall's office appropriated $6.7 million to help restore the courthouse. While many local politicians, in addition to Marshall, have allocated money for the renovation, Gaska and Andrews said that much more money would be needed to complete the project. The president of CUNY's LaGuardia Community College, Gail Mellows, who is supervising CUNY By The Sea, recently talked about the educational problems in Rockaway. "They have the lowest levels of college attendance of any large community in New York City," said Gail Mellows in a Daily News article. "We really want to make a difference." Andrews bringing CUNY to the Rockaways is more important because of Rockaway's growth. "Given the unemployment and the increase in housing, the new CUNY presence is necessary now more than ever," concluded Andrews. To find more details about what "CUNY on Wheels" offers, go to www.cunyonwheels. laguar dia. edu. There will be a presentation about the "CUNY on Wheels" program during the March 13 Community Board 14 meeting at the Knights of Columbus on Beach 90 Street at 7:45 p.m.
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