Farmingdale College First
Public Institution Of Higher
Learning On Long Island
With a history . ind tradition firmly rooted in the good soil of
Long Island, the State I n i v e r s i ty of New York Agricultural and
Technical College at Farmingdale is an institution deeply committed
to serving the needs of its surrounding community
through an ever- increasing involvement with its people, its
businesses, and its industries.
Under the leadership of president, Dr. Charles W. Laffin,
the past six years have seen the Farmingdale college emerge as
the largest of its type in New York State.
When founded in 1912 as the first public institution of higher
learning on Long Island, the college emphasized agriculture,
then the Island's mainstay. Today, reflecting the new complexion
of the Island, 29 different technological, two- year
fields of study are offered leading to the Associate degree.
From a newly- organized department whose focus will be on the Island's burgeoning
population, to the teaching of personnel who will work with nursery school children,
to the care and recreation of the aged, and to the role of its graduates in the
construction of aerospace hardware, the college at F'armingdalc is now in the m > st
exciting and challenging phase of its 55- year history.
Among the most dramatic developments to assume form this year will be new-programs,
several of which have never been offered.
Beginning with the fall semester, the Farmingdale College will offer several new
full- time programs:
Community Service Assistant, designed to prepare students for careers as social
service assistants in various community agencies.
Recreation supervision, directed at future em01oym: nt as recreation leaders or
supervisors with public, private, and youth recreation organizations.
Liberal arts and sciences, geared for students who, upon completion of their
2 years at Farmingdale, plan to transfer to a college granting the baccaulaureate
degree. Emphasis may be placed on cither the humanities, social science, natural
science, or mathematics.
Turf management, which will prepare the student for a future position as golf
course construction and maintenance foreman, golf course superintendent, or
cemetery, park, or grounds supvr.
Aircraft Pilot Technology, currently before the Suite Univ. of N. V. Bd. of Trustees
for their approval, this program will serve to prepare qualified students in pilot
training to acquire their private pilot's license for future careers in the aircraft
industry or in military a\ iation.
Now being examined for possible future development are programs in marine
engine technology, marine biology, and graphic arts in industry.
Fall 1967 will see 29 different two- year Associate degree programs, being
offered at the State I niversity College at F'armingdalc. Anticipated full- tim? enrollment
for next September is 3,867, with an entering freshman class of 2,366.
This represents an increase of more than 25^ a over September, 1966.
Construction: The college is now more than a third of the way into an $ 18.5
million campus expansion program scheduled for completion by 1970.
Presently under construction on the 380- acre Farmingdale campus is a 67,500
square foot laboratory- classroom bldg. that will house the depts. of biology and advertising
art and design. Special features in the structure, to be named Nathan Hale
Hall, are music and language labs, a greenhouse for student research in the field of
botany, and a graphic arts production lab equipped with an off- set press, cameras, and
a 12- position darkroom. It will be ready for use by September.
By late spring, the college's chief administrative officers, guidance personnel,
admissions staff, financial aid and placement directors will move into a new 30,000
square foot Administration Building. This, Nathan Hale Hall, and related site work,
represents $ 3.4 million in construction - equipment costs.
The spring will also see full use by more than 3,000 full- time sudents of entirely
new outdoor physical education facilities. Built at a cost of $ 393,000 these include:
18 all- weather tennis courts, six of which are lighted; an all- weather, banked and
cushioned quarter- mile track; seven soft- ball diamonds; a professional baseball
diamound; an all- purpose reinforced concrete handball and lacrosse practice wall;
and an instructional golf area featuring a 350- yd hole, two greens, and a 6,000
square fool putting green.
In the latter part of 1967, work will begin on a $ 231,000 six- lane competition
swimming pool that will be joined to an existing student activities- gymnasium bodg
by two heated passageways, Also late next year, construction will get underway for
two dormitories, ( and a total of 600 beds), an 800- seat dining hall, and an infirmary.
These are scheduled for completion by April, 1969.
Community Services: In addition to its dynamically expanding full- time operation.
State Univ. at Farmingdale administers an extensive Evening College. Kach semester
more than 5,500 men and women representing virtually every business and industrial
field in the tri- county region attend one or several of the 375 different courses offered
in the evening.
For over 20 years the college at Farmingdale has assisted interested groups by offering
special workshops and seminars to meet their special educational needs. This
s e n :" e will be both continued and expanded.
During the 1965- 66 year, the Evening College's Center for Community Educational
Services conducted on- campus functions for 139 separate groups involving nearly
41,000 persons. From all indications the coming year will see this area substantially
increased. Of concern to the center this spring will be the continuation and expansion
of its programs for the elderly and for the mature woman.
Students interest in community serivces is high at Farmingdale and is best exemplified
by the development of a tutorial program conducted by members of Phi The la
Kappa, a student honor society, and centering on Wyandanch High School! Under this
program, students from Farmingdale visit the high school OH a weekly basis and provide
one- to- one tutorial assistance in particular subject areas to foster increased
motivation in under- achie\ ers.
And, finallv, the high point of the year is Open House, which last year was attended
by over 25,000. This year's \ miualOpen House, the 48th, will be held April 14 and 15.
At this time the public is cordially in\ iled to visit the campus and to meet with students,
faculty, and the administration, and to see for themselves the exU'nd and degree
of each of the many courses now offered by Ixnw. Island's first public college.
TO
UP
STEP
WE SPECIALIZE IN CUSTOM VINYL
WRAPPED STEPS
WE CARRY A FULL LINE OF
EDEN AND ALLIED CUSTOM VINYL
Come In and See Our Beautiful Displays
of Vinyl and Carpet Work
BROWSE AROUND
WE WILL ASSIST
YOU WITH YOUR
FLOOR DECORATING PROBLEMS
3 - N N E D Y ' S FLOOR COVERING
J j IN FARMINGDALE 321 MAIN ST. « > 4 1420 wwSrwu
" • IK MAS^ A^ EOUA • 675 BROADWAY AT HHOOI ISLAND M M PY 8— 9575
Farmingdale Observer Supplement Thursday, March 30, 1967 3S
Farmingdale Public Library-The Observer 1967
