The College of Staten Island is one of 11 senior colleges, seven community colleges and seven graduate, honours and professional schools that together form the City University New York (CUNY). Its campus, comprising more than 200 acres of land, is the largest within CUNY.
CSI is the product of a 1976 merger between Staten Island Community College, founded in 1956, and Richmond College, founded in 1967. The only public higher education institution on the island, it specialises in liberal arts and sciences. It is one of the youngest institutions in CUNY, which was established in 1847.
It is divided into three schools and two divisions: the School of Business, the School of Education, the School of Health Sciences, the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Division of Science and Technology, and runs master’s and doctoral courses as well as undergraduate programmes.
One of New York City’s outer boroughs, Staten Island is off the coast of New Jersey. It is accessible via road bridges that connect it with both Brooklyn and New Jersey as well as by a free ferry which runs throughout the night. The majority of students live in Staten Island.
Staten Island’s highlights include a lot of greenery, a Chinese garden, Historic Richmond Town, which has some of the oldest archival collections in the region, and the National Lighthouse Museum, which towers above Upper Bay.
Notable alumni include Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, Christine Cea, research scientist at New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, Michael Nakao, physician in pulmonary and critical care services, P.C., Muriel A. Howard, president, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, and Robert Begun, managing partner, MetLife Premier Client Group.
