August 6, 2019
St. John’s University has been awarded a $381,035 New York State Higher Education Capital Matching Grant (HECap) that will be used to help finance technology upgrades at the Staten Island, NY, campus.
HECap funds are administered by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York and are only made available to private colleges across New York State. The HECap program, created in 2005, seeks to support private colleges, help create construction jobs, and drive economic activity to communities that are home to private colleges. Schools that receive HECap grants are required to invest three dollars in institutional funds for every one dollar received in state funds.
“This HECap grant and our own continued investments in learning with the latest technology help to support our Strategic Priorities to ensure student success and enhance our teaching and learning environment,” said Conrado “Bobby” Gempesaw, Ph.D., President of St. John’s University. “I applaud Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature for the continued support of HECap.”
In the latest round of HECap funding, $21.3 million in grants for capital projects was awarded and St. John’s was one of just 35 private, nonprofit colleges and universities across New York to succeed in the competitive grant program. Since 2005, St. John’s has been awarded more than $11 million in three rounds of HECap funding and has leveraged those funds with institutional resources to generate local jobs and economic activity.
“The classrooms receiving technology upgrades are located in three buildings across our Staten Island campus. More than 500 classes are offered in these rooms, which encompass over 16,000 classroom hours in an academic year,” remarked James O’Keefe, Ph.D., Vice Provost, Staten Island campus.
“This project enhances faculty-student interaction and provides our students with state-of-the-art tools that they need to make an impact in their chosen field of study.”
The HECap funds approved by Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature during the 2019 Legislative Session will be combined with institutional funds to complete half of the classroom upgrades by September 2019 and the remaining classrooms in advance of September 2020.
The new technology in the general-purpose classrooms and upgrades include the following:
- laser phosphor projectors that have a 20,000-hour lamp life with a six-second power sequence and simplified user interface using touch panel control;
- wall-mounted confidence display;
- touch-enabled podium monitor for screen annotation;
- wireless presentation for laptops and iOS devices;
- high-definition web cameras to permit the use of lecture capture or web conferencing;
- new, wider podiums that yield additional space for instructional material and free the faculty member from being tethered to the podium with their mobile device;
- class sessions can be recorded from the desktop computer and posted for student review or used in the development of flipped content; and
- class sessions can also be broadcasted to students via WebEx.