(12-01-2023 09:39 PM)whittx Wrote:  Not to mention the Catholic affiliation in an age of declining numbers and financial issues related to pedophilia. Add to not needing multiple Catholic schools in a given area (Albany already has Siena), and you'll see more of this over time. I'm guessing that a deal will be worked for Siena to get many of the assets and that the students there will be Siena students at this time next year.

I don’t know that Siena wants or can afford much of St. Rose’s assets. One of St. Rose’s financial problems was that a lot of its campus is in converted historic housing, so it cost them a lot of money to maintain lots of small buildings. If Siena were to add it as a second campus, they would be making a bet that they could run it better than the current St. Rose staff. That’s not a bet that I would take. Siena has room near its suburban Loudonville campus if it wanted to expand.

The two schools also have different educational philosophies. St. Rose has more practical, career-oriented majors while Siena likes to do more overarching liberal arts and sciences disciplines. I’m not sure that one is better than the other, but a marriage would be strange. It would be nice if Siena allowed St. Rose students to finish their degrees, especially if they could allow them to still follow parts of the St. Rose catalog and not have to meet every typical Siena requirement. That could be hard with some of the majors though, like you can’t major in education at Siena.

Keep in mind, too, that these schools are run by independent religious orders. Sure they both report to the Holy See, but they don’t report to the Bishop of Albany.

The one thing that could be interesting is St. Rose’s outdoor athletic facilities, which are in a different part of Albany than their main campus. Siena is limited on-campus by what the town will let them do, for example they don’t host night games in lacrosse or soccer because their lights aren’t high enough for NCAA standards. I’m not sure they want to move games off-campus, but St. Rose’s facilities could be compelling. Siena needs to be careful with its spending too though. It’s in better shape than St. Rose, but the fiscal cliff will come for everybody that isn’t Harvard.

Looking through the College's FAQ about this, they didn't mention any sort of guaranteed transfer type of situation, but I have to assume one will get set up eventually.

https://www.strose.edu/faqs-12-1-23/

I mentioned this in a different thread, but for a lot of these smaller schools that are struggling, they're probably hoping to wait it out long enough to absorb some of these other schools. Like if (hypothetically) Sienna was also struggling, they could now take on some of the St Rose students, and students who live in upstate NY have one fewer college to pick from, so it would be a little easier for Sienna to take in more freshmen in the future.

Obviously if everyone is going to try to wait it out you'll end up in a weird game of chicken, but I'm sure discussions like "College X is bound to close soon, if we at College Y stay open longer than College X, we'll get the increased students/cashflow we need to stay open."

(12-02-2023 11:51 AM)TDenverFan Wrote:  Looking through the College's FAQ about this, they didn't mention any sort of guaranteed transfer type of situation, but I have to assume one will get set up eventually.

https://www.strose.edu/faqs-12-1-23/

I mentioned this in a different thread, but for a lot of these smaller schools that are struggling, they're probably hoping to wait it out long enough to absorb some of these other schools. Like if (hypothetically) Sienna was also struggling, they could now take on some of the St Rose students, and students who live in upstate NY have one fewer college to pick from, so it would be a little easier for Sienna to take in more freshmen in the future.

Obviously if everyone is going to try to wait it out you'll end up in a weird game of chicken, but I'm sure discussions like "College X is bound to close soon, if we at College Y stay open longer than College X, we'll get the increased students/cashflow we need to stay open."

Exactly. "I don't need to outrun the grizzly bear, I just need to outrun you."

(12-02-2023 06:40 AM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  Reading the wiki on the school, it was probably bound to happen sooner or later after the school hired that one president in 2014. What a mess she made. The successor never stood a chance, and, oof, what garbage did she inherit, complete with a BB credit rating and an accreditation threat.

Watching the news clip in the article, I really felt for the two dudes who transferred; annoyed that someone in the enrollment/admissions office may have been doing their job, but not doing it fully for these type of students.

Also, with mergers more in fashion, I'm guessing the school had no potential buyers?

UAlbany may have the money to pull it off. I don't know if any of the privates can pull it off because everytime a new merger they do? It put them in danger of closing as well.

(12-02-2023 10:45 AM)CenterSquarEd Wrote:  

(12-01-2023 09:39 PM)whittx Wrote:  Not to mention the Catholic affiliation in an age of declining numbers and financial issues related to pedophilia. Add to not needing multiple Catholic schools in a given area (Albany already has Siena), and you'll see more of this over time. I'm guessing that a deal will be worked for Siena to get many of the assets and that the students there will be Siena students at this time next year.

I don’t know that Siena wants or can afford much of St. Rose’s assets. One of St. Rose’s financial problems was that a lot of its campus is in converted historic housing, so it cost them a lot of money to maintain lots of small buildings. If Siena were to add it as a second campus, they would be making a bet that they could run it better than the current St. Rose staff. That’s not a bet that I would take. Siena has room near its suburban Loudonville campus if it wanted to expand.

The two schools also have different educational philosophies. St. Rose has more practical, career-oriented majors while Siena likes to do more overarching liberal arts and sciences disciplines. I’m not sure that one is better than the other, but a marriage would be strange. It would be nice if Siena allowed St. Rose students to finish their degrees, especially if they could allow them to still follow parts of the St. Rose catalog and not have to meet every typical Siena requirement. That could be hard with some of the majors though, like you can’t major in education at Siena.

Keep in mind, too, that these schools are run by independent religious orders. Sure they both report to the Holy See, but they don’t report to the Bishop of Albany.

The one thing that could be interesting is St. Rose’s outdoor athletic facilities, which are in a different part of Albany than their main campus. Siena is limited on-campus by what the town will let them do, for example they don’t host night games in lacrosse or soccer because their lights aren’t high enough for NCAA standards. I’m not sure they want to move games off-campus, but St. Rose’s facilities could be compelling. Siena needs to be careful with its spending too though. It’s in better shape than St. Rose, but the fiscal cliff will come for everybody that isn’t Harvard.

I don’t believe St Roses outdoor athletic facilities are actually their property. From what I see, it looks like they paid some of the cost to build them in a public park and then share them with other users on some level. I’d imagine their outdoor fields are not part of the deal.