Nyack College


Nyack College is a private Christian college affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance and located in New York City, New York. Enrolling just over 1,000 students, the school is organized in three academic divisions, including the Alliance Theological Seminary, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the College of Graduate and Professional Programs. Nyack offers both on-campus and online courses as part of its undergraduate, graduate, and seminary programs.
The college plans to close its Nyack location and consolidate to its New York presence at its Manhattan campus beginning September 2020.

History

Originally known as the Missionary Training Institute, the school was founded in 1882 in New York City by Dr. A.B. Simpson. Simpson resigned from a prestigious New York City pastorate to develop an interdenominational fellowship devoted to serving unreached people. Simpson's view was shared by many of his contemporaries, including mainline church leaders, laborers, and theological scholars.
The Missionary Training Institute was later granted a charter by the New York Board of Regents and the school's curriculum was registered by the State Education Department in 1944. In 1953, the school was authorized to confer the Bachelor of Science degree and, in 1961, the Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1960, the corporation was authorized to conduct a post-baccalaureate program as the forerunner of the Alliance Theological Seminary. Nyack first received school accreditation in 1962 from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. In 1963, the school became a member of the American Council on Education.
After more than a decade of nomadic address changes for the Institute—including Eighth Avenue and 44th Street in Manhattan —28 acres of land were purchased in Rockland County, New York. In 1897, the school relocated to the village of South Nyack and became widely known as a Bible college and institute for ministry preparation.
The seminary was established in 1960 as the Jaffray School of Missions, a graduate program of the college. The Jaffray School of Missions emphasized the interdisciplinary encounter between theology and the social sciences. In 1974, the Jaffray program was redesigned to include the preparation of students for ministry in North America and abroad. The name of the seminary was subsequently changed to the Alliance School of Theology and Missions. In September 1979, the Alliance School of Theology and Missions became Alliance Theological Seminary, which is recognized by the Christian and Missionary Alliance as the denomination's official seminary in the United States.
The school changed its name to Nyack College in 1972 and began offering professional degree programs like education and business in the early 1970s.
In 1997 the school returned to Manhattan with a branch campus. Steady growth in enrollment at the leased space in Lower Manhattan at 361 Broadway prompted a search in 2008 for a new permanent home for the New York City campus, an initiative that became known as The Miracle in Manhattan. In 2012, Nyack College and Alliance Theological Seminary signed a 20-year lease with a two-year option to purchase the on eight floors of the structure at 2 Washington Street in historic Battery Park. Classes began in the new facility in fall 2013.
On November 7, 2018 the college announced plans to close its Nyack campus and consolidate its New York operations in its Manhattan-based campus by fall 2019. The Nyack campus was scheduled to close at the end of the 2018-19 academic year, however delays in housing have pushed that out to September 2020.
The college has multiple debts totaling in excess of $70 million, mainly stemming from the purchase of the Manhattan campus. The closure of the Rockland campus is an attempt to curb the school's operation costs.

Administration and organization

The college is led by an executive team with the top three officers — President, Provost, and Executive Vice President — who collectively have 84 years of service with the institution.
As of fall 2018, 267 faculty members teach in Nyack's schools and divisions, and they are supported by administrators and staff. At Nyack, 53% of the instructional faculty members are Asian, black or Hispanic; the college has an even divide between male and female staff.
The Chronicle of Higher Education has named Nyack College a “Great College to Work For” for five consecutive years. The college has also received high marks in the areas of work/life balance, respect and appreciation, compensation and benefits, and diversity. In addition, U.S. News and World Report designated the college "Best Ethnic Diversity for North Regional Universities."

Academics

Nyack offers undergraduate, graduate, and seminary programs and is divided into seven individual schools:
Undergraduate degrees in 41 majors include Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Music, and Bachelor of Sacred Music. Graduate degrees include Master of Business Administration, Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Divinity, Master of Professional Studies, and Doctor of Ministry.
In spring 2013, Nyack College graduated its first baccalaureates awarded with a degree in nursing. Offered on the residential campus in Nyack, the nursing program includes traditional four-year coursework and prepares students to work in hospitals around the world.
Nyack College, through a collaboration with Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, provides a bachelor of science degree in organizational management to incarcerated individuals at Fishkill Correctional Facility in Beacon, New York and at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York.

Accreditations

Nyack College is chartered by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York. Its curricula are registered with the New York State Education Department and approved for the training of veterans under Public Laws 550 and 894. Nyack College is also accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
Nyack College's teacher education programs are registered and approved by the State of New York. Nyack College is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and has programs in Childhood Education recognized by the Association for Childhood Education International, Childhood Special Education by the Council for Exceptional Children, Early Childhood Education by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, English Education by the National Council for Teachers of English, the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages organization, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, and Math Education by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Nyack College is a member of and accredited by the Association of Christian Schools International for teacher certification. Nyack College's Rockland campus is also an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music. Nyack College's nursing program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and by the New York State Board of Regents which is recognized nationally by the US Department of Education. Nyack College's social work program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.
Alliance Theological Seminary is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada and, as a division of Nyack College, by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. ATS operates as a graduate school of Nyack College under the charter of Nyack College granted by the Board of Regents of the State Education Department of the University of the State of New York. The Board of Regents for the State of New York empowers Nyack College to grant the Doctor of Ministry, Master of Divinity, Master of Professional Studies, and Master of Arts degrees.
The Alliance Graduate School of Counseling is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Marriage and Family Therapy Education.
Membership in the American Theological Library Association, the New York Area Theological Library Association, and Westchester Academic Library Directors Organization provides cooperative access to interlibrary services and resources to Nyack's academic community.

New York State Correctional Service College Program

In partnership with Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, Nyack College offers college degree completion programs to prisoners at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. In 2015, the school graduated 24 inmates. To date, the program has a recidivism rate of less than 2%.

Library

The Alliance Theological Seminary Library, Bailey Library and the Robert Eastman Library support the academic research needs of Nyack's undergraduate, graduate, and seminary students and faculty.
Nyack College's library has been located in three separate buildings on campus during the history of the college: Simpson Hall, Shuman Hall, and its present location.

Reputation and rankings

New York City

Opened in August 2013, the New York City campus is located at 2 Washington Street near Battery Park. This campus is for commuter students and includes a library, classrooms, and laboratories, a rehearsal studio and group counseling observation space.
In preparation for the 2020 consolidation, the college has begun construction on student housing in Jersey City, New Jersey at 150 Bay St. Each room will house six students.

Rockland County

The residential campus in Rockland County, New York, is a plot of land that views the Hudson Valley. The northern part of the campus, and the public school behind it, were formerly part of the old Clarkstown Country Club. There are multiple choices for housing on campus, with Moseley Hall for male students, and Christie Hall and Simpson Hall for female students.
On November 7, 2018 the college announced plans to sell both Rockland County properties and shift all programs to its Manhattan-based campus by fall of 2019. The closing of the Rockland campus has been delayed until January 2020 due to incomplete student housing.

Puerto Rico

Seminario Teológico de Puerto Rico is the Alliance Theological Seminary extension in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Student life

Nyack's student body consists of 1,028 undergraduates and 401 graduate and professional students.

Manhattan Campus

Student organizations

The Office of Student Development hosts activities and events throughout the school year, including field trips, luncheons, and games. Chapel services are also held once a week.
Two active clubs on campus include Acts Prayer Ministry and Students Against Hunger. Students Against Hunger was featured on Trinity Broadcasting Network in July 2015 in a segment on homelessness and hunger in New York City. Other clubs include the Business Club, the Men of Letters, and the Social Work Organization.

Rockland Campus

Residence halls

All first-year students on the Rockland campus are required to live in one of three residence halls: Moseley Hall, Simpson Hall, and Christie Hall.

Activities and clubs

Nyack College hosts a number of student-led clubs.
Formerly the Purple Pride, and before that, the Fighting Parsons, Nyack's athletes are now known as Warriors. The Warriors participate in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference of the NCAA's Division II. In 2011, the men's soccer team earned their first bid to the Division II NCAA tournament.

List of sports

Nyack College has several athletic teams competing through the academic year.

Fall