The Union Campus
The College's 100-acre campus includes eight acres of formal gardens and woodland known as Jackson's Garden. The first buildings were completed in 1814 following the design of French architect Joseph Jacques Rame?; Union is the first American college with a unified campus plan.
The distinctive campus centerpiece, the 16-sided Nott Memorial (1875), is a National Historic Landmark and a center for lectures, conferences, exhibits and study. It is named after Eliphalet Nott, who was president of the College from 1804 to 1866, the longest tenure of any American college president. The building was fully restored and updated in time for the College's Bicentennial in 1995.
Schaffer Library, which recently underwent a major renovation and expansion, has more than half a million volumes and subscribes to 1,600 journals. The library offers bibliographic instruction, interlibrary loan, online bibliographic retrieval services, electronic document delivery, and Internet workstations for access to indexes, abstracts, and full-text journals online. Within the library are several of the College's most prized possessions, including the "Elephant Folio" edition of Audubon's Birds of America; the original Ramee drawings for the campus; and the original College charter. The library has been a repository for federal government documents since 1901.
Nearby, the F.W. Olin Center, opened in 1998, offers interactive computerization capabilities making the building adaptable for use by nearly every academic department and every student. In addition to a variety of collaborative computer classrooms and laboratories, the center has a multimedia auditorium and a 20-inch, remote-controlled telescope.
The Science and Engineering Center contains a number of specialized research tools available for student use, such as a superconducting nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, a tandem pelletron positive ion accelerator, an inductively-coupled mass spectrometer, and two electron microscopes.
The Morton and Helen Yulman Theater overlooks Jackson's Garden at the northwest corner of campus. Opened in 1994, it features flexible spaces for performances, rehearsals, and classes. It offers a director's laboratory with seating for up to 240 as well as a second studio and a lobby that doubles as an informal performance space the student theater group. The building also includes faculty offices and spaces for set and costume design.
The Murray and Ruth Reamer Campus Center is the focal point of much of the day-to-day activity on campus. Located just north of the Nott Memorial at the center of campus, it has a dining hall and restaurant, student mailboxes, an auditorium, the College Bookstore, offices (Student Activities, Dean of Students and Residential Life) and a variety of offices and activity rooms for student organizations.
Grant Hall, the home of the College's Admissions Office, annually welcomes thousands of students and their families. Located just inside the main campus entrance at Payne Gate, Grant Hall, with its warm Mission-style decor, is an ideal starting and ending place for campus tours. The building was completely renovated and opened in 2001.
Abbe Hall, dedicated in 2003, is the home of College Relations and the center for alumni activities, complete with lounges, a library and kitchen. Alumni groups small and large use the building for meetings. Located just east of the campus and near Frank Bailey Field, the elegant mansion formerly known as the Parker-Rice Estate is a hub of activity during Homecoming and ReUnion events.
The Stanley R. Becker Career Center (2001) provides students with expertise, resources, and access to potential employers and graduate programs. The Becker Career Center's mission is assist students and alumni in developing and fulfilling their career objectives.
Athletic facilities include Frank Bailey Field, an all-weather athletic field and track with new stadium-style seating and large press box; the newly renovated Frank Messa Rink at Achilles Center; the new state-of-the-art Viniar Athletic Center, housing the men's and women's basketball programs; Alumni Gymnasium, home of the campus fitness center, athletic offices and college pool and Memorial Fieldhouse, a multi-use facility.
College Park, the neighborhood west of campus, is the site of the Union-Schenectady Initiative, a large revitalization partnership led by the College. Since starting the program in 1998, the College has invested some $26 million in the area. About three dozen buildings in the neighborhood were converted to student residences - among the most desirable college housing. As part of the project, the College played a leadership role in starting a vital Neighborhood Association. The College also built the Ralph B. and Marjorie Kenney Community Center, which serves as Union's headquarters for community service and provides a home for all Union student volunteer efforts. College Park Hall, a former hotel purchased by the College in 2003, underwent renovation to become a residence hall for 230 students. The building, opened in the fall of 2004, featuring 110 single rooms, 60 doubles and bathrooms in every unit. South of the College Park Hall, the College has installed a lighted athletic field, available to the community, and a new entryway that opens to the College Park neighborhood and the Union campus.