Wilf Campus Departmental Moves
In the midst of keeping up with the university’s heavy academic workload, students and faculty on the Wilf Campus are fortunate enough to be provided with several services stemming from various departments. While most of these departments have remained in the same locations for years, a few have undergone recent moves. Each time that a change was implemented, mass emails were sent to members of the university informing them of the relevant department’s updated location.
The Career Center, for instance, which consists of many staff members who commit their time to assisting students in finding and obtaining careers that best fit their skills and desires, is one example of a department that switched its location at the start of the Spring semester. Marc Goldman, the Executive Director of the Career Center, explained: “The immediate reason for the move was that 90 Laurel Hill Terrace was one of the buildings sold by YU.” He also pointed out that the move has offered some great opportunities, including “a more central campus location within the same building as many other vital YU departments including Admissions, Alumni Affairs, CJF, Communications, and Financial Aid to name a few. The new offices on the fourth floor of Furst provides us with spaces for staff and student interaction as well.” Rebecca Weiler, Director of Counseling and Programming, added that the move had a “smooth transition” and that there has been “great feedback.”
Avi Cohen (YC ’17) and Shimmy Auman (Syms ’16), students on the Wilf Campus, agree that the Career Center’s move adds a level of convenience that did not previously exist. Because of the new location’s proximity to their classes in Furst, they said “it reduces walking time when needing to go back and forth between classes. That can be very helpful when planning a daily schedule.”
Similar to the Career Center, the Human Resources also moved its offices in January. The HR department, whose goal - according to its official website - is to “attract, develop, and retain an excellent faculty and staff,” is now situated on the fourth floor of Belfer. This is in contrast to its past location, alongside the Career Center on Laurel Hill Terrace. Just like the Career Center, HR was forced to move from the building due to YU’s real estate transactions. As Karin Rosenthal, Director of HR Recruitment Services, pointed out: “The move now enables us to save on rental costs.” Rosenthal also asserted that the move “is convenient and allows us to be closer and more available to the departments that we support.” Yvonne Ramirez, YU’s Chief HR Officer, had the same assessment.
In addition to both of the departments mentioned above, the security department is another that had its headquarters undergo change within the past year. It should be noted, however, that just as it was prior to the fall semester, its offices are still located at the same address, 521 West 185th Street. Instead of a full-out location switch, security – which previously had offices on the first floor of the building - has simply expanded into the basement.
Many students, such as Yoseph Boniuk (YC ’18), appreciate the expanded security offices. He specifically points to the “ever-increasing anti-Semitic attacks occurring worldwide” and the fact that Yeshiva University “can be seen as a target” as possible reasons that the campus has rightfully been putting extra focus on its security lately. In fact, just in the past few months, police officers could even be seen roaming the sidewalks in order for there to be extra eyes monitoring campus activity.
It is important to realize that the security expansion does not mean those on campus need to be worried in any way. In an article on campus security in the latest issue of The Commentator, Director of Communications, Paul Oestreicher, reassured that “the safety of our campuses isn’t driven solely by episodes or threats of violence.” Rather, it seems that the expansion was put into effect simply because, as Oestreicher continued, “safety and security are matters of paramount importance and are evaluated here on an ongoing basis.”
Clearly, as semesters come and go in the academic calendar, university departments sometimes need to make adjustments – and office locations on campus are a part of that. But wherever various departmental offices reside, students and faculty alike are lucky to be provided with their excellent services. The needs of those on campus cannot be adequately cared for without them.
