History of Hinman College

Hinman College is named after New York State Senator Harvey D. Hinman one of the local community leaders who had a part in arranging for the establishment in 1949 of Harpur College (previously a branch of Syracuse University) as the State University of New York at Binghamton. All other buildings in Hinman College are named after New York State Governors (Teddy Roosevelt, Herbert Lehman, Alfred Smith, Charles Hughes, and Grover Cleveland). The Nelson A. Rockefeller Collegiate Center is named after Governor Rockefeller. Hinman College was opened in 1967.

Current Hinman College graduates follow in the footsteps of these great giants. Just as these regular people have gone on to great achievements as senators, governors, presidents, etc., so too, the students of Hinman College have gone on to achieve great successes in medicine, law, politics, etc.

We would like to welcome you to Hinman College! Hinman is by far one of the most active areas (but then again, we're biased), and have a tradition of producing great student leaders. We hope you will continue in the footsteps of greatness.

Collegiate Structure

Our residential "colleges" and "masters" have a history going back to the establishment of Oxford and Cambridge Universities in medieval England. There, the "college" was an autonomous academic unit that included a "master" (a teacher or scholar) and "fellow" (a teacher appointed to teach and contribute to the scholarly life of the college). Although our "colleges" (and communities) are not designated as academic units, they provide an environment that supports the educational goals of Binghamton University.

Keeping in mind our goal to educate and develop the whole student, it is important for us to promote faculty/student informal contact. You are encouraged to invite faculty into your community and involve them in activities ranging from panel discussions and lectures, having meals with students in the dining hall, to judging annual events.

Binghamton's Faculty Masters and Fellows are faculty and staff with a strong interest and commitment to interacting with students in and out of the classroom. The Faculty Masters work with the staff in their area to create activities and experiences that make connections between students' learning and living experiences. The University President, upon recommendation of the Master and the student government, appoints fellows to each college community.

Hinman Faculty Master: Al Vos, Associate Professor of English