The third Pizza with the President was held last Friday, April 8, toward the end of GM Week. President Shirley Ann Jackson, recently back from her Asian Capital Campaign trip, arrived and took a seat in the center of the group of about 20 students in attendance. The small group—including a prospective freshman and his mother—facilitated the close-knit conversation that characterized the remainder of the event.
The first issue brought to President Jackson’s attention was the unexpected inconsistency of tuition increases. She began by pointing out the higher cost of post-secondary education for engineering students as well as the increasing costs of salaries, pensions, and utilities. Additionally, Jackson alluded to the cost of new faculty lab facilities—sometimes in excess of $1 million—as well as the expenses associated with the upcoming renovation of Folsom Library.
Later, the issue of the RPI budget and its dissemination, or lack thereof, was brought up. Jackson and Vice President for Finance Virginia Gregg explained the budget approval and disclosure process. As a part of this, student senators are apprised of budgetary details by the finance committee, after which the responsibility of disclosure lies with the Senate. In pointing out how the Senate has failed the student body in this aspect, Jackson said “It is unrealistic to expect that the President’s Office can communicate with every single student about every issue of concern.”
In response to suggestions that the tuition was being increased to increase RPI’s prestige with well-to-do students, Jackson said “Our budget is based strictly on projected expenses, and is not based on an effort to increase aura or prestige.”
Later, a student asked about the quantity of actual in-depth classes engineers have in their major versus “fluff” courses. Jackson acknowledged that some students might find that the quantity of major courses in their program are lacking, but said that “we need to have a conversation...the solution is not a 5-year engineering program, it’s encouraging more people to go to graduate school.”
As for her choice of commencement speakers, Jackson pointed out that past speakers have all been leaders in business, science, and government. She mentioned that RPI had approached Rudy Giuliani, but had been told to “call back in five years.” Additionally, another honorary degree recipient, Paul Volcker (a Republican), will be talking at the Presidential Colloquy, held the day before Commencement in the Biotechnology Center’s auditorium.
When asked if the emphasis of the Institute’s attention was on capital expenditures rather than maintaining existing buildings and grounds, Jackson responded that “we’re trying to make the place look better” and cited efforts toward central receiving (to reduce excessive heavy vehicle traffic on campus property), pointing out that this effort was “bound to be unpopular with the faculty.” Also, there are plans to replace the asphalt on much of academic campus with something more aesthetically pleasing.
The event closed with a brief personal conversation between students and Jackson (quantum mechanics is her favorite subject), an invitation to Jackson to the Formula SAE unveiling, and an invitation from Jackson for students to come by for a chat anytime.
