This program is one that has been debated for years now—it has been under serious discussion in the Faculty Senate since 1993. Provost Bud Peterson identified it as a part of a growing effort to expand research at the Institute.

"The significant increases in the research portfolio outlined in The Rensselaer Plan will require that faculty undertake new and sustained efforts in research," he said.

Under the cost-sharing program, the Institute will provide funding for one-third the required tuition for graduate research assistants for interdisciplinary proposals—those involving researchers from more than one department—and one-fourth for non-interdisciplinary proposals.

The Institute’s contribution to tuition costs will take a burden off of external corporations funding research projects at Rensselaer, as they formerly covered graduate research assistants’ full tuition payments. The text of the tuition cost-sharing policy cites many potential benefits of the program at Rensselaer, including that it will make proposals more competitive and that it will allow more students to be employed by a given contract.

Dean of Engineering William Baeslack agrees that the implementation of this policy will improve Rensselaer’s research capabilities. Many of the major universities that comete with Rensselaer, such as Carnegie Mellon and MIT, have been cost-sharing for years.

"This is an excellent starting point for us, and it’s definitely a step in the right direction," he said.

The downside of the program is that it will require the Institute to allocate funds for tuition payments that could be used in other areas. However, some of these funds could be compensated for by the increased profits of expanded campus research.