The Board of Trustees reviewed budget proposals for each of the Institute’s portfolios and approved the overall budget for the fiscal year 2003-04 at its February meeting.
In an open letter to campus, President Shirley Ann Jackson described the approval of the budgets as an expression of confidence. “The Board’s action stands as an endorsement of the Institute’s bold and exciting plans for the coming years,” she said.
The budget includes a 4.9 percent tuition increase for full-time undergraduate and graduate students, bringing the price tag to $27,700 for next year.
While many schools are feeling the bite of a slow economy and drops in private donations and state aid, RPI is still in a position to move forward. This is in part because the school does not depend heavily on its endowment, restricted by policy to using only a small percentage each year. Schools that regularly draw larger percentages are forced to cut back now that weaker stock values have slowed or reversed the growth of endowments across the board.
As a result, RPI will not lay off faculty, and is instead planning a large number of new hires; salaries will see competitive increases; research funding will increase; and projects to improve the campus will continue as planned.
The Trustees fully approved the plans presented by each of the portfolios. The focus continues to be on the priorities laid out in The Rensselaer Plan: research in biotechnology and information technology, first-year experience initiatives, and electronic media and performing arts.
The school will hire 40 new faculty in the coming year, including 15 in newly created positions. Provost Bud Peterson will oversee these hires, “continuing to focus in the key thrust areas, but [including] faculty across all disciplines,” he said.
In the student life portfolio two new staff positions have been created as well. A new clinical psychologist will be hired for the Health Center, as national suicide rates among college students continue to rise. “We’re trying to stay ahead of the curve in this area,” said Vice President for Student Life Eddie Knowles.
A new full-time athletic trainer will also be hired. “We’re woefully understaffed in that area,” Knowles said.
Enrollment goals for next year call for a freshman class size of about 1,200 to maintain a total undergraduate population of 5,000. Graduate enrollment will be maintained at 1,000.
Institute funding for research will increase by seven percent next year.
Campus construction continues next year. The parking garage is slated to open in the next Spring semester. Construction and start-up of the Biotechnology Center is expected to be complete by Fall 2004. The design of the EMPAC building should be completed and its construction should begin in the next fiscal year.
Deferred maintenance projects to campus research and residence buildings as well as neighborhood improvement projects will also continue through next year. Hall, Nason, and Crocket Halls will be completely renovated this summer. Other halls will see baseline improvements before the beginning of the next academic year.
In addition to the highest-priority goals of the Institute, Knowles outlined several high-priority goals specific to Student Life. “As a division we really set campus culture as our No. 1 priority,” he said.
The division’s goal is to enrich and enliven the campus environment. Knowles said he didn’t imply that a campus culture doesn’t already exist. “What we’re saying is we really want to enliven it. We want to charge it up.”
The division will also be looking at the dynamic between living and learning environments at RPI, as laptops have made residence areas a preferred place for students to meet and work. “The lines are becoming blurred,” Knowles said.
