“This is a time of transformation and unprecedented change at Rensselaer,” President Shirley Ann Jackson told the Student Senate at her fall semester meeting with the governing body Monday. Jackson addressed the Senate on a variety of issues from faculty to construction to new programs coming online in the near future, and reported on the progress of the Rensselaer Plan.
“It went very well,” said Grand Marshal Mike Borzumate. “I was pleased with the ease of dialogue we’ve established with the administration. All the pieces are in place for a productive year.”
Jackson spent the first segment of the meeting speaking to the assembly, accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation. The speech covered the new freshman class and its increased diversity, improvements to advising, the ongoing struggle with the NCAA, and renovations around campus. Many of the students were excited to hear that wireless internet access on campus had been expanded to include Academy Hall and that within the next year Jackson expects all buildings to be wireless capable. She also spoke about new faculty hirings and the associated changes. New faculty members have been hired to fill 23 existing and 15 new positions, and the administration continues to pursue its goal of hiring 40 new professors this year. This makes for a sum of 127 new hires in three years, while the Rensselaer Plan had called for 100.
“With so many new professors and students, our programs are changing,” Jackson said, and informed the body that the Institute will soon be offering a “first of its kind” degree in architectural sciences with a concentration in acoustics.
The floor was then opened to senators who had questions for Jackson and the cabinet members who were in attendance. Many of the questions asked centered on graduate students and how the Institute plans to help them in the near future. “I hate to say it, but graduate students,” Jackson admitted, “are not a group we have paid a lot of attention to.”
Claude Rounds, vice president for administration, echoed her remark. “One thing we’re having trouble doing is understanding the needs of graduate students.” They described the efforts that have been taken, including the purchase of housing on the corner of People’s Ave. and 9th Ave. that will be exclusively for the use of single graduate students, and the website that came online last year that helps students acquaint themselves with the process of obtaining off-campus housing.
Senators’ questions also centered on the recent increases in tuition and other fees. Jackson responded to these concerns, saying that while tuition has gone up, she does not feel that the school is “out-pricing” any students. She cited the increased size of this year’s freshman class, as well as the number of students who receive financial aid. Eighty percent of RPI students receive financial aid, she said, compared to approximately 50 percent at schools with similar tuitions.
The meeting closed with Jackson presenting a question of her own to the body: “What do you want me to do in the near future?” The answers from the assembled students were varied and diverse. One student called for more support for performing arts, more than one asked for her to increase her presence on campus and availability to students, and a few asked for renovations in particular buildings. Mary Kate DiTursi, a graduate student senator, called on Jackson to deal with what she saw as a problem with rising grade inflation.
Borzumate said that the senators he had spoken to were extremely pleased with the meeting. “They thought it was the best meeting we’ve ever had with the administration,” he said.
