With the opening of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies on Friday, the Institute will certainly see the true beginning of the renaissance promised by The Rensselaer Plan. Promises made and goals set will be fulfilled in a tangible way. However, it is often good at these crossroads to pause for a moment and reflect on the here and now, on the details of the current state of affairs, instead of just focusing on the future.
The Rensselaer Plan has and will move RPI forward; this much can be agreed upon. But some of the details of these changes have been challenged by members of the community, as well as some of the changes wrought by tangential projects. Over the past few years, we at The Poly have heard from many professors who are concerned about the old and storied programs of RPI. Indeed, during last fall’s performance planning, four of the five schools reported deep concerns among faculty members for the future of the “vested, widely respected” programs because of “the concentration of resources in the Rensselaer Plan thrust areas.” One department has already sent out a survey to its students, ostensibly to gauge reaction to their programs being cut beyond salvation. Students have expressed concern in these same areas, as well as over new initiatives ranging from tuition rates to greek life. Finally, we have to question the motivations behind five senior administrators stepping down from their posts over the past six months. While most cited practical reasons for leaving, there is significant speculation surrounding the departure of at least one of these, and the timing is curious.
From our point of view, it seems that throughout the campus, there are groups expressing reservations regarding the implementation of The Plan, while at the same time many students and faculty have begun to feel more and more disenfranchised. To say that searching out and obtaining consistent and meaningful feedback on programs is difficult would be an understatement, but this does not mean that it should not be done. Ignoring someone’s opinion just makes them more apathetic and disillusioned rather than solving the problem. In order to ensure that the school moves forward in the best possible way, we urge the administration to put more effort into gathering as many opinions as possible on these transformations.
Great change on the RPI campus is an admirable goal, and many points of The Rensselaer Plan will do wonders for the Institute. However, moving forward while leaving others behind is not the way to introduce these changes. “Trimming the fat” will only serve to anger those currently at the Institute, and it is they who are the donors of the future.
