A Letter to the Faculty & Staff from President Robert Brown
Dear Colleagues,
The academic year is well underway, and now, with all the activities that mark the beginning of the semester completed, our students, faculty and staff have settled into the rhythm of the school year. As I have done before, I am writing to update you on the University’s progress during the last year and to give you an overview of current issues, important developments, and our planning for the near-term. I also wish to provide some background information for several topics that will be under consideration at the Faculty Assembly on November 18 and in other forums of the University this fall and in the coming spring.
As you can imagine, the turmoil of the capital markets, distress in financial institutions, and gathering signs of an economic recession can easily consume our outlook on the future. The purpose of this letter is to put the past year, as well as many of the initiatives already underway, into a broader context. Our Strategic Plan, especially the eight commitments described there, serve this purpose well. Those commitments, in an abbreviated form, are:
- To support and enhance a world-class faculty.
- To develop the undergraduate educational environment and continue our commitment to inclusiveness based on merit.
- To expand and enhance CAS as the core of the University and our undergraduate programs.
- To enhance the residential campus and student life experience.
- To strengthen scholarship and research throughout the University.
- To enhance our nationally recognized professional schools and colleges, including Medicine, Management, Law, and Fine Arts.
- To increase our emphasis on interdisciplinary research and graduate education.
- To continue to foster the engagement of Boston University in the city and the world.
The full Strategic Plan can be found on my website.
I will begin with several important results from last year and then focus on this year and planning for the next; I will need to discuss the impact of the economy in the context of this planning.
Faculty Promotion and Hiring
Last year saw the first results of our plan to increase the size of our faculties in the College of Arts and Sciences and, selectively, in other strategically important areas on the Charles River Campus. We filled a total of 14 new positions this fall. Eight were allocated to CAS, and presently, these searches have yielded five new colleagues. In all, seven schools have been able to fill newly created slots for faculty, and searches to fill several additional new positions are continuing. As a result of the searches for these new positions and the renewal of our existing faculty, we hired 56 new faculty members on the Charles River Campus: 45 assistant professors, seven associate professors and four professors. There also was considerable faculty hiring activity on the medical campus which resulted in filling a total of 90 full-time slots at the rank of professor, associate professor, and assistant professor.
This past year a total of 47 faculty members on the Charles River campus received promotions, tenure, or both: 18 received tenure an d promotion to associate professor; two received tenure and promotion to professor; four associate professors received tenure; and 13 associate professors were promoted to professor. On the Medical Campus, a total of 37 full-time members of the faculty also received promotion this year: 31 to associate professor and 16 to professor.
The faculty, our department chairs, and deans spend considerable effort identifying and recruiting these new scholars and educators to our University. There is no more important activity for our future, and I would like to express my sincere appreciation for all of your hard work in this area.
Faculty Awards
We can all be proud of the awards, honors, and other recognitions earned by members of our faculty. Of special note:
This year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry was announced on October 8 and one of the recipients was Dr. Osamu Shimomura, who holds a primary appointment as senior scientist emeritus at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, and also has held an adjunct faculty appointment since 1982 in the Department of Biophysics and Physiology in our School of Medicine. Professor Shimomura shared the prize with Professor Martin Chalfie of Columbia University and Professor Roger Tsien of the University of California at San Diego for the discovery and application of fluorescent proteins produced by jellyfish, which have become a critical tool in molecular biology for understanding the workings of cells. Professor Shimomura began his studies of these amazing proteins in jellyfish in the 1960s without regard to application; the applications of his work to molecular biology developed over the following twenty years. This award demonstrates why it is so important to support colleagues who are doing curiosity-guided, basic research.
James Collins of ENG was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the first at BU to receive this honor. This five-year grant, which is renewable, will provide funding for his salary and support for his research laboratory. Jim will continue as co-director of the Center for BioDynamics, where he will pursue research involving systems biology and synthetic biology, including the development of a more effective antibiotic, and also testing genetic mediators behind the development and progression of diseases in an effort to support the design of new drugs.
Barbara Shinn-Cunningham, of the Cognitive and Neural Systems Department in CAS and the Biomedical Engineering Department in ENG, was named to the inaugural group of National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellows, one of only six professors in the country named to this class, out of more than 500 who were nominated. Barbara will explore underlying aspects of auditory attention and analysis in order to develop methods to better display important acoustic information without overwhelming or distracting listeners with competing sound sources; this work could greatly aid hearing-aid users.
Gene Stanley of the Physics Department received the 2008 Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize from the American Physical Society for his work examining the anomalous behavior of liquid water in bulk, nanoconfined, and biological environments, and for a range of work on other topics in complex systems.
In 2006, alumnus and Trustee Peter Paul offered a generous gift to establish the Peter T. Paul Career Development Professorships Fund. Through this fund, we have awarded a total of 10 three-year appointments to exceptional young faculty members to support their scholarship and research early in their careers at BU. We recently welcomed the third group of Peter Paul Professors: Emine Fetvaci, assistant professor of art history in CAS; Assen Marintchev, assistant professor of physiology and biophysics in MED; and Yesim Tozan, assistant professor of international health in SPH. An additional career development professorship, termed the Innovation Career Development Professorship, has been established with proceeds from our Office of Technology Development; the inaugural award has gone to Michael Smith in the Department of Biomedical Engineering in ENG.
At Commencement last May, we bestowed the University’s highest teaching award to Allison Adair, a lecturer in the College of Arts and Science’s Writing Program, where she coordinates the Writing 100 seminar course required of most freshmen. She is the 35th recipient of the Metcalf Cup and Prize and is the first of her academic rank ever to be so honored. We also recognized two faculty members as recipients of Metcalf Awards for Teaching Excellence: Thomas Jefferson Kline, a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Romance Studies Department, a specialist in French literature who has taught for 40 years; and Professor Andrew Kull, the Paul M. Siskind Research Scholar in BU’s School of Law and one of the nation’s leading experts in the area of restitution. The Metcalf honors that we present each spring symbolize our commitment to exemplary instruction and scholarship, as well as our gratitude to the faculty for their hard work and dedication to this fundamental task.
Leadership Transitions
The last academic year saw the successful conclusion of several key searches for new academic leaders:
Hardin Coleman, of the University of Wisconsin, joined us this summer as the dean of the School of Education. An educator and psychologist, Hardin’s research has focused on school-based interventions that support academic achievement, and his teaching has focused on preparing students and professionals to effectively counsel and serve students from culturally diverse groups. With his leadership, I am sure that SED will enhance its legacy of teaching, research, and community engagement.
The College of Communication has new leadership in Tom Fiedler, who returned to his alma mater as dean this summer. Previously executive editor of the Miami Herald and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Tom spent last year as a Visiting Murrow Lecturer and Goldsmith Fellow at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center, where he investigated the impact of the Web on the presidential primary system. An outstanding and collegial newsroom leader, Tom led the college’s external review team as part of our strategic planning process. I am confident that he will provide exciting and dynamic leadership at COM.
Gail Steketee dropped “ad interim” from her title as dean at the School of Social Work this past June. A member of the faculty since 1986, she had been named associate dean for academic affairs in 1996 and co-chair of the Clinical Practice department in 2000. The faculty of the School enthusiastically welcomed Gail to the position.
At the Goldman School of Dental Medicine we have appointed Dr. Jeffrey W. Hutter as dean. Jeff was named dean ad interim last November, following the death of Dean Spencer Frankl, and provided exceptionally able leadership during this period, especially on our initiative to launch the Boston University Institute for Dental Research and Education in Dubai, and the redesign of our employee dental health program. A member of the faculty since 1997, he has served as professor and chair in the Department of Endodontics and senior associate dean, among other leadership positions.
Mary Elizabeth Moore will join us in January as dean of our founding school, the School of Theology. She comes to us from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, where she is director of the Women in Theology and Ministry program and a professor of religion. An ordained deacon in the United Methodist Church, she is a renowned scholar with solid administrative and leadership strengths, and she offers an inspiring vision of how STH can play an important role in educational and scholarly work across the campus.
Wendy Mariner has assumed the chair of the Faculty Council and with it a seat on the Board of Trustees. A professor in the Department of Health Law, Bioethics, and Human Rights in the School of Public Health, she coordinates the joint JD/MPH program and also holds an appointment in the School of Medicine. I look forward to working closely with her over her two-year term, and I should also like to express my deepest appreciation to Professor Julie Sandell for her exceptional leadership during her recently concluded term as Faculty Council chair.
I am very pleased to have such a talented group of colleagues among the leadership ranks of the University and I look forward to working with them in the coming years.
We have searches underway for leaders in several critical roles. As announced in July, the process to recruit the next Vice President for Information Sciences and Technology is underway, led by an advisory committee chaired by Peter Fiedler, Vice President for Administration. Additionally, we hope to conclude a search for an Associate Provost for Graduate Medical Sciences on the Medical Campus soon.
Finances and Budgeting
The current domestic and world-wide financial crises raise serious questions for us, and present us with critical challenges as we undertake our budget planning for next year. It seems certain that many of our students and their families will face unexpected hardships that could impede their ability to pursue a Boston University education, and consequently we must be prepared to address their needs as best we can. My announcement last month of a freeze on hiring for non-critical jobs and capital projects was made to begin to marshal our resources as we proceed into an uncertain future, especially as we face pressure to increase our financial aid budget, while also anticipating a downturn in revenues to the University. The hiring freeze is firm, but not absolute; we will fill positions that are critical, such as in public safety areas and key leadership positions. We are carefully reviewing every open position. Please realize that I would rather keep a position open than face the prospect of laying off staff, or telling students whose families have lost jobs, or even homes, that we can’t address their unexpected financial need.
We will proceed with searches for both open and newly approved faculty positions. The process of recruiting faculty extends over a period of many months, with most offers made for a starting date in September. Some searches extend beyond a single academic year, if a committee is not fully satisfied with prospective candidates. Given that kind of a time horizon and the likelihood that not all searches will be successful, we should proceed with all approved searches, and it is my sincere hope that we will be in a position to make offers in each case. I would advise the chairs of the various search committees to keep in close contact with their deans, especially as searches near conclusion.
In contrast to the nation’s economic situation, we closed the past fiscal year with a solid base, and this puts us in a position to undertake next year’s planning process from a position of some strength, perhaps even with a modest degree of optimism. We enjoyed an outstanding financial performance during Fiscal Year 2008, perhaps the best in our history, thanks to the efforts of our academic and administrative staff. In fact, we ended the year with a positive balance of $109.5 million, from a total budget of $1.85 billion, allowing us to continue to create operating reserves for replacement, renewal, and reinvestment into academic projects and programs. A total of approximately $59 million was transferred back to academic units for items such as: laboratory, classroom and other types of upgrades and renovations ($15 million); arrangements pertaining to income and grant cost sharing ($20.3 million); and expenses related to faculty hiring and other academic initiatives ($23.7 million). We also allocated the largest salary increase pool for faculty that we have had in over a decade; I will return to this issue below.
The size of the reserve is a result of careful planning, adherence to budgets, meeting enrollment targets in our undergraduate and graduate programs, and a continuous focus on the most critical missions of the University. As an example of the implementation of this focus, last year we sold our Tyngsboro facility and invested the income from that sale in our endowment. Also, funds previously committed to the Community Technology Fund and used for investing in small companies have been placed in the endowment with the annual income from this fund supporting our Ignition and Launch Award Programs for grants to our faculty and students for ideas that may have commercial development potential; for more information see the program’s website.
The fiscal year 2009 budget, under which we are now operating, has significant new funds for the academic mission. The overall projected University budget of $1.91 billion represents a 3.2 percent increase from fiscal year 2008. Adhering to our budget is going to be especially challenging this year as we experience the effects of the economic downturn, as well as inflation in the costs of fuel, food and other commodities. We are carefully monitoring expenditures as the year progresses.
Research and Scholarship
Research and scholarship is at the core of the University’s mission, as well as reputation, which continues to grow and excel in disciplines all across our campuses. Members of our faculty continue to compete successfully for sponsored research awards in a very competitive environment for federal and foundation support. Most notably, with Medical School leadership, we received one of 14 Clinical and Translational Science Awards given by the National Institutes of Health this year. This funding, which comes to nearly $23 million over the next five years, will bring together faculty from both the Medical and Charles River Campuses to develop new health care treatments from fundamental research results.
Overall, campus research volume climbed substantially this year, to $336.1 million, up more than 16 percent from last year. Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Public Health, and Management made especially noteworthy increases in total funding compared to the previous year, though none matched the percentage increase posted by Theology — from $2,000 to over $1 million! With a troubled economy and a change in administration in Washington, it is difficult to predict with any certainty how federal funding will evolve over the coming years. We deeply appreciate the effort by our faculty in seeking out opportunities and obtaining grants to support research endeavors.
Endowment Performance
Recent events could well lead us to recall last year as a tranquil period in the economy, but the reality was that the past year was a very difficult time in the capital markets. Our endowment weathered the volatility better than most of the commonly reported indices. As of June 30, 2008 our endowment stood at $1.18 billion, up 3.3 percent for the year. This performance compares to decreases of 9.1 percent on the MSCI World Index and 13.1 percent for the S&P 500. Our performance last year puts us in the top quartile of institutions tracked by Cambridge Associates in their college and university group.
The distribution of income from endowment accounts is buffered from market fluctuations by computing the income to academic units using a long-term trailing average of the performance. As a result, the total annual income distribution, including to academic units and for financial aid, grew at a healthy 8.8 percent between fiscal years 2007 and 2008. For fiscal year 2009, academic units will see a 13.5 percent increase in distribution. Our expectations for fiscal year 2010 are not as positive, as we expect to see the impacts of the decreases in capital markets mirrored somewhat in our own endowment. We will know more in the months ahead.
On a positive note, the University has not been negatively affected by the enormous structural disruptions caused by the failure of several investment banks or the seizure of the credit markets. Great work by Marty Howard, our Treasurer and Vice President for Financial Affairs, and Pam Peedin, our Chief Investment Officer, have kept us ahead on important operational issues as we navigate these disruptions.
Development and Alumni Activities
Scott Nichols, our Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations, continues to build the foundation for increased fundraising and, eventually, a major campaign, and we enjoyed some notable successes over the past year. One especially gratifying outcome was the annual class gift campaign last spring: alumni Meyer and Ellen Koplow pledged a matching gift of $100,000, and our graduating students met that challenge, pledging over $110,000 in response. Nearly 85 percent of our MBA graduates participated, pledging a total of $72,000. Additionally, gifts to the Annual Fund rose 20 percent; gifts from parents increased nearly 33 percent; and gifts from foundations increased by 42 percent. In all, we raised $78.2 million from individuals, corporations, and foundations.
We still have a long way to go in the area of philanthropy, and the economy will surely have a negative effect on the potential for fundraising, at least in the near-term future, but we are building the staff and systems needed to move forward as conditions permit. We have launched focused campaigns for CFA and LAW with the intention of supporting much-needed capital improvement projects. We will assess those campaigns and our ability to proceed with building and renovations projects over time. Fortunately, we have already begun the renovation of the music practice facilities for CFA at 855 Commonwealth Avenue, and we have developed new print-making and painting areas within 808 Commonwealth Avenue.
Our alumni support seems to be strengthening in a number of ways. I enjoyed a very warm and enthusiastic reception in Beijing last January at the inaugural event of our new Boston University Alumni Association of China. Several hundred BU alumni from 11 Asian nations attended the event and made a collective pledge of $1 million. We will continue our efforts to strengthen ties between our alumni and the University throughout the United States and around the world, with plans for events this coming year in Thailand, Korea, Dubai, and elsewhere. We are holding a new leadership summit for alumni the weekend of October 24-26 that will, we hope, feature a productive dialogue among the gathered alumni and University leaders.
Last winter we launched a new alumni series called Discoveries, a program of learning opportunities that taps BU faculty to give alumni a deeper look into issues affecting the world and their lives. Discoveries, sponsored by CAS and the Arts and Sciences Alumni Association, began with a lecture by Professor Andrew Bacevich on presidential campaigns during times of war, and this was followed by Professor Richard Primack examining global warming as observed at Walden Pond. These two lectures drew a total of more than 500 alumni and other guests, and I hope to see many more such events take place.
In an effort to better serve our alumni, the Office of Marketing and Communications has redesigned Bostonia, our alumni magazine, with a fresh new look, and Bostonia online has launched an exciting new website with multi-media content. The new site is updated weekly with new stories, video, and interactive features.
Faculty Development
There are several important accomplishments on behalf of the faculty. Given the financial health of the University, we have been able to deploy resources to continue to attract and retain the very best faculty. A major focus of our efforts continues to be the compensation of our faculty through our annual merit increases and funds for promotional increases that come with change in faculty rank. Comparing fall 2008 to fall 2007, the average salaries at the ranks of full, associate and assistant professor (without modification) in the schools and colleges on the Charles River Campus grew to $135,239, $89,586, and $76,378, respectively, with an average increase across these ranks of 6 percent. This average reflects the salaries of new hires and promotional and merit increases given across these ranks. It is worth noting that among those holding an unmodified professorial rank on the Charles River Campus, 42.6 percent are full professors, 31.1 percent are associate professors, and 26.3 percent are assistant professors.
The Council on Faculty Diversity and Inclusion (CFDI) released in December its report on last fall’s faculty climate survey. Findings from the survey are available at the Provost’s web site. It is somewhat gratifying to note that nearly 70 percent reported feeling very satisfied or somewhat satisfied, but I would like to see that improve, and I believe that as we continue to pursue the measures outlined in our Strategic Plan, faculty satisfaction will grow even further. The CFDI also produced an outstanding faculty search manual, “Searching for Excellence & Diversity’; this, too, is available on the Provost’s web site.
The CFDI has filed a comprehensive report with the University Provost and me that covers a number of important areas, and we will be discussing it at the November meeting of the Faculty Assembly. We are moving forward to act on many of their recommendations.
In May we announced the creation of the William F. Warren Distinguished Professorships to honor the most distinguished scholars, researchers and educators on the Boston University faculty. The call for nominations went to the faculty in late August, with the hope of making the first awards this spring.
Our Physical Campus
There are many physical signs on our campus of the positive changes underway, but perhaps none is more visible than the reworking of the streetscape along Commonwealth Avenue. I want to thank our faculty and staff for putting up with the dirt, dust, and congestion caused by the work and I hope that you feel, as do I, that the results are worth the trouble. We hope to soon extend these physical improvements to the west end of campus along Commonwealth Avenue.
Other less disruptive projects are also proceeding well. The construction of the new west campus undergraduate residence — Student Village II — is on schedule to open in the fall of 2009, providing space for more than 950 additional undergraduates to live on our campus, rather than in the surrounding neighborhoods.
There are myriad other, less visible, but equally important projects underway. These include the upgrading of the heating, air handling, and air conditioning systems for the Metcalf Science Center, the renovation of the music practice facilities in the basement of 855 Commonwealth Avenue, and the renovation of the lobby of the College of General Studies, which was completed this summer. Construction also has begun at 888 Commonwealth Avenue for an expanded facility that will house retail space, as well as an expanded home for International Programs and the International Students and Scholars Office. The relocation of these offices there next summer will free valuable program space on Bay State Road and Deerfield Street.
Other projects in planning and fundraising include a new dining and student services facility on Bay State Road, a new Medical School residence facility, and expansion and renovation of the Law School building complex.
Perhaps the most onerous project is the redesign of the traffic pattern and the installation of a new bus station in Kenmore Square. We have been reassured by state officials that this will take less time to complete than the Big Dig; there are moments when I have my doubts, but I am guardedly optimistic that we can expect to see this project completed in the coming year.
BUworks
Perhaps the largest, complex, and most critical project that we have begun this year is BUworks, the effort to bring a modern software system to Boston University as our financial system of record, along with new systems for purchasing and human resources. Our current administrative software systems are more than 20 years old and no longer meet the transactional and information demands of a complex modern research university. The BUworks project is an investment in the future of BU that will upgrade these systems to give us modern capabilities and efficiency, as well as the foundation that will support us administratively for several decades.
The BUworks project was officially launched last spring with Peter Smokowski, Associate Vice President for Administration, as the Project Executive and under the oversight of Joe Mercurio, Executive Vice President, and Michael Krugman, Interim Vice President for Information Science and Technology. Please visit the BUworks website for more information about the organization of the project and its milestones.
Undergraduate Education
I am very pleased that across the Charles River Campus numerous discussions have begun concerning undergraduate education. Boston University has an enormous amount to offer bright and ambitious students and the discussions that are underway are on topics that are important for the University to reach its full potential. I have come to believe that while each of our departments, schools and colleges effectively focus their energy on their programs, the University needs more organized conversations about the common objectives of a Boston University undergraduate education and about topics that cross school and college boundaries. Faculty committees are working on proposing new innovative programs for fulfilling the general education requirements of schools and colleges, how to better advise, tutor, and give career guidance to our students, and on ways to improve the quality of the first-year experience across the entire freshman class. I am optimistic that real improvements in the educational experiences of our undergraduates will be born in these ideas.
There are two important initiatives that I would like to bring to your attention. First, the Ad Hoc Committee chaired by Charles Dellheim, chair of the Department of History, reported last spring with their recommendations for an all-university, honors-like program referred to as New College. The New College undergraduate program is proposed as a way for students from across the University to meet their general education requirement through a program of contextualized course offerings, seminars, self-study, and research, while completing their majors within their school or college. The program would be offered by faculty with appointments in our schools and colleges who have part-time appointments in New College. The report of the Ad Hoc Committee is available at the Provost’s web site.
We are in an important period of discussion of the New College concept with forums being arranged across the University. The New College proposal also will be discussed at our Faculty Assembly on November 18.
Second, last year also saw much discussion of our undergraduate student services for advising, tutoring, and career guidance in a group led by Laurie Pohl, Vice President for Enrollment and Student Affairs, and Kenn Elmore, Dean of Students. On their recommendation we have moved to create a unified student services organization that will better serve our students from across the University. We will be announcing more about this project in the months ahead.
Community Service
This year we completed our nearly two-decade partnership with the Chelsea Public Schools. This remains the only instance in which an entire public school system has been managed by a private university, and that is understandable given the magnitude of the effort and responsibility. We can be justifiably proud of what was accomplished there: the complete transformation of an underperforming system into one which can serve as a model for urban education. The design of reform efforts there presaged much of what is contained in state and federal education reform laws that have been passed in the intervening time. President Emeritus Silber, members of the Management Team, and faculty who gave so much time and effort were honored by members of the community at a gala held this past June in the new Chelsea High School, and lessons from what we learned in Chelsea will be examined for years to come.
Last month, Mayor Thomas Menino and I announced that Boston University will expand its program for providing scholarships to graduates of Boston Public Schools. Beginning with next year’s entering class, we will award 20–25 full-tuition academic scholarships each year to qualified Boston residents who graduate from Boston public high schools. In addition, we will dramatically expand need-based awards for Boston public school graduates who are admitted to the university; we will meet their need-based assistance in its entirety without reliance on loans. This is an expansion of the Boston Scholars Program that has been in place since 1973, through which 1,719 graduates of the Boston Public Schools have received nearly $126 million in scholarships from Boston University.
We have a dozen new freshmen on campus this fall who came to BU from the Atlanta area as a group through a partnership with the Posse Foundation. This national non-profit program identifies, recruits, and trains talented, leadership-oriented high school students from school systems that might not attract a lot of attention from admissions officers. The Foundation has an outstanding record of placing very promising students in top schools that agree to provide scholarships. I have met our Posse Scholars several times and they really are an exciting and promising group.
Sustainability
As you know, we are a small city encompassing 320 buildings on our two campuses, and we have a substantial environmental footprint. Last year we used over 200 million kilowatts of electricity, as well as natural gas supplying 600 billion BTUs of energy, and 2.5 million gallons of fuel oil. We also generated almost 9,000 tons of waste.
We have been taking steps to mitigate our environmental impact, but we can do more; our actions must be consistent with our standards, and we can assume a leadership role in this area through research and by setting an example. Most directly, we have an opportunity to play a key role in examining how changes in our way of life and in how we operate the university can contribute to greater energy efficiency and an environmentally sustainable future for all of us. We have, therefore, launched a Sustainability Initiative focused on reducing our energy consumption and decreasing waste all across our campus. This effort is being led by a steering committee co-chaired by Professor Cutler Cleveland of the Department of Geography and Environment in the College of Arts and Sciences and by Gary Nicksa, our Vice President of Operations. Working groups in four critical areas — recycling and waste management; energy efficiency; sustainable building development and operations; and communications, education, and outreach — will search for the best, most cost-effective approaches to our goals and the metrics we should set for measuring our progress.
They welcome ideas and suggestions from the community — students, faculty, and staff — as we move ahead, and we have established a $1 million fund for the implementation of the best ideas that offer the highest impact and shortest economic payback in the areas of energy conservation, waste management and sustainable buildings.
I am sure that many of you have noticed that all of our dining facilities, including the Faculty and Staff Dining Room in the GSU, no longer offer trays. This might seem a small step, even an inconvenience, but this measure will allow us to save the water (and energy) used previously to wash approximately 16,000 trays daily, over 1.5 million gallons annually, an amount equal to 2.5 times the volume of the large pool in FitRec.
We are already beginning to see the benefits of our existing sustainability efforts. The amount of trash produced last year was down by almost 1,000 tons from several years ago. Individuals and groups, such as sedGreen and several student organizations, are setting examples and offering ideas. Please think of how you can make a difference, and share your ideas with Gary and Cutler.
A Look Ahead
We have accomplished a great deal over the last year and we have great aspirations for the future. We will continue to push forward to improve the quality of education for our students, the impact of the University locally and globally, and the quality of our faculty and staff. For the immediate future, we will be affected by the worsening economy and the turbulence in the capital markets and financial institutions.
First, let me assure you that the issues facing the University as a direct result of the crises in financial institutions and the degrading capital markets are being managed as well as possible. As a result, we project that the operational and budgetary effect of these disruptions on the current fiscal year (FY 2009) will be well within the reserves held as part of our budget.
The magnitude of the moderate-term and long-term issues surrounding the depth and duration of the recession are harder to foresee, although the negative direction is apparent. The increasing unemployment in the country, the large decrease in personal wealth caused by the drop in the capital markets, constraints on federal discretionary spending, and the tight debt markets will put financial pressure on students and their families who are struggling to afford a Boston University education. The result will be a greater demand for student financial aid and, potentially, fewer students able to afford a Boston University education.
We are in the process of planning both our admissions strategy for next year’s freshman class and our budget for the coming fiscal year. It seems clear that the fiscal year 2010 budget will be tightly constrained. We will, of course, share our planning with you as soon as the direction is clear.
Our goal is steady progress through these difficult times. With your help and the collective efforts of the entire Boston University community we will succeed. I appreciate your support and I welcome your comments and suggestions.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Brown
President