Boston University’s reputation among college-bound students and their parents is rising steeply. More than 25,000 students applied for admission to be part of the Class of 2016; only about 44 percent of them were accepted (the lowest acceptance rate in our history), which reflects the fact that we had a very large, strong pool of applicants. And among those who received acceptance letters, a higher proportion than ever decided to come to BU. As a result, CAS once again matriculated the best class of new undergraduates ever. The 2,019 new students who arrived in the fall of 2012 were the best qualified in the history of the College. (See Appendix, Table 1. Class of 2016 Profile; Table 2. First-Year Student Enrollment)
Supporting Student Success
Boston University recruits excellent students who bring with them a wealth of interesting experiences and who are eager to pursue their education in a large and exciting university in one of the major cities of the world. But even these well-prepared students need support and guidance during their first year to make sure that they make the transition from high school to college effectively, to help them become integrated into this academic community, and to give them the strongest possible foundation for academic success.
The most visible advance in supporting student success during 2012/2013 was the opening of the new Center for Student Services (CSS) at 100 Bay State Road, a state-of-the-art facility that brings under one roof many of the services critical for undergraduate support and success, including all of the offices of CAS Student Academic Life, the CAS Writing Program and Writing Center, the BU Educational Resource Center, and the BU Center for Career Development (CCD), along with impressive dining facilities that replace much of what was housed in some of the student residences. Bringing these different functions together makes a big “one-stop shopping” difference that supports our students well.
The Center for Career Development's top four floors combine academic and advising space with inviting lounges. Photo by Cydney Scott
CAS Student Academic Life, housed on the fourth floor, includes the CAS Academic Advising Center; the CAS Pre-Professional Advising Center, which supports students throughout BU headed for law school and medical school and other health fields; and CAS Student Programs & Leadership, which oversees co-curricular and student leadership activities and programs. The new facilities provide a superb setting that allows us to push forward our plans to create more coherent and comprehensive academic advising for all of our students from their first days on campus. CSS provides a welcoming home where our newest students can socialize. The new center also has allowed us to expand our CAS First-Year Experience, in particular the voluntary one-credit course, FY 101, which enrolled 350 students who worked with faculty, staff, and upper-level peer advisors to gain a firm footing for their college careers.
Highlight: Recognizing Excellence in Student Advising
The co-location of student services has yielded another dividend, allowing Student Life staffers to freely collaborate in making sure that students get the support they need. The new arrangement reinforces the understanding that all staff members share responsibility for making sure students are able to write effectively, define their career goals, maximize their study time, develop leadership skills, and create a sound academic plan. None of this happens in a vacuum, however, and the ability to work seamlessly with colleagues with different perspectives and areas of expertise is critical to achieving these outcomes.
As an example of this new level of collaboration, CAS Student Programs & Leadership engaged with the Center for Career Development, the Educational Resource Center, and Alumni Relations to create Exploring Majors & Careers Week. The initiative—actually a series of programs bookended by a major fair and career expo—was offered over the course of a week in October to encourage students to explore their options for academic majors, internships, and careers. Another collaborative initiative brought recent alumni back to campus to describe the trajectories that took them from Commencement to realizing their professional careers.
The CAS First-Year Experience program continued to improve the way it helps first-year students acclimate to the College and BU. The signature effort of the First-Year Experience, the FY 101 class, was first offered in the fall of 2011; enrollment for the fall of 2012 ballooned by 40 percent to 350 students, reflecting in part the impact of the move to 100 Bay State Road and the new, easier availability of classroom and seminar spaces.
Also this year, CAS Advising began working directly with faculty from the Writing Center on academic misconduct, with a focus on plagiarism—another undertaking facilitated by the move to the CSS.
Students play an active role in helping other students succeed. In the newly expanded Learning Assistant program, undergraduates serve as peer educators in courses they have successfully completed, lending their understanding of the undergraduate experience to other undergraduates. The School of Education (SED) trains candidates for the program in the pedagogy of the subject they’ll be teaching. Once training is completed, learning assistants teach alongside graduate teaching fellows in discussion and lab sections.
The net effect of these improvements is a steady increase in our measures of student success. Our six-year graduation rate of 83.4% is good and improving. In May 2013, CAS/GRS conferred 1,803 bachelor’s degrees, 360 master’s degrees, and 212 doctoral degrees.
Annual Report 2012/2013
From the Dean
From recruiting ever-better faculty and students to engaging in path-breaking research, academic year 2012/2013 was a year of great accomplishments.
Recruiting Excellent Undergraduates
CAS again attracted excellent students who bring with them a wealth of interesting experiences and who are eager to pursue their education in a large and exciting university in one of the major cities of the world.
Strengthening Graduate Education
BU and the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences laid the groundwork for a tremendous strengthening of the quality of doctoral programs by developing a new budget model.
Strengthening the Quality of the Faculty
In 2012/2013, CAS recruited an exemplary cohort of 16 new assistant professors in fields across the humanities and social and natural sciences.
Enhancing the Research Mission
This year, Boston University was welcomed into the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization of leading North American research universities—an accomplishment to which CAS, with its portfolio of research in the natural and social sciences and the humanities, was a key contributor.
Strengthening Connections to the Community and the World
The College’s commitment to make the world a better—and better-understood—place contributes to BU’s growing reputation as a leading, global university.
Managing Our Financial Resources
Despite the challenges facing all of higher education in recent years, careful fiscal management has allowed the College to again make progress toward achieving its long-term goals.
Nurturing Connections with Alumni and Friends
The College continues to develop new opportunities for continuing education, networking, and socializing to help alumni and friends stay connected.
A Community in Mourning
The BU community and CAS came together in many ways in the aftermath of the Marathon bombings.
Our Impact, Your Impact: The Campaign for CAS
In 2012/2013, BU entered the public phase of its first capital campaign, inspiring many alumni, parents and other friends of CAS to step up support for our annual fund and critical projects.
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