From the Dean: Continuity and Growth
Stan Sclaroff, Interim Dean of Arts & Sciences
L eading a dynamic college and graduate school of arts and sciences within a major research university is by definition a team effort. As I guide Boston University’s College of Arts & Sciences during this interim year, I want to acknowledge the seasoned faculty and staff leadership who are already helping me continue the rapid progress that the college made under Dean Ann Cudd.
I want to thank Dean Cudd for her thoughtful and bold leadership. In three years at the helm, she led CAS forward with a clarity of purpose—crafting experiential education opportunities for undergraduates, breaking fundraising records, bolstering need-based scholarships, championing diversity and inclusion, ushering in new facilities, and strengthening key areas of research and learning.
Along with the rest of the leadership of the college, I am determined to build on these accomplishments. As interim dean, I have been reaching out to a wide range of constituencies, including our many engaged alumni, to gain from their knowledge and insights. I want our alumni base to come to know me and to feel comfortable speaking with me about matters important to CAS.
Dean Cudd will be greatly missed, and I want to congratulate her on her new role as provost of the University of Pittsburgh. While she leaves big shoes to fill, the dean search that gets underway this fall is also an exciting opportunity for the school’s leadership, staff, and faculty to continue to imagine what is possible for our college as we navigate the shifting economy, politics, technology, and culture of our 21st-century globalized society. In such a complex, interconnected world, a liberal arts and sciences education, with its breadth of perspectives and emphasis on cross-disciplinary thinking, will be as fundamental as ever to helping individuals, institutions, and societies to thrive. I think I speak for the CAS community when I say that I am excited to see where we go from here.
Annual Report 2017/2018
From the Dean
Leading a dynamic college and graduate school of arts and sciences within a major research university is by definition a team effort. Interim Dean of Arts & Sciences Stan Sclaroff is determined to build on the accomplishments of former Dean Ann Cudd. The dean search that gets underway this fall is also an exciting opportunity for the school’s leadership, staff, and faculty to continue to imagine what is possible for our college.
A Year of Building
During the 2017/18 academic year, the college and graduate school continued their forward momentum from recent years, strengthening and growing existing programs and initiatives. We helped lead the creation and launch of BU’s new general education curriculum, the BU Hub; launched a new living-learning program, Global House; and continued a pattern of growth in the number of master’s students while maintaining and enhancing the strength and excellence of our PhD programs.
Strengthening Undergraduate Education
At CAS, we provide students with an education for the 21st century—one that is flexible, forward-looking, grounded, and rigorous. In 2017/18, we matriculated one of our most talented ever classes of first-year students. And we worked hard to expand the experiential learning opportunities available to them, most notably with the launch of Global House. We also took the lead in developing a new BU-wide general education curriculum, the BU Hub.
Enhancing Graduate Education
A year ago, the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (GRS) welcomed a new associate dean: sociologist Emily Barman. Since taking the helm, Barman has focused on expanding support services for students, enhancing diversity and inclusion efforts for our graduate programs, and continuing a pattern of growth in the number of master’s students while maintaining and enhancing the strength and excellence of our PhD programs.
Maintaining a World-Class Faculty
In order for CAS to provide its students with a world-class undergraduate and graduate education and maintain its reputation as a leading research institution, the college must continually renew and enhance its faculty. In 2017/18, CAS hired an excellent and diverse group of new lecturers and junior and senior faculty members.
Conducting Pathbreaking Research
In 2017/18, our faculty continued pushing the boundaries of research in a vast array of fields. Discoveries both major and incremental will have a real, positive impact on people’s lives. One of the biggest leaps forward came with the opening in fall 2017 of the Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering.
Building Our Future Together
In 2017/18, the eighth year of the Campaign for Boston University, numerous alumni, friends, and parents have helped to raise $136.2 million for CAS—far exceeding our ambitious goal of $100 million.
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