New Leadership, Continued Growth
Ayear ago, the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (GRS) welcomed a new associate dean: sociologist Emily Barman. Professor Barman brings a strong academic background. Her research focuses on the social organization of altruism and philanthropy, and her recent book, Caring Capitalism: The Meaning and Measure of Social Value in the Market (Cambridge University Press, 2016), won the Best Book Prize from the Public and Nonprofit Division of the Academy of Management. She also brings a new vision and energy to the graduate school.
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.
MA and MS Programs
GRS has grown our MA and MS programs dramatically over recent years. With our class of students entering GRS in fall 2017, we maintained the record-high level of enrollments that began with our fall 2016 matriculating class. For the fall 2017 class, 349 applicants accepted their offers of admission. For fall 2016, 351 students accepted their offers. By comparison, for fall 2015 only 240 accepted their offers, and for fall 2014 only 250 accepted their offers. This increase in enrolled students results from an increased admissions push, which has yielded steadily increasing numbers of applicants. For fall 2014, we had 2,743 applicants; for fall 2015, 2,874 applicants; for fall 2016, 3,217 applicants; and for fall 2017, 3,611 applicants.
MFA Programs
Our MFA program in Creative Writing has also seen an increased number of applicants in recent years, with 18 applicants admitted for fall 2017 from a field of 725. All 18 accepted their offers. For fall 2016, 700 people applied, 25 were admitted, and 18 accepted their offers. For fall 2015, 475 applied, 28 were admitted, and 17 accepted their offers. For fall 2014, 389 applied, 20 were admitted, and 19 accepted their offers. As the number of applicants has steadily risen, the program has become more and more selective and drawn from a very strong pool of students. Our MFA in Playwriting did not accept applications this past fall; it only admits a new class every other year.
PhD Programs
Five years ago, BU began offering a guaranteed five years of funding to PhD students. Many of these students will advance more quickly into their post-graduate careers than they would have done without the guaranteed five years of funding as full-time students (including stipend and tuition). The five-year funding promise has helped attract higher-quality students to our programs and has allowed many of our programs to become more selective.
In 2017/18, GRS also launched a new PhD in Linguistics, with a strong six-student cohort, as our linguistics program evolved into a stand-alone academic department.
Graduate Student Success
- Weike Wang’s debut novel, Chemistry, is about a young PhD dropout wracked with indecision about how to handle her parents’ high expectations, a marriage proposal, and her future. It’s a struggle that’s familiar to the author, who earned a doctorate in public health at Harvard University at the same time she was enrolled in BU’s Creative Writing Program. Wang has since chosen between the two careers, with writing coming out on top. And this spring, her choice was validated when Chemistry notched a big win: a Whiting Award, one of 10 given each year to up-and-coming writers.
- Alexandre White, a member of the 2012 PhD cohort that was the first to receive five years of guaranteed funding from GRS, graduated with a PhD in Sociology and began a prestigious Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University. His book project, Epidemic Orientalism: A Social History of International Disease Response, explores the historical roots of international responses to epidemic threats. By examining how and why some diseases receive more significant resources and attention from global health actors and ultimately the nations experiencing outbreak, this book aims to provide a valuable contribution to our understanding of the social construction of disease and illness and the modes through which specific diseases are problematized as more or less threatening to the wider population.
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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