President Roger Hull on Monday discussed a number of priorities for
the coming years, including steps aimed at making the College “less
social.”
“If we are to move to the next level of excellence, we have to do some
things fundamentally differently,” he told faculty at the first meeting of
the term.
Among the priorities Hull listed are:
— the creation of an enriched sabbatical program and development of
more competitive teaching loads with respect to peer institutions;
— the addition of at least one endowed chair per year;
— enhancement of the Union Scholars honors program to reach 100
students in each class, and the creation of a second honors program;
— increasing internships to 50 students, summer research to 100, and
participation in the Steinmetz Symposium to 300;
— revamping the advising system; and
— building a new arts and music facility.
Hull announced that the College had engaged a consultant to work with
administrators and faculty to consider opportunities to further integrate
engineering and liberal arts. “The tradition that goes back 155 years with
engineering is a strong one and engineering's role in the future is one that
needs to be defined in a closer relationship with the liberal arts,” Hull
said.
In admissions, Hull announced that the College would adopt the policy of many
peer institutions in offering merit aid. Last year, the College surpassed the
4000 mark in applications, accepting 47 percent to bring in a class of 560, he
noted.
Speaking about the College's “social scene,” Hull challenged
faculty to “raise the ante” by expecting more of students. “It's
time to put the bar higher, and faculty, particularly senior faculty, have to
take the lead,” Hull said. “If fraternities were not to be at Union
tomorrow, and if U2K were to be in place the day after tomorrow, the fact is
things would not change dramatically. The only way they will change dramatically
is through the faculty.”
Hull reported that last fiscal year, the College raised $17 million with a
record of unrestricted Annual Fund giving and an alumni participation rate of 47
percent. Meanwhile the College's endowment grew to about $269 million.
Hull said progress continues with the Union-Schenectady Initiative, the
revitalization plan for the College Park neighborhood west of campus. The campus
safety satellite office and the community center are in operation this fall.
Dean of Faculty Christina Sorum outlined a number of tasks before
faculty this year, including hiring of deans of arts and sciences and
undergraduate education; revising the freshman preceptorial and reviewing other
General Education requirements; adopting a statement of ethics (now under
consideration by the Faculty Review Board); and an enriched sabbatical system
and competitive course load. She also spoke about the impact that academic
challenge can have on the social scene and the need to increase retention
through advising.
Sorum went on to speak about the quality and breadth that makes a Union
education unique.
“The indispensable character of a residential college like Union is
educational quality,” Sorum said. “That arises from the opportunity
for teachers and students to engage in conversations face to face.
“We can do it because of our scale, the intimacy of our campus and our
classrooms, our availability to our students, and the community of learning we
create with students doing research guided by us.
“We must recognize the crucial importance of this dialogue … and
persist in finding opportunities for it to occur.”
In speaking of the value of breadth of education, Sorum said, “Although
it is the kind of education that flies in the face of the desire of students
today for pre-professional training, it is the type of education that prepares
them for success in a diverse multicultural workforce that operates from a
global and multidisciplinary perspective.
“We need to enhance the structures that encourage students to cross
disciplines and understand broader context,” she said.
Dean of Students Frederick Alford spoke about steps to control the
social life on campus and the U2K proposal for residential and social life.
“We are going to intensify our efforts to monitor alcohol on this
campus,” he said. “It is going to happen in the residence halls and in
the fraternities where the parties take place.”
Student leaders have been notified that campus safety will do spot checks of
parties, and students this week received a letter outlining concerns about
alcohol abuse, Alford said.
Alford also announced the creation of a social enrichment grant program that
will fund initiatives that provide alternatives to events at which alcohol is
served.