I write to share with you information on the outcomes of Rensselaer’s recent Board of Trustees meeting. The Board took a number of actions I will describe briefly here, and I will look forward to a conversation to respond to your questions at the Town Meeting on April 2.

I am happy to report that the Trustees approved a $365.5 million budget for Fiscal Year 2007-2008, enabling us to move forward on a number of fronts, including several important academic and student life initiatives. This figure represents a 67 percent increase in overall university resources during the years we have been working together. I am grateful for the many contributions made by our faculty and our administrative staff as we have continued to implement and reap the benefits of The Rensselaer Plan .

As you know, many faculty renewal, pedagogical, research, and student life initiatives have been under way in recent years, designed to enhance the intellectual core of our activities and the overall educational experience of our students.

Faculty renewal will continue as a top priority in the new fiscal year, with 43 hires anticipated, including efforts to fill the remaining eleven constellation chairs, double the hiring pace of the current year. Faculty and staff compensation will remain competitive, with salary increases to reward performance, as well as continuation of our Employer of Choice and comprehensive benefit programs.

In addition to the operating budget, the Board approved several major capital projects and activities:

• Development of a plan to renovate the student dining facilities in Russell Sage (for Board action in May);
• Construction of the first phase of the new East Campus Athletic Village;
• South Campus landscaping;
• Continued capital renewal, including undergraduate lab modernization, renovation of Father’s in the Student Union, and deferred maintenance;
• Performance equipment and technology for the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center.

The Board expects that our investment in programming for EMPAC, as well as continued investment in Advancement, Communications, Enrollment, and Education for Working Professionals, will reap future reputational and financial return.

The Board approved undergraduate and graduate tuition for next year. Tuition for full-time undergraduate and full-time graduate students will be $34,900, an increase of 7.1 percent. On average, room and board rates will increase 5.1 percent. Overall, the cost of room and board, tuition and fees for undergraduate students will rise by 6.5 percent to $48,100. Our goal is to provide a world-class education as a leading technological research university, with a broad range of programs and enhanced facilities, while remaining accessible and affordable for our students. Meeting our students’ needs through financial aid is a high priority, and 46 percent of total undergraduate tuition revenue is returned to nearly 90 percent of our undergraduate students in the form of financial aid.  The costs of room and board, tuition and fees for undergraduate students will remain competitive with those of our peer institutions.

We reported to the Trustees that applications for admission have exceeded the 10,000 level for this fall’s freshman class, a remarkable increase of more than 80 percent over the past two years.  We expect to achieve our goals for freshman class quality, diversity and intellectual range, as a result of the application increase and new enrollment strategies. We noted that the six-year graduation rate has climbed steadily to over 80 percent, while the freshman-to-sophomore retention rate has reached 94 percent for the first time. This reflects our growing national reputation, the high regard in which our academic programs are held, and the satisfaction with which Rensselaer students view their experience here. 

We discussed development of an undergraduate international experience, and expanding research programs for undergraduates. The unprecedented PACE gift, providing access to world-class computer-based design tools, will give Rensselaer students enhanced capability and technical sophistication for their current and future work.

We advised the Board of other developments in graduate education and research:

• Progress toward the goal of doubling Ph.D. production will result from shared execution strategies among the academic schools, the Office of Graduate Education, Vice President for Research, and Institute Advancement to obtain external funding at levels required to support the number of graduate students desired to be recruited by all of our schools.
• Research growth will continue to be facilitated by an expansion of infrastructure support. The Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies opened in September 2004, and since then has generated research awards totaling $27 million. Recently developed core research facilities, including the 80 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer, will be supplemented by the creation of a bioresearch core facility, primarily funded by the Gen*NY*sis grant. Construction is proceeding toward the completion of EMPAC, due to open in fall of 2008 to provide new and unique opportunities for research and performance at the intersection of the arts, sciences, and technology. The Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations (CCNI) will support fundamental and applied computationally-based research, on a scale matched by few in the country and the world. It will open in April in the Rensselaer Technology Park.
• Executive education cohort and signature programs on the Hartford campus are experiencing significant growth.
• We have been able to build a stable base of resources available to the library for the acquisition of scholarly materials.  We expect that we have met the inflationary projections for next year and will have additional funds for the expansion of the current collection.

The report on the capital campaign included information that I found particularly inspiring. We shared the list of major gifts made to the campaign. The level of personal giving by our Board members themselves is simply extraordinary, and stands as a model of commitment for all other Rensselaer stakeholders. The generosity demonstrated by these men and women inspires and energizes all of us. It fills me with confidence that we will meet and exceed our campaign goals and achieve our aspirations under The Rensselaer Plan.

Meeting the goals of our plan — achieving greater prominence as a top-tier world-class technological research university with global reach and global impact — rests with everyone here at Rensselaer. Together we will continue our efforts to achieve the outcomes outlined in the Plan. I thank you for your continuing hard work and for your cooperative and positive spirit as we continue to face our challenges and optimize our opportunities. I look forward to sharing with the entire Rensselaer community additional information, and discussing our progress and plans at the upcoming April 2 Town Meeting.

Contact: Jason Gorss
Phone: (518) 276-6098
E-mail: gorssj@rpi.edu