President Ruth Simmons and Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Elizabeth Huidekoper joined the weekly Undergraduate Council of Students meeting Wednesday to update UCS and community members on the Plan for Academic Enrichment and the Brown First program.
Simmons outlined many of the recent successes of her plan to improve the University, including an increase in the size of the faculty and recent donations that will fund new facilities.
UCS and community members questioned Simmons about the extent of the University's financial aid programs - specifically, the exclusion of international students from need-blind admission and the loss of financial aid for transfer students.
Simmons stressed the unpredictability of need-blind admission; she said it's difficult to budget for financial aid under a need-blind system because the University cannot predict exactly how much money will be needed.
Acknowledging the obvious desire to expand need-blind admission and financial aid to all Brown students, Simmons heralded the steps already taken to improve the financial aid program - instituting need-blind admission, eliminating the work requirement for first-year students and increasing the percentage of students receiving financial aid.
Simmons also discussed the formation of the Brown University Community Council, an organization including students, faculty, staff and administrators that aims to solve problems quickly and discuss matters of mutual concern.
Huidekoper addressed the Brown First program, which requires University departments and student organizations to purchase services from University providers like Brown Dining Services and Graphic Services. She said that the program is designed to allow Brown organizations to achieve better pricing through increased volume discounts. Additionally, spending money within the Brown community allows the University to capture profits that might have otherwise gone to outside vendors, instead using them for improvements at Brown, she said.
Students questioned Simmons and Huidekoper about the impact that Brown First has on student organizations, particularly the inability to seek lower prices off campus and the requirement that student activities funds stay within the University. UCS President Joel Payne '05 made eliminating Brown First part of his campaign platform in the spring.
Simmons argued that Brown First is based on a prioritization of resources that values improvement initiatives like need-blind admission. She encouraged students and other community members to involve themselves in debates about how University resources should be allocated.
Payne told The Herald after the meeting that he was pleased that Simmons joined UCS.
"I'm really happy to see that she is making this an inclusive process. She has always come to UCS and asked us to create short-term and long-term priorities," he said.
