President Ruth Simmons touched on the University's budget and provided statistics for the class of 2014 at a special faculty meeting held Wednesday. Provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98 and the chair of the faculty also presented reports.
The final budget for this year is not as tight as last year's budget, Simmons said, adding that she will report more fully on the budget later this fall.
"The state of the University is excellent," Simmons said. She said that all distinguised universities are pushing forward and that all committees should think together about improvements. Simmons also spoke optimistically about the University's fundraising efforts. The Brown Annual Fund, the University's general fundraising campaign, increased by 3 percent over the last fiscal year, she said. The results placed Brown third among Ivy League schools.
The Parents Annual Fund is at $7.1 million, and the University is closing in on its $1.6 billion goal for the Campaign for Academic Enrichment, which ends Dec. 31, Simmons said. The campaign reached $1.54 billion at the end of the fiscal year ending June 30, surpassing the original $1.4 billion goal.
Simmons also shared statistics for the class of 2014. Twenty percent were valedictorians, Simmons said, adding that 93 percent were in the top 10 percent of their class. Forty-six percent are receiving financial aid, which puts Brown "closer to the profile of our peers," Simmons said. Fourteen percent of the freshmen are first-generation college students, while 61 percent are from public secondary schools.
Kertzer also presented his report to the faculty. A search is currently underway for a dean of engineering for the School of Engineering, which was approved by the Corporation in May, he said. Kertzer said there are efforts to form a faculty committee to discuss the needs for engineering and other outlying sciences. There are also efforts to find additional space for the physical sciences, Kertzer said.
The provost mentioned that, for the last several years, there has been work to develop a school of public health rather than keep it as its own department. The school would "transform a single department of community health to four different academic departments," Kertzer said.
He also announced that a highly anticipated report on graduate programs will be out later this month. This will "affect the discussions of the Corporation," Brown's highest governing body, which will meet next in October, he said.
Cynthia Garcia Coll, professor of education and the new chair of the Faculty Executive Committee, proposed a report from the FEC that included the finalization of a faculty forum focused on issues concerning tenure and tenure review. Garcia Coll said the forum will meet every month and deal with one motion and amendment at a time. Garcia Coll said that there will be a change to voting in the monthly faculty meetings, which will involve faculty members voting with clickers. The first faculty forum meeting will be held Sept. 21, she said.
