Dateline 10/21/2007

This has been a long week. Monday, I gave my first research presentation, and it went very well. I seem to be one of the only people in my class who understands how to use PowerPoint animations. On Tuesday I had a big pathology test. I beat the average by eight points, although I thought it would be better. On Wednesday I managed to blow out the rear driver's-side shock on my car but I did do a lot of tutoring this week. Unfortunately to other people who I was assigned to tutor, both for the SAT II's, decided to drop me as a tutor. As far as actually working long-term with people assigned to me, I'm only running about 50%. I'm not sure if this is usual or if I am not good at this, as I have had little guidance from the people who run the tutoring service. Also this week has been discouraging for my work at Drexel. I had several students complain vigorously about my grading as a bioethics TA. Also when I asked the class, none of the 20 students in my section had looked at the new website that I made for the biochem course. I suppose that if no one uses the site, I get paid for doing little work, but I'd really hoped that the site would make a difference in helping people study and so far it clearly has not. I have had very little academic work to do after the test which has left me with a lot of spare time on my hands, so I will probably end up going in to work in the office next week.
On a bright spot on Thursday, I've decided to finally find some sunglasses which I have been meeting for months. My insurance won't cover them in Philadelphia and I really need an eye exam because I can tell that my prescription is getting outdated. The first place I went to had cheap glasses and cheap eye exams, but after signing up for the eye exam I realized that this place had no sunglasses that I would want. I went to another place on Walnut Street, and it turns out that they will make custom polarized lens clip ons for the Silhouette glasses but I currently have now for only $100. This was great news because now I can sunglasses that are cheap and fast and without bothering to do the eye exam. Hopefully I'll get these clip on lenses on Monday.
As for something to look forward to, hopefully I will be going to Vermont with my girlfriend to see some of her friends the first week in November, which also happens to be my birthday. This should be a pretty sweet trip and I am looking forward to it.

Opinion : My strategic plan for BU

I have just read Boston University's new strategic plan (www.bu.edu). It is a great document, filled with pithy, philosophical statements (this is academia after all ) but I have some more concrete and realistic suggestions to make Boston University an elite school.


1. Addressing facilities
In my opinion, the biggest need at Boston University as far as facilities are concerned is classrooms. The vast majority of the classrooms for liberal arts classes are very outdated and remind me of a public high school. The first major facilities upgrade that I would make would be to build a large new classroom building, significantly larger than the new ones that they have recently built. Making the Kenmore classroom building about 15 stories tall would suffice this goal. This new building would not only provide for better academic facilities, it would also allow for technology upgrades (see below), and it would allow departments to renovate their current space to allow for new offices or more labs, especially in CAS.

2. Addressing technology
Another big upgrade Boston University needs to make is and its online class room capabilities. Putting classes online by videotaping the lectures is a very good idea that they should take from Drexel . By combining this with a central academic web portal and template that each professor is compelled to use would standardize online instruction. This would be a valuable resource in helping students learn, and would modernize the teaching at the University. Having the classes online would also allow BU to dramatically expand its remote learning programs and especially to allow a much wider selection of classes to be taken while studying abroad.


3. International studies
Another major upgrade the BU needs is in its study abroad programs. The only program available to me to study abroad was a single program in Germany in which had no choice of classes and I had to commit to within three months of matriculation. This made it almost impossible for an engineering students to study abroad. While the strategic report does mention that this will be addressed I have a more sweeping proposal. BU should partner with research centers, companies, and internship organizations internationally and allow its students to take a much wider selection of classes by allowing them to take them via video online. Another good idea that BU should poach from a neighboring institutions is the WPI practice of allowing seniors to do their project by helping poor people in other countries. This is an especially good opportunity for engineers and business majors because they otherwise don't generally deal with humanities and can make a significant difference in other countries while learning firsthand about globalization. Service programs would also improve BU's international reputation.

4. Expanding programs
Boston University has always grown by expanding and creating new programs, and they should not stop now. One way to build on successful departments and schools is to allow them to create new departments and degree programs. I believe that the College of Engineering in particular should add civil engineering and chemical engineering and possibly automotive engineering. They should also start programs in architecture and nursing. The college of medicine should also start medical technology and physician assistant programs, as these are the future of healthcare. Other schools that should be expanded on include Sargent College (also health professional programs) and Hospitality Administration.This would give interdisciplinary centers a much wider reach and would expand the enrollment without diluting the academic admissions standards.

5. Improving admissions academic standards
They say that the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. One serious issue that BU needs to address is the disparities in the academic admissions standards between its colleges. They apparently significantly reduced the number of students in the School of Education to address this issue with teaching programs, but I believe that they need to take similar action with some liberal arts departments and with the College of Communications. They also need to change CGS to attract better students. My proposal for CGS would be to switch it to a school that allows students to " create their own major ". They would still enroll undeclared and take a range of classes for the first year, but they would then be able to create a major by choosing other classes, the way that UNI students did. This would allow CGS to attract a higher level of students and possibly more creative students and would allow it to contribute more academically to the University by mixing its students in a wider number of the other university classes. It would also facilitate the interdisciplinary centers that Boston University is trying so hard to establish.

6. Donor campaigns and fundraising.
Another major problem with Boston University is its lack of an endowment and its low alumni donation rate. One way that I would recommend to fix the donation rate is a campaign like my high school had several years ago. This campaign attempted to solicit a small donation from a large number of alumni and made the campaign a competition. The school simply asked that each alumni donate a dollar amount in the year of their graduating class ($20.00 if class of 2000, $19.63 if 1963 etc.). It then said that it was a contest to see which class would donate the most and have the highest percentage, and rewarded them by putting large banners up and throwing a party at the end of the year. If even 1/5 of BU alumni would contribute $20 or so to their alma mater this would dramatically increase alumni participation rates as well as the annual fund, and subsequently would increase BU's standings among national polls, even if it makes little difference in the actual budget.

7 increasing the endowment
BU may not have a large endowment, but as the booklets that Bank of America sends me with my investing account point out, the best way to grow your savings are to reinvest. I am wondering if instead of large capital improvements, maybe BU should reinvest the yield on its endowment for a period of say three years. If they could gain anywhere near the gains that other local schools report(in the range of 15 to 25%) than BU could significantly increase its endowment by reinvesting over a small period. I do not have a degree in economics, but I am pretty sure that the investment now would pay significantly in the future by increasing the yield of the future endowment returns. If BU is not facing any declines in students or research, and there are no pressing capital needs, then maybe BU needs to consider investing the current returns on the future. A 25% increase based on reinvestment on their current endowment would raise significantly more money than they currently taken in any alumni donation campaigns.


The bottom line is that BU was built by bold leadership and ideas, and they will need more of the same if the growth of the lat 20 years is to continue.