This Wednesday marks the beginning of the University’s first formal Board of Trustees meeting of this academic year. This will also be the first meeting for student representatives Mohammed Sidique ’15 and Grady Ward ’16. With much to discuss, this board recommends the following issues be at the forefront of of our student representatives’ agendas and of the greater Board of Trustees’. 

   First, the University must reexamine its identity as both a liberal arts college and a research university and better determine what balance between these two criteria it will strike under the new Strategic Plan. The plan’s implementation has placed an added emphasis on the sciences and the International Business School. Results have been positive in these disciplines as both have seen success in recent years: Prof. Eve Marder (BIOL) was recently chosen by the Obama administration as a panelist on the BRAIN Initiative, and the undergraduate business program has worked to become more comprehensive, specifically by adding extensive higher level classes in corporate finance and accounting. We are glad to see the University expand these growing departments. However, we wonder how this new focus will mesh with our historic place as a liberal arts college. While business and the sciences are critical and often lucrative fields of study, the liberal arts have been important to the University’s identity since its founding. We hope the University does not divert so many resources to these expanding departments that it comes at the cost of other areas of academic study.

   We also urge the Board of Trustees to seriously consider the issue of prohibitively high tuition costs. Too many qualified students now find themselves incapable of pursuing higher education due solely to the problem of affordability. As a university, Brandeis must not allow these students to be excluded from academia.

   Another topic we feel warrants added consideration is the process of choosing honorary degree recipients. This past commencement season exposed flaws in the nomination process for honorary degrees. The Board must make an effort to nominate and choose recipients that the student body feels deserve honor. After all, commencement is a celebration of the graduating class and is not the time for controversial speakers. This must be reflected in the nomination process. 

   Lastly, the University has recently seen much success with the cluster hires of many younger professors. These cluster hires rejuvenate our faculty base and further the scope of academia pursued at our University. We hope the Board continues to implement them in the future. 

The University was displayed in a negative light on a national stage multiple times this past year, culminating recently in a multiple spot drop in the U.S. News and World Report rankings. We hope our new student representatives, and the greater University Board of Trustees recognize this moment not as one of despair, but rather as an opportunity to place the University on a stronger path for success in the future.