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Sara Dejene

Articles

Provost strengthens advisory council

by Sara Dejene | 09/13/2011

Provost Steve Goldstein '78 and Chair of the Faculty Senate Prof. Timothy Hickey (COSI) presented a pilot plan to increase faculty representation on the University Advisory Council during last Thursday's faculty meeting. According to the Faculty Handbook, which can be found on the Faculty Senate's website, the provost appoints six faculty members to the UAC which provides advice to the provost concerning appointments and reappointments of academic officers and whether to launch or terminate departments, programs or other "academic units." In addition, the UAC can provide advice on separate matters such as academic policies, university research and education development, organization and the University budget if requested to do so by the administration, as well as help draft legislation. Goldstein said that the pilot plan would expand the UAC to include six original members appointed by the provost, as well as the chairs of the four school councils, the chairs of the University Budget and Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid Committees and 13 members of the faculty cabinet, which would be a subset of the UAC. At the meeting, Goldstein said that he wanted to bring together faculty and the administration, "empower" the UAC and give it a "more central role" in the University while staying in accordance with the Faculty Handbook. "Coming in as a new provost, ... it seemed like a good time to make sure we had strong faculty representation on [the council]," said Goldstein in a phone interview with the Justice. According to Hickey during the faculty meeting, if the pilot plan was successful, legislation would be introduced in the spring to permanently expand the UAC. According to Goldstein, the pilot plan will also indicate if the structure of the an expanded UAC should be altered in any way before legislation is proposed. At the faculty meeting, Goldstein answered questions and discussed concerns raised by faculty members. One concern addressed was the impact the appointed committee would have on elected bodies in the Senate.

Bill calls for more financial disclosure

by Sara Dejene | 09/06/2011

A bill calling for more transparency in financial reporting from Massachusetts higher education institutions was heard before the Joint Revenue Committee on June 9, according to Director of the Division of Higher Education at Local 615 Wayne Langley in an interview with the Justice. The bill, which would be applied to public charities including colleges and universities such as Brandeis, would require reporting the names of and amount paid to any employees or consultants who earned over $250,000, as well as those of all service providers that were paid $150,000 or more during the preceding fiscal year. In addition, public charities would be required to include a brief description of the services provided. Langley, who is a strong advocate for the bill, said that all colleges, whether for-profit, nonprofit, public or private, rely on taxpayer money and that individuals should have access to information about how institutions use their money. In an email to the Justice, Senior Vice President of Communications and External Affairs Andrew Gully wrote that the University, along with the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, believes that the legislation is unnecessary. "Like all other colleges and universities, Brandeis provides significant disclosure annually at both the state and federal levels," wrote Gully.

University raises $62 million during fiscal year 2011

by Sara Dejene | 09/06/2011

The University received $62 million in fundraising cash for the fiscal year 2011, which is a $10 million dollar decrease in fundraising from the previous year, according to Director of Development Communications David Nathan in an email to the Justice and an August 2010 BrandeisNOW press release. This is the 12th consecutive year that fundraising has totaled over $60 million, according to Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement Nancy Winship in an interview with the Justice. As of June 30, the University endowment totaled $703.7 million, according to Nathan. In his fall letter to the Brandeis community, University President Frederick Lawrence said that fundraising has been "strong" and that the endowment is now almost up to its "pre-crash level," referring to the economic recession in 2008. "We made up almost all of what was lost," said Winship. Winship attributed the earlier decrease in the endowment to both the economic recession and the presidential transition. According to Winship, donors were hesitant to give money because of the new president and uncertainty surrounding his direction of the University. "Donors were hesitant to give as much, because [Lawrence] was new and they didn't know where, or in what direction, he would be taking the University," said Winship. Despite uncertainty from donors, Winship said that Lawrence was an excellent "natural" fundraiser. "We were able to counter [the economic recession and presidential transition] because of Fred's energy and his work with the development team," said Winship. "In just eight months on the job, [Lawrence] has made strong connections with alumni and friends around the world," according to Nathan in his email. Nathan continued to write that Lawrence has hosted large events with alumni in locations such as Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York City, Long Island and Westchester County, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Israel, Rome and Vienna, all during his first six months in office. According to Winship, Lawrence places an emphasis on financial aid for students during fundraising, and she said that his constant interaction with students allows him to effectively advocate for them. "The University's top fundraising goal continues to be securing funds to meet the growing financial aid needs of Brandeis students," wrote Nathan in his email. Winship said that about 60 percent of donations come from friends of the University?donors who do not have any direct connection with Brandeis but choose to give to the school. This is because Brandeis is a relatively young institution, so the majority of alumni are young compared to alumni of similar schools, and not necessarily capable of giving much money to the University, according to Winship. Winship and Nathan both said that they plan to continue to establish and maintain connections with alumni and wait until they are financially able to give back to the University. Nathan wrote that alumni donations totaled $14.4 million, a 26 percent increase from the previous year. In addition, the University remains in the top 10 percent of colleges and universities in the country with alumni participation, according to Nathan. "Alumni support is a key indicator of the health of a university because it shows how graduates feel about their educational experience," wrote Nathan. Another indicator is student participation in the senior class gift, wrote Nathan. Last year a record 71 percent of the Class of 2011 contributed to the senior class gift, according to his email. Last year, Lawrence matched the senior class gift, which totaled $11,748.35.

Lawrence connects with Israel

by Sara Dejene | 08/30/2011

This summer, University President Frederick Lawrence and several administrators traveled to Israel to explore opportunities for collaboration in the sciences and to connect with education leaders, alumni and friends of the University in Israel, according to a June 12 BrandeisNOW press release. The trip, which Lawrence wrote about on his blog, lasted from June 12 to 23.

University, plaintiffs reach settlement in Rose lawsuit

by Sara Dejene | 08/30/2011

The 2-year-old lawsuit that was brought against the University by four Rose Art Museum overseers concerning its management of the museum during the 2009 financial crisis has been settled, according to a BrandeisNOW press release. "The settlement agreement, which brings to an end all claims concerning management of the Rose and the potential sale of artwork, states that the Rose is, and will remain a university art museum open to the public and that Brandeis has no plan to sell artwork," the press release stated. In an interview with the Justice, University President Frederick Lawrence said that the University will now focus on the museum's upcoming 50th anniversary by exposing the Rose to the outside world through traveling exhibitions of artwork typically on display at the Rose. According to the settlement agreement provided to the Justice by Senior Vice President for Communications and External Affairs Andrew Gully, Lawrence and the plaintiffs "engaged in a series of constructive and collegial conversations" about the museum and its future.

Brooks stresses commitments

by Sara Dejene | 05/24/2011

New York Times op-ed columnist David Brooks spoke to the graduating Class of 2011 about making commitments and their correlation with happiness in an uncertain future in his keynote address during the University's 60th commencement ceremony.

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