A LETTER FROM UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT WILLIAM P. LEAHY, SJ
March 30, 2010
Dear Members of the Boston College Community:
Last March I wrote to the Boston College community about the University’s financial status and the challenges facing Boston College and American higher education. In that letter, I indicated that we wanted to maintain our commitment to need-blind admissions and to meeting the full demonstrated need of our accepted undergraduates, keep funding the academic and student formation goals described in our Strategic Plan, and avoid personnel layoffs, if possible.
A year later, I am pleased to report that those objectives have been met, despite the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression. I believe that our culture of assessment and planning has served us well. While some universities have been forced to cut programs, lay off staff and reduce their financial aid commitments, Boston College continues to be an academic institution with clear momentum and a future full of promise.
On March 12, the Board of Trustees approved the 2010-2011 budget that calls for undergraduate tuition, room, board and fees to be increased by 3.2 percent, one of the University’s lowest increases in 35 years. It sets tuition at $39,880, and boosts need-based undergraduate financial aid by 7 percent ($5.5 million) to $79.3 million, and overall student aid to $128 million. In addition, this budget enables Boston College to maintain its place among the 27 private universities that are need blind and meet the full demonstrated financial need of accepted undergraduate students. It also provides a salary increase for our employees and designates $8 million to fund academic initiatives outlined in our Strategic Plan.
Boston College continues to work toward its Strategic Plan goal of adding new faculty and strengthening academic programs. We recruited 49 new faculty for 2009-2010, and plan on hiring another 40 for the coming year. Our deans and department chairs report that they are attracting gifted professors who enhance our already strong faculty. In recent months, Assistant Professor of Psychology Sara Cordes was awarded a prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, given to outstanding early career scientists, mathematicians and economists; Assistant Professor Dominic Doyle of the School of Theology and Ministry won a Templeton Award for his book on St. Thomas Aquinas; Lynch School of Education Associate Professor Audrey Friedman was named the Massachusetts Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation/CASE; and Carroll School Assistant Professor of Information Systems Gerald C. Kane received a National Science Foundation Career Award for his research on social media.
Undergraduate applications remain strong, with nearly 30,000 applying for the 2,250 seats in the Class of 2014. This past year our students continued to receive prestigious academic awards, including 18 Fulbrights, two Marshall Scholarships and two Beckman Scholarships.
With the approval of the Institutional Master Plan by the City of Boston in June 2009, planning for renovation of two buildings on the Brighton Campus is underway. Once these projects have been completed, the University will move the Advancement, Human Resources and Finance divisions to Brighton Campus from More Hall, which will then be razed to provide a site for a new undergraduate residence hall.
In regard to Middle Campus, we are in the design phase of Stokes Hall, a 180,000 square-foot facility that will contain offices for various humanities departments as well as space for classrooms and student formation programs.
Alumni, parents, and friends of Boston College continue to be generous in their support. Our “Light the World” campaign is making steady progress toward its goal of $1.5 billion, standing at $660 million today, an increase of approximately $100 million in the past 12 months. This fiscal year we expect cash gifts to exceed $120 million, which will be a record for Boston College. The number of new donors, particularly younger alumni, is increasing, and recent major commitments to BC include $25 million from an anonymous donor, and $20 million from Barbara and Patrick Roche for the Lynch School’s Center for Catholic Education, which now bears their names.
As a University, we obviously have much for which to be thankful.
However, we still have much to do to meet current and future challenges. Despite encouraging fundraising results, we have many more gifts to secure to reach our campaign goal. Especially in light of the financial constraints and uncertainties facing many of our students’ families, we need to be even better stewards of Boston College’s resources. We must also operate as efficiently and effectively as possible so that we can control costs and give maximum support to our institutional goals. To that end, the limited hiring freeze announced last year remains in effect, an early-retirement program has been offered to eligible non-faculty, and a campus-wide energy conservation program is underway to reduce utility costs. In addition, we plan to regularly review budgets and programs in academic and non-academic units throughout the University to gain greater efficiencies.
Boston College has made great strides since its founding in 1863, especially in recent decades. We are blessed with a compelling mission rooted in our Jesuit, Catholic heritage, dedicated faculty and staff, talented students, and generous alumni and friends. I am confident that we will continue to excel as one of the most distinguished universities in the United States and that our efforts will help make our world more just and more at peace.
Sincerely,
