By Northwestern University President
Henry S. Bienen
May 4, 2004
Thank you for the introduction and thanks again to NUSAC for sponsoring this annual event. As has occurred in the past two years, this speech is being webcast via the Northwestern system, so I will keep my remarks brief in order to leave time for questions afterward.
Let me begin my remarks by thanking you, the Northwestern faculty, staff and students, who do so much to make this an outstanding university. As president, I am well aware that I can provide leadership by being a visible spokesman and helping develop the necessary resources for the institution, but Northwestern's success is the result of your many excellent efforts. Over the years, as I've had the opportunity to work with many students, faculty and staff, I've always been impressed by their shared commitment to this great University. So again, let me express to you the deep appreciation of the University.
The timing of this speech is a bit different this year, coming more toward the end of the academic year as opposed to mid-year as we have done in the past. That was a function of everyone's respective calendars more than anything else. As a result, my speech is more reflective about things that have occurred this academic year, but it is also prospective.
The thoughtful re-examination of the University's goals, opportunities and challenges has involved many different groups in a variety of forums. I appreciate the numerous hours volunteered to this project by the many Northwestern students, faculty and staff who have been involved.
Much of this planning has occurred as part of what has become known as the "Highest Order of Excellence Update." Some of you may remember that approximately seven years ago we undertook a major planning effort that was called the "Highest Order of Excellence." The name comes from a resolution of the Board of Trustees passed in 1852, shortly after Northwestern was founded, "to make it a University of the highest order of excellence, complete in all of its parts." That planning helped us chart our course for the recent past and served as the underpinning for Campaign Northwestern, our highly successful fundraising campaign that concluded last fall.
Several groups are engaged in this new planning process. Leading the way has been a faculty committee, which includes faculty from throughout the University and chaired by Provost Dumas. This group is helping us think about broad directions for university, our academic vision and where best to concentrate our efforts. Their work is not yet complete, but already they have generated some exciting ideas regarding our academic offerings at all levels and how to make the Northwestern education even more distinctive.
Other groups are examining the administrative structure that supports our teaching and research, undergraduate admissions, student satisfaction and internal communications. We have not received recommendations from all of these groups, so nothing is finalized yet.
We also continue to work with outside consultants and reviewers, as well as an internal group, on ways to improve our research infrastructure and administrative support systems for research. As I noted in my State of the University speech last year, our support systems for research did not keep pace with the rapid growth of our research enterprise in the last decade. In the past year, we have taken several steps to rectify that, including adding staff, improving our administrative systems and enhancing technological support for our researchers. Under the direction of Brad Moore, our vice president for research, we have made significant strides in the past year. And we will continue to devote the necessary resources to ensure that we provide adequate support for our research.
I have mentioned in the past the success of Campaign Northwestern, which concluded last August, but let me elaborate on that briefly. During the campaign, more than 102,000 contributors gave more than $1.55 billion to Northwestern, the largest fundraising campaign in the University's history. These gifts added more than 100 endowed scholarships, 33 graduate fellowships, nearly 40 endowed professorships, and of course, helped fund the construction of many new and remodeled buildings in both Evanston and Chicago. As a result, we are able to attract and retain some of the best faculty in the world and bring to our campuses truly outstanding students at all levels.
I also believe Campaign Northwestern was successful because it demonstrated the continued belief of our alumni and other friends of the University in Northwestern's goals and academic mission. I traveled hundreds of thousands of miles during the campaign and visited with thousands of alumni, and I can report accurately that they continue to have a high regard and deep affection for Northwestern.
Despite the successes of the campaign, however, we still have many unmet needs in terms of financial assistance for our students, faculty and research support and facility improvements. Therefore, part of our planning this year has been to consider the best way of approaching those challenges. We aren't ready to announce a new campaign just yet, but I assure you that our fundraising efforts are continuing.
Let me turn now to budget issues. I'm pleased to say that our financial picture is definitely brighter than it was a year ago, but at the same time, we continue to look at a very tight budget for the coming year. The good news is that, unlike the current year, we do not anticipate that there will be reductions in the operating budgets for schools and administrative departments, but small increases instead. And the further good news is that there will be adequate funds for modest salary increases for faculty and staff.
But there is no question that for the next fiscal year, and in all likelihood several years beyond, the operating budget will not grow significantly. We have a stable enrollment and our tuition increases, which have already been set, are similar to those in past years, so there will not be much change in those revenues. As I mentioned before, we continue to do fundraising, but it is unlikely that those revenues will increase dramatically. And our endowment performance, while certainly improved from the last couple years, will not result in much in the way of increases next year because the operating income from endowment is based on the returns of the previous two years. We certainly hope that our research enterprise will continue to grow with new facilities coming on line, but those funds, of course, cannot be used for general operating purposes.
As part of this budget discussion, I'd like to address briefly the issue of revenues from the University's royalties on a new drug being developed by Pfizer, Incorporated, pregabalin. The compound on which the drug is based was developed by one of our professors, Richard Silverman, from Chemistry, so Northwestern will receive small portions of the revenues from sales of the drug. There have been several articles in the media about this, some portraying it as a financial bonanza that will result in hundreds of millions of dollars annually in new revenue for Northwestern. Frankly, I hope they're right. But I would quickly point out that there is no guarantee that this will happen and it is not something over which Northwestern has any control. The drug has not yet been approved for sale, so obviously we aren't receiving any revenues now. In addition, given the extremely competitive nature of the pharmaceutical marketplace, it is difficult to predict what will actually happen once pregabalin does come on the market.
Finally, I would point out that even if it is successful, these funds are royalties based only on the sale of this particular drug manufactured by this particular company. When the patent expires, some years in the future, and competitors can manufacture the drug, the royalties are likely to decline sharply. Therefore, as we've discussed how to use these potential revenues, we are determined not to use them to create new annually recurring expenses that then would be left unsupported when the funds run out. Instead, it is our plan to allocate these revenues to help us increase our endowment, pay off some of the buildings that are not fully funded, to replace and renew our facilities, and for other non-recurring expenditures. Therefore, we expect no significant changes in our regular operating budget picture beyond what increased spending from endowment becomes available.
Let me give you some ideas about what endeavors new endowment funds would support. We are relatively successful in raising funds for undergraduate scholarships. But we are less successful in raising funds for graduate student support. New endowments would be helpful here.
Similarly, no one gives money for renewal and replacement of facilities or the maintenance and operation of our buildings, but these are important areas to support. We also need to better support the ability to attract new faculty with start-up funds. This includes not only science and engineering faculty, but also faculty in the social sciences, humanities and performing arts. And we also need to support new centers of excellence with seed money.
Finally, we have constructed new buildings. We need to clear the debts on that construction and, very selectively, raise a few new buildings. Those new buildings will require successful fundraising; the revenues from pregabalin cannot fund all new buildings and cannot fully fund any of them.
I realize this was probably a longer discussion of the budget than many of you are interested in, but I feel it's better to share this information with you directly, so you have an understanding of the financial context in which we operate. Northwestern remains very strong financially, and is certainly in much better shape than many other universities, both public and private. That is a tribute to the sound fiscal management under which we have operated for many years, and which we intend to continue.
It's fortuitous that the speech this year is on the Chicago campus, given what I'm very pleased to announce today. We have just completed a contract with KinderCare Learning Centers, a national provider, to open a childcare center very close to Northwestern's Chicago campus. It will be located about two blocks south of Abbott Hall and will operate under the name KinderCare at Northwestern.
The Chicago campus center will provide approximately 112 spaces, 52 of which are reserved for children of Northwestern students, faculty and staff who work or attend school on the Chicago campus. The new childcare center is expected to open in early 2005, depending on permits and construction.
This childcare initiative on the Chicago campus follows similar efforts in Evanston. We continue our association with the McGaw YMCA of Evanston to provide childcare services for the University community, and in the past three years of developing this relationship, the number of children of Northwestern families in the Y's program has increased from 25 to 80. We also have provided program enhancements to the YMCA center in the form of storytelling, art and music programs given by Northwestern faculty and graduate students.
Turning to admissions, we will once again enroll an outstanding class of new students this fall. At the undergraduate level, we received 15,661 applications, the second-highest in the university's history, and a 9.6 percent increase from the previous year. I'm particularly pleased to report that we had double-digit increases in the number of applications for WCAS and McCormick, two areas where we had focused our efforts this year. While we don't have final numbers yet - the deadline for students to mail us their tuition deposits was May 1 so we're still receiving envelopes this week - it is likely that the quality of our entering class, as measured by SAT scores and class rank, is likely to increase again this year. This continued success in our admissions would not have been possible without the significant efforts of our admissions and financial aid staffs. At Northwestern, we consider all applicants thoughtfully, and doing that requires a tremendous amount of work on the part of our staff.
Considering the applicant holistically, which we do, is the process that was upheld in the recent Supreme Court decisions regarding affirmative action at the University of Michigan. Achieving greater diversity in the student body and faculty continues to be an important part of our mission, and helps guide us in the development of our curriculum.
Application numbers in general continue to be good for our graduate and professional programs. We are, however, being affected by the decline in the number of international student applications that is occurring nationwide due to the China's blocking of Internet access from the U.S. and the more difficult visa process for international students.
The Kellogg School of Management, which for the second year in a row was named the "world's best MBA" by The Economist of London, again received almost 5,000 applications for the 500 spots available in the full-time program. It's also definitely worth noting that Kellogg's Executive Master's program this year had 100 percent yield for the class of students that entered last January, meaning every student to whom we offered admission enrolled in the program. I think it's safe to say the fact that Kellogg's executive program has never been rated anything but number one was a factor in that.
The quality of applicants for the law school and the Feinberg School of Medicine remains very high, with the law school's entering class having the fifth-highest average LSAT scores in the nation. In addition, the law school's efforts to attract students with work experience have been very successful. In last fall's class, approximately two-thirds of entering students had two or more years of work experience and 90 percent had at least one year.
I would be remiss if I did not note in this speech that this year marks the 125th anniversary of the founding of the School of Communication. Originally known as the School of Oratory and called the School of Speech for many years, the school represents the best aspects of Northwestern - an unusually broad range of extremely strong programs for a school of its size and a school that excels in teaching, research and clinical programs. Dean Barbara O'Keefe and some of the school's students and faculty have joined with alumni in celebrating the 125th anniversary at events around the country this year, including one on the Evanston campus this past weekend, so I'm pleased to add my congratulations to the many that the school has received.
This has been an extraordinary year of honors for Northwestern students. Cristina Bejan, a senior in WCAS and Communication, received a Rhodes Scholarship. Tracy Carson, a WCAS senior, and Kate Elswit, a 2002 graduate, both received Marshall Scholarships, and Nick Johnson, a 2003 graduate, received a Mitchell Scholarship. Cristina also was named to the USA Today's academic first team, while two other students were named to the second and third team and another received honorable mention. Our students and recent graduates also received three Mellon Scholarships, three Goldwater Scholarships, and two Luce Scholarships, as well as other awards from the National Science Foundation, Fulbright Foundation and others.
I congratulate these students for their tremendous achievements. I'd also like to thank Sara Vaux, her colleagues in the office of fellowships, and all the faculty and staff for their mentoring of these wonderful students.
In athletics, Jason Wright was named first-team Academic All-American for the second straight year and received the first-ever Bobby Bowden Student-Athlete of the Year, which is based on community service, leadership, academics and athletics.
I'm also pleased to report that our women's tennis team last weekend won its sixth straight Big Ten championship. The team is now ranked 11th in the country, while our women's lacrosse team, which is only in its third year, is now ranked sixth in the country.
Turning to faculty honors, many members of our faculty have received national recognition. We just learned yesterday that 10 members of our faculty were elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the oldest learned society in academia. Having 10 faculty elected in the same year is a remarkable achievement, and I congratulate all of those who received this honor. They are:
- Paul Berliner, professor of music studies;
- Gary Borisy, professor of cell and molecular biology;
- Dedre Gentner, professor of psychology;
- Loren Ghiglione, dean of the Medill School of Journalism;
- J. Larry Jameson, professor of medicine;
- Yuri Manin, Board of Trustees professor of mathematics;
- Janet Pierrehumbert, professor of linguistics;
- Mark Satterthwaite, Earl Dean Howard professor of management and strategy;
- Richard Van Duyne, Morrison professor of chemistry;
- Mary Zimmerman, professor of performance studies.
Other faculty also received significant recognition this year. Among them are:
- Stephen Davis, the Walter P. Murphy Professor of engineering sciences and applied mathematics and mechanical engineering, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
- Bruce Rittmann, the John Evans Professor of civil and environmental engineering, was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
- Amy Rosenzweig, associate professor of biochemistry, molecular biology and cell biology, was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.
- Teri Odom, assistant professor of chemistry, received a Packard Fellowship, which is awarded to outstanding young scientists.
- Three faculty members - Jason Eckardt in music, Douglas Medin in psychology and Tamar Seideman in chemistry - received Guggenheim Fellowships.
- Two faculty members received Fulbright Scholar grants for 2003-04, Peter Carroll, assistant professor of history, and Joel Shalowitz, professor and director of the program in health industry management.
- P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, professor of human development and social policy, has been elected by her peers as a Fellow of the American Psychological Association for 2004.
Congratulations to all of you for your honors and thank you for the great credit that you bring to Northwestern.
I also want to give my personal thanks to two deans who are stepping down at the end of this year: Rick Morimoto, who brought vision and determination during his six years as dean of the Graduate School, and John Birge, who has led a number of new initiatives during his five years as dean of the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. Both have been valuable members of our academic leadership, and I know I speak for all of us as we wish them well as they return to teaching and research. Andrew Wachtel, chair of the Slavic languages and literatures department, will become the new dean of the Graduate School, and I'm very pleased to have him in that post; we have not yet selected a new dean for McCormick.
At this time, I'd also like to recognize those employees who were the winners and finalists for the Employee of the Year Award this year. On the Chicago campus, the employee of the year was Eve Veis, coordinator of the Honors Program in Medical Education in the Feinberg School of Medicine. The finalists were Todd Leasia, director of the Office of Research Safety, and Lillian Zeidenstein, admissions assistant in Graduate Medical Education in Feinberg. On the Evanston campus, the employee of the year was Florence Sales, a secretary in the psychology department. The other finalists were Nancy Anderson, residential colleges' administrator in the department of student affairs, and Susan Olson, a research associate in the Center for Circadian Biology.
Please join me in honoring these staff members for their accomplishment. We thank you for your efforts.
As always, in recognizing a few faculty and staff members in my speech, I know they represent all of the rest of you who contribute so much to Northwestern's strength and vitality. Northwestern is indeed a very special place, and that is a result of your dedication.
Thank you. I will now be glad to take any questions that you might have.