By Northwestern University President
Henry S. Bienen
February 17, 2005
Thank you for your introduction and thanks to NUSAC for sponsoring this event each year. I appreciate your work in organizing and scheduling this opportunity for me to talk with other members of the Northwestern community. I anticipate that there will be questions afterward, so I will keep my remarks relatively short in order to leave time for those.
Last month marked the start of my 11th year as president of Northwestern University. Thanks to the consistently excellent work of our faculty and staff and the stellar achievements of our students, Northwestern has made remarkable strides in the past decade. I continue to be excited by the challenges of working with you to make this already-great institution even stronger. You will, I hope, be pleased to note the University has just completed its ten-year accreditation review by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools as well as a similar review by National Collegiate Athletic Association. While we do not have official notification yet, I am optimistic about each of these reviews
As many of you know, we've been examining alternatives as to how Northwestern might evolve in the coming years through a planning process known as the Highest Order of Excellence II. I appreciate the thoughtful input that we've received from the faculty, staff and students who served on the committees associated with this effort. We've identified four key areas of emphasis: interdisciplinary education and research; faculty and the environment for creative work; students and the environment for learning; and the university's infrastructure. We're now setting up task forces that will develop recommendations for each of those areas and other implementation efforts. I look forward to continued progress on this in the coming year.
I want to comment now on two developments that symbolize Northwestern's strengths and aspirations - our long-standing commitment to undergraduate education and our increasing emphasis on important scientific and medical research. In the first effort, we are engaged in some truly visionary thinking about the southeast corner of the Evanston campus. We hope to build a new home for the School of Music, and also create an "arts green" open space that will link the new building and existing fine arts facilities in that area. In doing so, we hope to not only provide vastly improved facilities for the School of Music, but also encourage interdisciplinary activities with other schools. Providing educational offerings that cross disciplinary boundaries has been a hallmark of Northwestern's education and will continue to be an important goal for us in the future. This new configuration of the southeast area of the Evanston campus would facilitate this effort.
I must be clear about this development, however. The new Music School building and South Campus development, including the expansion of the Norris Student Center, are, at this point, hopes. Very few donor funds have been raised. And, while we are prepared to use some of the royalties from our pharmaceutical product, Lyrica, for these purposes, large sums have to be accumulated. They do not yet exist.
The second development, much closer to completion, is the Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center, which will be dedicated two months from now on our Chicago campus. This building, along with the new science buildings on the Evanston campus, represents a significant commitment on the part of the University to expanding our scientific and medical research. This is important because the research being done benefits society as whole. Our outstanding faculty will conduct leading-edge research on cancer, genetic medicine, bioengineering, AIDS and infectious diseases and other important areas. The new Lurie Center will be a major addition to our Chicago campus in many ways.
I used to say that once we completed the Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center and the science buildings in Evanston, we'd be nearing the end of our major building projects. But I now realize that construction on a university campus is a never-ending project, mainly because the needs of a dynamic institution such as Northwestern are always changing. Thus, perhaps not surprisingly, we plan to build a new life science building adjacent to the Pancoe-ENH Pavilion.
Turning to budget matters briefly, we anticipate that next year's budget will be tight, as this year's was, but we also expect that there will be enough funds for modest increases in salaries and in operating support, which I'm sure is good news. As I've noted before, because Northwestern has a stable enrollment we can't expect much revenue growth in that area unless we sharply increase tuition, something we don't plan to do. And while our fundraising results this year look considerably stronger than a year ago, this isn't likely to have a significant impact on the overall budget. Research grants, of course, may not be used for general operating purposes, although overheads on research do go toward the operating budget. We expect our research efforts to grow this year and next, but the growth will not affect the general budget much. However, thanks to a somewhat more buoyant stock market and the good work of our investments office, our endowment has grown this year, as it did last year. Indeed, we had a relatively high performance of our endowment last year. If the trend continues through the remainder of the fiscal year, it will have a positive impact on our budget starting next year.
I'd also like to thank Jim Elsass, associate vice president for budget planning, analysis and allocation. Jim is retiring this year after providing many years of excellent service to the University. All of us who work closely on budget issues have benefited from his thoughtful advice and his steady hand over the years. He has been an important and critical senior manager devoted to the betterment of Northwestern. I, personally, have often relied on Jim. We will formally thank him on other occasions, but I ask you to join me in expressing our thanks today.
I won't repeat the detailed explanation I gave last year regarding royalty revenues that Northwestern receives from Pfizer, the large pharmaceutical company, on sales of Lyrica, a drug based on a compound developed by Chemistry Professor Richard Silverman. The drug, called Lyrica, was just approved for sale in the United States and has been sold in Europe for about six months. We obviously are following with great interest the sales reports on it, but it's much too early to tell what sort of revenue this will eventually bring in, as it was just approved for sale in the U.S. market but is not yet on the market. And as I've said before, we are determined not to use these royalty revenues to create new operating expenses that then would be left unsupported when the royalty payments end. Instead, it is our plan to allocate these revenues to pay off some of the buildings already completed but not fully funded, and then to undergird a number of key areas for which it is more difficult to raise funds. These include increasing the endowment and to increase support for research and graduate students, to renew our older facilities, and for other non-recurring expenditures. And, very selectively, to augment funding for construction of the music building and expanding Norris if we are able to raise additional funds for those facilities.
With our current operating budget, we plan to increase the financial aid budgets for both undergraduate and graduate students in order to meet student needs. In addition, we will devote more resources to improving our research support and upgrading our administrative computer systems, including replacing the University's financial system and developing a method for our different database systems to be integrated. We also will increase the annual allocation to the building renewal and replacement program, as many of the University's buildings are now 30 to 40 years old and need increasing maintenance. I realize it's not particularly exciting news to be increasing budgets for administrative support, computer systems and building maintenance, but these areas are critical to keeping the University in good shape, both physically and administratively.
Turning to undergraduate admissions, I'm very pleased to report that Northwestern this year received more than 16,000 applications for admission at the undergraduate level - the actual total was roughly 16,200. This marks the second time in the University's history that we've received more than 16,000 applicants and represents a 4 percent increase from last year, which previously was the second highest in our history. Although we won't know the final figures until the class is enrolled, it also appears that the SAT scores will be up again this year. In short, we continue to attract some of the most academically talented students in the country and, increasingly, from other countries. My congratulations to the members of the Admissions and Financial Aid staff for your outstanding work this year. I know reading 16,000 applications and preparing thousands of financial aid packages are truly monumental tasks, and I appreciate your dedication in doing so.
Although we won't know until the class is actually enrolled, it also appears that our effort to attract minority students continue to bring results. A recent Chronicle of Higher Education article reported that several top universities have seen a drop in the enrollment of underrepresented minority students in the past year or two. Our application numbers, however, from those groups have held steady and we work hard all the time to increase these numbers. I continue to believe strongly that having a diverse student, faculty and staff population provides benefits to all members of our community, and particularly to our students. Our students will become leaders in an increasingly diverse society. As such, it is important that all our students have the opportunity to interact with students and faculty whose backgrounds and viewpoints are diverse.
I want to reaffirm Northwestern's commitment to diversity as part of our mission to pursue the highest order of excellence. (I also urge you the review the useful reports of the Faculty Diversity Committee, chaired by the provost, on the university web site.) As I have said before, we must be conscious of the destructive impact of historical patterns of racial discrimination in our national life, and we must insist on the highest standards of individual fairness in institutional decision-making.
I cannot leave the area of admissions without recognizing the tremendous service given to the University during the past 16 years by Rebecca Dixon, the associate provost for university enrollment, who guides our undergraduate enrollment and financial aid activities. During Rebecca's tenure here, the number of applications to Northwestern has grown by nearly 50 percent while the quality of our entering class has improved year after year. Most importantly, her strong, ethical leadership has given Northwestern an unquestioned reputation for integrity and fairness in its admissions and financial aid processes. We will have the opportunity to thank Rebecca at greater length later this year, but I ask you to join me now in expressing our appreciation for her years of leadership and service to Northwestern.
Applications for our professional schools also continue to be very strong. At the Feinberg School of Medicine, applications reached nearly 7,000, an increase of almost 1,000 from last year, and interviews for this year's class ended just last week. The interviewees are some of the very best students from the full range of universities and colleges in the country, and have demonstrated remarkable records of accomplishment.
At Kellogg, applications also continue to hold firm, despite the national trend of declining MBA applications. In addition, Kellogg once again was named the best business school in the country by Business Week, marking the fifth time -- more than any other business school -- it has captured the number one spot in the most important ranking. And it was ranked the best MBA program in the world from the Economist Intelligence Unit of London for the third year in a row.
The law school is furthering its international reach by increasing the number of international students in the student body and partnering with universities in Asia and Europe to bring American legal education to international legal and business professionals. The school's second executive LLM program will be in Madrid in October, joining one already under way in Seoul, South Korea.
Once again, Northwestern students have distinguished themselves in many ways. This fall, we again had a Marshall Scholar, Ankur Bahl, who earned both his undergraduate and master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism in 2003. Other accomplishments of note include:
- Jane Lee, a WCAS senior and president of ASG, has been honored twice, including one that was announced today. Jane today was named to the first team of the USA Today Academic Team. Last fall she was named one of the top ten college women in the country by Glamour magazine.
- Jamie Elise Howe, a music education senior, was named a student laureate from the Lincoln Academy of Illinois.
- A Northwestern student team won the Fed Challenge national competition. The team was made up of Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences sophomores Joshua Plavner and Rosa Li, Weinberg juniors Alexander Leung and Derek Moeller, and McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science junior Aditya Damani.
- Luis Castillo and Jeff Backes, both members of our football team were both named first team Academic All-Americans this year.
Also in athletics, our women's tennis team currently is ranked fifth in the country, with doubles partners Audra Cohen and Cristelle Grier ranked number one in doubles and Audra ranked number one in singles. Among our athletic teams we currently have six ranked in the top 25 of their respective sport: women's tennis, fencing, lacrosse, men's swimming, women's swimming and wrestling.
My congratulations to all these students for their accomplishments.
Because this speech is earlier this year than last year, we do not yet know how many members of our faculty have been elected to the national academies of arts and sciences and of engineering. Nevertheless, a number of our faculty members continue to earn national recognition in a variety of fields for their innovative and exciting work. In doing so, they bring honor to the institution as well as to themselves.
I also want to welcome Julio Ottino as our new dean of the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, effective next month. Professor Ottino is someone of international stature who has been a member of our faculty for more than a decade and has a great deal of energy, creativity and vision. Provost Dumas and I look forward to working closely with him. We also had more than 75 staff members who received Service Excellence awards for their outstanding work last year, including three employees who were recognized three times: Natasha Denison from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Terry McCall from University Housing and Beulah Gillett from Human Resources. Congratulations to all of the staff members who received awards last year.
I know that in addition to the students, faculty and staff I've mentioned today, there are unquestionably many, many others who also help make Northwestern the great institution that it is. Your dedication, scholarship and consistent efforts bring honor to the University.
As our faculty and staff in Chicago certainly know, we recently partnered with KinderCare to open a new childcare facility near the Chicago campus. Approximately 75 percent of the children in the facility are those of Northwestern faculty, staff and students, and Faculty Foundation staff. We're very pleased to have this new Chicago center open. In Evanston, we now have nearly 100 Northwestern children enrolled at the McGaw YMCA Child Care Center, approximately five times as many at the center from when we began our partnership in 2002. I know that for many of you, childcare may not be an issue that is currently relevant in your life, but I also know that for those of you for whom it is an issue, it's a very important one. Therefore, I'm pleased that the initiatives we've taken in the past few years have worked out as well as they have.
Finally, a brief historical note: Many of you know that Northwestern was founded in 1851. But you may not be aware that the University didn't build its first building or start offering classes until 1855. The first few years were spent raising money - a duty that continues today, I assure you - and selecting a site for the new institution, which turned out to be the beautiful campus in Evanston that we now enjoy. (The Chicago campus, which also has been a tremendous asset, was built about 70 years later.) Next June will mark the 150th anniversary of the construction of the first building on the Evanston campus and next November will mark the same anniversary of the start of classes. Both of those "firsts" required taking a substantial risk, as Northwestern began its institutional life with minimal funds and even fewer students. So I'm cognizant of the efforts and accomplishments of my predecessors and others - including many of you - who have helped build this great university during its distinguished history.
Thank you. I will now be glad to take any questions that you might have.