Remarks by President Christoph M. Kimmich at the Stated Meeting of the Faculty

21 February 2008

I want to start by asking for your help.

For anyone who's been here for more than a year, this request will have a familiar ring. As we enter the period in which the Governor and the Legislature negotiate next year's budget, we once again need to tell our legislators that we want them to adopt a State budget that best serves our purposes.

In some ways, we're going into the budget season with fairly good prospects. The Governor has proposed an operating budget that covers essential needs -- salaries, basic equipment, supplies. It accommodates mandatory and inflationary cost increases in the year ahead, and does so without increasing tuition. But it does not provide funds that would allow us to invest, invest in new faculty, in support staff, in student services. Nor does it give us a satisfactory capital budget, the budget for construction and upkeep. It falls significantly short of what the University had requested on our behalf. [slide] In fall 2002, we had a total enrollment of 15,635; last fall, we were just below 16,000. Three out of every four of these students are undergraduates. Most are enrolled for a degree; about 56% are studying full time. And they're taking more courses than they used to, especially since we changed class patterns four years ago.

[slide] For Brooklyn College, some big projects are at stake.

Last week, I sent out a campus e-mail announcement with details and with instructions about how to e-mail Albany. I can't guarantee your messages will all be read, no matter how eloquent. But this I can say: they will be counted, and we do not want to come up short. Please take a moment to send a message, and encourage others to do so as well. Elected officials need to know we are concerned and that we count on their help. Thank you all.

The health of our budget depends heavily on enrollment. About 70% of what we spend in the course of a year comes from tuition and fees. It is therefore welcome news that spring enrollment is up from last year at this time. As of this morning, we had enrolled 15,613 students [slide], 12,010 undergraduates and 3,603 graduate students.

I'm particularly encouraged to see the increase in new graduate students last fall continue into the spring. The decline in that area has been a matter of much concern. We're addressing it with a two-part strategy. One part relates to process, that is, how we recruit and admit graduate students -- effective communications with applicants and departments, staff assignments, timelines and deadlines. The other part, something I mentioned here before, relates to the development of new graduate programs, programs that respond to new interests and attract students to the College. Several departments have risen to that challenge, and I ask others to do so as well.

[slide] Resources, whether from the State or from enrollment, have helped us grow and develop. But they alone have not brought about the change this campus has witnessed in the last few years -- and it's time to talk about (and to celebrate) that.

Change is not always readily visible -- we may be just too close to it or lack a broader context. The impact of change is more often incremental and cumulative than eye-poppingly dramatic. But it's there nonetheless and it continues. It's a tribute to our ability to adapt and to seize new opportunities (need I remind anyone of the thorough revision of the Core Curriculum?), a tribute to our ability to recognize new approaches to research, to teaching and learning, to building an environment that advances our goals.

It can be seen most notably in our efforts to maintain and improve the quality of the College's faculty. It is notable also in our efforts to upgrade and improve the campus itself.

We have reached that tipping point where quantitative change, both in the faculty and the physical campus, becomes qualitative change, and where what we offer is the better for it.

[slide] We have added 234 new faculty since 2000, with 38 searches under way this year, eleven of which have already been concluded. Fully half of the College's full-time faculty, the teaching faculty, has joined us in the last eight years.

This new faculty, highly qualified and with impressive credentials, has brought us new ideas and new energies, with a deep and abiding effect on the College.

Consider, for example, what's been happening in departments.

In the Department of Chemistry, recent hiring has set something of a national record. In the fifty-some colleges and universities that last year spent the most money on research in chemistry, only 14 percent of chemists were women. At Brooklyn College, over 40 percent of the chemistry faculty are women. Three arrived just recently [slide] -- Stacey Brenner, who came to us from a postdoctoral fellowship at Cambridge University, [slide] Maria Contel, most recently at the University of Zaragoza in Spain, and [slide]Laura Juszczak, from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University. They join Maggie Cziskowska, Lesley Davenport, and Terry Dowd. Gifted teachers and scholars, they are powerful role models for the next generation of women (and men) scientists.

In the Department of English, [slide] which has appointed 14 new members since 2000, the curriculum has been enriched by new courses in The Graphic Novel, Protest Art and Literature of the 20th Century, Queer Literature and Theory, and the Harlem Renaissance, also a Children's and Young Adult Fiction Writing Workshop and an MFA course for students at work on a novel. And I'm told that the very presence and engagement of new faculty, the vibrancy of their work-in-progress seminars, have inspired senior colleagues to rethink and develop new courses and seminars.

In the Department of Sociology, Kenneth Gould [slide] and his colleagues are forging a new direction that takes advantage of our location, bringing the world around us into the classroom. New course offerings and new research, complemented by lecture series and teach-ins on topical issues, speak to the rich sociological context of the borough and to the experience of students for whom the borough is home. That in effect means a growing departmental specialization in urban issues -- race and ethnicity, immigration, urban social welfare policy, and the urban environment. [slide] This new departmental identity extends a long-standing tradition in urban studies at the College, an interest that is now strengthened by targeted faculty hiring. Two new sociologists arriving this fall, Tamara Mose Brown and Naomia Braine, have research experience and agendas rooted in Brooklyn.

And not only in Sociology. In Puerto Rican and Latino Studies, Miranda Martinez [slide] studies Puerto Rican activists on Manhattan's Lower East Side, where she grew up, researching gentrification and community politics in that neighborhood. And in Political Science, Celina Su, [slide] examines the role of civil society in social policy, especially in the interaction of culture, grassroots groups, and education- or health-care policy-making, by studying what's happening in the South Bronx.

And can you imagine the impact on a department, both short range and long range, when the majority of the faculty in that department is new? That's what's happened in the Department of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies with the arrival last fall of [slide] Alan Aja, Miranda Martinez, and Vanessa Perez Rosario?

Or consider, for example, what is happening in the classroom, with new approaches to teaching and learning.

New faculty have brought expertise and knowledge to online and Web-enhanced teaching, where the number of courses the College offers has more than doubled in just the last year.

Carol Connell, [slide] in the business program, teaches her introductory course on management fully online, and has been doing so since 2005. This semester, she's teaching a hybrid course in Business Strategy in which she meets with her class half the time face-to-face and the rest online. Both off-line and on-line, her students acquire the kinds of professional skills they will need in the business world.

[slide] Amy Hughes, in Theater, leads workshops on innovative pedagogies such as role-playing, communication-intensive courses, and collaborative learning. The emphasis is on student learning: having students participate actively in their education while the instructor serves more as the director, moving, as Professor Hughes says,"from the sage on the stage to the guide on the side."
Or consider, for example, the impact on research, where new faculty are staking out new areas of expertise for the College and adding strength to those already in place.

[slide] Jürgen Polle, in Biology, has been working for several years on isolating new microalgae strains for use as biofuel. His research has enormous potential. It is estimated that, in 2008, half the country's corn crop will be used to manufacture ethanol. Whatever the impact on the environment, we know that this new scarcity will affect the cost of essential foods. Microscopic algae, which we find in ponds and lakes, is better and cheaper. It can yield higher returns than corn and can be grown without a heavy investment in labor or fertilizer. For those who like challenges, you might want to figure out how to harvest microscopic organisms on a large scale.

[slide] John Marra, the new director of AREAC and a renowned marine scientist, is collaborating with fellow geologists [slide] Joshua Cheng and Rebecca Boger, an expert on geographical information systems, on several research projects.

Their research interests complement each other and, based in the AREAC laboratories [slide] in New Ingersoll, they will study the recent and rapid loss of marshes in Jamaica Bay and, separately, how sediment-bound contaminants, such as lead, mercury, and pesticides, are transmitted through the environment. Their vision is to put the College at the forefront of research on the Bay, to partner with government and local agencies, and to establish the College as a center for related education and community activities. For them, as for Professor Polle, the goal is cutting-edge research that will find application not only in their disciplines but also in the wider world.

Or consider, for example, the transformation of our role in the community.

[slide] Haroon Kharem, of the School of Education, teaches twice a week at the Performing Arts and Technology High School in East New York, where more than two-thirds of students perform below grade level, and at an elementary school nearby. He brings his high school students with him to tutor the elementary school children; he treats them not as passive learners but as participants in the process. He has students join him at academic conferences, and he brings them to campus both to give them a sense of college and to nurture their aspirations. Attendance, performance, an progress toward graduation have risen significantly.

Professor Kharem's colleague in the School of Education, [slide] Wayne Reed, has his high school students in East New York take up contact with their coevals in a high school in South London, in England. Together, these students are working on a performance they will stage this spring here on campus and, then, this summer, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The goal of this cultural arts exchange is to give low-income high school students, both here and abroad, opportunities to develop intellectual, cultural, and social skills through the arts and the experience of international travel.

[slide] Changes wrought by this influx of faculty are probably felt in their full dimensions only in time. Visible more immediately, of course, are the physical changes on campus and the neighborhood.

The goal, from the beginning, was to create an environment on campus that is attractive and hospitable for all of us and, no less, to create a setting conducive to teaching and learning.

The reconstruction of the College Library and the construction and subsequent expansion of the Library Café were among the earliest projects. They've become integral parts of the campus culture.

Do you remember this? [slide] The demolition of the Bedford Overpass and of Plaza (winner of the ugliest building on campus award) made way for the West Quad building [slide] -- the first completely new building on campus since the early 70's. The exterior is about done, and work has shifted to the interior [slide]. The restoration of the facades on James and Roosevelt and the addition of a grassy quadrangle with an entrance fronting on Bedford will complete the project. By the time we meet this fall, [slide] the building will be just about ready to welcome its new inhabitants.

Architects recently showed us some conceptual designs [slide] for a state-of-the-art science complex in Roosevelt Hall, next door to the West Quad. It is an ambitious project, which, we expect, will affect science teaching and science research for decades to come. We are still in the early stages of shaping this project. We must make sure it will reflect our programmatic priorities, and, as I said a few minutes ago, work hard to secure the necessary funding. Next steps will include a schematic design, followed by architectural drawings for the building, floor by floor and room by room. We've never done anything as architecturally intricate and complex as this, and every step of the way is carefully considered.

At this end of the campus, [slide] the Performing Arts Center project has been enlarged and recast. It will consist of the complete overhaul of Gershwin Theater and construction in the adjacent open amphitheater. [slide] We're planning an architecturally distinguished building to match a dynamic arts curriculum, with performance space and rehearsal studios, set design and construction workshops, exhibition space, classrooms and offices. That also gives us a chance to redesign the Hillel entrance, heavily used but never particularly welcoming. Architects are working on the design, and we anticipate preliminary sketches this spring for our review, followed by the preparation of the schematics and architectural drawings.

The prospect of student housing has generated considerable interest on campus. Our students have told us they would like affordable, safe housing on campus or in close proximity. [slide]We're in discussions with a private developer who owns property at the corner of Kenilworth Place and Farragut Road, about two blocks from here, and is putting up an eight-story student residence. [slide] It will house 220 students in mixed apartment configurations, with a floor set aside as transitional housing for new faculty. We will not own or maintain the building; our role is to act as a referral service. Work has started and is expected to be finished early next year, in time for the incoming class of fall 2009. We believe it will help us recruit and retain students, and it will in some measure alleviate the frustrations young faculty experience in trying to find appropriate housing when they first arrive.

Since its construction in the 1960s, [slide]the Student Center has remained has largely unchanged. Under the leadership of its new director, renovations have begun, most notably on the top two floors, which have been transformed into a Conference Center. [slide] Equipped with the latest technology and flexible in how it may be used, it is available to both the campus and the larger community for meetings, assemblies, conventions, movie screenings, and ceremonies.

Change is visible also in our neighborhood. [slide] You will have seen what is happening on the site of the old municipal parking lot as it is being transformed into a retail shopping mall, anchored by a Target store. [slide] The builder expects to finish construction next month, and we can expect retail shops to be open this summer. Rumor has it that, besides Target, mallrats can take their trade to David's Bridal Shop, The Children's Place, Circuit City, Payless Shoes. There may also be a sit-down restaurant, good enough to fill the void in a community where fast-food eateries abound. With our new performing arts center at that end of the campus, we will be part of the new face of the Junction.

[slide] These efforts to renew the College, intellectually and physically, hold many challenges. But above all, they offer a golden opportunity to build something together, greater and more productive, for future generations.

I now want to turn to several updates.

First and foremost, a subject I have mentioned repeatedly before: the impending reaccreditation of the College by the Middle States Association.

For some time now, we've been engaged in preparing a self study, an appraisal of our strengths and weaknesses. It is a great deal of extra work for all involved, justified only by the value such a study has for our institutional and program improvement. We know that accreditation reviews have served us in the past and will do so again.

Right now, this semester, we're immersed in the most intense part of the self study. The various working groups that began their research last fall will be reporting on their findings in April. Our Middle States Steering Committee will go over these individual reports and use their findings to shape the self study report. A first draft of that report will be published early this fall, at which point you will be invited to offer comment before we produce the final version that goes to the Middle States evaluation team.

These next few weeks are crucial. To those who are members of the working groups, please give it your best. The rest of us will offer you support, respond to last-minute inquiries, and assume some of the day-to-day burdens you may have to shed.

Next, a matter to which the College has a serious commitment -- diversity.

Diversity is the hallmark of our community. It refers not only to the traditional categories of race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and national origin. It refers also to socio-economic status, to family background, language, level of academic preparedness, learning styles, and even to the different communities from which we hail. This richly diverse environment distinguishes us from most colleges across the country.

We adhere to a diversity plan that informs and guides our efforts to diversify the College. That plan is ten years old, and, I'm pleased to say, has seen most of its recommendations come to fruition. It is time for a new plan. Acting Provost Hager and Jennifer Rubain, director of affirmative action at the College, co-chair a newly-established Advisory Committee on Diversity, composed of students and faculty and staff, to draft such a plan.
Many of you may know that the University provides funding for educational projects, research, and professional activities that promote diversity and multiculturalism. Brooklyn College faculty this year received more of these awards than that at any other college, which tells us that campus interest is high. The advisory committee expects to finish its work by the end of the semester -- and it welcomes ideas and suggestions from all of you.

Finally, a reminder about the collection and presentation of the research, scholarship, and creative work done by the faculty.

We learned last year that, in the eyes of the chancellery, the Brooklyn College faculty did not attain to the level of scholarly and creative work done at our sister colleges. On inspection, it turned out that it was not a matter of productive scholarship but of a failure to collect relevant information. We will do better this year. Each of you is asked to fill out the appropriate faculty profile on our website so that we can assemble an accurate record for submission to the University. Many of you have already done so; all of you will shortly get a reminder from the Acting Provost.

This is an opportunity to shine. A list of our scholarly activity for last year will demonstrate beyond cavil that this faculty is enormously talented and productive. Please participate. If you don't, we end up underreported and underrepresented.

Updates like these will become more readily available early next month, when the Office of Communications launches Monday Morning, [slide] a new electronic publication of campus stories, a calendar of events, and announcements. By bringing these things together all in one place, we hope we will facilitate communications on campus. John Hamill and his staff will welcome your comments and suggestions.

[slide] And that brings me to the best moment -- the honors and awards won by members of the college community since last we met. We want to applaud them all but I would ask that you wait until I've called all the names.

Among our students,

- Nicole Lebenson and Aaron Gavin were named Jeannette K. Watson Fellows for 2007;

- Aaron Frank, a member of last year's MARC class, is in his first year of graduate school at the University of Michigan with a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, of which across the country only 910 are awarded to young scientists;

- Victoria Hippolyte-Agard and Mamunur Rahman are 2007 Gates Millennial Scholars, part of a cohort of academically talented, low-income minority students;

- Our teams are doing well: the Forensics Speech and Debate Team won awards in parliamentary debate and persuasive speaking at the Collegiate Forensics Association Tournament in Montreal last month. And, our basketball team, which finished the season with a 20-6 record, also won individual honors: Richard Jean Baptiste was named CUNY Basketball Player of the Year (and the team's coach, Steve Podias, was named Men's Basketball Coach of the Year).

- The Brooklyn College Conservatory Chamber Choir will take part in a salute to the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer. The choir will participate in a choral tribute with singers from around the world and, on its own, representing the United States and, more specifically, the borough of Brooklyn, will give several concerts in China. An extraordinary musical opportunity for our students and a wonderful way to represent our College on an international platform.

Let's congratulate them.

Among the faculty,

Tania Leon, Distinguished Professor in the Conservatory of Music, had one of her compositions chosen for performance at the opening concert of the meeting of the International Congress on Women in Music in Beijing in April.

William P. Childers, Department of Modern languages and Literatures, was awarded the Katherine Singer Kovacs Prize for his book, Transnational Cervantes, by the Modern Language Association. The prize honors an outstanding book published in English in the field of Latin American and Spanish literatures and cultures.

Jeffrey Taylor, Conservatory of Music and the Institute for Studies in American Music, won the American Musicological Society's Claude V. Palisca award for his meticulous transcriptions of selected piano solos by Earl Hines.

Jason Eckardt, also of the Conservatory of Music, was commissioned by the Miller Theater at Columbia University to set Laura Mullen's poetry to music for soprano and ten instrumentalists.

KC Johnson, Department of History, is spending the academic year as the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in the Humanities at Tel Aviv University.

Corey Robin, Department of Political Science, won a fellowship from the Princeton University Center for Human Values as well as another from the American Council on Learned Societies.

Ellen Tremper, Department of English, was honorable mention for the Emily Toth Award, which honors women-centered studies, and is sponsored by the Popular Culture Association of America.

Jessica Max Stein, also of the Department of English, won an Amy Award for lyric poetry from the magazine Poets and Writers for several of her poems.

Sara Reguer, Judaic Studies, will be among twenty-five scholars and artists chosen in an international competition to participate in a project funded by the Brine Foundation and entitled "The Sword of Judith."

Frederick Wasser, Television and Radio, will spend this semester at Philips University in Marburg, Germany, under an exchange agreement that brings to this campus Dr. Angela Krewani, who is teaching here in his stead and is with us today.

You all deserve our applause.

Some major grants have been awarded for faculty research and institutional priorities:

Ray Gavin, Department of Biology, will continue his groundbreaking cell research by having his grant extended by the National Science Foundation.

The Center for Women's Studies was awarded a grant from the Westchester Jewish Women's Fund for its Shirley Chisholm Archive project.

Congratulations.

I am proud to recognize members of the faculty who have been appointed to named professorships. Please stand when I call your name and remain standing.

Broeklundian Professor: Robert Cherry (Economics), Timothy Gura (Speech Communications Arts and Sciences), and Gerald Oppenheimer (Health and Nutrition Sciences)

Leonard and Claire Tow Professor: Roberto Sanchez-Delgado (Chemistry)

Please welcome them to the ranks of those who hold or have held these prestigious titles. They deserve our applause.

You should know that, over the last three years, generous alumni have established four endowed chairs at the College -- in the Honors Academy, in the Women's Studies Program, in the sciences, and in philosophy. Another one is in the making. Endowed chairs give us unrivaled opportunities to attract outstanding faculty, and I'm grateful to the alumni who make them possible.

Are there questions? If not, the Stated Meeting stands adjourned.