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Dec.
16, 2002 |
Accomplishments, Immense Progress Highlighted
in President's Message to Faculty
While many other institutions are facing financial
hardships, Rensselaer is propelling forward at an unprecedented
rate in faculty renewal, securing research money, and improving
campus facilities, said President Jackson at the Dec. 4 general
faculty meeting.
The meeting drew more than 130 faculty members, including faculty
from Rensselaer at Hartford who participated by videoconference.
In the past two years, Rensselaer has hired
66 new tenured or tenure-track faculty, including 32 new positions,
said President Jackson. Research funding exceeded $50 million
in 2001 for the first time and grew to $58.5 million in 2002.
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President Jackson emphasized The Rensselaer
Plan's focus on priority setting and the Institute's efficient
use of resources as reasons that Rensselaer is moving forward
despite economic hard times.
"We are in a remarkable period in the history
of Rensselaer," Jackson said. "We have achieved extraordinary
growth which is even more remarkable for occurring within the
current economic climate."
In the past two years, Rensselaer has hired 66
new tenured or tenure-track faculty, including 32 new positions,
said President Jackson. Research funding exceeded $50 million
in 2001 for the first time and grew to $58.5 million in 2002.
Construction of the biotechnology building has
begun, and the design of the EMPAC building is nearly complete.
Classrooms and residence halls have been refurbished.
Jackson called on the faculty to rejuvenate and
expand Rensselaer's graduate research programs. She said the graduate
tuition and student support policy places Rensselaer students
on par with graduate students at other top research universities.
The policy provides adequate and competitive financial support,
said Jackson. It will allow students to pursue their dissertation
research without worrying about excessive teaching or the need
to work outside of the university.
"The Rensselaer Plan contains more than 140
'we will' statements aimed at guiding the Institute through a
transformation that will place it among a handful of universities
shaping the 21st century," Jackson concluded. "Two and
a half years into living and working the Plan, I believe that
we can say, truly, 'we are'."
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