By Zac Estrada, News Staff
While Northeastern’s successes have become news globally, the university has no plans to rest on its laurels, President Joseph Aoun said Wednesday in front of about 200 students and faculty at the annual State of the University Town Hall Meeting.
Aoun boasted Northeastern’s ability to become increasingly selective when choosing applicants, of which there were 43,000 for this year’s freshman class, and continued the push to offer experiential learning opportunities both in Boston and globally. He, as well as Faculty Senate President Louis Kruger and Provost Stephen Director, said at the event in the Curry Student Center Ballroom that the university is prospering, even in a difficult time for the country.
“Northeastern has been on Huntington Avenue for more than 100 years, but it has never been as successful as it is today,” Kruger said before introducing Aoun.
Kruger called Northeastern a “21st century powerhouse of a university” but cautioned more work was needed to maintain the upward trajectory.
Aoun said searches were underway to fill a dozen faculty positions over the next two years, all of which will be served by “distinguished professors who will pioneer new fields.”
Northeastern is already on track to make advances in fields such as health sciences, homeland security and sustainability, Aoun said.
The president said he and Provost Director learned how other countries are aware of Northeastern’s accolades and achievements this summer during a trip to India. Aoun said he wants to stay ahead of not only up-and-coming universities, but up-and-coming global powers.
“We are the premier system in the world, but we cannot take it for granted,” Aoun said. “And frankly, the competition is not taking it for granted.”
Aoun said Northeastern is making concerted efforts to expand the brand with what he called “multiple manifestations,” or satellite campuses. This is coming in the form of both physical locations, like a planned Charlotte, NC campus, and more online classes.
Aoun maintains students attending Northeastern’s main Boston campus are not being ignored.
He said that while tuition has risen about 3.9 percent over the last five years, financial aid being issued has jumped 8.9 percent over the same period, $160 million of it being awarded this year.
The record number of applicants this year means students have taken notice of Northeastern’s model and believe it will give them an advantage in their careers, Aoun said.
“Nine months after graduation, 90 percent of our students had jobs,” he said. “We’ve been consistently recognized as one of the best institutions in the country for job placement. Our model is compelling and that’s why the students are here.”
But Aoun shied away from major fundraising details, and even though the university has raised millions this year, he did not specify the health of Northeastern’s endowment. At $570 million as of March, Northeastern trails Boston University and Boston College’s endowments which are both in excess of $1 billion.
After the speeches, students in person and through Facebook and Twitter posed questions to the president. Frustrations ranged from difficulty switching majors to a lack of ethnic diversity in classrooms.
One student asked Aoun why international students were being more actively recruited than black students, which he feels are widely underrepresented at Northeastern.
Aoun said “we have a committment to be a diverse community,” noting a 17 percent rise this year in the number of “students of color.”
Progressive Student Alliance (PSA) was represented at the State of the University by about a half-dozen members, some holding signs calling out the university’s hiring of a custodial subcontractor that pays substandard wages, according to the group.
Sophomore political science major Julianna Cogswell, PSA’s treasurer, asked Aoun if the university was going to insist on better wages for those employees when their contract comes up for renegotiation next year.
“It makes me proud as a Husky that we’re at the forefront of job placement and we have all these applications,” Cogswell said. “We’re ashamed that the subcontractors on this campus are paid poverty-level wages and they don’t match up with the other Boston schools we see ourselves competing with.”
Aoun said it was under consideration and that a survey was being constructed to find out what services, such as classes, Northeastern could offer to those employees.
