By Melissa Werthmann, News Staff
Northeastern officials unveiled the university’s 2012-13 budget specifics yesterday, including a 3.9 percent tuition increase.
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Thomas Nedell addressed the state of the economy before other members of the administration outlined plans.
“Economic recovery is certainly underway,” he said. “We have some news that leads us to be optimistic in the form of slightly improving unemployment numbers, but we’re not out of the woods yet.”
Nedell said rising tuition costs, inflation and stocks affect how the university will spend money.
“We keep an eye on those markets,” he said. “But we try not to be focused too narrowly on last month’s news.”
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Stephen Director said he hopes officials can continue the momentum to improve academic quality and space and solve critical infrastructure needs.
He said members of the administration believe it is their duty to “ensure that the education that you get is absolutely the best that we could provide.”
Director stressed the importance of adequate faculty resources, small class sizes and strong academic programs.
Officials aim to make sure “the curriculum is current, that it meets the needs of today’s students, that it achieves the level of flexibility that students want and will continue to be attractive to future generations of students,” Director said.
Philomena Mantella, senior vice president of enrollment management and academic affairs listed improvements in the works for Northeastern.
She said the university sought to “trying to achieve a modest tuition increase … but also to continue to work on increasing financial aid for those students who have financial need, so that students who require support can not only pursue a Northeastern education but complete a Northeastern education.”
Mantella said that in 2008 officials decided to allow students to be reevaluated for financial aid each year, in case their need changes, but that the system will be expanded further.
“We will raise the financial aid commitment from one year to the next, the need-based portion of that financial aid, with the level of tuition,” Mantella said.
She said this decision will keep loan levels in check, allow Northeastern to meet the same level of need and that higher financial aid is proven to increase graduation and retention rates.
Mantella said the university is looking at various facility renovations and expansion opportunities, including adding air conditioning to the Fenway Center, making it usable during the summer.
Other projects include immediate technology upgrades to classrooms that seat 35 or more, and developing a system that would allow students to scan their mobile device for ticketed events instead of printing tickets.
Mantella set a target date of spring 2013 for virtual waiting lists for class registration, and said officials are looking into expanding the use of lecture capture software Tegrity, academic technology which allows students to record lectures and refer to them if they miss a class or need a refresher.
She also touched upon a possible single-card system, through which students wouldn’t need different cards for access to residence halls, parking or labs. Upgrading the current Husky Card technology to an online system could take up to eight years to complete, Mantella said.
