By Shreyanth Reddy, news correspondent
Faculty Senate members discussed new facilities, campus improvements and growth in enrollment and ratings across departments at their second meeting of the academic year Oct. 4.
Provost of Academic Affairs James C. Bean said the higher intake of students into the undergraduate program has not affected the quality of students accepted into the program. On the contrary, Bean said by organizing program structure and curriculum, the class average SAT score went up 40 points over the last 5 years, despite having a greater intake of students this academic year.
“(We had) Tremendous improvement on the average Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score per class,” Bean said.
Philomena Mantella, the senior vice president of the Northeastern University Global Network, said the university is consistently outperforming itself, setting a benchmark every year.
“We have a continuous increase in retention rate every year, which stands at 97 percent currently with a graduation rate of 87 percent,” Mantella said.
Bean reported on the apparent success of the recent trials with a new university program, the Northeastern Student Assessment Integrated Learning (SAIL) system. SAIL is an app that tracks students’ experiential learning and helps them understand curriculum and growth in their industry, develop interpersonal skills and master leadership qualities. Bean told the Senate that the trial run, which integrated the SAIL program into the curriculum of more than 1,000 students, has shown positive results in the behavioral development of those students.
Mantella said the Professional Advancement Network (PAN), a program that helps students from various backgrounds and majors network with industry professionals, has made Northeastern one of the most popular universities for graduate students. The network features more than 1,800 job offers from 700 employers across the country.
“The global experience for graduate students increased from 40 to 49 percent over the last year, making Northeastern one of the best universities in the area offering great industry and cultural exposure,” Bean said.
The university has awarded $335 million to undergraduate students via grants and federal work study programs. Northeastern has also granted more than $140 million in awards for research, with an all-time high of 88 percent of Ph.D. students participating in global exchange programs during their Ph.D. to gain further insights into the industry, Mantella said.
“NU has gone up four tenths of a point (in rankings) when most universities struggled to move one tenth of a point, making Northeastern a benchmark to meet higher standards,” Bean said. “We, as a community, need students with seven dimensions of intelligence thereby making us capable of doing what no one else is doing.”
Ben Howell, a representative of the Student Government Association (SGA), said SGA has been actively working with the Faculty Senate to update disciplinary measures and dismissal proceedings in the faculty handbook. The groups are working on modifying the Student Bill of Rights, which has not changed since 1992.
“The metrics and the proposals presented will help the students gain industry exposure and help the SGA work effectively with the senate to help implement the proposals made,” Howell said.
