By Michele Richinick
Provost Stephen Director addressed the Student Government Association (SGA) at its weekly meeting Monday, reiterating previous plans he had discussed about moving toward more four-year programs, among other things.
“We have no intention that [the four-year program] is going to, in any way, minimize the quality of our co-op program,” Director said.
Director and President Joseph Aoun had discussed two weeks ago in their joint State of the University addresses the possibility of shifting to four-year degree programs.
Northeastern has been receiving an increased number of prospective students interested in four years of college, Director said at the SGA meeting. University administrators are trying to enhance the co-op experience within a four-year time frame for students who would like to take part in it, he said.
The co-op program is at the core of the university, and it distinguishes Northeastern from other colleges and universities, Director said.
“We are not backing away from co-op,” he said. “That is not our intent.”
Though Director and Aoun have previously made statements that they would be open to adding more four-year programs, neither have said that a five-year program would be eliminated.
At the meeting, Director also said his planned activities for the year include an assessment of the core curriculum in undergraduate education to determine how it is doing and what may be done to improve it. He announced that the university will also continue to work on retention and graduation rates.
Director also said administrators are identifying a number of university-wide research initiatives that involve faculty from different colleges. The university would like to try to increase the number of small classes and enhance research, he said.
“We will be continuing to hire new faculty with the idea not only to continue to enhance the research programs, but also we are interested in decreasing the student to faculty ratio,” he said.
During a Q’A session at the meeting, in response to a question about his goals, Director said he has a long list of initiatives he is trying to achieve, and among them is trying to make co-op a recognized concept outside of the country.
“We will continue to not just excel in cooperative education and experiential learning, but to be a leader in it worldwide,” he said.
Michael Raphael, an SGA senator and a member of the SGA academic affairs committee, said a four-year co-op program would possibility benefit students who want to go to graduate school, not people who are going into the workforce immediately after their undergraduate educations.
“Nothing is really going to change,” Raphael said. “It’s taking what we have and seeing what we have, and creating an option.”
Raphael, who attended the SGA meeting, said Director reinforced the topics administrators have been talking about.
Director emphasized that he will continue to push Northeastern into a more international cooperative education program, Raphael said.
Laura Nelson, an SGA senator, said she does not see how the four-year co-op program would work out.
“I know the economic [issue] is a huge factor, but I think if we change the format of our school we are putting ourselves at a higher risk,” she said. “It lowers our appeal to college applicants. This school is very appealing because of the co-op program.”
Before joining Northeastern in July, Director served for three years as provost at Drexel University, which he said shares Northeastern’s commitment to cooperative learning.
Director said he would like to see Northeastern achieve international recognition as a comprehensive research university with diverse faculty and students.
“The Northeastern community is certainly a dynamic community,” Director said.
