The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College was established in 1998 through a five-year cooperative agreement with the Social Security Administration. In that time, the center, under the direction of Drucker Professor Alicia Munnell, has established a reputation as one of the nation's leading research institutions dedicated to retirement income policy issues.

Retirement Research Center's Alicia Munnell

"The center's mission is to help promote retirement income security for all Americans," said Associate Director Andrew Eschtruth. "We are concerned with all issues that affect income for older American: Social Security, 401(k)s and traditional pensions, household saving for retirement and labor force decisions by older workers.
"Given the aging of the population in the US and other industrial countries," Eschtruth added, "we have found that there is a tremendous audience for our work."

The center's findings have proved to be valuable for policymakers, researchers and the American public in general. "Overall, our efforts have succeeded in reaching a diverse audience of thousands of people and improving the quality of debate on this pressing issues," Eschtruth said.

Measuring up in math

While the International Study Center at the Lynch School of Education focuses on comparative studies of educational achievement worldwide, Massachusetts educators and families also receive valuable information from its research.

In 2001, for example, results of the TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) benchmarking study of math and science achievement showed how Massachusetts 8th grade students compared with those in 12 other states, 14 US school districts and consortia and 36 countries.

Overall, students in Massachusetts scored significantly higher than the international average in both mathematics and science. In mathematics, six countries and three districts/consortia scored higher than Massachusetts. In science, one country and three districts scored higher than the Bay State.

Such data, as well as other information gathered in the TIMSS study, help state and local officials and educators improve education in math and science.

Paying their way

Paydays at Boston College are a major economic boost to the Greater Boston area, as the University's more than 3,000 full-time and 3,000 student and part-time employees earn about $200 million in annual salaries.

"When people hear 'Boston College,' they mostly think of us as a major University with a highly-selective student body and highly-competitive sports teams" said Associate Vice President for Human Resources Robert Lewis. "I doubt if many people think of us as a major employer but we are one of the major employers in the Greater Boston area.

"We employ a lot of highly-skilled individuals and our pay and benefits are very competitive," he said. "Many of our employees also live in the Greater Boston area and with a total annual payroll of approximately $200 million, we make a substantial contribution to the local economy."

Boston College's 3,400 weekly employees earn approximately $950 thousand each Friday payday, according to Human Resources Service Center Director Richard Young. The 3,450 University employees compensated on a monthly basis earn approximately $13.4 million each pay period, Young said.

Young noted that approximately a third of the Boston College work force resides in Boston and Newton.

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