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Year in Review Academic affairs Boston College’s first-ever Rhodes Scholars were announced: Brett T. Huneycutt ’03 and Paul A. Taylor ’04. In all, 33 undergraduates were awarded competitive national fellowships, including eleven Fulbright Grants and one Fulbright Alternate, six Freeman/ASIA Awards, three National Security Education Program Fellowships, three Beckman Scholarships, two Rhodes Scholarships, one Institute for International Public Policy Fellowship, one Marshall Scholarship, one National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, one Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, one Harry S. Truman Scholarship, one Beinecke Scholarship, and one James Madison Scholarship. The University received a record 22,451 applications for 2,250 places in the Class of 2008. The average SAT score for enrolled students was 1317, a new high. Applications from AHANA students rose to a new University record of 5,551 and total undergraduate applications have risen 14 percent over the past five years. U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings of national universities placed Boston College 40th overall, and 46th on the Best Values list. Boston College placed among the top 50 in the Atlantic Monthly’s first annual college admission survey and was ranked 17th in high school students’ perceptions of quality in a study by Carnegie Communications. The economics department was ranked 24th in the United States as reported by the Journal of the European Economic Association. U.S. News’s annual rankings of graduate schools placed the Lynch School of Education 16th in the nation; the Connell School of Nursing was ranked 19th; the Graduate School of Social Work was ranked 24th; the Law School was ranked 29th; and the Carroll School of Management was ranked 42nd, with its part-time MBA program ranked 22nd. The University saw a surge in graduate and professional school enrollment with new records set at the Lynch School of Education (1,061) and the Carroll School of Management (978); enrollment increases over last year in the Graduate School of Social Work and the Connell School of Nursing postgraduate programs; a record number of applications to BC Law School (7,818); and a 20 percent overall increase in applications to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. 3,157 degrees were conferred at the University’s 128th Commencement exercises. Tim Russert, NBC News Washington bureau chief and moderator of Meet the Press, delivered the address. The most popular majors were communication (925), English (758), finance (717), political science (693), and history (560). Boston College received $42.2 million in grants and contracts for research and sponsored programs activity, based upon receipt of 328 funding actions, that in total represents a 20 percent increase over last year. Andrew C. Boynton, professor of strategy and founder and program director of the Executive MBA Program at the International Institute of Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, was named dean of the Carroll School of Management. University President William P. Leahy, S.J., announced the promotion of 15 Boston College faculty members. In addition, several endowed positions were announced: Professor Mary Walsh was named inaugural holder of the Daniel E. Kearns Chair in Education and Innovative Leadership; Director of Irish Music, Song, and Dance Séamus Connolly was named the Sullivan Artist in Residence in Irish Music; Professor James Anderson was named inaugural holder of the William B. Neenan, S.J., Millennium Chair in Economics; and the John E. Cawthorne Chair in Teacher Education for Urban Schools was announced, which will be awarded to a senior member of the Lynch School faculty. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan joined six of the nation’s key economic leaders at the Boston College Finance Conference attended by more than 2,500 people, the fourth such gathering hosted by the University. Boston Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley spoke on the assessment and treatment of clergy sexual abuse at a conference hosted by the Graduate School of Social Work and the Church in the 21st Century Initiative. Paul Solman, business and economics correspondent for PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, presented the keynote address at the Initiatives on Aging conference on “Public Policy and Responsibility Across the Generations.” The Lynch School of Education hosted a symposium on “The Future of Catholic Schools: Survival and Models of Transformation” with national leaders in Catholic education. In the chemistry department, Professor Scott Miller received the American Chemical Society’s Cope Scholar Award for excellence in organic chemistry; postdoctoral student Jason Imbriglio received the National Institutes of Health’s Kirschstein National Research Service Award; Professor Lawrence Scott was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and Assistant Professor Steven Bruner won a New Faculty Award from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. In addition, Vanderslice Professor of Chemistry T. Ross Kelly was voted Teacher of the Year at Boston College by students of Phi Beta Kappa. Professor of Biology Thomas Chiles was the corecipient of a five-year, $4.65 million program project grant from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease of the National Institutes of Health. In the physics department, Professor Michael Naughton was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society in its Division of Condensed Matter Particles, and researchers in Professor of Chemistry’s John Fourkas’s laboratory demonstrated the fabrication of microscopic polymeric structures on top of a human hair, without harming it, with findings in the Journal of Applied Physics. In the history department, the “Preparing Future Faculty” program was cited by the American Historical Association for bolstering doctoral students’ professional and classroom teaching skills, and University Historian Thomas O’Connor’s achievements were recognized in Boston’s Histories: Essays in Honor of Thomas H. O’Connor, edited by history department faculty members James O’Toole and David Quigley. University Librarian Jerome Yavarkovsky received the 2004 Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award from the American Library Association, considered the most prestigious award for an academic library director. Scientists from Boston College’s Institute of Scientific Research helped build a satellite camera that recorded auroras more than 500 miles above the earth’s surface. The Graduate School of Social Work received a $7 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to expand Cash and Counseling, a program led by the University in which disabled Medicaid consumers decide how their personal assistance needs will be met. The Lynch School of Education received a $1 million grant from the New Balance Foundation to support a school-community-university partnership among Boston College, Boston Public Schools, the YMCA of Greater Boston, and other community partners. The Lynch School, in collaboration with the College of Arts and Sciences, received a $5 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York as part of its “Teachers for a New Era” initiative. According to a study by Lynch School researchers, fewer high school students are reaching tenth grade and U.S. high school graduation rates are showing major declines.
Juniors Grace Simmons and Burnell Holland were elected president and vice president, respectively, of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College. Now in its 25th year, the Appalachia Volunteers program sent more than 560 students to 31 locations over spring break. Boston College administrators and editors of The Heights, the independent student newspaper, reached an agreement on the paper’s lease that extends it through the end of fall semester 2004. Beginning in the fall of 2004, the newspaper will publish twice a week during the academic year. The Commonwealth Tenants Association of Brighton dedicated its community room to Boston College in recognition of the many students who volunteered at CTA over its 13-year partnership with the University.
The University’s six-year Ever to Excel campaign surpassed its original $400 million goal, generating $441 million in gifts from more than 90,000 donors. Three schools were named as a result of major gifts: the Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch School of Education; the William F. Connell School of Nursing; and the James A. Woods, S.J., College of Advancing Studies. An October celebration marked the successful completion of the campaign.
The University launched an Assessment and Planning Initiative to set long-term institutional goals and priorities and identify institutional strengths and weaknesses. Academic Vice President John Neuhauser and Executive Vice President Patrick Keating serve as cochairs, and Professor of History James O’Toole serves as executive director. Several open forums were held and a 15-member steering committee, five task forces, and 11 operating units’ planning committees were appointed. This effort builds on the success of the Ever to Excel capital campaign, completed in 2003, and will pave the way for future development efforts. The assessment will be completed by the spring of 2005. The Archdiocese of Boston and Boston College reached an agreement in principle for the purchase and sale of 43 acres of the Archdiocese’s Brighton campus for $99.4 million. The Archdiocese and the University also agreed in principle to a proposal for the acquisition by Boston College of the Lake Street Tribunal property in two years for $8 million. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court announced that it had denied the City of Newton’s application for further appellate review regarding Boston College’s proposed Middle Campus project, upholding the ruling regarding the University’s right to build on its campus. The BC Bookstore added 750 square feet of retail space to its McElroy Commons store. Construction continued on the residence hall at 110 St. Thomas More Road and the Yawkey Athletics Center. A new University Web site was launched: @BC (www.bc.edu/atbc), a home page for multimedia productions that illuminate Boston College and address its institutional themes and concerns. The fiscal year 2005 operating budget was set at $576.9 million. The budget included a 6 percent increase in tuition and room and board charges, bringing the total cost of attending Boston College to $39,642. Senior Vice President for University Relations Mary Lou DeLong stepped down to become a vice president in the Office of the President. Vice President for Development James J. Husson succeeded DeLong as vice president for university advancement.
The Church in the 21st Century launched its second year in September 2003 with an event at Conte Forum moderated by Tim Russert that drew more than 2,000 people. University President William P. Leahy, S.J., spoke about the initiative at alumni chapters in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, and other cities. Since the initiative began, more than 26,500 people attended 140 academic and professional conferences, panel discussions and lectures, speaker series, and other special events, such as a conference on “Envisioning the Church Women Want”; the C21 Web site was visited by 47,00 people; and another 150,000 people received C21 publications, including three issues of C21 Resources, a selection of readings on the crisis. A memorial labyrinth on the Burns Library lawn was dedicated to the 22 University alumni who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Daniel Ponsetto was named inaugural director of the new Volunteer Service Learning Center, which assists Boston College students, staff, and faculty who are seeking service opportunities.
The McMullen Museum of Art presented Matta: Making the Invisible Visible, showcasing a surrealist painter of Latin American heritage; Reflections in Black: Art and Activism, African American Photographs from the Smithsonian Institution; Ancient Microworlds, a photography exhibit of fossil specimens; Abyssinia, 1867–1868: Artists on Campaign, watercolors and drawings from the British Expedition under Sir Robert Napier; and Common Ground: Photographers in the Street. The sixth annual Boston College Arts Festival presented a three-day slate of events attended by nearly 12,000 people, including public sculptures created by student groups, and the alumni award for artistic achievement given to singer-songwriter Ellis Paul ’87.
Boston College accepted the Atlantic Coast Conference’s invitation to become the league’s 12th member. The University’s 95 percent football graduation rate is the best in Division I-A, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Boston College received the American Football Coaches Association’s 2004 Academic Achievement Award for recording a 100 percent graduation rate when all members of its freshman class of 1998–99 earned a degree. Several Boston College athletic teams played in NCAA championship playoffs, including field hockey, women’s soccer, women’s basketball, men’s basketball, and men’s ice hockey. The football team won the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl. |
