Van Zandt, Marshall Host Their Second University Town Hall
For the second consecutive semester, New School president David Van Zandt and Provost Tim Marshall hosted a university-wide town hall meeting at Wollman Hall to a standing-room only crowd.
Van Zandt and Marshall discussed the university’s financial and academic situation to a room full of New School faculty, staff and students on October 26. Among the items raised included the financial implications of the new university center at 65 Fifth Ave., the upcoming bell schedule set to debut in the Fall 2012 semester, and the matter of institutional diversity at The New School.
One topic which permeated through much of the discussion was the university’s long-term financial stability in the face of an uncertain economy. Van Zandt revealed that the university’s enrollment had grown at a more modest rate than expected, with only 22 more students attending the The New School than in the last academic year.
“We are a tuition-based institution,” Van Zandt said. “So when enrollment doesn’t go as expected, that has knock-on effects.”
Van Zandt mentioned that in the future the university would have to pace its rate of institutional growth, adding that he was of the opinion that excessive growth would affect the quality of the student experience at The New School.
“We’ve had a real dependency on growth for a number of years; that’s not sustainable,” Van Zandt said.
“There are programs we’d like to reduce in the future,” Marshall added, mentioning Ph.D programs at NSSR and the fashion design BFA at Parsons.
In addition, Van Zandt said that the under-construction University Center was on schedule for its opening by the fall semester of 2013.
When asked whether debt service for the University Center stretched “as far as the eye can see” by one questioner, Van Zandt replied, “it depends on how far your eye can see.”
Others in the audience questioned the diversity of curriculum at The New School. Some expressed concerns about the university’s academic and institutional diversity. Tony Whitfield, the associate dean of civic engagement at Parsons, described “watching the explicit discussion of diversity as a goal disappear” at the university. Others in the crowd applauded Whitfield’s observation.
Van Zandt and Marshall discussed the university’s financial and academic situation to a room full of New School faculty, staff and students on October 26. Among the items raised included the financial implications of the new university center at 65 Fifth Ave., the upcoming bell schedule set to debut in the Fall 2012 semester, and the matter of institutional diversity at The New School.
One topic which permeated through much of the discussion was the university’s long-term financial stability in the face of an uncertain economy. Van Zandt revealed that the university’s enrollment had grown at a more modest rate than expected, with only 22 more students attending the The New School than in the last academic year.
“We are a tuition-based institution,” Van Zandt said. “So when enrollment doesn’t go as expected, that has knock-on effects.”
Van Zandt mentioned that in the future the university would have to pace its rate of institutional growth, adding that he was of the opinion that excessive growth would affect the quality of the student experience at The New School.
“We’ve had a real dependency on growth for a number of years; that’s not sustainable,” Van Zandt said.
“There are programs we’d like to reduce in the future,” Marshall added, mentioning Ph.D programs at NSSR and the fashion design BFA at Parsons.
In addition, Van Zandt said that the under-construction University Center was on schedule for its opening by the fall semester of 2013.
When asked whether debt service for the University Center stretched “as far as the eye can see” by one questioner, Van Zandt replied, “it depends on how far your eye can see.”
Others in the audience questioned the diversity of curriculum at The New School. Some expressed concerns about the university’s academic and institutional diversity. Tony Whitfield, the associate dean of civic engagement at Parsons, described “watching the explicit discussion of diversity as a goal disappear” at the university. Others in the crowd applauded Whitfield’s observation.
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