Parrish indicated that SGA should and does play an important role as an interface between the faculty and the students, and that it is unusual for there to be strong student involvement on faculty/student committees at other schools.
There was a question from the floor in regard to the recent rankings in U.S. News and World Report, and what can possibly be done to improve our rating. It was then that the president revealed the hidden truth behind these rankings, which are based in part on surveys of college administrators. "They come without instructions, just a numbering system to put the colleges into. One is good, two is second tier, down to four, with a five for 'don't know' it's like a multiple choice test, you couldn't answer it the same way twice."
Much of the survey depends on name recognition. Vanderbilt jumped up a year after its basketball team won the NIT tournament, and Duke University has similarly done well in recent years. WPI does not have that kind of advantage. Parrish commented "I don't remember where I put WPI, so don't ask. . ." and went on to emphasize that the ratings for the top fifty engineering schools were not based on hard data. "WPI should be in the top thirty on that list, but I didn't know that six months ago."
He is trying to take steps to help WPI gain some name recognition. There is a new ABET accrediting system which will be tried out at two or three test schools. The new ratings focus on the outcome of the school's academic program and not on the more traditional quantitative measures such as hours in class. A project-based curriculum like WPI's will do well with such an accrediting program.
The results of the testing will be watched by many people in the academic community, in the United States and around the world (Parrish pointed out the ABET is often invited to look at schools overseas). He also pointed out that a recent NSF (National Science Foundation) study found that schools should offer "more hands-on experience, more teamwork and a more integrated curriculum as well as exposing students to a global context and giving them a desire to learn." This is what happens every day at WPI, and Parrish intends to invite NSF to investigate our Plan and to circulate the results of the study.
On a different note, Parrish said that he was impressed with WPI's homepage on the World Wide Web. He stated that it is a good representation of the school and went on to impress the audience with his knowledge of the internet.
When asked about some of the upcoming campus improvements, like re-designing West Street and building the campus center, he said that he saw an addition made to the campus center at Vanderbilt. He mentioned the importance of a good fundraising program and said that good fundraising is good marketing.
One student was concerned about bringing more research money to WPI. Parrish pointed out that money is drying up. Sponsors want short-term results and the number of people applying for funds is increasing, making it very difficult to attract money to the school. One thing that might be done is to send faculty members out to apply for the grants and allow them to make their presentations in person.
Recruiting from areas beyond New England was another concern. Parrish mentioned that it is important not to lose the North East region, but that a broader base will help recruiting. One student who comes here and has a positive experience can go home and share good stories about WPI with their friends, which is also good publicity.
He also mentioned that WPI might be able to do more to attract top students from other countries, because some students are sponsored by their governments to come to the United States to go to college. Other benefits of such a program are that the school does not end up spending much on financial aid on these students, yet they increase the diversity of the community.
By the end of his time speaking, the president had touched upon many of the concerns of the members of the audience. This type of open session should occur again, as it was a good chance to get to know our new president and learn about current community issues.
Give feedback: newspeak@wpi.wpi.edu