On the first Thursday of the semester, while most students were busy discussing their syllabi with professors, President Harvey Stenger was delivering his State of the University address. The Editorial Board acknowledges that there is a lot to be proud of from last year, and a lot to look forward to for the coming semester. That being said, we still have some questions.
We are clearly a University on the rise, and part of this has to be attributed to President Stenger. Enrollment is increasing, donations to the school are up and alumni volunteers have risen from 626 in 2011 to 1,010 in 2015. The administration continues to invest in green-energy facilities and academic expansion, including the School of Pharmacy and the Center of Excellence. Our number of students is rising and so is our name recognition.
Our biggest compliment to Stenger goes to his faculty hiring initiative; the number of full-time tenure-track faculty has increased by 26 percent in the past four years, with sizable net gains in Harpur College and the Watson School. We would like to see these numbers continue to grow over the next few years; Binghamton University’s strongest suit is the quality of its faculty, and our professors deserve adequate compensation for their hard work and dedication.
And alongside this recent expansion comes an increase in diversity. We’ve called for transparency in statistic reporting in the past, and in his speech Stenger delivered the numbers. Between 2011 and 2015, underrepresented minority (URM) faculty grew by 46 percent, URM staff grew by 47 percent, URM undergraduate enrollment grew by 36 percent and URM graduate student enrollment grew by 58 percent.
But in 2015, there are still issues that Stenger has yet to address. We are quickly outgrowing our campus; parking spaces are inadequate, finding a spot to study in Bartle during finals week is impossible and there are still forced triples in the dorms. It’s terrific that we are receiving more applications than ever before, but expansion is only good if there is room to grow, and campus is getting cramped. There is no excuse for 6 students living together in a converted Hinman lounge.
What’s most worrisome is the lack of student awareness when it comes to issues involving the University. How many students didn’t know the State of the University address was happening? How many wanted to attend but couldn’t afford to miss class during the first week? We are the people most affected by changes within the University. It’s our job to stay informed, but Stenger needs to meet us halfway. We urge the administration to better advertise the event, and to proudly and broadly announce their successes in the past year.
President Stenger is clearly at the helm of a better university now than he was when he took the job, but there is still work to be done. Fill us in on your accomplishments and your shortcomings, and let’s move forward together.