With the 2015-16 academic year set to begin in a few weeks, let me extend a warm welcome to our new students. It is great to have you here and to feel the buzz of anticipation as you prepare for the start of your academic career at Binghamton University.
Like you, I am excited and eager for the semester to start, and I’m looking forward to meeting you. Current students know that BU is an amazing campus. We are working to make it an even better place for you to learn, socialize, develop your talents for leadership and express your commitment to the community and society.
Of course, our primary commitment is to your education. We are now in the third year of a faculty-hiring initiative that affects every school and college on campus. More than 140 new faculty members have joined our campus in those three years, and when the semester starts, there will be another 60 faculty on board, dedicated to teaching and conducting research. This expansion in our faculty will directly increase your access to current courses as well as new courses that we never offered before. We are continually adding and renovating spaces, including the opening last year of the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development, and the opening this year of our new Alumni Center in Old O’Connor, a Global Center in Old Champlain and more than a dozen new classrooms in the Student Wing.
We have also put into place programs to provide students additional opportunities to participate in research and creative activities with the aid of faculty mentors. Our Freshman Research Immersion program specifically targets new members to our community, and our Undergraduate Research Center will help identify creative outlets for students from all classes. Professors working with our Center for Learning and Teaching are improving their teaching by using methods such as “flipping ” their classrooms or arranging classroom seating to promote interactive learning. And significantly, we are adding new academic programs and even a new School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences that will create new academic and career options for our students.
I encourage you to take advantage of the opportunities we offer — not just in terms of your classwork, but in the social and cultural life of the campus. Take in a play, tour the University Art Museum, go to our TEDx talks and support our athletic teams. Even better, join a club or two and learn how to dance, play an instrument or fight zombies. Embrace the diversity of our campus and broaden your perspectives; it will make your BU experience better and it will open doors for you when you graduate.
As president, my goal is to see that each of you finds success at BU. I want you to be engaged, to work hard and to have fun. At the same time, I also am charged with ensuring that the campus is a safe and inviting environment. One of the most difficult parts of my job is witnessing the problems that arise when students take the concept of “fun” too far; don’t let that be you!
At BU, we pride ourselves on having students who are friendly, bright, ambitious and forward-thinking. This is who we want you to be — not just in the classroom, but also in your residence halls and in your social life on and off campus. As I like to say, “Make smart choices.” The campus, the community and, most of all, you, personally, will be better for it.
President Harvey G. Stenger