Last February, the ad hoc Organizational Review Committee released its recommendations for how Brown could reduce its budget by $14 million. The committee's charge implied a commitment to cutting out excesses, rather than eliminating services important to students' needs.
Last week's Herald article about the newly centralized events planning process described an excellent example of the implementation of the committee's recommendations. The Office of University Event and Conference Services, which opened last summer, consolidates the University Events Office, the Conference Services Office and the University Event Support Office and reports directly to the Department of Facilities Management. The reorganization resulted in the elimination of several staff positions, but it will ultimately facilitate event planning for students, faculty and staff.
Considering the mindset guiding the reorganization of event planning — which prioritizes the improvement of the University's operations — we were disappointed to hear the Corporation's reasons for increasing next year's incoming transfer class by 50 students, another of the ORC's recommendations.
We do not oppose opening the Van Wickle Gates to more transfer students. The relatively large transfer student population at Brown means that our community includes undergraduates who have already experienced life at community colleges, single-sex institutions and public universities, for example — in short, places dramatically different from Brown. They are active members of our dance companies, political organizations, a cappella groups and student publications.
Brown is planning to increase the undergraduate student body to 6,000. Increasing the number of incoming transfers instead of first-year students achieves this without putting more pressure on resources for first-year students, Provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98 said.
Kertzer's comment is telling. The University places a significant emphasis on the first-year experience — on first-year seminars, first-year advising and first-year residential counseling. But we attend Brown for four years, not one, and we make important decisions about what to concentrate in, how to spend our summers and what career paths to embark on well after our first year. Spots in first-year seminars and beds in first-year housing are limited. But sophomores and upperclassmen also struggle to get into advanced courses with limited enrollment, and some live in converted kitchens and lounges.
Some see preferential treatment when officials seem to ignore upperclassmen's limited resources while simultaneously seeking to ease the burdens first-years face. We understand the importance of first-year-specific resources in appealing to prospective students and acclimating new students to college, and we commend the University for its dedication to the first-year experience. But we remind Brown that college is not a year-long "experience." It is multiple years of growth and learning.
What's more, the University's decision is necessarily related to the revenue that transfer students bring in. Admissions for transfer students is "need-aware, not need-blind," and the financial aid budget for transfer students will not increase next year, said James Tilton, director of financial aid. The University's commitment to socioeconomic diversity in the student body seems secondary to the importance of revenue, another demonstration of where the University's priorities lie. If Brown plans to enroll more transfers, it should do so in a way that is fair to those it accepts — by offering a quality academic and residential experience and by ensuring that no applicant's financial situation bars him or her from being able to attend Brown.
Editorials are written by The Herald's editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
