The Brown University Community Council discussed the University's commitment to environmentally sustainable development and the accessibility of financial aid at its monthly meeting Tuesday afternoon.
In response to a presentation from five members of the student environmental advocacy group emPOWER, BUCC unanimously endorsed the creation of a committee to draft a sustainability strategy for the University. If approved, the committee would develop plans to promote Brown's continued commitment to sustainability under the Office of the Provost, said Matt Breuer '14. The meeting also addressed expanding the University's financial aid offerings. Brown for Financial Aid, a new student group, presented a proposal to extend the University's need-blind admissions policy to international, transfer and Resumed Undergraduate Education students.
Further reductions in direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, as well as in student and food waste, are examples of initiatives the committee could pursue. Though the University has made tremendous strides in meeting its 2008 commitment to reduce greenhouse gases by 42 percent by 2020, a committee could recommend other areas where progress is needed, the presenters said.
They added that the committee would communicate the University's efforts to promote sustainability to the student body. Students are often unaware of how much the University has done to make itself sustainable, they said, citing Brown Dining Services' green initiatives and the requirement that all new buildings be LEED Silver certified as examples of effective policies.
Since issues of sustainability often require years of discussion before the University takes action, student leaders often graduate before their work is complete, resulting in further delays, the students said. This committee would build more continuity between generations of activists and provide a central forum for the discussion of sustainable practices on campus, they added.
Administration officials at the meeting offered no opposition to President Ruth Simmons' motion to recommend the creation of the committee to the Provost.
Brown for Financial Aid then presented a proposal to include international, transfer and Resumed Undergraduate Education students in the University's need-blind admissions policy.
The group also recommended that the University allow all students to re-apply and appeal financial aid decisions, lower the average student loan burden to $15,000 from its current rate of over $20,000 per graduate and cut annual student-work expectations by $1,000.
These proposals, if enacted, would increase the competitiveness of the University, said Anthony White '13. Since one-sixth of every class is accepted on a "need-aware" basis - their financial needs are taken into account when considering their application - Brown faces a disadvantage in attracting the best international and transfer students, who might prefer other universities with better financial aid packages, he said.
A move to a complete need-blind admissions process would be in line with the stated commitment to diversity from both the University and Simmons, said Alex Mechanick '15.
While many administrators at the meeting said they favored the group's goal of need-blind admission for all applicants, the University does not currently have enough funding to make the transition. Full need-blind admission would cost the University between $20 and $24 million more per year, said Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Beppie Huidekoper.
In response to Mechanick's statement that the average Brown senior will graduate with around seven times as much debt as a senior at Princeton, Simmons retorted, "How much is Princeton's endowment?"
Provost Mark Schlissel P'15 said some amount of debt indicates students' investment in their education and is not always a bad thing.
Despite criticism of the University's financial aid offerings, Huidekoper and Director of Financial Aid Jim Tilton said the school is making progress and is doing well compared to peer institutions. Only Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Dartmouth are need-blind for all applicants, Tilton said.
Scholarship support has increased from $33 million to over $90 million per year over the past 10 years, an average 9.4 percent increase every year, Huidekoper said.
The University has managed to achieve this progress while maintaining an average increase of total fees of 4.3 percent over the past 10 years, about average for Ivy League schools, Huidekoper said. Yale - despite a significantly larger endowment - has a tuition comparable to Brown's, she said.
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