Executive Summary
Thursday — The New Yale Sessions
Thursday Morning – Opening Plenary
Kenneth Berman’74, Assembly Chair, welcomed delegates
and invited them to join him in exploring the great strides
Yale has made in the past decade. In considering that progress,
he cited a number of examples including the increase in Yale
College applications from 13,000 to 19,682, the increase in
international students from 4% to 9%, and the growth of the
endowment from $3.4 billion to more than $11 billion. He discussed
the importance of change and how Yale must teach not to the
past but to the future. He speculated that Assembly participants
might feel that they would not be able to get in to today’s
Yale, but he reassured them that this is as it should be and
that today’s superstars will be sitting in this room
30 years from now, thinking the same thing.
At the conclusion of Mr. Berman’s opening remarks, Assembly
attendees divided into groups and attended two of the following
sessions (one in the morning and one in the afternoon):
Construction and Renovation
University Planner Pamela Delphenich reviewed the many striking
physical changes that have taken place on campus over the
decade and offered a glimpse into the University’s
plans for continued renovation and new construction. The
group was then divided into smaller groups to visit the Gilmore
Music Library, the Sterling Memorial Library, Pierson College,
or the Swing Dorm.
Yale and New Haven
Following a welcome from
Bruce Alexander ’65, Vice President & Director
of New Haven and State Affairs, delegates embarked on an eye-opening
bus tour to see the renaissance taking place downtown and in
New Haven’s neighborhoods. Participants learned about
the University’s efforts to build a stronger New Haven
through economic development, neighborhood revitalization,
downtown development, and support for public education.
Yale and the World
Participants in this track had the opportunity to attend one
of the following sessions:
Language Learning and the International Curriculum
The
experience of language learning at Yale has changed dramatically
in recent years. Delegates visited the Center for Language
Study (CLS), a state-of-the-art facility unequalled in the
U.S. The presentation there showcased the CLS facilities
and exposed delegates to some of the materials and resources
available to faculty and students for language study.
Why Go Abroad? International Opportunities for Yale
College Students
Delegates learned about the growing
array of international opportunities open to Yale College
students to study, research,
volunteer, work, or pursue independent projects in countries
around the world. In addition to meeting some students who
have participated in such programs, the session included a
discussion of the ways these opportunities will increase as
Yale College implements the recommendations on international
education in the report of the Committee on Yale College Education.
Spanning the Globe — Students at Yale Hail from
Around the World
Representing more than 100 countries – from
Albania to Zimbabwe – and enrolled in nearly all of
Yale’s
academic programs, international students represent about 16%
of the Yale student body. After a brief introduction about
Yale’s support for international students and scholars,
delegates heard from a diverse panel of international undergraduate
and graduate students about their Yale experiences and how
Yale has influenced their future plans and aspirations.
Yale Center for the Study of Globalization
Delegates had the
opportunity to meet with key staff from the Yale Center for
the Study of Globalization and to hear about
its role in helping bridge the gap between the academy
and the world of public policy. A presentation about the Center’s
flagship publication, YaleGlobal Online, was a highlight
of the session.
Expanded International Perspectives ? The Yale World Fellows
Program
Each fall semester, the Yale World Fellows Programs
brings 16 to 18 highly accomplished men and women from a
diverse set
of countries around the world to spend an intensive semester
exploring critical global issues with the full resources
of Yale at their disposal. Those alumni attending this session
heard from some of the current fellows as well as from Yale
faculty who run the program.
The Past, Present, and Future of Yale Center for International
and Area Studies
The Yale Center for International and Area
Studies (YCIAS) is the University’s principal center
for encouraging and coordinating research and teaching on international
affairs,
societies, and cultures around the world. Featuring Yale faculty
affiliated with YCIAS, this session focused on the past, present,
and future trajectory of the center.
Afternoon Plenary Presentation – A Ten-Year Retrospective
Assembly participants gathered for an insightful look back
at the accomplishments of the last ten years. Dean of Yale
College Peter Salovey ’86 PhD opened the session by commenting
on his term as dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
He reflected on the sense among graduate students in the past
that they played second fiddle to Yale College students. He
was pleased to report on the progress made through a number
of innovations to improve the lives of graduate students and
their experience at Yale. These innovations include an increase
in financial aid and health services, a graduate teaching center,
and a graduate career services center. Yale has also invested
much time and effort in developing a stronger sense of community
among students. This sense of community is enhanced by the
creation of a central gathering place for graduate students
known as the McDougal Center where intellectual, professional,
and social events, as well as activities for families, take
place.
Dean Salovey went on to discuss Yale’s dedication to
undergraduate education. Admissions have been increasingly
competitive, demonstrated by the 19,682 applications received
last year. Also on the admission front, Dean Salovey reported
that in order to increase the number of highly qualified international
students, Yale College extended need-blind admissions to those
students.
He went on to comment that some of the most obvious improvements
can be seen in the renovation of campus buildings. These
facility improvements not only benefit faculty, but undergraduates
as well. New scientific buildings now allow undergraduates
to work in over 800 laboratories side-by-side with faculty
and post-doctoral students.
To further enhance the undergraduate experience, Yale is inviting
many of the senior faculty in the professional schools to teach
at Yale College and is putting them in contact with undergraduates.
Yale is also focusing on international experiences as part
of undergraduate education by offering programs abroad for
academic credit, as well as internships at work places around
the world.
As a direct result of the Yale College Undergraduate Curriculum
Review completed in 2003, new initiatives are being introduced
which make Yale’s existing, exemplary education more
relevant and appropriate to the needs of the 21st century.
Yale is introducing a new curriculum for the Class of 2009,
which features distribution requirements in the standard areas
for arts, social sciences and sciences, but also includes specific
skill areas like writing, quantitative reasoning, and foreign
language.
Linda Koch Lorimer '77 JD, Vice President & Secretary
of the University, began her remarks with a review of the past
decade of partnership with New Haven and the rebuilding of
the campus. She went on to outline some of the remaining institutional
priorities.
Regarding specific educational programs, Vice President Lorimer
reported that the arts have been major focus of the last decade.
Yale is the only private institution in this country with four
schools in the arts area: art, architecture, music, and drama.
While they are all jewels of the university, it became obvious
a decade ago that Yale had not devoted sufficient resources,
time, and focused attention to these schools. President Levin’s
approach has been to find outstanding deans who then encourage
their faculty to think more ambitiously about their professions
and their schools. This has resulted in recruitment of top
faculty, and the building and renovation of facilities, including
the beautifully restored Sprague Hall.
With regard to enhancing education in other academic areas,
the Yale School of Nursing has added a doctoral program and
has become more research intensive. The Divinity School has
undergone extensive renovations and is experiencing a renaissance
in faculty recruitment. Under President Levin’s administration,
the budget for the Yale Center for International and Area Studies
has tripled and a commitment to recruiting international professors
has been strengthened. Fifty-two languages are now taught at
Yale.
Most importantly, Yale continues to keep the teaching of undergraduates
at the forefront. Many other institutions attract superstar
professors by telling them they don’t have to teach.
At Yale, every professor teaches. There has been an increase
from 6% to 14% in minority faculty and currently a quarter
of the faculty in the School of Arts and Sciences are women.
President Levin has been the lead architect of the achievements
in the past decade. To conclude her presentation, Vice President
Lorimer showed a short video put together for a celebration
of President Levin’s tenth year in office.
Roland Betts ’68, Senior Fellow of the Yale Corporation,
reflected on the five years he has served on the Corporation.
He joined the Corporation in 1999 at a time when Yale was
already doing well. He recalled the feeling among Corporation
members at the time that perhaps they should sit back and
not be the board that made a big mistake, but President Levin’s
determination to make Yale great and his unrelenting desire
to improve upon everything stirred the board into action.
For example, President Levin proposed the undergraduate curriculum
review from the perspective that Yale had nothing to fix,
but had great opportunities for improvement.
Mr. Betts went on to reflect on President Levin’s ability
to pick the right people for key positions to lead the University,
demonstrated by the fact that three of his inner circle have
been selected to be presidents at Cambridge, Duke, and MIT.
He also persuaded John Pepper, former CEO of Procter and Gamble,
to bring industry standards to non-faculty areas. The driving
force behind the great progress at Yale has been the President’s
drive to uphold the university’s mission to be a great
research center and a great teaching institution.
Thursday Dinner
Assembly participants gathered
for a relaxing reception and buffet dinner at Commons prior
to the evening’s entertainment
at Woolsey Hall, where the Yale Concert Band presented its
renowned re-enactment of the radio broadcasts made in 1943
by Captain Glenn Miller and his Army Air Force Technical Training
Command Band.
