CU trustees told admissions are strong; approve $2.08 billion budget

By Jacquie Powers

Cornell President Hunter Rawlings announced last weekend that the university is enrolling a larger-than-anticipated freshman class for next fall and that more graduate students are enrolling in the physical sciences as well.

Robert Harris, vice provost for diversity and faculty development, gives a report on student and faculty diversity to the board of trustees May 23 in Sage Hall. Robert Barker/University Photography

"In fact, the freshman class is a lot larger than we anticipated," Rawlings said in his report to members of the Cornell Board of Trustees at their final meetings of the academic year, May 23 and 24. "The quality of the incoming class remains excellent."

The board also approved a $2.08 billion spending plan for the university, including the Weill Cornell Medical College, for 2003-04; approved the renovation of Bailey Hall and Mann Library; and heard encouraging news on progress toward faculty and student diversity.

Rawlings said the increase in the size of the freshman class is due to a higher yield rate on acceptances this year -- 51.4 percent compared with 50 percent last year. This has resulted in a class of 3,254, about 200 more than the 3,050 targeted, but some reduction is likely to occur over the summer, he said.

He also noted that there was a big increase in the yield rate for underrepresented minority graduate students, primarily in the physical and social sciences, up from 41 percent a year ago to 54 percent this spring.

Doris Davis, associate provost for admissions and enrollment, reported that, "the Class of 2007 is strong and healthy."

She said that while the number of applications overall declined, the quality of Cornell's applicants remained very strong. She noted that the median SAT scores for applicants in the university's two largest colleges improved, from 1370 a year ago to 1380 this year for the College Arts and Sciences and from 1390 to 1400 for the College of Engineering.

To help turn around the decline in admissions, Davis said the university needs to be more proactive in recruitment in the College of Arts and Sciences, where applications declined by 7.5 percent. "We need to do a better job of selling the liberal arts and also do a better job of articulating what it means to be a student in arts and sciences," she said.

Steps include strengthening the arts and sciences Web presence, enhancing the college visit, refocusing the mission statement and reallocating resources to College of Arts and Sciences admissions, she added.

The $2.08 billion spending plan approved by the trustees for 2003-04 is 3.8 percent more than the $2.07 billion that is forecast in expenditures this year.

Overall revenues for 2003-04 are projected at $2.128 billion, an increase of 2.8 percent over those forecast for the current year. The budget includes a 5.7 percent increase in tuition and fees, an expected 4.1 percent increase in unrestricted gifts and an expected 4.0 percent increase in restricted operating gifts from 2002-03, and a projected 12.3 percent decrease in investment income.

On the renovations, the trustees approved the design, construction authorization and $14.4 million budget for Bailey Hall, with Cornell funding $3.1 million of that and the state the remainder. They also approved the design, construction authorization and $22.8 million budget for Mann Library. That funding is from appropriations in the current 1998-2003 state five-year capital program.

Student-elected trustee Leslie Barkemeyer '03 asks Robert Harris a question during his report to the board, May 23. Robert Barker/University Photography

Robert Harris, vice provost for diversity and faculty development, reported that, "considering our centrally isolated location, the demographics of our area with a small minority population and limited opportunities for dual career couples, we have done very well in attracting diverse students, faculty and staff."

According to Harris' report, "Summary Update: Progress Toward Diversity and Inclusion," the percentage of undergraduate minority students increased from 26.9 percent last year to 27.3 percent this year. That compares with 23.7 percent in 1991-92. The number of black students rebounded to 648, the largest number since 1981, when there were 639 black undergraduates. And while this year Cornell also had the most Asian/Pacific Islander students ever, with 2,279, there was a drop in the number of Hispanic students from a high of 837 in 1998 to 726 this year, a 13.3 percent decrease.

Harris said the number of women undergraduates, 6,737 or 49.1 percent, is now the highest in the history of the university.

He also noted that the university has averaged 62 faculty appointments a year since 1992-93, and that 22 a year, or 35.5 percent, have been women, while 14 a year, or 22.6 percent, have been minorities. However, he added that there was a slight downturn in the past year, when 20 of 69 new tenure-track appointments, or 29 percent, were women, and 13, or 18.8 percent, were minorities.