Deans from various Boston University schools and colleges hosted about 30 students Monday for the second Dean’s Luncheon of the year, tackling issues from tuition hikes and the newly implemented Latin honors policy to the lack of cable on campus and the fairness of the Guest Policy.
Several students complained about this year’s tuition hike and the burden of BU’s high costs.
Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Dean Alan Jette said he completely understands the situation many students face, especially with tuition. Tuition may stay high, but BU does take action to minimize the burden, he said.
“At this point, I don’t think that the tuition of colleges will go down,” he said. “However, I do think that the amount of scholarships being given will have to increase over time.”
But not all the deans felt the same way about the issue. College of General Studies Dean Linda Wells said the hikes are necessary to keep the college running at a top level.
“Tuition costs don’t even reach the amounts of money needed to properly run the school,” she said. “Our school needs to have alumni giving back to our school in order to succeed.”
As a chicken and pasta dish was served to guests, a hot debate arose over the issue of grade deflation at BU, sparked by a weekend article in The Boston Globe Magazine.
Several of the deans sympathized with the students’ concerns over grades.
“My fear is that we may be pushing the grading system too far,” Jette said. “I think that we’ve substituted a pass/fail system under the guise of an A, B, C grading policy.”
Rebecca Schultz, a School of Management junior, said the event, which she said was created a few years ago to bridge the communication gap between students and deans, was successful.
“A few years ago, students addressed the issue that they wanted to get to know their deans a little bit better,” she said. “There is obviously a big line between the students and faculty and students and deans. A student can clearly approach their professors with much more ease than they could a dean.”
Many students said they left the event feeling extremely satisfied with the discussions they had during the luncheon. College of Arts and Sciences junior and Student Union Senate Chairman Joel Fajardo said he was extremely pleased with the outcome of the meeting.
“This is my first time to one of these events,” he said. “It really touched me to see how the deans were interested in student issues. I think that today’s luncheon was a good indication of how interested the faculty is in bringing change to the quality of student life at BU.”
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