Alumni Criticize RPI Finances and Leadership

@doschicos I think more research is needed before the run decision. My son and I just did a visit to RPI and there is much to like about it. There is a good deal of flexibility in majors/minors/creating what you want to meet your goals. That in and of itself caught my son’s eye. To be honest, we went there almost on a whim and we are glad we did.

@Cgaope I would choose RPI any day and when I made decision I had to choose between it and other similarly ranked colleges. I’m very proud of my school since I know I’m getting a good education and companies know that. I’ve had multiple offers from top tech companies recently and I barely have a 3.0 GPA, one of them being IBM where I’ll be working this summer in NYC.

I have friends at a lot of colleges doing STEM and I can say that very few have similar rigor/practical curriculums, even though many are equally or higher ranked colleges. I’d also be willing to say that one of my good friend’s undergrad curriculums at Cornell is very similar to mine and we cover mainly the same things in our core classes.

At the same time, there are many public universities that also offer similar curriculums that are lower ranked. Not many colleges, including equally ranked schools, also do as much research as RPI or have similar research facilities for STEM. That’s at least my take on it. Granted, also make sure you get a good deal - don’t go to college and take our crazy loans.

@joedoe Thank you for the information.

Congratulations on the IBM internship, that’s a dream job.

I have a unique perspective of having 2 sons studing the same field that I did.
One at RPI, other at an Ivy. Both have shown me their project assignments, class slides/material, and described their interaction with profs/grad student TAs.

By far the better education is at RPI, not the Ivy.
As a parent, not at all sorry I sent my son there.
As a professional, quite impressed with the curriculum and teaching at RPI.
The rest is political nonsense. You go to college for an education.

@blevine Thank you for your perspective.

It may be of interest to note that Jackson’s contract is up at the end of the 2020 school year, and that she will be just shy of 74 years old then. But also have to note that her 2024 Plan will still have 4 more years to go yet, so there’s that…

Cgaope @joedoe If you were a prospective undergraduate student today to RPI, would you choose to accept RPI over other similarly ranked institutions? No I would not. RPI was once considered (when I attended as an MIT for undergraduates). Now it is an MIT wannabee. RPI Trustees decided research was more important than teaching, look at the web site. As an alum I believe the only reason for the CLASS Initiative —> Summer Arch —> Greek Life Crackdown is to increase the number of students on the room & board plan (note at most schools I do not know for certain about RPI this is auxilliary services). My guess is that the Greek Life crackdown is (according to Admin) planned on ensuring that greek houses no longer compete with RPI for room&board. Please tell me why after your first year you would pay about $10,000 to live in a box and because of that choice another $5000 to eat institutional food on a schedule. The clampdown in the Student Union means that RPI is no longer as committed to ensuring that STEM students can expand beyond the STEM box; which is one of the key things that attracted me to RPI.

Finally in my opinion RPI admin is demonstrating might means right. The Greek Organizations and RPI have a good-faith well-intentioned relationship statement. RPI admin first with CLASS, then with ARCH, and now with limited rush has basically said: RPI will modify the relationship at any time in any way - too bad so sad for you even though you trusted us.

The similarly ranked schools would be a much better alternative for me.

@studentsr1st Can you explain what you meant when you said, " The clampdown in the Student Union means that RPI is no longer as committed to ensuring that STEM students can expand beyond the STEM box; which is one of the key things that attracted me to RPI."

shuttlebus: At many broad universities where STEM majors are not the majority of students -STEM students tend not to be as active in leadership activities as other students. I called this the STEM box. At STEM intensive universities it is common for Student Government to be under the thumb of the Administration through Student Affairs. This was not the case at RPI. When I decided to enroll at RPI the opportunity to expand my horizons well beyond what I have called the STEM box - sealed the deal. The covert war on Greek Life and the open war on the Student Union shows that RPI’s administration is not committed to students having these opportunities. The VP of Finance has recently directed an elected student leader not to communicate with the students regarding key student issues.

@StudentsR1st Thanks for providing additional details. Can you explain to me what opportunities students at RPI will no longer have that they did have before the administration made these changes?

I would examine the details at Renew Rensselaer and examine the Poly articles. They provide much more details. Thhe student protests are evidence of this as well. When students are telling people not to donate there is a problem. When students start actively telling potential students not to enroll there is a problem.

Seems more like a vocal minority of some alumni doing all that, but am not sure. The current students and some alumni are vocal regarding management of the Student Union and some admin clamping down on demonstrations/free speech. There are also vocal student and alumni minorities in the current discussion about Greek Life. In reality I don’t think any of this is any different from anything occurring elsewhere. However the financial situation at RPI, while not exactly desperate, could be better and is improving slowly. The current 2024 campaign and increasing undergraduate enrollment seem to be the primary means of dealing with that right now.

You are right that it is most likely a minority of alumni who are “doing that”. There is most likely a minority of alumni who disagree with those alumni who are “doing that”. The vast majority are most likely apathetic at best.

Regarding the financial situation at RPI. RPI is focused on research - look at the website. While the % of discretionary $ associated with research has increased slightly, there is no evidence opposing or supporting that the increased emphasis on research has positively impacted undergraduates. As you stated increased undergraduate enrollment is one of the two keys to dealing with the financial situation. From what I can (I could be wrong) determine from Renew Rensselaer alumni donations have been decreasing based on both number and total.

I am a member of that “vocal minority.” I used to be a member of the minority that regularly supported RPI financially - we are a legacy family, both my husband and I attended in the 80’s. If this truly was a “minority,” it wouldn’t really bother RPI, because there are supposedly plenty of alumni donors who are happy with the way things are run. The Union should remain student run - the money comes directly from the students, to support the activities desired by the students. Not only has the administration done their best to wrest control of that money from the students, but they’ve done everything in their power to silence the students. The administration responds to every article with counter claims made by a faculty member, not by the administration - they seem to want plausible deniability, or something. If the administration doesn’t actually provide a statement, they can always back away from what is said.

You made one of my points better than I could. Unless the number of the “vocal minority” became 50% of the total number of alumni, the administration would claim we were just a vocal minority. I do not trust the administration. I do not trust the board of trustees. RAA is controlled by RPI. Phalanx’s Constitution places it under significant control by RPI. The President of the Union has been directed by the VP for Finance not to discuss key issues with students. The practice of the administration and board is 1) the decisions of the administration are not to be opposed or discussed, no input is needed except to justify the decisions, and 2) the administration will be backed by the board as it imposes rules on organizations to ensure (1).

Remember, it was a vocal minority that put Donald Trump in the White House

I understand that a vocal minority can effect change. What bothers me about RPI’s administration is best shown in the Letter to the Editor printed in the Poly:
https://poly.rpi.edu/2018/03/28/responses-to-student-concerns-at-spring-town-meeting-misleading-disappointing/

Equating the number of people counted at a demonstration (if that is what was done) to the % of those dissatisfied on a 1:1 basis is misleading.

Interesting thread - We visited with our son as we swung through upstate NY on our way east and i can honestly say I was very impressed with RPI - more than i expected to be. My wife and I are Case grads, and RPI is certainly a reasomable competitor to the schools that naturally fall into our son’s orbit (Case, Rochester, etc.). But I have read avidly and with great interest everything I can find regarding the issues the RPI alumni document on their website and they give me considerable pause.

Honestly, I don’t care about the cost overruns on the building. It’s a beautiful building (unnecessary - but so what). Ambitious “showcase” buildings go over budget (sometimes grossly so), buildings slide down slopes, the world spins. A bad chapter, no doubt, but welcome to the world.

I don’t even care so much about the student union. Yes - a tradition is being trampled. But things change (sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse).

What I DO care about is what the university Admim seems to have done in response to the student union debacle. The suppression of student voices, as well as the heavy handed and seemingly capricious “disciplinary actions” brought down on some of the students is reprehensible. It shines light on an administration that is scared of decent at best, and has autocratic tendencies at worst.

Finally, however, I am most concerned about the deterioration of the endowment and the downgrading of the credit worthiness of the school by the rating agencies - which is based in part of the financial health of the institution and the ability to attract and retain students. The primary sources are eye opening and worth reading. To my mind, this has a real potential to profoundly affect the prospects of the school.

This is all a shame - the school should be a STEM powerhouse. These problems cloud that seeming truth.

Judd

@Plimpington2 This is an excellent summary of the way many RPI alums feel. I completely agree that, at the end of the day, many issues people bring up such as the student union being taken over isn’t particularly a huge deal. But the way the administration manages these issues has been downright deplorable. Just countless events have occurred which demonstrate that the administration is willing to break through walls and bend laws to get to their goals.

Personally, my time at RPI was excellent. The students and professors were incredible which fortunately is like 95% of the student experience for most. But when looking back, there are so many things going wrong with the administration is causing the school to begin a downward spiral. Any task that involved any sort of school administration was pitiful at best. Countless alumni are refusing to donate until these problems are fixed.