Leebron: Enrollment to increase
Changes in the size and composition of the undergraduate population at Rice are imminent, President David Leebron told faculty Wednesday at the first-ever State of the University address by Rice’s president.
His half-hour speech was followed by an hour-long question-and-answer session.
Leebron outlined many of the topics he addressed in the Call to Conversation, including increasing undergraduate enrollment, attracting better graduate students by improving graduate programs and emphasizing undergraduate research.
As stated in the Call to Conversation, Leebron said he wants to increase enrollment of out-of-state undergraduates while maintaing Texas enrollment.
He said he hopes Rice will eventually have 60 percent of its undergraduates from out of state. This change will occur through national outreach rather than the use of quotas, Leebron said.
Leebron said this size increase will benefit students by attracting more employers for on-campus recruiting. Currently, companies do not visit Rice because relatively few students are looking for jobs and no other similar schools are located nearby, Leebron said.
Faculty members expressed concerns that an increase in the undergraduate population would negatively impact student-to-faculty ratios. Leebron said the increase would be small, perhaps from 5.5:1 to 6.5:1.
Faculty members also questioned whether an increase in the size of the undergraduate population would lower the quality of accepted students.
Leebron said Rice will remain highly selective, although the larger incoming class size will allow admissions officers to reject fewer qualified applicants.
Rice will build more on-campus housing as the size of the student body increases, Leebron said.
Long-term projects include building two additional colleges and renovating some of the older colleges as well as renovating the Rice Memorial Center and improving of the Information Technology infrastructure, Leebron said.
Rice is also in the final stages of planning the research tower that will be built at the intersection of University Boulevard and Main Street, he said.
About $600 million has been allocated for all construction costs over the next 10 years, Leebron said.
Leebron said increases in need-based financial aid will accompany future tuition increases.
Leebron said he toured China and Korea’s most prestigious universities this summer to set up exchange programs. Increasing Rice’s racial and gender diversity is an important goal, Leebron said.
Rice has been aggressive in its outreach to underrepresented groups, and 38 percent of new hires have been women, Leebron said.
“A broadly diversified student body and faculty is part of our mission,” Leebron said.
Administratively, Leebron said he has tried to decentralize power, allowing school deans more latitude in decision-making.
Rice has a $3.6-billion endowment and a budgetary surplus this year, which could lead to increased salary pools for faculty and staff, Leebron said.
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