Northeastern to Build in Burlington

I wouldn't say BU's been stagnant, they built about 4 new dorm towers, the agganis center/fitness center, a bio level 4 (or 5?) lab, Redoing the old arena, and also improved the street level retail on Comm ave. I'd say they've been busy.
 
But BU is still fundamentally the same school it was 30 years ago. BC and Northeastern have changed radically. BU has also increased its freshman class size significantly over the past ten years, thus lessening selectivity.

The biohazard research facilty in the South End is finished and empty. NIMBY's decided that studying ebola etc in the South End is not such a good idea.
 
GW2500 said:
I wouldn't say BU's been stagnant, they built about 4 new dorm towers, the agganis center/fitness center, a bio level 4 (or 5?) lab, Redoing the old arena, and also improved the street level retail on Comm ave. I'd say they've been busy.
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BU has been busy spending the last decade sprucing up their appearance, but neglecting the academics.


Just this summer, BU spent close to $2 million to refurbish their GSU food court. According to the article, it's more comfortable (ie, more couches), but less useful - they cut capacity even though it's a popular student study space, and during the semester it's always packed.

I call it becoming a tour school. Make sure everything the tour groups see is amazing, but neglect the rest. When on a tour, comfy couches look great. You dont stop to ask if there's enough space for everyone.
 
TomOfBoston said:
The only reason BU built its Fit/Rec Center so elaborately was because Northeastern built the Marino Center a few years earlier and BU had to be bigger and better.
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This is unfounded -- BU built the Fit/Rec Center because the armory was asbestos ridden and falling to pieces. BU had also grown out of Warren Brown. It was in BU's long range master plan to build up it's West Campus facilities, and it did so. The city was pressuring BU to add housing to get students out of Allston, so it's major focus, in terms of development on campus, has been to get it's students on campus over the past decade.
 
bdurden said:
This is unfounded -- BU built the Fit/Rec Center because the armory was asbestos ridden and falling to pieces. BU had also grown out of Warren Brown. It was in BU's long range master plan to build up it's West Campus facilities, and it did so. The city was pressuring BU to add housing to get students out of Allston, so it's major focus, in terms of development on campus, has been to get it's students on campus over the past decade.
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I'm not going to lie, BU's fitrec is the best gym in the entire city.

Academics wise, I just think NEU's been more selective due to a reduce freshmen class. It's recent jumps has also convinced better students to rethink and apply to NEU. I know when I entered, most of the brighter students never considered NEU, but now thats no longer the mindset. In conclusion, NEU is helped by a a better batch of students to pick over.
 
bdurden said:
This is unfounded -- BU built the Fit/Rec Center because the armory was asbestos ridden and falling to pieces. BU had also grown out of Warren Brown. It was in BU's long range master plan to build up it's West Campus facilities, and it did so. The city was pressuring BU to add housing to get students out of Allston, so it's major focus, in terms of development on campus, has been to get it's students on campus over the past decade.
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If you reread my earlier post, I said BU built the Fit/Rec Center SO ELABORATELY in order to outdue Northeastern's Marino Center. Fit/Rec would have been built anyway but not so fancy, or expensively.
 
TomOfBoston said:
If you reread my earlier post, I said BU built the Fit/Rec Center SO ELABORATELY in order to outdue Northeastern's Marino Center. Fit/Rec would have been built anyway but not so fancy, or expensively.
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You are assuming that BU is making it's planning decisions based on Northeastern, which just seems baseless. While many like to compare these two school (particularly those from Northeastern) they are quite different in my opinion and I've never known anyone at BU to reference or compare it to NEU.

Alternately, there is still an intense rivalry with BC, which has clearly jumped ahead in the undergraduate rankings while BU continues to out pace BC in the graduate programs.
 
bdurden said:
I've never known anyone at BU to reference or compare it to NEU.
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Except for some BU students who are there because they were rejected by Northeastern. Not many but a growing number. Northeastern's 38% acceptance rate compares well to BU's 58% acceptance rate because many students, parents and guidance counselors still think of NU as a safety school for BU, which it is not.

Northeastern and BU freshman profiles are about the same, that was not the case 10 years ago. NU still has catching up to do but they also have the momentum. BU president Brown has started to get the university rolling again but he has to overcome at least 20 years of Silberesque inertia.

Finally, BU's worst enemy is a vocal minority of its own students who take every opportunity to bash their own school and its administration in public forums. I have only read of one NU alumnus berating the school: an unemployed law school grad.
 
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^Yes, that last point is evident right here in this thread (i.e. jass). These types typically have no decipherable points rather jumped on a decades long Silber hating love fest. Times have changed and this vocal minority will eventually be drowned out.
 
This year, I spoke to many of my friends who are heading or picking colleges. What surprised me the most is that many of them thought that NEU was higher ranked than BU. While it currently isn't, I think the mentality that NEU is a second rated school is clearly changing and that Boston now houses 3 top universities instead of two (if you count BC as part of Boston). Nevertheless, I won't be surprised if NEU surpasses BU in the near future. At one point it will slow down and stop, unless endowment can catch up.

Aside from the US News Report, I also read the Princeton Review. Comparably, BU and NEU academic wise for freshmen entering the school are about the same. NEU actually has a higher SAT average. BU however was given 81 pts whereas NEU was at 79. The two schools however are pretty different in the way they teach so thats how far comparisons between the two goes.
 
^I think the point you are trying to make is that NEU is making progress, but not at the expense of BU. There is not a whole lot of wiggle room at the top of the national university rankings.

Biases aside it doesn't seem likely, given endowment, research, and overall educational programs and quality, that NEU will be surpassing BU anytime in the distant future. Given the competitiveness of college admissions these days, all universities have been able to up their selectiveness so it is no surprise that NEU, Emerson, UMass, etc., are accepting an overall better candidate.

Further, it hasn't escaped the BU Administration where there are areas of weakness within the university system. Their major focus over the next ten years (after having spent the last decade focusing on aesthetic upgrades) is to mature the undergraduate programs, specifically through cross registration and hiring over 100 new faculty members in the arts and sciences.
 
bdurden said:
Biases aside it doesn't seem likely, given endowment, research, and overall educational programs and quality, that NEU will be surpassing BU anytime in the distant future. Given the competitiveness of college admissions these days, all universities have been able to up their selectiveness so it is no surprise that NEU, Emerson, UMass, etc., are accepting an overall better candidate.
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Au contraire. I will have to argue that endowment doesn't necessarily mean a better university (Geogetown has been touted as one of the nations elite schools and it's endowment is on par with BU). In some cases, the overall educational programs and quality of NEU is on par or better than BU, namely in ability to give students hands on experience through co-ops, not just lectures. In getting students a job immediately after graduation, all biasness aside, NEU's education program is stronger in that than BU. Connections and work experience are more easily achieved and the numbers of employers at NEU job fairs are nearly three times the amount of BU's (read somewhere online last year that NEU had a job fair that included around 150 different compared to BU's 60). NEU's undergraduate business course is already ranked better than BU's according to Newsweek. NEU is already earning high marks in health science, engineer, and architecture.

Research-wise, yeah NEU will have a lot of catch up to do in that area.
 
^Again, NEU is getting better and has a niche. So does BU. Can we move on now?
 
Good idea! As long as this thread doesn't evolve into a suburban restaurant review like it did earlier! LOL
 
bdurden said:
^Yes, that last point is evident right here in this thread (i.e. jass). These types typically have no decipherable points rather jumped on a decades long Silber hating love fest. Times have changed and this vocal minority will eventually be drowned out.
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I think my points are clear and backed with facts. BU spends money on appearance, not on academics.

Ask ANY professor. From ANY school.

Or just look at the spending reports. The GSU makeover. Mugar library makeover. Compare the money spent on dorms (highly profitable) to classrooms (an expense).

Obviously I'm not saying that improving old facilities is bad. Yeah, old stuff needs to be maintained. The problem is when these improvements come at the expense of academics. Again, why improve the food court when the main learning building, CAS, hasnt be updated in 40 years, and freezing classrooms actually detract from learning?


12 new flat screen TVs in a public area while a 3rd story classroom has a broken window for several months send a clear message. The tours hit the GSU. The tours do not sit it on a classroom thats near freezing because the window is broken.
 
What third story class have a broken window? Because I don't see any. I never been frozen in a class (well, by AC, but not by open windows). I never been frozen by a broke window and usually the custodians react fast on something that big.

The school do spend a great amount on academics. Look at their budget and you can see that fact. BU has focused much of its energy on dorms and campus, something that was also on the to do list and needed to be done sooner or later. They already admitted that fact that they need to put more focus on academics and they announced their focus of this decade is back to the core academics with the push for hiring new professors and the "One BU" initiative. Which also been in the works for a while.

Professors are no more removed from the culture of the school than the students. You can also find professors who believe that BU will eventually do what Northeastern doing but at the current ranking. If you ask most professors, they will give a middle response rather than say "BU only focus on appearance."

The Mugar Library is highly praised and it has plenty of computers. It is the print quota that is spoiled the act. Of course they couldn't just leave it at unlimited, but we can still argue that 100 is too low.

There is a huge to do list aside from GSU. They plan on renovating CFA (which is in much more dire need), the Law Tower, and CAS. They also plan on building the CS building. I really hope that they modify the plan on that East Student center, but they plan on doing that too with uniting the career service office, tutoring, and etc under one roof. CAS, while not very pretty on the second and third floor is just fine and subsequently not high on the renovations compared to the other stuff. Again, I haven't been frozen by a broke window and saw them upgrade a dilapidated lecture hall on the 4th floor to something respectable. I don't think that is on the tours still.


This is not the first time I seen you wrote about BU and I have to point out again and again. Each time I bring this up, I haven't seen you respond to retort or agree either.

Edit: and BTW, they are replacing the windows of CAS.
 
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jass said:
I think my points are clear and backed with facts. BU spends money on appearance, not on academics.

Ask ANY professor. From ANY school.

Or just look at the spending reports. The GSU makeover. Mugar library makeover. Compare the money spent on dorms (highly profitable) to classrooms (an expense).

Obviously I'm not saying that improving old facilities is bad. Yeah, old stuff needs to be maintained. The problem is when these improvements come at the expense of academics. Again, why improve the food court when the main learning building, CAS, hasnt be updated in 40 years, and freezing classrooms actually detract from learning?


12 new flat screen TVs in a public area while a 3rd story classroom has a broken window for several months send a clear message. The tours hit the GSU. The tours do not sit it on a classroom thats near freezing because the window is broken.
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You have really not provided us with any certifiable facts, you've simply continued to restate your own tired opinion which does not at all give any of us an honest reflection of where the University is spending it's money and where it is not. CAS is due for renovation; this doesn't suggest that BU hasn't upgraded classroom buildings and expanded it's academic reach as it most certainly has done so. Do a little research and you will be able to see examples of this.

When I was a student at BU the major gripe was not about academic facilities, it was about student facilities. They focused their efforts on improving the undergraduate student experience (and continue to do so) so now students have moved onto complaining about the academic buildings. Eventually it'll be something else.

BU's biggest problem under the Silber administration is well documented, he was not a personality with a willingness to engage alumni. BU is a changed place under the current administration, it really is. Those who didn't experience Silber just don't have perspective on this matter.

Here is a good article regarding the renewed efforts to engage alumni, I think this is going to go a long way to improving the overall perception of the university. When alumni are involved, universities and students honor their legacies.

http://www.boston.com/news/educatio...rst_capital_campaign/?comments=all#readerComm
 
ant8904 said:
What third story class have a broken window? Because I don't see any.

...

Professors are no more removed from the culture of the school than the students. You can also find professors who believe that BU will eventually do what Northeastern doing but at the current ranking. If you ask most professors, they will give a middle response rather than say "BU only focus on appearance."

The Mugar Library is highly praised and it has plenty of computers. It is the print quota that is spoiled the act. Of course they couldn't just leave it at unlimited, but we can still argue that 100 is too low.
...

This is not the first time I seen you wrote about BU and I have to point out again and again. Each time I bring this up, I haven't seen you respond to retort or agree either.
.
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The broken windoe was on the 3rd floor of CAS, comm ave side, the last classroom. That was...3 or 4 years ago? So it's been fixed.

I have no problem with the BU professors. Many of them are excellent, some are not that great at teaching, same as any other institution. Some of them like shiny things like new flat screens and dont complain, others dislike having to take their class outside because it is dangerously hot in the classroom. 87 degrees outside and the building heat is on at full blast, and the windows are sealed shut? Not good.

I had no problem with a reduction in print quota. When you give something away for free, it's abused. The problem was removing the computer labs and study lounges. Taking the one public study space in south campus and making it bike storage? It blows the mind.

I always respond, but obviously Im not on this forum all day. And Im in California now, so theres a time difference.

bdurden said:
When I was a student at BU the major gripe was not about academic facilities, it was about student facilities. They focused their efforts on improving the undergraduate student experience (and continue to do so) so now students have moved onto complaining about the academic buildings. Eventually it'll be something else.
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Student facilities? You mean a lack of shiny gyms and even shinier dorms? That's an odd thing to complain about, I went to college to study, not to have a free gym membership. I believe most of the other students thought the same. I never met someone who said "I'm so glad 12 flat screen TVs were purchased and installed in a study space!"

And even then, I don't understand why building fit-rec had to result in the closing of 5 smaller work-out rooms. Or why they want to build a new dining hall and close 3. Or why they closed 6 computer labs. Consolidation of facilities does not work with such a large university. Does it save money? Arguably. How many decades could the dorm gyms be run for the price of fit-rec?
 
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