November 2002			The Days of the Dolphins Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Bear? Annual Report 2001-2002 Annual Donor Report 2001-2002	E Line Sports Alumni Passages Books From the Field Classes First-Person Huskiana
		Programs that "work": NU judged number one U.S. News & World Report has ranked Northeastern number one in the nation among schools that require their students to combine classroom learning with real-world experience. In its annual guide to the nation’s colleges and universities, called “America’s Best Colleges 2003,” U.S. News introduced a new category of rankings dubbed “Programs That Really Work.” Northeastern topped the list of sixteen schools—which included Drexel, MIT, Cornell, and the University of Michigan—that “encourage students to apply what they’re learning in the classroom out in the real world.” “We are enormously proud of our flagship co-op program, our other experiential education programs, and the work we have done in recent years to enrich their educational benefits,” said President Freeland. “It is a testament to the dedication of students, faculty, staff, administrators, and employers that we are recognized as the nation’s leader in practice-oriented education.” Cooperative education vice president Richard Porter said U.S. News judged not just “co-op” schools but schools offering a “very structured program integrating academic programs with real-world [work] experience. To be number one with that wider definition is [very] meaningful for Northeastern.” He added that when he first heard about the U.S. News ranking, he thought, “At last, the world has recognized our leadership in integrated classroom learning.” In the U.S. News academic rankings, Northeastern moved up from 150th to 142nd out of the 249 schools ranked. And another magazine gave the university high marks recently. Last month, the teen monthly Seventeen named Northeastern one of the nation’s “100 Coolest Colleges.” Seventeen’s rankings were based on practical considerations—such as academics, financial aid, transportation, and dorm safety—as well as more fun stuff—shopping, night life, the co-ed dorms, and the boy-girl ratio. Freeland's challenge: Raise the bar higher President Freeland challenged the university community in early October to “make a great university even greater” in the quest to vault Northeastern into the top 100 academic institutions as ranked by U.S. News & World Report. Speaking before 600 faculty, staff, and students during his annual State of the University address in Blackman Auditorium, Freeland cited some of Northeastern’s recent achievements as well as its top priorities. Several recent developments are “cause for celebration,” said Freeland, including • Northeastern’s number-one ranking by U.S. News among universities that combine classroom learning with real-world experience. • The enrolling of Northeastern’s most academically successful and geographically diverse freshman class this year. • New additions to faculty and staff, including a new provost, deans of law and nursing, an athletics director, department chairs, and named professors. • Pay raises that are the highest among area colleges this year. • And construction of the new Behrakis Health Sciences Center and the adjacent residence hall, West Village E. Top priorities, said Freeland, are boosting graduation rates—the goal is to ensure a 70 percent rate by 2008—and converting to a semester calendar. Four areas are crucial to Northeastern’s achieving top-100 status, said Freeland: student selectivity, student success, financial resources, and academic reputation. Freeland singled out several departments for their exceptional work in meeting Northeastern’s goals. The Criminal Justice and Engineering colleges were each cited for improvements in student quality and research productivity; Admissions was praised for meeting enrollment targets and admitting one of the best-prepared and most geographically diverse classes in university history; and the Lane Health Center was applauded for significantly improving student services. Freeland also praised the retention task force for developing a comprehensive set of initiatives aimed at improving the university’s graduation rate. New officials named Northeastern has welcomed several new officials this fall, including an athletics director, a nursing dean, and a journalism school director. David O’Brien, former athletics director at Temple University and Long Beach State, says he hopes to raise the athletics program’s national profile, increase the fan base, generate outside revenue, and improve campus facilities. At Temple, O’Brien oversaw a major Division IA athletics program, enjoyed successes in recruiting players and attracting new fans, and served as AD during the construction of a new basketball arena and football complex. Nursing dean Nancy Hoffart comes to Northeastern from the University of Kansas Medical Center School, where she was the assistant dean of the Primary Care and Nursing Systems Division as well as an associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management. Stephen Burgard, former editorial page editor at the Los Angeles Times, plans to improve the School of Journalism’s technological resources and facilities, and to further integrate the school into the “media-savvy” city of Boston. Burgard previously worked at the Stamford Advocate in Connecticut and at newspapers in the New York area. Take a Bow! Barry Karger, director of the Barnett Institute and James L. Waters Professor of Chemistry, has been awarded the Hungarian Chemical Society’s Halasz Medal for his and his colleagues’ groundbreaking contributions to chromatography and separation science. Karger received the award in mid-September at the 24th International Symposium on Chromatography in Leipzig, where he gave a lecture on “High Throughput–High Resolution Separation Mass Spectrometry for Proteomics.” Joseph Raelin, an expert in executive and professional education and work-based learning, has been named the Asa S. Knowles Chair of Practice-Oriented Education and executive director of the Center for the Study of Practice-Oriented Education. In his role at the center, Raelin will coordinate research on practice-oriented education (POE), analyze its effectiveness, and help develop POE policy initiatives. He will also play a key role in Northeastern’s biennial POE conference. Former management professor at Boston College’s Wallace E. Carroll School of Management, Raelin has also written extensively about the world of work and work-based learning.