From: NYU President John Sexton
Date: February 27, 2008 4:47:07 PM EST
Subject: Administrative Efficiencies and University Resources

New York University is a remarkable institution with accomplishments over the
past twenty-five years that are unrivaled among universities. A key reason for
this is our willingness to take prudent risks, and a second reason is our
constant drive for improvement, knowing that we can do better as individuals
and as a community. Many of these initiatives involve starting innovative
programs, hiring and retaining excellent faculty, building new facilities, and
recruiting outstanding students. Dedicated administrators who often face an
amazingly complex environment provide the support to allow our academic efforts
to flourish.

Despite these impressive accomplishments, NYU continues to have a high ratio of
dreams to resources. In a world where financial markets are in turmoil, the US
economy and currency are weakening, and our elected officials are raising
serious questions about higher education, we need to examine continuously how
our University functions and be sure that we are using our resources as
optimally as possible. In our current environment, this will require finding
new ways of supporting our academic enterprise.

Each year Deans, the Senate Financial Affairs Committee, the Board of
Trustees, a group of financial analysts, and the University leadership develop
the budget for NYU. It is a daunting task to set priorities recognizing the
diverse interests of students, faculty and administrators; the high costs in
New York City; the need to keep NYU on solid financial footing; and most
importantly, the amazing dreams of our students, faculty and schools. I
believe we have achieved an excellent balance in recent years attaining many of
our goals while stabilizing and enhancing our fiscal position. For example,
the Partners Plan has been very successful in expanding the size and quality of
our faculty at the University's Arts and Sciences core with linkages throughout
all of NYU; we have made a substantial investment in student well-being through
our residence and health programs, an investment which has helped to increase
student retention and graduation rates significantly; and we have invested more
than one billion dollars since 2002 in new and improved facilities that have
enhanced all schools at NYU.

Even though NYU's budget and long-term financial plan are stronger than in many
years, looking forward, the tools that have served us well for the past half-
dozen years are no longer sufficient to ensure that the University can continue
on a trajectory to improvement without adaptation to new realities. Most would
agree that the country is facing serious economic and financial challenges, and
federal and many state governments have reacted by reducing support for
research and higher education. This will have an impact on NYU's financial
situation even as NYU and each of its schools have identified numerous capital
projects that will require many billions of dollars to complete in the coming
years.

In response to these challenges, the University Administration has decided to
achieve new and greater efficiencies in administration through a fundamental
restructuring of the way we look at operations and how they are funded. To be
sure, positioning the University for success now, as well as in the future,
will require an enormous commitment from all sectors in our community. I write
to you today to explain what we have done so far, and what we intend to do in
the coming years.

Beginning several years ago, NYU switched to a long-term budget approach that
includes ten-year projections to give us a better financial understanding of
our academic decisions. We launched what has become the most successful
capital campaign in the history of the University. We also initiated the
creation of a safety net against the possibility of major unforeseen financial
problems in the future by building a "Contingency Reserve Fund." This fund will
be developed by administrative savings and also by significant contributions
from each of the schools at NYU. Within about 7 years, this fund will equal 10
percent of our operating budget, and will provide a needed hedge against
economic downturns or other challenges that may arise in the future. We
created the NYU Sustainability Task Force, which will not only make the planet
a bit better, but will conserve financial resources that can be redeployed to
our academic programs. Finally, this past year we launched both NYU Plans
Space 2031 and the NYU Framework 2031 to engage the NYU community in serious
deliberations about NYU's development.

As significant as these efforts may be, they are not enough. To continue to
improve, therefore, we must engage in a multi-year restructuring of the
University's administration. This restructuring will be undertaken with the
proviso that it must not affect our academic trajectory. Said another way, we
seek an approach to administration that norms all expenditures to the following
criteria:

a. Does the expenditure contribute efficiently to the recruitment,
retention, and enhancement of our students?
b. Does the expenditure contribute efficiently to the recruitment,
retention and enhancement of our faculty?
c. Does the expenditure contribute efficiently to the educational vision,
research capacity and clinical capabilities of our schools?
d. Is it required by law, regulatory, safety or accounting standards?

The initial discussions with the University Leadership Team has produced
positive reactions, and a preliminary discussion with the Senate Financial
Affairs Committee has begun. However, there is a natural tendency to say
that, "Achieving better efficiency as we meet the above norms is a worthy
goal
. as long as it doesn't affect my school or my area." To be sure, we all
work very hard, and that hard work is responsible for achieving the stature NYU
now enjoys. However, sometimes our administrative operations are outmoded and
inefficient. Sometimes process (yes, I'll say it: "bureaucracy") gets in the
way of our purposes. Sometimes the administrative units grow too large. And
sometimes organizations outside of the University have better approaches and
can provide better efficiencies.

NYU's administrators provide the infrastructure that enable scholars to carry
on their research and teaching and learning to take place. Their role is
important, and they undertake their duties conscientiously. However, it can be
difficult in the midst of carrying out one's responsibilities to evaluate
whether they are being conducted as efficiently as possible.

So I have asked Executive Vice President Mike Alfano, to direct a University-
wide effort to develop a more efficient, less expensive University
administration. Mike has experience in restructuring efforts in both the
academic and corporate world. He will look to the University Core leadership
for policy guidance, and he will organize, utilize and value the kind of broad
input from the University constituent groups that has enabled NYU to achieve
change and improvements in such areas as sustainability, university benefits,
and space planning. Mike is engaged in meeting with various constituent groups
now, and will be announcing the approaches we will use to gain these
administrative efficiencies in the next few weeks. I ask you to join me in
working with Mike to help NYU achieve a more efficient administration that will
ensure that we meet our goals, now and in the future.

In closing, let me again emphasize two things. First, what we will be doing is
finding better and more effective ways to administer the University, and the
changes will not involve decreases in faculty or reduction in student
services. Second, the purpose of these changes will be to provide additional
capacity to advance our academic enterprise. It is that enterprise, after all,
that is the core of what we do.

I thank you in advance for your assistance.

—-—-—-—-—-—-—- via NYU E-Mail Direct —-—-—-—-—-—-—-

Last night, a buddy of mine (who is a peer sex educator at NYU, meaning he sleeps with the gays after giving them advice on safer sex) hosted a Residential Education event entitled "NYU Sextravaganza" at the Brittany Residence Hall, with special guest Julia Allison. Not only did she make a fool of herself, but she also asked to be repeatedly whipped by the flaming presentor. He did three times, each time a little harder (Julia's suggestion) because he was being too gentle and "a bitch." Apparently he left a mark on her arm (though I wish it was her face!). She also stated that she didn't know what a butt plug was, and that she's never had anal sex (you do what you'd like with a joke there).

After awkward flirty exchanges in front of the crowd, the gay boy asked her out, to which she declined because fat ass was planning on getting some french fries. Though must of us assumed it was code for another round of pink vodka.

I don't know why I hate the bitch so much, but yeah, I should have just rented a porn and spent my evening masturbating.

Correction: Dudes, don't wig out. Fatty Crab is replacing the Zen Palate on 77th and Broadway. My bad. Blaze away!

Hi

My name is [redacted]. I am a graduate student at Steinhardt but I also work at NYU. My work is called The New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU. In April 2008, we're hosting a climate change event, and leading up to that we are holding a few free crochet coral reef workshops. This Crochet Coral Reef has been called "the AIDS quilt of global warming" in it's ability to connect people to the issues and have them become educated and involved. To see what I mean, look here.

And yes this is basically your invitation to come up with and then post even more inappropriate descriptions of progressive political action, like "my work has been called the Holocaust museum of universal health insurance" or something.

About the Crochet Coral Reef [TheIFF]

It takes more than a caffeine fix at Starbucks for Tisch junior Priya Shelly to make it to class. As a resident of Water Street residence hall, Shelly relies on university buses—the vital link between faraway residence halls and the Washington Square campus in operation since the late 1990s—in order to get to class. But buses that are crowded, frequently late and take convoluted routes have made Shelly's commute a constant inconvenience. "Sometimes, the bus doesn't show up at all," she said.

"Coming from Water Street [the buses are] almost always overcrowded," Shelly said. "One morning, probably around 9 a.m., it was so crowded that I had to stand in the space between the doorway and the steps and grab onto bars just to get to my destination."

Campus buses add hassle to bustle [WSN]

But maybe they just annoy those of us who, ahem, used to be them? I asked a few other grown-ups (ha!) who went to school in the city (Eugene Lang represent! Or, more accurately, Eugene Lang deconstruct!) how they feel about the onslaught of youth, and the memories these fresh faces stir.

"Well I feel like it's kind of like they're tadpoles and we're frogs," says one lady (Lang '04). "Like, frogs lay a lot of eggs, and so a ton of tadpoles hatch. And a bunch of them get eaten by fish. The people who still live here after graduation are the ones who made it to the frog stage." Uh huh. Or the tadpoles' parents are paying the tadpoles' rent!

A more recent grad (NYU '06) is a tad more negative. "NYU kids are the cancer on the bosom of the LES. I really don't need to see another drunk kid sporting a jewfro a dumbass A&F shirt with the collar predictably popped as he leans on his other dumbass friend that still hasn't gotten rid of his teenage acne." Do they, uh, remind him of a previous version of himself? "No, they don't thank god." Riiiiight.

A second former NYU kid weighs in. "Haha, I haven't noticed them, as a rule I try and stay off Third Avenue." Words to live by.

Commenters over on the Live Journal say this: "Couldn't your protesting energy be better spent on something like, the Rockefeller Drug Laws which disproportionately affect poor people of color? I think they could use your help more than an incredibly wealthy hotel heiress."

Also: "Forget the expired license and drunk driving. Paris Hilton deserves to be jailed for pushing feminism back to the dark ages." Preach it!

The protest's organizer has a zingy comeback, though.

"Thanks for your opinion ... maybe if this continues to get press we can ride the wave to draw attention to the LARGER issues in this country. Conservative judges, outdated drug policy, and so forth."

Yes! First Paris, and then Leonard Peltier or whatnot! —Emily

Free Paris Hilton NOW Protest[LJ]
Related: Buy A Don't Free Paris T-Shirt From Us

She also points out that her grandmother Terrie Rabinowitz's talk was "the most attended Student Council event last year" and invites interested parties to contact her about booking Terrie for their next "corporate function, party, or forum." Oh and! A prominent banner reads, "Frolic with me." Did we say Meredith was a "pompous ass?" We clearly meant to say that she is a "totally fun girl who seems to have been hung out to dry by her school's administration."

Because, as Dolgin explains, and as the Washington Square News conspicuously failed to, she actually did not step down as president:

Tuesday was the last student council meeting of the year, and I passed the torch to the new representatives, as occurs every year at the last meeting, and as stated in the constitution. This was not a resignation. I conducted the meeting as it should have been run and stood up for the student body - the only difference was that the students allowed their voice to be trumped by NYU bureaucracy. Nobody on the investigation committee could pinpoint what actually could have happened that would have made the elections illegitimate. They cited "miscommunication" in the vague statement that was issued. I was faced with a very tough decision.
I respect the administration for their hard work and dedication to diplomacy throughout this situation, but as student council president, I had to uphold the legitimacy of the student council and listen to the student voice.

Hey Gang, Let's Put On A Rocky Horror Picture Show [NYT]
[Image via Acting For A Cure]

Students find lines an annoying obstacle when trying to grab a cup of joe between classes.

For example, a WSN reporter found that the average wait to place an order after the 10:45 a.m. class dismissal was eight minutes, and it took an average of 11 minutes to actually get a drink in hand.

The line, which now often wraps around itself after looping around the back of Starbucks, has caused cramped and awkward moments for students.

Starbucks and NYU are working to fix these problems, officials said.

"We've added a third register to handle transactions, added a second handoff station to speed up beverage delivery and equipped cashiers with radios to process orders faster," Hellen said.

The radios, which allow one employee to take students orders in line, were implemented last March and seem to be cutting down the time it takes to get in and out, Bolloum said.

But student frustration has not subsided.

"I think it's promoting civil unrest within NYU," sophomore Lauren Page Burner said.

Lines From Hell in Latte Heaven [Washington Square News]

Earlier: 13 Ways NYU Kids Cut Class Exposed

Since five or six of you are not down at N.Y.U. right now, where a zoo has erupted around the demonstration planned by the college Republicans against illegal immigration, Gawker videographer Richard Blakeley went out to catch the scene. It's just like the 60's down there! Please enjoy the folk singing.

"Find the Illegal Immigrant"

There will be one individual with a nametag that reads 'illegal immigrant'. This person has volunteered to do so and is not actually an illegal immigrant. On Thursday people will be signing up to be 'INS' and the
first person that signed up and finds the "illegal" will get a prize. At the table there will be information and handouts on the subject matter to inform others on the problems that ILLEGAL immigration causes.

Name: Find the Illegal Immigrant
Host: NYU College Republicans
Type: Causes - Rally
Date: Thursday, February 22, 2007
Time: 11:00am - 2:00pm
Location: South side of Silver

Marc, who refused to give his last name, said he and his roommate were burning old credit card receipts that had his card number on them.

"I guess it's not the smartest thing," he said, adding he doesn't own a shredder.

Marc said he left the trash can once the fire seemed to be put out and went down the hall to watch the television show "24."

CAS freshman Abe Katz said students waiting outside in the cold had their own theories about the cause of the fire. "Rumor has it that is was a toaster," he said. Katz created a Facebook group shortly after the incident called "I love Room 312 because they make us go outside in the cold"

You might find it helpful to peruse the law school picture book as you make your selections. You all probably have it bookmarked anyway, admit it. Keep in mind that many transfers don't have pictures. Don't hold that against them. There are some cuties in the bunch.

We want to emphasize that "attractive" can mean whatever you want it to. There's no requirement that physical appearance play any role in your selections. How you vote is completely up to you, with the only guidelines those you choose for yourself. After all, "personality goes a long way."

If the demarcation of students by seemingly arbitrary criteria bothers you, perhaps you shouldn't have come to law school. We can call it "Hot Review," if that makes you feel better. Oh, and chill out. It's just for fun. You have the rest of your life to hate what you do.

Who Are the Most Attractive 3Ls at NYU?

my friend says she was in Washington Square Park yesterday, and 4 guys calling themselves "Robin Hoods" showed up with $1,000 in 1s, 5s, and 10s, and literally started throwing it into the air. A mini riot ensued in which people were literally punching each other to get the money.

Update: In response to the Post's negative coverage of the event, the moderndayrobinhood.com kids are packing up their bags and moving their free-money giveaways to "another country." Thanks, Post!