Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

Brooklyn College is an innovative liberal arts institution with a history of academic excellence in both undergraduate and graduate studies. Since its founding in 1930, the College has offered men and women—many of them immigrants or the children of immigrants, often the first in their families to go to college—a high-quality, affordable education leading to a productive career and a life rich in opportunities. Noted for its outstanding faculty, for a beautiful campus, and for a commitment "to be the best," Brooklyn College has been designated one of "America's Best Value Colleges" by the Princeton Review for many years.

Our undergraduates are the pride of Brooklyn College. The entering freshman class in fall 2008 numbered more than 1,350 (total enrollment was more than 16,650) and is composed largely of students of traditional college age. The College's admissions criteria are increasingly selective, and high-achieving high school students apply in ever-larger numbers for admission to the William E. Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College. Macaulay is one of the six distinctive, separately directed programs in the Honors Academy, where strong students from diverse backgrounds work together to excel in their disciplines.

As a public institution, Brooklyn College assumes public responsibilities. It has actively broadened its engagement with the surrounding neighborhood and with Brooklyn's cultural and social organizations, and partners with high schools throughout the borough. Its community newsletter brings campus services, facilities, and appropriate programs to the attention of Brooklyn residents.

A major capital construction and renovation program is currently in progress at Brooklyn College. Over the past fifteen years, New York State has allocated more than $500 million in capital funds to the College. The West Quad project—which includes state-of-the-art physical education and athletic facilities in addition to a second spacious quadrangle—is nearing completion. Plans for a new performing arts center were recently completed, and a new science complex is currently on the drawing boards of a well-known architectural firm.

The faculty of Brooklyn College teach, mentor, and advise, and very often they become students' best career counselors. In and out of the classroom, students at Brooklyn College get to know, and to work side by side with, leading academics, scientists, writers, and performers.

We recognize that our attentiveness to this aspect of the academic program is one way to bond students to an institution, so we are committed to improving our level of student counseling. The Brooklyn College strategic plan calls for carrying out a coordinated and comprehensive approach, involving both professional advisers and faculty.

Students who graduate from Brooklyn College report that their college learning experiences prepared them well for their occupations, and many go on to earn advanced degrees. According to the Fall 2007 Recent-Graduate Survey, more than 83 percent of those graduates reported that they had either already applied for admission to an advanced degree program or were planning to apply in the future. And nearly 73 percent said Brooklyn College had prepared them either “well” or “very well” for their occupations.

Faculty is therefore one of our most important resources. In the Fall 2008 semester, there were 537 full-time and more than 800 part-time faculty members at Brooklyn College; more than half of the faculty has been hired in the past eight years. The College welcomed both award-winning short-story author Amy Hempel and world-renowned concert pianist Ursula Oppens to the faculty in 2008. Contemporary music composer and recording artist Jason Eckardt—director and cofounder of the New York City-based Ensemble 21—joined in 2007.

Faculty hired last year also included Sarumathi Jayaraman, a lawyer, political scientist, and winner of the 2003 Union Square Award for outstanding grassroots community work; and John Marra, the new director of the Aquatic Research and Environmental Assessment Center (AREAC) at Brooklyn College, who continues to participate in NASA-sponsored research cruises investigating important aspects of ocean photosynthesis.

Other of our noteworthy and award-winning faculty include ASCAP Award-winning composer Tania León; short-story author and Obie Award-winning playwright Mac Wellman; Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edwin Burrows; computer theorist Rohit Parikh; and audiologist Shlomo Silman.