Around Campus

Where Do We Grow from Here? Strategic Planning Develops Possibilities

As Brown's faculty and programs expand, so does its need for facilities. Over the past forty years, the campus has doubled its square footage to 6 million, and in the next forty years the University may need an additional 6 million square feet.

Such an undertaking requires a long-term initiative with an experienced hand at its helm. That person is Rebecca Barnes '71 (left), the University's first director of strategic growth. The former chief planner for the City of Boston, Barnes also worked in the Providence Mayor's Office of Community Development from 1976 until 1979. She arrived at Brown in June. Her charge: Secure options for campus expansion beyond what is available on College Hill, and ensure that Brown's growth will benefit Providence and all of Rhode Island.

Already, Barnes is working closely with representatives of the city, state, and business communities, all of whom look to the University's research and technology transfer as economic engines.

In a knowledge-based society, "universities have a bigger role to play," Barnes said. "We are members of the civic leadership, and our growth has implications of the intellectual, physical, and social kind."

"As we think about opportunities for the future, we imagine a different way to plan these new parts of our campus, with University programs integrated into the urban environment," said Richard Spies, executive vice president for planning, to whom Barnes reports. The establishment of Brown's Laboratory for Molecular Medicine at 70 Ship St. has enabled more collaboration among Brown researchers, hospital affiliates, and bio-tech startups in that area, he said.

As a Brown undergraduate, Barnes said she never dreamed that Providence would ever be called the Renaissance City. But now, with its lively downtown residential and business districts, that term really seems to fit. "Brown is a jewel of a university in a city that has changed dramatically in thirty years," said Barnes. The Brown of the mid-21st century "probably won't look exactly like it has in the past, but maintaining its quality while responding to new challenges and new opportunities, and being shaped in new ways -- that is part of Brown's tradition."

The newest opportunity to present itself: 121 South Main Street, a 160,000 gross-square-foot office building at the foot of College Hill in Providence. The University announced in August its plan to purchase the building, which includes office and retail space (Hemenway's restaurant will remain) and a 160-space parking garage. The building is within walking distance of the University's historic campus and offers high-quality, flexible space that the University can easily adapt to its short- and long-term needs, Barnes said. It also is convenient to University uses in the Jewelry District and to Rhode Island Hospital, Brown Medical School's largest affiliated hospital. "This purchase makes sense only because it is part of a longer-run strategic plan, not just a single, isolated acquisition" Barnes said. -- Tracie Sweeney

Pamela O'Neil: A New Resource for Research Initiatives

Faculty members working on grant proposals -- particularly those involving collaboration -- have an ally in Pamela O'Neil (left), the University's new assistant vice president for research initiatives.

As a member of the office of the Vice President for Research, O'Neil has a number of responsibilities involving the University's research enterprise. In the coming academic year, O'Neil will focus in particular on working with faculty to develop their grant application skills, especially for projects involving large teams of collaborators.

Often, the success of such applications hinges on specifics outside the primary investigator's scientific goals, O'Neil said. Equally critical is the quality of a proposal's plans for diversity, evaluation, and project management.

O'Neil speaks from experience. For two years, while serving as the associate vice chancellor for research at the University of New Orleans, she also worked as a program director at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and saw how poorly-conceived plans for management, diversity, and evaluation "could totally sink a proposal."

Since arriving on campus in February, O'Neil has fielded dozens of requests from faculty for her expertise. She's currently helping the University apply for a grant from the NSF's ADVANCE Program for Institutional Transformation. This program promotes the increased participation and advancement of women scientists and engineers in academe. Awards support innovative and comprehensive programs for institution-wide change.

O'Neil's arrival marks her return to College Hill. She graduated from Brown in 1991 with a doctorate in biology and medical sciences. Her thesis was titled "The evolutionary ecology of sex allocation and tristyly in Lythrum salicaria (lythraceae)"; her advisor was Professor of Biology Johanna Schmitt.

"Brown is the right-sized place to get involved in collaborative research," O'Neil said. "The exceptional faculty here are so willing to be a part of larger efforts ... and many seek involvement in interdisciplinary proposals." -- Tracie Sweeney

Success by the Numbers at Brown Annual Fund

Judging by figures released by the Brown Annual Fund, the achievements of Fiscal Year 2005 are stellar. Lynne Fraser, executive director of Brown's Annual Leadership Programs, and Tammie Ruda, director of the Brown Annual Fund, reported that:

• The Brown Annual Fund set an all-time record. Overall, the fund raised $25,077,372 from 30,230 donors. The dollar figure is up by $2.2 million (9.6 percent) over FY 2004, and donors increased by 2,952 (10.8 percent);
• the Parents Program continues as a national leader with $3.36 million raised this year from non-alumni parents;
• reunion classes raised $7.3 million, a 12 percent increase over last year. Seven classes set Annual Fund records, and for the first time, three reunion classes each exceeded $1 million -- the Classes of 1985, 1980, and 1975;
• The Class of 2005 set a new participation record for the Senior Class Gift, reaching 68.3 percent, besting the classes of 2002 and 2003, which both reached 66 percent.

"The success of the Brown Annual Fund is critically important as we approach the public portion of the upcoming comprehensive campaign," said Neil Steinberg '75, vice president of development and campaign director, "and will be an equally vital component throughout the campaign." -- Tracie Sweeney

Canchola-Flores Says Goodbye after Sixteen Years

In the years between 1992 and 2005, enrollment of Native American undergraduates at the University more than tripled -- from 9 to 33.

For Agnes Gund, the steady increase bears witness to the success of Tony Canchola-Flores (left), senior associate director of admissions and coordinator of multicultural recruitment at Brown.

"Tony is fantastic," said Gund, a University trustee emerita who first met Canchola-Flores through her work on the Corporation Committee on Admission and Financial Aid. Gund was particularly interested in outreach to students of color, especially to Native Americans.

"At one time, there were only two Native American undergraduate students at Brown," and the campus climate for them was not a comfortable one, Gund said. Canchola-Flores traveled to reservations throughout the country as part of the College Horizons program to speak with high school students and tell them how a Brown education could make a difference in their lives. He encouraged Native American teens as well as other promising high school students of color to attend Brown's open houses for minority students, and followed up with phone calls. Even when they chose to enroll elsewhere, Canchola-Flores kept in touch with the students and watched over their undergraduate careers, offering guidance and advice. The students "were bowled over by the attention he paid them," Gund said.

"What was so great about Tony is that he offered Brown a network of people -- of all races, all across the country -- who loved and trusted him," said Athletic Director Michael Goldberger, who, as director of admission, worked with Canchola-Flores for many years. Parents who were reluctant to send their children far from home to attend Brown found Tony particularly comforting and supportive, Goldberger said.

Canchola-Flores was named Brown's associate director of admissions in September 1989 and served as coordinator of minority recruitment. In 1994, President Vartan Gregorian selected Canchola-Flores to lead the newly reorganized financial aid office. Four years later, Canchola-Flores returned to the admission office to serve as senior associate director until last fall, when he took a leave of absence to care for his ailing father in Tuscon, Ariz.

The leave has become permanent: In July, Canchola-Flores decided to remain in Arizona to continue to care for his father, who has cancer, and to help run the Canchola Group -- a family business with more than 350 employees who work in fast food, sports and real estate enterprises throughout Arizona.

The decision to leave Brown after sixteen years was not easy. "I had fantastic support" for the programs he led, Canchola-Flores said in a recent phone call. "So many faculty members and administrators were so giving of their time. I'll miss them, as well as the students I worked with on a variety of initiatives." -- Tracie Sweeney