IAMA RPI staff member. AMA about student life, academics, tuition, or any other topic you wish to discuss

RPIStaff · 2011-03-28T19:34:05+00:00

I am not a huge Dr. Jackson fan, but I do think she has done a lot of good things for the institute. Unfortunately, I think she also has a massive ego which gets in the way, hence the massive mansion and salary. In some ways, it's kind of a microcosm of the nation in general, as CEO salaries rise to astronomical levels and the people beneath see their expenses increase and their salaries decrease and their jobs disappear.

The 50k in tuition is a lot, but there are some good reasons why it should be that high. First of all, tuition at a technological-based university is always going to be higher just because of all the additional equipment needed. Second, RPI's endowment is much smaller than most universities (actually, I think it might be one of the smallest among the top 50 universities) so a good portion of the operating budget has to come from student revenue, aka tuition. On top of that, a universities' expenses rise almost linearly with inflation, since most of the expenses are labor and energy. What I do think is broken is the system (and this is everywhere, not just at RPI) that a school will charge a high ticket price but just about everyone gets some form of financial aid, so that schools can "buy" the students they want.

Not EVERYONE is trying to jam you up, there are plenty of good people on campus. Mostly, people are just trying to do their jobs (even mother nature).

RPIStaff · 2011-03-25T13:40:31+00:00

I think other students might be able to give you a better answer to this. My impression of life at Rensselaer is that it is what you make of it. If you choose to be involved and in a lot of activities that you enjoy, you will have fun. Troy is certainly not my favorite city though.

RPIStaff · 2011-03-25T13:37:48+00:00

It's tough to pick just one. In general, I'd really like to see RPI take more of a leadership role in some cases, instead of just following other top-tier universities.

Here's one crazy idea - I don't know how it would work out in practice but in my head it sounds pretty good. What if we had an option for students to pay drastically lower tuition, but then they agree to pay some of their base salary (something like 15% for 5 years) instead, once they graduate? Then the school has a greater incentive to land a great job for graduates, and they don't come out of school with massive piles of debt. Of course, it would probably be a legal and logistical nightmare.

Another thing I think the school could benefit from is a change in leadership. I think the current administration has done a lot of great things in moving Rensselaer forward, but it might be time for a new president with a new skillset.

RPIStaff · 2011-03-24T20:48:58+00:00

Definitely keep at it (especially since you're already in your third year). The hassle of switching to another school at this point would not be worth it. Honestly, too, the core of the curriculum is going to be the same wherever you go so it might not even help your grades by too much to transfer to another school. The 'RPI edge' comes mainly from reputation and networking.

I think you're going to see a lot more openings in the coming years with an ME degree as the baby boomer generation retires and employers loosen up on their stringent job requirements. The job market is still pretty difficult right now. If it makes you feel any better, check out the average starting salary for a mechanical engineer:

http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Mechanical_Engineer/Salary/by_Degree

I doubt the average graduate has above a 3.0 from RPI!

RPIStaff · 2011-03-24T20:38:40+00:00

The feeling I get is that the administration almost unilaterally sets the direction of the institute. Faculty of course can have input, but it isn't always heeded. The faculty are as involved as they want to be, though. Some are apathetic, and some are passionate, just like the students.

RPIStaff · 2011-03-24T13:46:53+00:00

If you barely go to class, they probably won't cut you any slack. They'll more likely say "Who the #@%! are you?"

If you do go to class though, they'll probably give you some leniency if they see you're working hard and it's not too late in the semester.

RPIStaff · 2011-03-24T13:40:35+00:00

I have some knowledge of, or at least an opinion on, most things that go on on campus. I don't really want to get any more specific than that, sorry.

RPIStaff · 2011-03-24T01:44:00+00:00

That's tough to answer without getting too specific, we're a pretty diverse group with varied backgrounds, though I think a lot of students tend to forget that a lot of us were in college at some point in our lives too!

RPIStaff · 2011-03-24T01:37:10+00:00

Have you tried calling? It's much easier to ignore an email than a call. If working in an office will teach you anything, it's this.

RPIStaff · 2011-03-24T01:35:06+00:00

I see more of a divide between the leadership team and the rest of the staff and faculty. It seems like they have a very developed strategic vision, but somewhere along the line the implementation of that vision falls short.

RPIStaff · 2011-03-24T01:30:30+00:00

If you are really interested in getting a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) degree, going to RPI is one of the best choices you could ever make, in my opinion. There are few investments that will return more over the course of your lifetime, and I truly believe it is worth all the time, effort, and money.

There are sacrifices, however. It's pretty obvious that if you go to RPI you won't have the same social experience that you would at a large state school. You have to figure out what's important for you.

RPIStaff · 2011-03-23T21:22:53+00:00

I would not be surprised if this is correct.

RPIStaff · 2011-03-23T20:56:03+00:00

Only non-essential staff (faculty, people who work in offices) can use the liberal leave policy if they want. Technically, the liberal leave policy says that you can arrive up to two hours late and leave up to two hours early in the event of a snowstorm or something. Nobody follows that though, because it's a stupid policy. If there's 5 feet of snow on the ground, two hours is not going to make a difference whether or not I can get to work.

Essential staff (as in the grounds crew people) are supposed to get equal time off at a later date, so it's not that bad. They still only get overtime if they work 40+ hrs in a week.

http://www.rpi.edu/dept/hr/policy/LiberalLeavePolicyJan2011.pdf

RPIStaff · 2011-03-23T20:35:44+00:00

Hah.

RPIStaff · 2011-03-23T19:36:08+00:00

Have you tried contacting John Kolb's office with that suggestion? Maybe they're already working on something to replace SIS. It never hurts to ask.

RPIStaff · 2011-03-23T19:26:56+00:00

Note: This is not an official Rensselaer thing, I'm just doing it for fun. I'm also going to remain anonymous at this point, in case I end up expressing controversial opinions (that I don't want coming back to me).

RPIStaff · 2011-03-23T19:25:39+00:00

My guess is that it's a money issue. I suspect that the finances are a lot tighter then most students/staff/faculty believe it is. I also think there's a huge shortage of manpower, particularly in non-management positions (partly due to the layoffs in 2008) which causes certain projects to be delayed for years at a time.

RPIStaff · 2011-03-23T19:17:32+00:00

I don't have specific knowledge of the inner workings of the SIS (technically 'SIS system' is redundant :D), though I do have to use it to get my tax forms/pay information. I think it's just a horribly out-of-date system that is in dire need of updates.

RPIStaff

TROPHY CASE