Our drive to attain the next level of excellence and to provide our students with a life-changing education never ceases. The University's mission today comprises providing new technologies, launching new academic programs, promoting research and public dialogue on the critical social and political issues of the 21st-century, developing a world-class faculty, building new relationships with local, national and international communities, providing more and better student services and constructing new dormitories and academic facilities.

During 2000 and 2001, New School University made many administrative and academic improvements and laid the plans for future progress and innovation. In the fall of 2001, we implemented the last phases of the SCT Banner system, which provides a robust computer integration between financial aid, registration and the bursar so that students can easily navigate the complex details of university life. By the spring of 2002, degree and certificate students will be able to access their grades online, and by the fall of 2002, the University will launch self-service features to give students access to their personal data on the Web and to allow online registration.

The University has begun a planning process to review and upgrade its libraries. In connection withthis effort, the libraries have purchased innovative imaging software and image databases known as Luna, which will enable the University to digitize images from our own expansive and eclectic art collection. Luna is already in use at Parsons School of Design, and this software has exciting applications for curriculum development and teaching in every school and program. To get the most out of Luna, the University has also invested in presentation classrooms – so-called smart classrooms – that are connected to the Internet. Currently we have four such classrooms, and 11 more will be available by July 2002. Instructors teaching in a smart classroom outfitted with a computer and digital projector can use the image library to access and work with more than 2,000 images in the University's growing high-resolution digital image archives of art and architecture. The long-term goal is to create a University digital library.

Enhancing the physical campus is another major priority. With the opening of the new dormitory at William Street in the fall of 2001, the University now houses a total of 1,100 students, up from 800 last year. A second new dormitory on 13th Street, scheduled to open in August 2002, was purchased at the end of 2001, and we are pursuing several additional new dormitory locations in an effort to quickly reach the objective of housing at least 20% of the student body. Over the summer, construction began on University Hall. University Hall is an exciting university-wide project that will not only add program space to the campus but, more importantly, will build community among students across colleges and programs and help integrate the University's identity.