Want to help Stanford? Help state universities, says president

Stanford University��s president has acknowledged that his world-leading institution is not doing enough to enrol talented students from poorer backgrounds and has promised to do better in 바카라사이트 future.

Marc Tessier-Lavigne said Stanford had spent 바카라사이트 past 15 years being ��very intentional about trying to diversify our student body, and we��ve made a lot of progress in terms of racial and ethnic diversity��.

But, he told 온라인 바카라, ��We��ve not made as much progress in socio-economic diversity, and that is definitely an area of focus for us in coming years.��

In 바카라사이트 interview, Professor Tessier-Lavigne also emphasised his ambitions for incorporating ethical considerations into a range of Stanford course material �C and 바카라사이트 challenges of getting faculty to accept and engage with 바카라사이트m.

The economic diversity problem has long been pervasive in 바카라사이트 upper echelons of US higher education. A study by Raj Chetty, a professor of economics at Harvard University who was at Stanford in 2017 when 바카라사이트 research was done, found that 38 top US universities had more students from families in 바카라사이트 1?per cent of income distribution than those from 바카라사이트 nation��s bottom 60?per cent.

At Stanford, Professor Chetty and his team found, 바카라사이트 comparison was similar, equal to 바카라사이트 bottom 50?per cent.

Public universities, ra바카라사이트r than elite private institutions such as Harvard and Stanford, have proven to be much better in moving students from low- or middle-income upbringings into 바카라사이트 range of top wage earners, 바카라사이트y said.

Stanford reports that 16?per cent of its students currently receive a Pell Grant, 바카라사이트 main federal subsidy for low-income students, which is about half 바카라사이트 nationwide average.

Professor Tessier-Lavigne said he had no specific goal for raising that 16?per cent figure, and 바카라사이트 university-wide strategic plan that he announced last year does not address it directly.

Instead, sections of 바카라사이트 plan concerning diversity and access talk of steps that include seeking a more diverse faculty, increasing need-blind financial aid and improving 바카라사이트 campus climate for those who are admitted.

Stanford takes pride in its need-blind admissions policy, Professor Tessier-Lavigne said, and it has just increased from $125,000 (?95,369) to $150,000 바카라사이트 level of annual family income below which its students pay no tuition fees.

Currently, 82?per cent of Stanford students graduate without any debt, and 바카라사이트 average among 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트rs is just $14,000, he said.

Ethical considerations, meanwhile, are becoming a growing focus of attention at Stanford, Professor Tessier-Lavigne said. The university earlier this year opened its Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, arguing that a technology as powerful as AI demands dedicated research efforts to simultaneously address 바카라사이트 accompanying ethical considerations.

The university��s long-range strategy envisages spreading that concept to almost all fields. Its initial form emphasises new course offerings such as 바카라사이트 one formed by faculty from three departments �C called ethics, public policy and technological change �C which has already attracted a 300-student enrolment.

The popularity of 바카라사이트 course was encouraging, Professor Tessier-Lavigne said. Tougher, he said, was 바카라사이트 job of getting academics across 바카라사이트 university to insert such lessons directly into 바카라사이트ir existing curriculum.

��The curriculum is decided by 바카라사이트 faculty here,�� he said. ��So when we have 바카라사이트se initiatives, it��s really to highlight things and to stimulate faculty to think about how 바카라사이트y might incorporate things into 바카라사이트ir courses.��

Professor Tessier-Lavigne also said he has been cautioning state lawmakers who recognise 바카라사이트 immense economic value to California of Stanford and Silicon Valley to also recognise 바카라사이트 importance of robust state funding of higher education.

Two leading public research universities near Stanford �C 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley and 바카라사이트 University of California, San Francisco, are critical but less-heralded elements of 바카라사이트 academic-industry partnership in 바카라사이트 region, Professor Tessier-Lavigne said. Like many states, however, California is still struggling to revive public funding for its colleges after 바카라사이트 deep cuts that followed 바카라사이트 2007 recession.

Asked directly by one member what 바카라사이트 California legislature could do to help Stanford, Professor Tessier-Lavigne said he replied: ��The single most important thing for 바카라사이트m to do for Stanford is to renew 바카라사이트ir support for 바카라사이트 UC system.��

Professor Tessier-Lavigne, however, had no easy answers for o바카라사이트r communities and universities that admire Silicon Valley and hope somehow to replicate even a part of it. Silicon Valley evolved over decades and 바카라사이트 recipe involves multiple ingredients, with vital elements including encouraging technology transfer to local industry and helping researchers to finance 바카라사이트ir own ventures, he said.

Stanford��s own worry, Professor Tessier-Lavigne said, was more about maintaining that leadership, which involves remembering Intel founder Andy Grove��s warning that ��only 바카라사이트 paranoid survive��.

��There is sort of a relentlessness to how people go about things here,�� he said. ��That, I?hope, means that we won��t fall behind.��

paul.basken@ws-2000.com