The SBU president's statement

Dr. Nadimi 

SBU as one of the largest Universities in Iran has targeted the expansion of her programs both in terms of departments and the number of students and the quality graduate of various programs. In the last 15 years the graduate programs at SBU have grown by almost 700%, Compared to our student body the percentage of graduate students stands at 25% now. Our long term goal is to increase this to 40%. To improve the quality of our graduate programs we have attracted experienced faculty, have established research centers and have shifted a part of our budget from teaching to research. Currently the university operates with 10 schools, three research centers, and three research labs. SBU offers B.A. and B.S. in 40 degree programs, M.S. and M.A. in 60 degree programs and Doctorates in 30 degree programs.

With more graduate students the average age of our students has increased. Many of our students are now married as are on the verge of  marriage. Our internal studies on the quality of our graduates has revealed that even though almost all our new students have been in the top 5% of their class in high-school and among the best and brightest in the nation, the students who come from Tehran have a 30% more probability of maintaining their ranking in their own class. We believe the root cause for this discrepancy lies in the limited on campus residence facilities available to our student who come from the provinces. The relative high price of quality residences in northern Tehran where our University is located is also an important parameter. The problem becomes more acute for graduate students. Graduate students who have to spend many years in their late twenties doing research have to strike a balance between their school and family. In addition to proper housing costly traditions in marriage ceremonies is also another hindrance. Having realized this the university has supported the plans of student organizations in two large marriage celebrations. To solve the problem of housing for our married students we have a plan to build 5 residential towers. The normal process of using government funds is going to be slower than our academic expansion plans. On the other hand ignoring the needs of our graduate students for peace of mind and the chance to form a family is equivalent to ignoring the moral side of our scientific discipline.

Attracting funds from culture and science loving individuals can definitely expedite this process. The University has successfully benefited from such key private support in the past as in the case of "Good Deed" (Amal Saleh) dormitories. We sincerely welcome the generocity of Dr. Mohammad Yazdi who has opened the possibility of renewed efforts in expediting our plans for building the very much needed married graduate student housing facilities.

As a University president I believe that we can not achieve our scientific goals without providing enough facilities for our students for peace of mind and a strong moral discipline. Similarly one of the important targets of our sciences must be the strengthening of moral values in the society. This dual purpose deeply rooted in our value system has been our guide in educating some of the best students in the nation.