President Maury McInnis told The News that she doesn't plan to articulate a clear vision for the university or make any changes before she takes office in April, but she does consider investing in student mental health and science and engineering programs to be priorities.
Josie Reich August 29, 2024 12:16 AM
Reporter
Yale News
President Maury McInnis stressed to the News that she has no plans to make any changes to the university or its policies in the near future, but said she believes student mental health and investing in science and engineering are Yale's top current priorities as she continues her “listening tour” of Yale officials.
“I really believe it's important to meet with a lot of people, hear what their aspirations are for Yale, and really learn where Yale's strengths are before we can really come up with concrete solutions,” McInnis said.
She said it was “absolutely” safe to say there are no current plans for any changes from the Salovey administration.
She added that she has not hired anyone to join the team and has no plans to make any changes to the university's leadership staff.
McInnis's induction ceremony will break with tradition and take place in April for the spring semester. Former President Peter Salovey was inaugurated on Oct. 13, 2013, and former President Richard Levin was inaugurated on Oct. 2, 1993.
“I think we'll be able to unveil some things once the inauguration is over,” McInnis said, “and we'll have something of a vision speech by then, but there won't be any dramatic changes from the direction of Yale.”
Focus on mental health
In her commencement speech last week, she framed her message to incoming freshmen around the idea that loneliness and the mental health issues that come with it are common among college students and that “community is the antidote to loneliness.”
McInnis told the News that she decided to center her speech around mental health because she heard the issue come up repeatedly from multiple sources, including feedback from her own children and their friends, academic research and a February survey in which Yale students cited mental health as their biggest challenge at college.
“We don't know the specifics of what they mean,” she said of the survey results. “As we talk to students and get to know people better, we hope to really understand what they mean, what they feel they need, and what we can do to better support them,” she said. “We know the answer is usually a multivariate answer.”
Addressing mental health issues will come in several forms, including “normalizing” the problem, undertaking prevention efforts and providing counseling resources, McInnis said, adding that he believes Yale's residential college system is a unique and useful tool in improving student mental health.
In response to the survey's findings last year, then-President Peter Salovey told the paper that the university president “does not set policy on services or issues affecting students overall,” and that mental health policy is the responsibility of University Life and deans. But he added that the president can raise awareness, raise funds and influence policy, which he has done with his support of Yale Community Care (YC3).
Investing in science and technology
McInnis said Yale's top priority is “executing the plan that has been developed for investing in science.”
“I have to say that Yale's science facilities are outdated to support modern science,” she said.
In February 2022, the university announced a 10-year plan to improve the university's science and engineering programs. Now in its third year, the project will invest in the construction and modernization of campus buildings and the hiring of 45 new faculty members.
The project began with the construction of a new physical sciences and engineering building on Science Hill and is now in the implementation phase, which includes renovations to buildings on lower Hillhouse Avenue. McInnis said he will be actively involved in the continued development of the plan, but there is nothing he would like to change.
“What's really important is that we get all of these (new science facilities) right,” she said. “I'm very committed to that work. I've been a part of the corporation and have helped with that work, and now I'm honored to be supporting academic leaders to make sure we get this done, get it done well, and build Yale into a science and engineering powerhouse.”
McInnis said the plan specifically aims to support science related to global solutions, biodiversity loss and climate change, ageing and disease, neuroscience, quantum computing, and data and computational science.
When the project was announced, University President Scott Stroebel told the News it would continue to evolve, including budget adjustments as faculty are hired.
“The buildings are not empty, there are people living there,” Strobel said, “and they need to be able to keep working, so it's a long process of relocating, shifting, renovating and then relocating some more.”
McInnis began his term as university president on July 1.
Josie Reich
Josie Reich reports for the College Provost and previously reported on Enrollment and Scholarships. Originally from Washington, DC, she is currently a junior majoring in American Studies at Davenport College.
