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SUPPORTING BOSTON UNIVERSITY METROPOLITAN COLLEGE

Your philanthropy will help forge the future of education

LEVERAGE FOR A LIFETIME OF LEARNING

Boston University’s Metropolitan College (MET), a proudly diverse and inclusive learning community focused on personal and professional development, invites you to join us in forging a fresh path forward for education. We leverage new educational technologies, our unique resources within a world-class research institution, and multiple platforms that give our students access to affordable options for a lifetime of learning. At MET, we are meeting the fast pace of change in today’s world with transformations in the classroom.

Work is evolving radically around the globe, and what professionals need to know to stay competitive changes with it. Computing technologies—from data sciences to cyber-physical systems—are revolutionizing and sunsetting traditional fields, but MET has proven itself a leader in first-class, renewable education. In the 20 years since MET introduced Boston University’s first online programs, we have set the standard for innovation and excellence.

Here are the latest accolades and just a few examples of our momentum. The 2023 U.S. News & World Report includes MET in the Top 10 in three major categories: Best Online Master’s in Business Programs (excluding MBA), Best Online Master’s in Computer Information Technology Programs, and, once again, Best Online Master’s in Criminal Justice Programs. We are among the top-ranked programs nationally for the 10th year running.

But we have been opening doors for students from all walks of life for over a half-century. And, in those decades, we have found that MET is better positioned than stand-alone continuing education programs to support what our student-professionals need. As for our broader community, when 2020 brought a sudden shift to online education, MET provided guidance to

Boston University—bringing this large, vibrant campus into the new format in record time.

MET is an early adopter of educational technologies that deliver transformative skills in a way that remains flexible and accessible for all. Our faculty prepare our part-time and full-time students deeply, with foundational material and cutting-edge research, through online, in-person, and hybrid formats, and through bachelor’s and master’s degrees, professional certificates, and more. At the same time, our professors hail from the very industries for which we are preparing our students, providing a unique entrepreneurial perspective, when it matters most.

MET has always considered itself BU’s bridge to the world. And, while there are a host of options for professional and continuing education, few can draw on the resources of a top-tier research university.

As our students have discovered on the job market, a Boston University degree means more, and they achieve more.

With your support, we can keep a Boston University education affordable and accessible for students who seek a way forward in a fast-paced future. With your help, we will: ⚫ Expand and renew our curricular development in

established and emerging fields

⚫ Invest further in our flexible education delivery

models

⚫ Transform students’ lives and their preparation for

work with a world-class Boston University education

Transformation relies on the expertise of our top-notch faculty, leaders with a vision, and philanthropists willing to forge the future of education. Will you join us?

OUR STRATEGIC VISION AND INITIATIVES

Metropolitan College’s foundations and new initiatives build on two main tenets that continually innovate new pathways to success for our student-professionals: new curricular development and flexible, multimodal delivery models. We will transform lives in the classroom to meet the challenges of the future.

How will we do it? Here are three select focuses of our strategic vision. ⚫ A Vibrant Academic Experience: MET continues

our tradition of innovating rigorous curricula that embed the latest industry tools and techniques.

We will make new skills available for more students with new delivery modalities, which we regularly develop and review.

⚪ Initiative: Teaching and Learning in a New Economy.

This interdisciplinary research program pulls together MET’s leading scholarship in learning science, data sciences, and the economics of education—particularly business models for professional education over extended career spans.

⚫ Research that Matters: MET students will gain

the hands-on skills they need to meet industry demands. Our research will be spearheaded by fulltime faculty who focus on quantitative and applied areas.

⚪ Initiative: Sustainable Development of Research-

Active, Industry-Cognizant Faculty. MET’s successes are driven by a faculty that remains active in research and scholarship. We are expanding our support for interdisciplinary and applied research by strengthening everything from early-career-faculty mentoring to crosscollege collaborations to industry partnerships.

⚫ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Traditionally one of

the most diverse colleges within Boston University, we partner with our students, faculty, and industry to research ways to broaden and strengthen this necessary work, and we will increase our engagement with underserved populations.

⚪ Initiative: Summer Pre-College Programs

for Students from Traditionally Underserved Populations. These programs support people

exploring the breadth of our educational programs and delivery formats as they take control of their educational journey. From our 700 courses in the Boston University Summer Term to our Summer Term Pre-College Program, which creates a pathway to BU and introduces our campus and the city of Boston to prospective students, MET is dedicated to progressively fostering access for all.

When you give to MET, we multiply your support through our innovative approaches to education. You add to our momentum. And our community agrees: When BU Today asked Cynthia R. Cohen about her new role as a vice chair of Boston University’s Board of Trustees, she replied, “I am a proud Metropolitan College graduate and owe my career to my BU degree. It’s a great pleasure for me to give back in time and philanthropy to the University. It’s a privilege to give back.”

MET Chair of Computer Science Anatoly Temkin, who has received BU’s Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching, says: “The most rewarding aspect of my job has always been communicating with faculty and students. My goal is to ensure that the students are exposed to an excellent experience, and that, as graduates, they take pride in having received their education with us. We are committed to preparing students for the challenges that are out there.”

Ann Chesley (MET’18) earned her graduate degree from MET through courses she completed online.

Even without entering a classroom on campus, she found a real connection to the school, thanks to the kindness and sense of community she found there.

“I felt that MET was my community. That was a wonderful feeling.” Ann was so impressed with her MET experience that she made a substantial planned gift to the college. “It’s such a wonderful institution,” she says, “and I am happy to think that other students will be able to benefit, too.”

We invite you to visit our website, where you can learn more about how we are continuing our tradition of building bridges to a Boston University education: bu.edu/met.

A BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE We believe we have a social obligation to make education accessible and affordable. Our strategic plan, our initiatives, and the way we listen to our students and teachers are at the heart of that guiding principle. But we do not stop there: We analyze hard data coming from our classrooms and the broader education landscape. We invest in new modalities that serve new student populations. And, most important, we keep our ear to the ground. That culture shines through in what our graduates achieve.

Annie Wilcox (MET’06,’09) was born at the very end of Jim Crow in Tennessee and dreamed of attending the same school that taught Martin Luther King Jr. (GRS’55, Hon.’59) At Metropolitan College, she made that dream a reality. She earned her BS and MS in Criminal Justice and became a community services officer in the Boston Police Department. In October 2014 she received the Henry L. Shattuck Public Service Award from the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, an award that recognizes the city’s most

dedicated workers. The following year Wilcox received the Robert H. Quinn Award for Outstanding Community Leadership from UMass Boston.

Her story resonated with Dean’s Advisory Board member Steve Akers (MET’94). Inspired by the 2020 social-justice protests, he wanted his philanthropy to clear a path forward for others, exemplify his alma mater’s values, and honor a Black alumna. “I thought it was really important to show that BU had always had this tradition of helping people regardless of their color,” he said. So, in addition to supporting two other MET office naming opportunities, Akers made a significant gift to name the Annie Wilcox Applied Social Sciences Chair’s Office.

Gifts like these make space for everyone who seeks access to the unique transformations MET makes possible.

The world is changing. MET has the vision to meet it.

Consider what futures your philanthropy can forge today.

For more information, please contact: Katherine Meyer Moran, EdD Director, Development & Alumni Relations Metropolitan College kcmeyer@bu.edu 617-358-5501

Boston University has finalized its strategic vision for the next decade. BU’s Strategic Planning Task Force consulted with the entire BU community to identify strengths to build on, challenges to meet, opportunities to seize, and emerging areas to explore. The task force landed on these five strategic priorities that capture the core of who we are as a private research university and that will guide BU over the next 10 years. They are: 1 A Vibrant Academic Experience 2 Research that Matters 3 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 4 Community, Big Yet Small 5 Global Engagement Metropolitan College’s strategic vision is informed by, and aligns with, the University’s overarching priorities.

bu.edu/met