Location
Northeastern's residential campus is located in the heart of Boston, where the distinctive neighborhoods of the Back Bay, the South End, the Fenway, and Roxbury meet. Over half of the student body lives on campus and many of the residence halls have amazing views of the Boston skyline.
The Back Bay area, known for its many cultural and educational institutions, is just steps away from Symphony Hall, the New England Conservatory of Music, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The South End is home to elegant Victorian row houses, a vibrant arts scene, hidden gardens, and some of the finest dining in Boston. The Fenway area, with its beautiful rose garden, bicycle and jogging paths, and Fenway Park (home of the Boston Red Sox) is also just a few blocks away.
Campus Facilities & Equipment
Northeastern is home to more than fifty research centers and undergraduates have ample opportunities to work alongside their professors to aid and conduct research on a variety of topics. The university library system is comprised of Snell Library, a 240,000-square-foot central library on the Boston campus, the School of Law Library, and a small supplemental collection at the Nahant Marine Science Center. Snell Library houses 780,669 print volumes, 548,806 e-books, 1,163,735 microfilms, and access to 83,511 licensed electronic journals, as well as 23,437 audio, video, and computer software items, and 5,712 linear feet of archival material as of June 2014.
Northeastern University provides a broad range of academic and administrative computer resources to students, faculty, and staff members. Many computing resources are available, including an extensive wireless network, Internet connections for all offices and university-owned residence halls, technology-assisted classrooms, computer labs, and the MyNortheastern Admitted Student Portal, which allows students to access many administrative and academic functions online.
Sustainability
Northeastern University (NU) believes "all individuals and institutions share responsibility for taking action to create a sustainable environment." Since 1990, carbon dioxide emissions per square foot were reduced nearly 25 percent despite 40 percent growth in square footage. Since 2005, emissions per gross square foot have been reduced over 30 percent. Northeastern has saved approximately 20 million kilowatt hours of electricity over the past 5 years through energy efficiency projects. During the past year alone, Northeastern has initiated over 35 different energy projects, while every building on campus has undergone an energy-related renovation or retrofit. The most successful project to date has been the Egan Research Center, which achieved annual savings of approximately 1 million kWh, 350,000 therms and 800,000 cubic feet of water through optimization and improvement of the building heating, ventilation and cooling system. Sustainability represents one of Northeastern's three major research areas and is fully integrated into over 135 academic courses and experiential learning and co-op programs. Northeastern, is developing new programs that advance sustainability into Career Services and International Co-op programming. Approximately 10 percent of building square footage under University operational control is now LEED Gold. International Village (IV), NU's new 1,200 bed mixed-use dorm/office building, has achieved LEED Gold; IV is the first college/university dining facility in the United States to earn LEED Gold as well as become Green Restaurant® 3-star certified. Northeastern's newest building, East Village, opened January 2015 and has submitted for LEED Gold-level certification; the newest LEED certified building is the George T. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security, is LEED Gold and has demand control ventilation and reduced lighting power density. "Compost Here" results in nearly 525 tons of composted dining hall service and catered food waste. All dining halls offer a local food initiative. An aggressive recycling program in existence for over twenty-five years includes more than fifteen different categories of collected items and an annual waste-diversion rate of over 50 percent. A Green Living Learning Community is offered through a Residential Life-based sustainability programming initiative.
There is certainly no lack of activities in which to participate in nearby Boston (there are four T stops on campus), from movie theaters, museums, restaurants, and shopping malls to the Prudential Center and the Charles River, which "provides opportunities for running, walking, biking, [and] kayaking." One student happily notes that "our location means that I can get dumplings in Chinatown, see a show, or attend the Christmas tree lighting without much effort to get off campus." Weekends are traditionally for city exploring, and weekdays usually are filled with people participating in one of the many clubs the school offers. Plus, Northeastern has "a ton of amazing events and programs on campus that make the campus feel like a community." Students on co-op "tend to have a lot more free time at night and on the weekends, allowing them to get more involved and spend more time with friends." Still, life outside of school is "pretty substantial" for this "extremely social" crowd: Mission Hill is a popular spot for a Friday and Saturday night activities. Greek life is small but "becoming more popular" on campus.
