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A year into his term as Hofstra University's eighth president, Stuart Rabinowitz remains a man with an agenda.
The former law school dean already has installed a quintet of new lieutenants, overseen the opening of an Honors College and scuttled a $30 million performing arts center in favor of a broader makeover for the academic infrastructure.
But Rabinowitz, in an interview at his office in the west wing of the university's Axinn Library, outlined a sophisticated and far-reaching campaign to elevate the academic standing of Long Island's largest private university.
In pursuit of those lofty goals, the program employs power tools familiar to any corporate chieftain: marketing, strategy and financial incentives.
On his watch, the average freshman SAT score has climbed from 1100 (of a maximum 1600) in 2001 to 1128 this September. That compares to 1060 in 2001 for nearby Adelphi University, but falls short of the average SAT for New York University, from which Hofstra sprang as a suburban campus in 1935, and which Hofstra views as a key competitor along with Fordham. and Syracuse.
What will the average be for Hofstra freshmen in five years? Rabinowitz said he's aiming for 1200.
To reach that target, Hofstra's brain trust believes the university must widen its net to draw more than the current 30 percent of enrollees from beyond the tri-state area.
The university has hired Beford, Mass.-based consultants Maguire Associates-whose clients range from President Bill Clinton to General Mills to Johns Hopkins University to help craft the campaign.
"It's a complex business," said Rabinowitz....