At their Fall term meetings starting a week from today, the College's Trustees will not convene the highest committee on student life, but leaders of the Student Assembly say they have prepared a report that addresses student concerns.
The Committee on Student Affairs, which hears presentations from the Assembly president at its meetings, used to meet twice a year. But according to an administrator familiar with the history of the committee and the Trustees, the committee has met only three times in the past two years.
Assembly President Nicole Artzer '94 said she submitted a two-page report to the Trustees. She said she wrote about the Dartmouth academic plan, academic advising and the need to preserve choice within the Greek system.
Artzer said the report will take the place of a verbal report to the Committee on Student Affairs. She said the students' point of view is "well-represented."
Steve Costalas '94, the Assembly's vice president, said he had hoped the Board would grant Assembly representatives some time to speak to the Trustees.
"I think it would be nice to have the Trustees hear about what Nicole has to say, but it is just not in the cards this time," Costalas said. "The Assembly is going to use whatever time it has to get its point across."
He said Assembly members asked to be put on the Board's schedule, but were denied. Trustees Robert Danziger and Joseph Mathewson will sit with members of the Assembly during Saturday's breakfast with students, Costalas said.
The breakfast is an open forum arranged by the Dean of Students Office at which the Trustees gauge student opinion and get a feel for student life, according to Cheryl Reynolds, the secretary for the Board.
Mathewson, the new chair of COSA, said even though the committee will not meet this term, he will make himself available to any student officer who would like to talk to him.
College administrators said this weekend will be especially busy for the Trustees because they did not meet during the summer and because it is the first meeting of the year.
The Board's three top committees on finance will meet during the weekend, capped off by the meeting of the Committee on Investment after the Trustees adjourn, according to Cheryl Reynolds, the secretary for the Board.
The specific agendas for the Board's meetings are always confidential, according to College Spokesman Alex Huppe.
When the Trustees arrive Thursday, the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Investor Responsibility will convene, Reynolds said. Students serve on both groups.
On Friday morning and afternoon, the Trustees will attend meetings of the Committee on Development, Alumni and Public Affairs, the Audit Subcommittee, the Committee on Education Affairs and Facilities and the Executive Committee. Reynolds said New Hampshire Governor Steve Merrill, who sits on the Board, will not attend the weekend's events.
The Winter term Board meeting will be held in Washington, D.C. instead of Hanover, Mathewson said.
"Washington has such a big impact on a small school such as Dartmouth," he said. "COSA may have the possibility of meeting. Administrators and students would attend."
