The draft of a plan to shape Dartmouth's future -- the most comprehensive outline released in more than a decade -- focuses on implementing a new capital campaign to boost sagging finances, according to President of the College James Wright.
The document, entitled "Dartmouth College: Forever New," stresses "a strategic vision rather than an overall assessment," Wright said in an interview. Wright wrote the 30-page plan, released last month, after receiving comments from various faculty, administrative and student organizations during his tenure as president.
"The overall strategic vision is one that's remained pretty constant," he said. "We've undertaken a lot of studies and all of these studies have converged."
In a general report to the faculty Fall term, Wright previewed much of his outline. "The trustees and others have also been informed of the themes," he added.
Wright emphasized the development of a new capital campaign by Vice President for Development Carolyn Pelzel as necessary to the College's growth. "It's important for us to underline our commitment to financial aid," he said. "We have been expanding the faculty; we've made available some additional resources. I think that we'd look to a capital campaign to support many of the things described" in the plan.
Construction of new residential and academic facilities was also given high priority. In an effort to maintain aesthetic unity, the College has commissioned the same architect to draft plans for the proposed residence hall north of Maynard Street and Kemeny Hall, where the mathematics department will be housed.
"We think it's terribly important to have a vision to hold all these elements together," Wright said. "We want there to be consistency."
A new parking structure near Cummings Hall, to be completed by Summer term of 2003, must be built before groundwork on the Maynard dorms can commence due to already severe on-campus parking problems.
Wright also proposed a "500- to 600-seat" dining facility at the Maynard site.
Along with a modest expansion of Dartmouth's graduate programs, the plan mentioned an increase of up to 10 percent in the undergraduate faculty pool.
"A lot of that has to do with providing mentoring, small classes and one-on-one opportunities that are important for students," Wright said.
The plan continued to promote the College's policies regarding diversity among the administration, faculty and students.
"We need to make the campus a place that takes fuller advantage of the diverse populations here," Wright said. "I'm quite satisfied with the quality of students coming into Dartmouth -- it really is about more than just recruiting."
Provost Barry Scherr commented on the steady increase in minority undergraduate applicants. "The preliminary figures for the Class of 2006 applicants have some of the highest minority levels ever."
While the scholarship support provided by the federal government continues to decline, "The commitment to financial aid is not going to change." Scherr said. "It does have an impact on our budget -- we're hoping that we'll be able to raise money to endow a certain number of scholarships."
Implementation of the proposed capital campaign to enact such measures "will probably start a in a year and a half or two years from now," he said. "In order to carry out a plan of this magnitude, we have to be very careful. We have to rely on fundraising and specific allocation of the sources we have."
