Dartmouth's financial aid director will testify about the pros and cons of the College's year-round academic program before a Senate committee hearing today, as the federal government considers legislation that would encourage more universities to adopt calendars similar to the Dartmouth Plan.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, chaired by Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., invited Director of Financial Aid Virginia Hazen to testify alongside George Washington University president Stephen Trachtenberg, Dillard University president Michael Lomax and India McKinney, a student at Vanderbilt University.
Hazen is expected to comment on the D-Plan and its 30-year history at Dartmouth.
Senators sitting on the committee, chaired by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., will decide whether there is an overwhelming advantage for higher education institutions to institute year-round calendars.
If legislators agree that programs like the D-Plan are indeed beneficial, they will introduce legislation under the Higher Education Act to allow federal Pell grants to apply year-round to universities implementing an alternative calendar, a Congressional staffer in Gregg's office told The Dartmouth.
Part of the year-round calendar's attraction lies in its ability to graduate students in fewer than four years, which has resulted in lower dropout rates and decreased costs for some post-secondary institutions.
Institutions such as Dillard University, a private, historically black, faith-based liberal arts university with a freshmen graduation rate of 68 percent, have a particular interest in the legislation. Because year-round calendars are also cheaper for universities, the Senate hopes to motivate schools to implement more cost-efficient and self-supportive strategies.
Gerry Kauvar, special assistant to the president at The George Washington University, has been the University's spokesman about its efforts to institute a year-round calendar.
Kauvar explained that GWU is largely interested in a year-round calendar to augment its enrollment, which would translate into significantly incrased tuition dollars.
"Like every university, we're tuition-dependent. There's a real limit to what we can ask students to pay. Universities have to scrounge to fund ways to get more money -- there's not much more we can do.
But with a Dartmouth-like sophomore summer, GWU could add to its total enrollment and increase net revenue by $15 to 20 million, Kauvar said.
Although GWU's faculty senate rejected the plan in October 2003, Trachtenberg's presence at the meeting tomorrow signifies that the university is still interested in the plan.
Dartmouth implemented its year-round calendar in 1972, as the College prepared to admit its first coeducational class. The D-Plan was instituted as a compromise to quell concerns among all-male alumni that the admission of women to the College would decrease the chances of their sons being admitted to the College.
The year-round calendar allowed the same number of male students to enroll by using existing campus facilities throughout the entire year.
"It really gives students more freedom and flexibility," College Provost Barry Scherr said of the D-Plan. Moreover, varied off terms offer great opportunities for internships and jobs when most other students are typically in school."
But Scherr acknowledged the more frequent and varied social disruptions as a major drawback to a year-round calendar, a factor Dartmouth students also cite as the greatest flaw in the D-Plan.
Brian Fernandez is a freshman at GWU, and hopes that his school will adopt a year-round calendar.
"Being in Washington D.C., with so many internships and job opportunities, a year-round calendar at GWU would not only benefit the University financially, but provide many more opportunities for off-campus study and, frankly, a much more appealing class load," Fernandez said.
Vanderbilt will send a student representative, although the university itself does not operate on a year-round calendar.
Jeff Vincent, assistant vice chancellor for federal relations at Vanderbilt University, told The Dartmouth that Vanderbilt's' student representative, who receives federal student aid, will "offer some thoughts about how this [voluntary mandate] might impact students, make sure their views are taken into account."
Vincent attributed Vanderbilt's participation in the hearing to the university's close ties with Alexander, who invited his home-state university to offer "diverse opinions" on the proposal.
Dillard University failed to comment on the issue.
