The recently-announced Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning looks to be a misuse of the College's treasury. Only last year, the student body was told that the College has entered a period of budgetary tightening. Since then, the administration has eliminated funding for a sports team -- recall that the only reason we still have a Dartmouth swim team is because of a massive alumni subsidization program -- and announced deep cutbacks in our library system.
And yet now, the College wants to create another "Center." An official release on the subject provides only a foggy outline of the center's purpose, which seems to be helping professors develop new teaching strategies that incorporate digital technology. This goal has worth, and we certainly owe thanks to the two generous donors, Gordon W. Russell and Stephen Cheheyl, who gave $3 million and $1.5 million, respectively.
But when it comes to soliciting donations for alumni and making choices about funding, we must consider the educational realities of the College. Economics classes are woefully oversubscribed, denying spots to upperclassmen majoring in the discipline and resulting in an appalling student-to-professor of 30:1. This situation is untenable, as it places students and professors in a bind. Currently, the only way to resolve the pressure is either to lock out the surplus students or increase class sizes, neither of which are attractive options.
Instead of soliciting funds for a Center for the Advancement of Learning, we should achieve our core pedagogical goals by earmarking funds to hire sufficient permanent faculty. While such rudimentary improvements may not sound as exciting as a new Center focusing on "teaching" and "technology," hiring professors provides a better return on investment. Even if this new center manages to offer services to the student body, a simpler way to improve teaching at Dartmouth is to employ enough professors. Alternatively, if the College is determined to improve technology on campus, why not shore-up our computer network? Larry Levine, the director of Computing Services, told the Dartmouth community in a Letter to the Editor Thursday that due to the budget situation, the College said it could not afford a redundant network. To concurrently announce the allocation of $4.5 million to create a new Center undermines the College's claims.
Tonight, "The Human Regurgitator" will perform on campus and students will be permitted, free of charge, to observe his act. Perhaps those in charge of the College's budget should poll students coming out of Collis after the show and find out whether a majority would prefer to have our school's limited resources spent on hiring enough professors or hiring a man whose area of study is regurgitation. It is frustrating to observe how dire reports of a budget crisis are used to justify spending cuts on popular programs, and long overdue improvements to network redundancy are given short shrift, while money is instead spent on silly performances and a new "Center." Regardless of whether we are facing a budgetary shortfall or a financial windfall, we should always allocate our resources where they will do the most good, and the establishment of this new program fails that test.
