As Baker Tower's famous green light is illuminated this weekend, the Dartmouth Board of Trustees will arrive in Hanover for their annual March meetings to discuss this year's tuition and room and board increases along with a range of other issues.
The 18 Trustees' agenda also includes hearing a progress report on the different construction projects on campus and meeting with consultants from McKinsey and Company who are examining the effectiveness of the College administration and its resource allocation. In addition, trustee subcommittees will meet with the Student Assembly, the deans of the professional schools and the arts and sciences graduate programs, along with the Alumni Governance Task Force to discuss the draft of the new alumni constitution.
The meetings, which will span from Friday evening through noon on Sunday, mark the Trustees' first official look at the College's 2007 budget. There they will vote on a tuition increase, which has remained between 4 and 5 percent in recent years. This year's tuition was 4.9 percent higher than it was last year.
The Office of Residential Life and Dartmouth Dining Services will request an increase in room and board fees respectively, Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman and DDS Director Tucker Rossiter said.
DDS has asked for a 5.2 percent increase in meal plan fees which, if passed, would increase each currently available meal plan option by that amount. Meal plans have consistently gone up by between 3 and 6 percent annually for the past decade, Rossiter said.
Rossiter added that DDS is requesting an increase in board fees because of an increase in projected costs, especially due to a rise in oil prices, and not in order to recoup this year's losses.
"All our costs continue to rise: the food, the labor, the utilities," he said. "We decided on a number that we thought would help us cover our costs for the coming year."
This request is separate from the much-publicized, newly proposed changes to meal plan offerings which would decrease the number of available plans, cap spending at the Topside convenience store at $100 of the meal plan money, allow students to roll over extra money through the end of each academic year and increase the cost and value of the smallest available plan. If these proposed changes pass, Rossiter said, the board's vote on an increase in board fees will be moot, as the new plan would not be subject to the 5.2 percent increase.
ORL hopes for a 4.5 percent increase in room fees, a request which is still subject to the College treasurer's official recommendation to the trustees and to the trustees' final decision, Redman said.
The meetings are not open to the public, but a selection of faculty, students and alumni have been invited to attend and participate in specific parts of the weekend.
Ozzie Harris, Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity and Equity, will also report to the Trustees on the College's affirmative action plan, and the board will consider changing Dartmouth's retiree benefit program on the recommendation of the College Benefits Committee.
