Students underestimate the full magnitude of the College's upcoming budget cuts, Dean of the College Tom Crady said Thursday night in an open forum to discuss the effect of the national economic downturn on the College. Administrators at the forum, including Crady, Provost Barry Scherr and Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Adam Keller, addressed students' concerns and solicited student input about possible budget reductions.
The College should announce a concrete budget plan in February, following a meeting of the Provost's budget committee and the Board of Trustees, Keller said.
Trimming the budget is a difficult process, Crady told the 25 students who attended the forum, as the budget committee must prioritize student needs to determine where to allocate funding.
He stressed the value of student input in informing these decisions, noting that the budget committee will take the recent Student Assembly survey into account.
Scherr echoed Crady's sentiments about the importance of soliciting input from members of the Dartmouth community, adding that the number of responses he has received from faculty and staff is encouraging.
Rather than cut entire programs, Scherr said, the College will attempt to implement smaller decreases in the budgets of all College divisions and departments.
"Everyone is going to feel a little bit of something," Scherr said. "We want to make it so that no one area feels the impact too much."
He suggested that students could help reduce College spending by changing their daily routines with the budget in mind.
"Taking into account the cost of running school electricity and heat, if every person is careful in those areas, that could really help," Scherr said, adding that the College is currently conducting experiments on campus to examine how reducing energy use could help reduce costs.
The College may also attempt to reduce costs by merging various groups and services, Crady said, which he explained could make the affected services more efficient.
"I do think there is an opportunity in some cases, where some services can benefit by being closer, or consolidated," Crady said.
The College will try not to sacrifice the quality of College programs when making the necessary budget reductions, Scherr said.
"It is a tricky balancing act," he said.
Students at the forum suggested that the College should create a meal plan that would allow Dartmouth Dining Services, which currently aims to break even, to turn a profit.
The Assembly similarly recommended reducing perceived inefficiencies within DDS in its Jan. 5 letter of budget recommendations it submitted to the College's leadership.
Crady agreed that the College should investigate creative ways to save money, but said he has not did not any specific ideas for new funding sources.
Students at the forum also expressed concern that the budget reductions could affect the College's ongoing presidential search. Student Body President Molly Bode '09, who attended the forum and is a member of the presidential search committee, said the committee has adjusted its search criteria in light of the economic crisis.
"We have had to change the way we've looked at applicants' financial backgrounds and how they handle budgets," Bode said. "But, the search is proceeding at the same pace."
Scherr reminded the audience that Dartmouth is not the only institution facing significant budget cuts in light of the economic crisis, as many of the College's peer institutions rely heavily on their endowments for revenue.
The forum was sponsored by Student Assembly, the Class Councils and Palaeopitus Senior Society.
