The Dartmouth Board of Trustees approved an 11-percent cut in Dartmouth Medical School's $230 million budget in an effort to meet College-wide budgetary objectives at its April meeting this weekend. The cut is expected to be implemented by 2011, according to a College press release. The Board also did not re-elect Trustee Todd Zywicki '88 for a second term.
Every trustee who has chosen to serve a second term during his time as president has been re-elected, according to College President James Wright. The six other first-term trustees considered for reelection at the meeting were all elected to serve second terms.
Zywicki's service on the Board has at times been marked by controversy. In January 2007, the Board voted to reprimand Zywicki for calling former College President James Freedman "truly evil" in an address made before a higher-education think tank. The Board had previously done little to hamper internal dissent.
"I can only say that each of the trustees who voted, voted with individual thinking and did what he or she thought was in best interest of Dartmouth," Board of Trustees Chairman Ed Haldeman '70 said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
Zywicki was one of three petition candidates to join the Board in 2007, and was one of the signatories on an amicus brief filed in support of the 2007 alumni lawsuit against the College.
The DMS cuts come as medical school administrators and a small group of trustees work to develop a "strategic plan" for the school, Wright said. It is unclear when that plan will be finalized.
DMS will also institute a new student service fee. With the 6-percent tuition increase announced in February, tuition and fees in total will be up 8.9 percent for the 2010 fiscal year.
The Board approved the sale of $165 million in tax-exempt bonds for construction projects, including the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center and the renovation of the New Hampshire residence hall. The Board also authorized the construction of a loading dock for the Hopkins Center.
The 2009 Affirmative Action Plan, which analyzes the racial and gender breakdown of the institution's workforce compared with the labor pool, was also approved at the Board's meeting, according to the press release.
