Anthropology professor Hoyt Alverson criticized Dartmouth's spending on projects that he believes are peripheral to the College's academic mission in an open letter to the Board of Trustees, College administrators and all faculty members last Thursday. Alverson said he wanted to spur dialogue about the budget because he believes the "campus was quiet and passive" when the administration announced budget cuts in February, he said in an interview with The Dartmouth. Alverson sent the letter two days after Dean of the Faculty Carol Folt's annual address to the faculty, which touched on the budget.'
Folt declined to comment on Alverson's letter.
The letter included a table outlining changes in Dartmouth's operating budget from fiscal year 2004 to fiscal year 2008, which Alverson created using data from auditor reports available on the College's web site. Costs associated with facilities, administrative services and institutional services have increased more than other areas over the past four years, according to the table.
"I think they have been casual about growth in areas that are not part of the core of an academic institution -- building buildings, growing the administration -- these are things that are nice but not part of the academic core," Alverson said.
Alverson criticized the College's "overgrowth" in these areas. The economic recession has made it more difficult for the College to fund these increases, which depend on the endowment's continued growth, he said.
"The basic issue is if you are in debt and need to balance your budget, you have to do far more than cut to meet revenue," Alverson said. "You have to cut to pay the debt you've run up as well as cut to bring revenue and cost in line."
Biology professor Roger Sloboda defended some of the College's administrative expansions in an interview with The Dartmouth, citing the recent hiring of an Outreach Coordinator to help administer a $1.5 million award to support undergraduate science education.
"The addition of that position, which falls in [Alverson's] ledger as having contributed to the greater than proportional increase in College administration expenses, nevertheless was a good investment on a return of $1.5 million, all of which goes to student-related activities," he said.
Alverson's letter suggests several budgetary changes, including salary cuts for faculty earning above a negotiated threshold.
Alverson said that two economics professors "responded" to him regarding this proposed change, suggesting that salary reductions may decrease the quality of the Dartmouth faculty without yielding substantial savings.
Alverson explained that he is not committed to any specific changes, as his recommendations were intended "to get the discussion started."
"It's not that I had a full blown plan, but what I did have in mind is no one would react unless they had a picture in hand," Alverson said. "No one was doing that."
Alverson said most of the feedback he has received from faculty members has been positive. The College has not formally responded to Alverson's letter, he said.
Alverson said in the interview that he hopes the College's response will provide more information about the budget-related layoffs.
