The Board of Trustees approved an $829 million operating budget for the 2011 fiscal year beginning July 1 in Friday's final Board meeting under the direction of Chairman Ed Haldeman '70, whose term concludes at the meeting, according to a College press release. The Board also elected Trevor Rees-Jones '73 and Peggy Epstein Tanner '79 to serve as charter trustees, and asked the Alumni Council to begin its search for nominees for two recently vacated alumni-elected trustee seats.
The new operating budget reflects the efforts of the recent Strategic Budget Reduction and Investment process, which worked to reduce what they expect to be a $54 million gap in the College's operating budget for next year.
The budget includes a reduction in the amount of operating income drawn from the College endowment $157 million, down from $200 million in fiscal year 2010, according to the release.
In order to complete ongoing construction projects at the College including the Life Sciences Center, the Visual Arts Center and the Class of 1953 Commons the Board also sanctioned a $171 million capital budget for fiscal year 2011.
The fact that spending did not increase under the new budget and that endowment spending in fact declined is "quite an achievement," according to Haldeman.
"We were able to get the budget for fiscal year 2011 such that there was no deficit, so that it was balanced but also brought endowment distribution down to a more sustainable level," Haldeman said.
In selecting the new charter trustees, Board members did discuss selecting a non-alumni Board member, according to Haldeman, but decided against it on the grounds that the College's alumni body provides a "broad universe" of candidates from which to select.
Rees-Jones is founder of the Dallas, Texas-based Chief Oil & Gas. He graduated from Southern Methodist University's Dedman School of Law in 1978 and served as a partner at Thompson & Knight, according to the release.
Tanner previously worked at Morgan Stanley and Chemical Bank before becoming involved with several charitable organizations in and around the New York City area, where she currently lives. She also served on the Board of Visitors of the Tucker Foundation and the Alumni Council's nominating committee, the release stated. Her son Eric Tanner '11 is currently serving as student body president.
Tanner told The Dartmouth she hopes to focus on ensuring the College's finances are sound and on student-driven issues.
"I think I would like to work to see a happy compromise between the students and the town and state of New Hampshire on alcohol issues, and I also want to make sure that Dartmouth is a community where everyone feels welcomed and accepted," Tanner said.
Although one of the charter appointments was made to fill the seat vacated by trustee Pamela Joyner '79, whose term ended this year, the other will be seated as a charter trustee approved under the controversial 2007 expansion of the Board.
In the past few years, the Board has faced criticism particularly by former Board petition candidate Joe Asch '79 and former Board member and petition candidate Todd Zywicki '88 for a lack of occupational diversity, as many of its members have come out of finance or other business-related fields. Haldeman said that although Tanner and Rees-Jones come from business backgrounds, Rees-Jones provides "geographic diversity," in that he is the only sitting trustee from Texas, while also having a distinctive business background from the oil and gas industry.
The Board's nominating committee may also be considering candidates' academic backgrounds more closely in future nominations, as well as international experience, according to Haldeman.
The elections for alumni-elected trustees will fill positions vacated by Christine Bucklin '84, who has completed two four-year terms on the Board, and Jose Fernandez '77, who resigned from the Board after he was confirmed as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State.
The meeting also marked the beginning of the term of Board Chairman Stephen Mandel '78, who took over the chairmanship from Haldeman as the Board's last order of business. Mandel was elected chairman at the Board's April meeting.
