Friday's Verbum Ultimum discussed two positive steps that College President Jim Yong Kim's administration has taken recently. What project or issue do you hope to see Parkhurst working on next?
I would like to see Parkhurst recruit more faculty members who are nationally or internationally recognized for their research. I also hope to see another dining area or cafe available towards the northern side of campus.Yoo Jung Kim
Curricular reforms should be at the top of the agenda. The top two concerns in my mind are re-instituting the Great Issues course for all sophomores and allowing science students to earn more than one credit for lab courses.Brendan Woods
If President Jim Yong Kim wants to do something really popular, he should look into making substantial student-friendly reforms to the Dartmouth Dining Services system. Surely there must be a way to set up a campus meal program that doesn't dissatisfy nearly everyone, right?Raza Rasheed
Parkhurst should continue to work on streamlining the administration and cutting redundant or ineffective staff where necessary. While it was great to see the College focusing on the efficiency of the administration during budget cuts, Dartmouth should not wait for a budgetary crisis to discuss these issues.Jasper Hicks
I would like Kim to work on increasing socioeconomic diversity in the student body. This should include reinstating the no-loan financial aid policy that was implemented by former College President James Wright. In addition, I would like Kim to examine the parts of our community that are exclusive to wealthy students, and look into ways to improve the experiences of students with financial difficulties.Natalie Colaneri
Once Parkhurst has fully revamped the College's alcohol policy, I would like to see it address the issue of sexual assault. College administrators should work to spread awareness and education and improve the speed and quality of the administrative response to reports of sexual assault.Alesy Iturrey
Kim has done an amazing job of stepping up to the plate and making unpopular but critical budget cuts. Kim should keep up the great work by continuing to cut unnecessary administrative positions and bloated employee benefits. It's time to run the College more like a business.Roger Lott
Parkhurst could best use its innovation to revamp Dartmouth's advising system into a structure that builds stronger and more valuable relationships between student and adviser.Louis Wheatley
I think Parkhurst should put its weight behind a real effort to curb grade inflation. The longer we let grades creep up, the further damage it does to the educational experience at the College, and the harder it becomes to reverse the trend.Brian Solomon
I would like to see administrators take some serious steps to introduce new liberal arts elements into Dartmouth curriculum. In particular, I'd like them to introduce both an optional core curriculum program for freshmen and themed, issue-based classes like Harvard's incredibly popular "Justice" course.Peter Blair
I want to see some communication. For a school so obsessed with community, service learning and family, I have been surprised at the lack of communication within this "Dartmouth family." From DDS to other campus-wide issues, I want to hear more of a dialogue between Parkhurst and the student body. Leah Feiger
Transparency. The controversial changes that College administrators have sprung on us in the past year, whether it's the closing of the river docks or the dining plan change, have shown that Parkhurst operates more or less as a black box. Developing a system to better involve the students in the decision-making process is long overdue.Ethan Wang
