At Monday's termly Faculty of Arts and Sciences meeting, interim College President Carol Folt discussed the College's strategic planning process, finances, communication and wellness and answered several faculty questions. The meeting was held in Alumni Hall in the Hopkins Center.
Folt said that strategic planning will focus on three basic areas taking faculty capacity and recognition to a new level of excellence, leading in transformative learning and living experiences and extending worldwide reach. A model for the plan will be posted within three weeks, and a new website that will contain working group reports will be activated on Nov. 1. Work on strategic planning has included interviews, reports and retreats, she said.
"The most important part, I think, is to really step back and ask, What is the context in which you are doing your strategic planning?'" Folt said.
Folt emphasized that the strategic plan must focus on what future faculty and students would desire and take into account the current context of higher education, which is a "changed landscape," through growing competition and an increasingly global marketplace.
"She made the strong point that this is something that is unique for Dartmouth, this is not something that has never happened before at Dartmouth and as something that has involved so many people over 2,500 people have participated so far it will really capture the aspirations of the community," Director of Media Relations for the College Justin Anderson said.
The strategic plan will address outreach and recognition, both to other institutions and on a global scale, according to Folt. Through alliances and partnerships with other schools, students will be able to spend more time on other universities' campuses. To better connect the College globally, the strategic plan will invigorate global programs, foreign study programs and a world-class communications network, according to Folt.
"It is pretty surprising how little Dartmouth is known around the world," Folt said.
While there is "always going to be some degree of conflict," faculty, student and staff participation will help the strategic plan incorporate many views of what constitutes a better Dartmouth according to Anderson.
At the meeting, faculty members raised doubt about the College's finances, including its increasing debt. However, Anderson said that the College's financial decisions, which increased the institution's debt by $150 million, were advisable because current interest rates 3.76 percent over 30 years are at historic lows.
With $870 million in revenue and 5.8 percent endowment growth, the College performed considerably better than anticipated in the 2012 fiscal year. The College also raised $171 million in philanthropic donations, including a 70-percent giving rate from alumni, according to Folt.
"Because of the way we have dealt with our finances, we feel that we are in a better position than many of our peers," Anderson said.
The College has received increased attention through social media, with fans on Facebook increasing by about 3,000 in the past year, according to Folt.
The meeting also included a student wellness update. The Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students program has shown that having a brief conversation about students' alcohol goals reduces recidivism by over 35 percent, according to Folt. All athletic teams have participated in BASICS, and a number of programs have been implemented in the College residence halls.
The College has also hired 23 new faculty members in 17 different departments, according to Folt.
The meeting highlighted the fact that the College is celebrating its 40th year of coeducation and 40 years since the founding of the Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association.
"It was 40 years ago when Dartmouth decided to enter the world when we decided to educate a group of people that looked like the country," Folt said.
