Additional Information
Periodic updates
from Hanover
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July 1, 2009
Alumni Councilor Update
Dear Members of the DCMW:
I just returned from my final Alumni Council meeting in Hanover, May 14-16.
After a fairly volatile and contentious three years, it is good to see that the
Council and the alumni body broadly seem to be functioning much better than in
the recent past. There has been a lot of hard work which has gone in to making
the Council and Trustees more open to alumni input with the most notable advance
being the accumulation of all alumni ideas and opinions by the new Alumni
Liaison Committee (ALC) of the Alumni Council. Any such communication can either
go through your Alumni Council Rep (me, for the time being) or can be logged
directly to the ALC at ALC@Alum.Dartmouth.ORG.
For your information, the ALC meets regularly with the Alumni Relations
Committee of the Board of Trustees, so your views and ideas, particularly
the constructive ones J, will be heard and acted upon.
Having addressed communication as a primary function of the Council, I would
next point you to links/attachments that will give you the agenda for the
Council meeting and a summary with more detail of what actually happened:
Event Program:
http://alumni.dartmouth.edu/default.aspx?id=474
Minutes of the 198th meeting of the Dartmouth Alumni Council:
http://alumni.dartmouth.edu/default.aspx?id=1469
A web article, "Dartmouth as "Dream and Vision": The 198th Session of the Alumni
Council" written by Deb Klenotic:
http://alumni.dartmouth.edu/news.aspx?id=494
My summary of the proceedings: See attached
[The general Council web page is also a great resource for all things
related to alumni participation and the Alumni Council:
http://alumni.dartmouth.edu/default.aspx?id=82 ]
One of the useful things that was presented at the Council meeting was a
graphic illustration of the structure of alumni governance at Dartmouth:
(http://alumni.dartmouth.edu/media/Alumni_Council/alcflow_members5.pdf ).
This can be a bit confusing at times, and, as most of you know, an effort to
consolidate the Alumni Council and Association of Alumni Executive Committe into
one governing body was rejected by the Association of Alumni three years ago,
thus preserving some of the confusion for future generations! In a nutshell, you
are ALL members of the Association of Alumni, which is composed of roughly
70,000 living alums of Dartmouth College and the grad schools. You then have two
bodies that represent you directly:
i) The Alumni Council and
ii) The Association of Alumni Executive Committee, which really
has only one function, which is to administer trustee elections. As you may
recall, you recently elected a slate of AofA Executive Committee members AND
passed an amendment defining how they are to administer trustee elections.
The Alumni Council is your representative body through which you can
communicate with the Board of Trustees, the Administration, faculty, etc.
The communication with the Board is done through direct sessions at Alumni
Council meetings and is more specifically accomplished through the Alumni
Liaison Committee speaking regularly to the Board's Alumni Relations Committee
as noted above. Hence, it is most important that you make your feelings known to
me, as your Club Council representative, through your class or affiliated group
Council rep, or directly to the ALC, as mentioned above.
Aside from the factual overview already provided, I thought I'd just
highlight a few things that struck me as reasons for excitement about
Dartmouth:
1) Jim Wright's work with veterans has really started to have some
national impact. He is now a leading voice on this issue, and his support
of veterans seeking admission to Dartmouth has certainly allowed a number of
current students to attend Dartmouth who otherwise would never have been able to
do so. Along these lines, there were several discussions within the Council on
how we might further seek to support the men and women defending our country
through ROTC scholarships. For me, this acknowledgement of both the sacrifice
already made by some of these people, as well as the need for well educated,
liberally-trained (as in liberal arts) officers to manage our military is a
refreshing reassessment vs. the general disdain for the military that was
typical of academic institutions in the 70s-90s. (See recent USA Today story for
additional info: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-05-17-GIbill_N.htm)
2) The student-athlete community at Dartmouth is thriving and I would
expect to see Dartmouth teams competitive in all sports in coming years.
The facilities that have been built at Dartmouth in the last ten years are
simply incredible compared to what was there when I was there twenty years ago.
Florham Varsity House, the new Memorial Field, Biondi Park, and Boss Tennis
Center, among others, are all state-of-the-art facilities that will allow
Dartmouth's teams to be competitive. Still, in discussions with the
student-athletes, it remained clear that the primary focus of a Dartmouth
student-athlete is his or her education, which I think we can all agree is the
ultimate priority. Also, it is worth noting that the new President (see below)
is an athlete himself - basketball, tennis, volleyball, and, nearest and dearest
to my heart, golf - and has made it clear that he both values intercollegiate
athletics, and expects Dartmouth to excel on the field as it does in the
classroom.
3) While I did not have a chance to sit down with the new president, Jim
Kim, for a one-on-one discussion (shocking that he has a few other more
important things to do!), I can relate that his address to the Council was
amazingly on point for one who is not a Dartmouth alum. He is a very bright guy,
with a lot of energy, and a skill set that is quite different than any previous
President. With Dartmouth's focus turning to a few global
priorities - health care and the life sciences, among others - Jim Kim seems to
be a real cutting-edge choice for the 17th President of the College. His
Midwestern roots (he grew up in Iowa) are a distinct positive, from
myperspective, and we should not hold his Brown and Harvard pedigree against
him! [An audio of Jim Kim's remarks to the Alumni Council is posted at
http://alumni.dartmouth.edu/news.aspx?id=494]
4) After considerable tumult and counterproductive activity, it does
appear the current Board is beginning to get its footing again. The current
economic situation has certainly dampened their ability to take on any more
sizeable building projects. Having said that, with the completion of the Class
of '79 Life Sciences Center in the coming 2-3 years, it is arguable that the
bricks and mortar on campus now, both for undergraduate and graduate programs,
are more than sufficient to keep Dartmouth strong for the next decade or more.
We will have two elected Board seats coming open next spring/summer, and it will
be interesting to see how the selections made by the Alumni Council's Nominating
Committee and any write-in candidates are presented and received, and how the
election process ultimately plays out. I expect it to be 'spirited', but less
divisive than the previous three.
5) Though some of you may have a very different opinion than I do on
this subject, I can report that the Greek organizations on campus are alive and
well. It has become pretty clear to all that they represent the primary social
outlet on campus. As such, the College and faculty are clearly much more of the
mind now that the object has to be to make them 'upstanding' members of the
community with physical plants and behavioral patterns worthy of Dartmouth
rather than suggesting they should be removed from campus. To paraphrase Jim
Kim, "As an anthropologist, I can confirm the evidence is clear that the
opportunity to have 20-30 people with whom you live in your formative years and
form lifelong friendships is of the utmost value and is certainly not something
we wish to uproot. I believe the Greek organizations on this campus play an
integral role, and I look forward to seeing them continue to grow, evolve and
prosper."
6) Lastly, the communications unit of the Alumni Office has created a
"Council Resources for Alumni" webpage to provide links to the many
documents, reports, and other resources that the Alumni Council has
produced. The page is located on the Alumni Council website and the direct URL
is: http://alumni.dartmouth.edu/default.aspx?id=1465 . [This is a sub page of
the main Council page, http://alumni.dartmouth.edu/default.aspx?id=82 , which is
full of resources and information for alums wishing to participate in College
activities.]
Currently located on the Council Resources page are links to the:
Alumni Trustee Candidate Recommendations form
Alumni Council on-line membership directory
Alumni Liaison Committee email box
Alumni Leadership Flow Chart
Council Representative Election/Selection Guidelines
Alumni Liaison Committee's 2007-2008 Annual Report to the Dartmouth Board of
Trustees
Soon to be added will be a list of book recommendations from Dartmouth
faculty. This booklist was a recommendation that was submitted to the ALC by a
Dartmouth alumnus.
With that, I will end the recap of the meeting and move on to the final
point of business related to the DCMW and the Alumni Council, namely,
electing my successor. The DCMW's Alumni Council Rep has previously been
appointed by the DCMW Executive Committee. Normally a past-president is selected
for his or her outstanding contribution to the alumni activity here in the Twin
Cities area. However, in an effort to provide total transparency and the
opportunity for all to participate in the process, we will be having an open
election this year, and every three years thereafter, to select the incoming
Council Representative.
Please respond by return e-mail to the list serve address or to me directly
with nominations for DCMW Alumni Council Representative. While there are no
specific criteria other than that the named individual is a Dartmouth alum, we
would strongly encourage you to consider service to the Club primarily, and to
the Collegesecondarily, when making your nominations. Simply send the person's
name, contact information, and a brief statement which primarily focuses on your
interests and qualifications to serve as the DCMW's representative to the
College. The Executive Committee will compile the list of candidates, narrow it
to two or three, and provide for balloting at the upcoming Annual Meeting/Dinner
(latter part of July). An announcement of the results will be
made shortly thereafter.
In this regard, I will close by nominating my friend and a tireless worker
for the Club and College, Jay D. Miller '82. As many of you know, Jay was
Vice President of the Club from 2002-2004, President of the Club from
2004-2006, and has since been the guy who e-mails you with all things
Dartmouth and DCMW. He has also been an alumni interviewer, participant on the
Club's Scholarship Committee, and is currently planning to host the 'Big Green
Bus' travelers when they come through Minneapolis. While my
endorsement and a dime may get him a ten cent cup of coffee, I will simply say
that I know of no one better in this Club to represent the DCMW than Jay.
Thank you for allowing me to represent you this past three years. It has
been fun and educational.
Best regards and have a great summer,
Rob Albright '89
DCMW Alumni Council Representative
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