The University trustees, Tufts' highest governing body, came together with members of the faculty this Saturday to discuss Tufts' future as it struggles to toe the fine line between being a small liberal arts college and a research university.
Discussion at the posh Gifford House event, attended by most of the 37 Trustees as well as faculty representatives from many of Tufts' schools and departments, revolved largely around financial issues and concerns about a lack of building space on this campus - although the Trustees' upcoming search to replace University President John DiBiaggio also received some attention.
"The most immediate challenge we will have over a short period of time is to replace John DiBiaggio," said Nathan Gantcher, chairman of the Board of Trustees.
While Gantcher and his fellow trustees were decidedly cautious when discussing the University's financial state in comparison to its benchmark schools, they were quick to point out the successes of DiBiaggio's tenure.
"When John DiBiaggio came to this campus nine years ago, his point-of-view was that this school was the most under-endowed school, on a per-student basis, for its reputation and academic level," Gantcher said, noting that there has been a "tremendous momentum" in University fundraising - including completion of the $400 million capital campaign - since DiBiaggio arrived.
Several faculty members, in light of the expansion that this influx of capital has brought to the University's infrastructure and its research resources, raised questions about how Tufts would deal with the possibility of becoming too big for its britches.
"We as a department are currently enjoying and suffering from growing pains," said Associate Professor of Child Development Ann Easterbrooks. "Are there strategic plans to develop and acquire parcels of land and facilities close to campus?"
"There's no question, we're landlocked," responded Provost Sol Gittleman. "We've taken space wherever we could, we've made tactical decisions. We are going to have to be very, very creative with how we fill the parcels we've got left."
"We've tried to maintain the aesthetics of this campus," added DiBiaggio. "Now students are talking about additional residence halls. The only way we're going to accomplish that, from our perspective, is to take another building down. We don't want to infringe further on the green space."
Gantcher explained to the body why the housing crunch persists, even after the construction of South Hall in 1990.
"We have a challenge for more beds on this campus. There's a big demand to live on campus today, because of things like the Internet access, and the high cost of real estate. For students now, it's much cheaper for them to live in dorms," he said.
Beyond housing and physical space concerns, faculty members listed several macro-issues they hope the University will address in the coming years, including raising faculty salaries and increasing the number of endowed chairs.
"What we really need, for the whole University and the Veterinary School, is more endowed positions," said Biomedical Sciences Professor Anwer Sawkat.
In response, Gantcher again noted the difficult financial situation the University faces, despite the recent, and much celebrated, strides. "We are an undercapitalized institution. And this business is becoming more and more competitive in keeping the kind of faculty we need," he said.
The Chairman also brought up the issue of financial aid, of particular importance after the large boosts that many of Tufts' benchmark schools have given their programs in the past two years.
"Many of these rich schools are going forward with their programs," he said. "It's a competitive business today. We could have a good set of wealthy kids from the northeast. That's not what we want. We want diversity."
