Within the first 10 minutes of their Saturday, Feb. 12 meeting, the University's Board of Trustees approved funding for Sophia Gordon Hall and the new Music building, both of which have been years in the works.
"They don't usually spend that much money in one meeting," Trustees Secretary Linda Dixon said.
While plans for both projects have been ongoing, this step is significant because no construction can take place until the Trustees approve the money to fund it.
In addition to the construction of the two buildings, the undisclosed amount will also finance infrastructure for both projects, including telephone, cable and electric lines.
Another vote authorized the second half of construction for the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and will renovate the upper floors of the Cabot building. The first phase of the construction, which renovated the lobby and lower floors, was completed this fall.
Tufts will finance the project through bonds and temporary loans.
Following the funding vote, Dean of Arts and Sciences Susan Ernst and Dean of Engineering Linda Abriola moderated an exchange on faculty recruiting and retention, discussing the benefits and challenges facing the University.
This discussion was one of several events that focused on faculty over the two-day meeting.
Prior to the meeting, the Committee on Academic Affairs discussed tenure practices with the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotions, soothing tensions over general policy and refused appointments.
"Each side explained things that were bothering them, and found issues that they both had concerns about," Dixon said.
Faculty and trustees were able to reach common ground by finding mutual priorities and placing the issue in perspective with national tenure review standards from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).
The trustees ate lunch with the faculty members engaged in similar interdisciplinary research, from the humanities to the arts to the sciences.
The Committee for University Advancement is set to begin preliminary work on Tufts' new capital campaign, which is in its "quiet phase," Dixon said.
The trustees worked to set a final monetary goal for the campaign, which will begin officially in about one year.
Private consultant Mark Neustadt also presented a program to strengthen, streamline, and refine Tufts' public relations and internal communications.
"It's about the Web site, the publications, getting the name in the paper," Dixon said. "It's getting the right message out to the right people in the right way."
According to the trustees and administrators at the meeting, completion of the Sophia Gordon Hall and the new Music building is expected to be by Sept. 2006.
