The Board of Trustees had its first meeting of the academic year this weekend. The Board met behind closed doors for wide-ranging discussions on the University's future.
The Board met as a whole Friday morning, divided into committees in the afternoon, then reconvened Saturday morning.
During the Friday morning session, the trustees met new Dean of Arts and Sciences Robert Sternberg for the first time. Sternberg's presentation, "A vision for Arts and Sciences: The leaders of tomorrow through a Tufts education today" incorporated his research in the fields of multiple intelligences and leadership.
The next day the Board split into its three main committees: academic affairs, administration and finance, and university advancement.
In the academic affairs committee, trustees heard a presentation on the open courseware initiative from Associate Provost Mary Lee and Nancy Wilson, the director and associate dean of the University College of Citizenship and Public Service.
Open courseware is an initiative by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to post course material free online for people in other countries, specifically underdeveloped ones, to access. Tufts has signed onto the program.
The trustees were impressed. "I don't recall any critical comments," trustee Alfred Tauber (LA '69, M '73) said. "We think it's the right way to go."
Open courseware requires a university to have confident faculty and be confident in its academic standards, Tauber said. "It puts Tufts academically in the international limelight."
The academic affairs committee also met with the School of Arts and Sciences' tenure and promotions committee. They discussed standardizing and increasing the flexibility of the tenure process. Professors currently undergo tenure revue in their seventh year at the University.
The trustees discussed options for professors who have children during their first six years.
"They shouldn't be penalized for having kids," said senior Cho Ling, one of the three Tufts Community Union (TCU) representatives to the Board. Ling sits on the academic affairs committee, and he is allowed to ask questions and participate in discussion.
Another change to the tenure process trustees discussed was providing an option for a break in the six years to allow faculty to pursue research. This is a priority, Tauber said, because "the University is pushing faculty to be more research-committed."
The third issue the committee addressed was the University's retention of female faculty members. Attrition of female professors at Tufts is not higher than at competitor schools, Tauber said.
"Tufts is not doing any worse," he said. "The question is: Can we do better?"
Tauber mentioned the number of women in administrative positions at Tufts. The deans of the School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Dental Medicine and the Sackler School of Biomedical Sciences, three University vice presidents, the vice provost, the associate provost, the senior assistant provost and the assistant provost are all female.
"The administrative hierarchy is pretty well divided," he said.
Ling asked the final question during the discussion on female professors. He said the issue of female faculty was important, but "What about faculty of color?" According to Ling, the trustees said retention of minority faculty was an important issue to address, but that it would require a separate and much longer session.
As part of Ling's position, he is required to make a proposal to his committee at the spring Board meeting. He plans to focus on reform of the international relations program.
He plans to propose either creating a College of International Affairs or putting the undergraduate international relations program in the Fletcher School. "When you leave tufts after four years, you graduate with a degree from either Fletcher or the College of International Affairs," he said. Within the new international affairs program, Ling said, students would be able to choose from several concentrations.
Ling said his plan was not affected by last weekend's Board meeting. "It's solidifying a lot," he said. It will also include proposed reforms to the foreign languages departments and the study abroad program and the creation of an international research and scholarship office.
Administration and Finance
The Administration and Finance Committee heard a preliminary report on the University's budget, Trustees Secretary Linda Dixon said.
Senior Laura Fruitman, the TCU representative to the committee, said the discussions were confidential.
The committee was also scheduled to hear a presentation by Public and Environmental Safety Director John King. King was asked by University President Lawrence Bacow to prepare a disaster response plan for the school in light of Hurricane Katrina.
Ellen Zane, who became the CEO of the Tufts-New England Medical Center two years ago, gave the committee an update on the measures she has put into place to make the hospital financially stable. Tufts-New England Medical Center is associated with the Tufts School of Medicine.
The committee also heard a presentation by Vice President of Operations John Roberto on authorizing funding for the continued construction at the Fletcher School, the parking garage next to South Hall, the bio-safety laboratory at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and the restoration of laboratories near the School of Medicine.
Fruitman's proposal to her committee will focus on Phase III of the campus center, she said. The campus center would be expanded in the direction of the Women's Center. Office space for student groups, space for student activities and mailboxes would be added, Fruitman said, to make the campus center more of a focal point for students.
"This is something that the student body really needs," she said. "It gives students here a sense of unification." She said the expansion, which would relocate the Women's Center to the site where one of the student groups currently resides, would help attract prospective students and donations to the University.
Several trustees did not think Phase III should be a priority for the University. "Academic programs, faculty salaries, expansion of facilities must take higher priority," Tauber said. "That's the heart of the institution. I think the student body would understand."
Trustee Brian Golden (LA '61, M '65), a member of the academic affairs committee, agreed. "Housing is the highest priority right now," he said. Golden lived in Carmichael Hall soon after it was built, when the majority of Tufts students were commuters. Golden lives in Gloucester and retired last year from his orthopedic surgery practice in Medford, where he grew up.
"There was no dormitory problem," he said. "New York students were like foreign exchange students."
Sharon Halverson (LA '65), another member of the academic affairs committee, said other projects will take precedence to Phase III construction. "It is on the list," she said, "but it isn't a top priority."
Ling said he advocated the proposal in his committee.
University Advancement
The university advancement committee got a preview of Saturday's presentation by Vice President for University Relations Mary Jeka and Mark Neustadt, an outside marketing consultant hired by the University.
According to Executive Director of Communications Julie Pierce, Neustadt has been studying the University's communications and branding strategy for nine months. His work has involved a review of the University's current programs and focus groups on possible changes.
Golden, Halverson and trustee emerita Sheila McDermott all said they had thought the University's logo was the seal, the downward-facing bird and book. The truth is the logo is simply the letters T-U-F-T-S.
After serving two, five-year terms on the Board, trustees can be asked to serve as emeritus members. McDermott was on the board from 1991-2000. At last weekend's meeting, the Board confirmed Joyce Barsam and Monty Haymon as trustees emeritus. Thomas Winkler and Pierre Omidyar were also re-elected for their second five-year terms.
Neustadt's presentation focused on standardizing the presentation of the logo and the University's colors. University apparel and publications carry the logo in varying fonts, and there are no set shades of brown and blue.
There were no concrete proposals up for discussion.
Halverson said donations to the University can help supplement its marketing strategy. Last week's $100 million donation from Pierre and Pam Omidyar through microfinance projects "fits the mission of engaged citizenship," she said.
The university advancement committee's student representative, senior Dave Baumwoll, said he asked the presenters and the trustees the target of the unified marketing strategy.
"A lot of students are concerned about how Tufts is marketed to employers," he said.
The trustees said the student representatives were active in the discussions, and they felt they got an accurate assessment of the student body's priorities. "We're listening to what the student leaders believe," McDermott said. The students were "honest in their appraisals, sometimes quite ambitious," she said.
"I tried to be as vocal as possible," Baumwoll said. "It's absolutely essential that the student voice is there.
