Board of Trustees Approves Operating and Capital Budgets for Fiscal Year 2011

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Board Elected Two Trustees; Invited Nominees for Two Open Alumni-Nominated Trustee Seats; and Approved Appointments to Tenured Faculty Positions

[[{“type”:“media”,“view_mode”:“media_large”,“fid”:null,“attributes”:{“class”:“media-image alignright size-full wp-image-3521”,“typeof”:“foaf:Image”,“style”:“”,“width”:“200”,“height”:“200”,“alt”:“Dartmouth Shield”}}]]During its spring meeting on Friday, the Dartmouth Board of Trustees acted to approve the budget for the institution for fiscal year 2011; elected two new Board members; invited nominations for two Trustee seats; and approved appointments to tenured faculty positions.

The Board elected Trevor D. Rees-Jones ’73 and Peggy Epstein Tanner ’79, P’11 (see separate news release).

Charles E. Haldeman ’70, Board chair since 2007, formally handed over the gavel to Stephen F. Mandel ’78, whose term as Board chair began with the close of the June meeting.  Haldeman, a Trustee since 2004, will continue to serve as a member of the Board.

Many Board members will remain in Hanover to participate in Commencement activities and the ceremony at 9:30 a.m. this Sunday, June 13, 2010.

Approval of Budgets and Endowment Distributions; Report on Philanthropy

Dartmouth expects to end the 2010 fiscal year with operating expenses and transfers to restricted reserves of $830 million institution-wide.

For the 2011 fiscal year (July 1, 2010-June 30, 2011), the Board approved an operating budget of $829 million (including expenses and transfers to restricted reserves).  The institution’s operating budget includes $507 million for the College (inclusive of auxiliary operations such as Dartmouth Dining Services and Residential Life); $229 million for Dartmouth Medical School; $33 million for the Thayer School of Engineering; and $60 million for the Tuck School of Business.

In addition, the Board approved an FY 2011 capital budget which will result in expenditures of $171 million, mainly for the Life Sciences Center, the Visual Arts Center, and the Class of 1953 Commons, which will all be under construction in FY 2011.

The Board also approved an estimated distribution from the endowment for FY 2011 of $157 million for operating and non-operating activities, which is approximately 21 percent lower than the current estimated distribution for FY 2010 of $200 million.  The endowment distribution rate for FY 2011 was set at approximately 5.4 percent, a decrease from the rate for FY 2010 of approximately 7 percent. Dartmouth has worked to reduce its dependence on the endowment to fund operating expenses, in the wake of the global economic downturn. In FY 2011, distributions from the endowment will fund approximately 19 percent of the operating budget, compared with approximately 24 percent in FY 2010.

Through its Strategic Budget Reduction and Investment (SBRI) process, Dartmouth has been able to resolve a projected $54 million budget gap in FY 2011 through a combination of revenue improvements, expense reductions, and elimination of previously planned increases in expenses.

President Jim Yong Kim expressed appreciation to the teams of people who have worked to reduce Dartmouth’s projected budget gaps for FY 2011 and beyond.  “We have made tremendous progress in reducing expenses and in raising revenue,” the President told the Board.

“We are confident that the work accomplished over the past few months has provided us with the basis for closing the remaining gap for future years.”

Senior Vice President for Advancement Carolyn Pelzel presented a report on philanthropy to the Board. Total giving to Dartmouth for all purposes was $128.9 million through May 31, 2010, a 13 percent increase year-to-date.

New Charter Trustees

Two new charter Trustees, Trevor D. Rees-Jones ’73 and Peggy Epstein Tanner ’79 P’11, will join the Board in September.  One will fill a seat vacated by Pamela Joyner ’79, who has completed her term, and the other will fill one of the additional charter Trustee positions authorized by the Board in September 2007.

Alumni-Nominated Board Seats

The Board voted to notify the Alumni Council of vacancies in two alumni Trustee positions, inviting the Council to begin Council and Association of Alumni proceedings for alumni nomination of candidates for those positions. The two Trustees ending their terms are Christine Burnley Bucklin ’84, who has completed her term, and Jose Fernandez ’77, who stepped down in fall 2009 following his confirmation as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State.  Fernandez served from 2003-2010, ending his second term two years early.

Faculty Appointments

The Board reviewed and approved recommended appointments to tenured faculty positions in the faculties of Arts and Sciences as well as Dartmouth Medical School, the Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business.  (These appointments will be announced by the deans of the respective schools.)

2010 Commencement, Keynote by Stephen Lewis

Over the next two days, Trustees will participate in an array of activities on campus related to graduation for the Class of 2010, culminating in Commencement ceremonies on Sunday morning, June 13, on the Dartmouth Green. Stephen Lewis will be the keynote speaker for the event; he is a former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations and a former UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa. He is currently the co-director of AIDS-Free World, an international advocacy organization he co-founded in 2007 on the heels of his tenure as UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa. The organization works to promote more urgent and more effective global responses to HIV/AIDS. Lewis is also a professor in Global Health at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and he serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Clinton Health Access Initiative and of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.

Commencement generally draws as many as 13,000 guests to the Dartmouth Green. The College expects to award approximately 1,000 bachelor’s degrees and approximately 700 master’s and doctoral degrees in the Arts and Sciences and from the College’s three professional schools: Dartmouth Medical School, the Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business.

Dartmouth will also present honorary degrees to a distinguished group of seven recipients:

Other pre-Commencement activities include Class Day exercises for undergraduates; Class Day and Investiture ceremonies for Dartmouth Medical School, the Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business; separate luncheons honoring retiring Trustees and members of the 50-Year Reunion Class; the annual Phi Beta Kappa meeting; commissioning of ROTC graduates; the annual Baccalaureate service for all graduates; a reception honoring students involved in public service or religious life; and various other events.
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