TPC: MASTER PLANNER
Sixteen studies under the aegis of the Trustees Planning Committee have charted the College's development program
No single agency of the College has had a greater influence in shaping the Dartmouth of tomorrow, in detail as well as broad outline, than the Trustees Planning Committee. This longrange planning committee has been at work since 1954, producing the blueprints for new programs in all areas of the life and work of the College. It has been responsible for reviewing every aspect of the College's operations, for defining goals toward which the College should move, and, when goals have been set, for assigning these plans to the appropriate parties for implementation.
President Dickey has often divided the postwar period into three distinct phases. The first phase, 1945-1953, was necessarily devoted to the problems of postwar adjustment. The establishment of the Trustees Planning Committee in 1954 marked the beginning of a second period in the development of the College. These have been the years of comprehensive planning and appraisal, as TPC has charted the College's future course. As TPC reports have been submitted by the various subcommittees, the completed plans have gone to appropriate officers and departments for follow-through. The great majority of TPC recommendations have now been put into effect, and many major developments are the direct result of these studies.
As the College moves forward to the third phase, the fulfillment of these plans, and at the same time looks ahead to the Bicentennial in 1969, it seems appropriate to review the planning programs to date and to summarize the major recommendations that have grown out of TPC's operations during eight years of activity.
COLLEGE PURPOSE
In January 1954, President Dickey prepared the initial report for the Board of Trustees on the question of the central, ongoing purpose of Dartmouth College. The President cited the following basic elements of purpose which have been inherited from the past as possessing special relevance for the Dartmouth of the present and of the future:
(1) An overriding sense of public obligation. The work of the College proceeds on the historic assumption that the ultimate obligation of this institution is to human society.
(2) A commitment to the liberal arts as the best educational foundation for the fullest possible development of individual competence and conscience.
(3) A commitment to the primacy of undergraduate education.
President Dickey concluded his report by stating that . . the liberal arts college, more than any other institution in American life, is directly concerned at the higher levels of education with the development in all its products of both the will and the capacity to serve the public good regardless of how the individual makes his own living. If Dartmouth annually can put six hundred such public-minded, competent citizens back into the home communities of our fortyeight states during the next fifteen years, she may be able to make a truly decisive contribution to the perpetuation of the human heritage which all education holds in trust. That, at this point, should be her ennobling aim."
The Trustees endorsed the President's concept of purpose in full, and all subsequent planning has proceeded on the assumptions contained in this first longrange planning report.
COLLEGE SIZE
The TPC Subcommittee on College Size submitted its report in October 1954. After studying the size of the undergraduate college in relation to the quality of the faculty and student body, the adequacy of the College plant, and the educational environment of the Dartmouth community, the subcommittee recommended that:
(1) . . there be a planned increase of undergraduates, bringing the enrollment, exclusive of graduate students in Associated Schools, to 3000 in the early 1960's; if further study indicates that changes in personnel, program and facilities along the lines recommended . . . can be carried out by that time."
(2) . . in planning beyond 1960, an increase in size beyond 3000 be assumed to be undesirable, but ... if there are impressing reasons making such an increase desirable, a satisfactory experience with a college of 3000 might change this recommendation."
PLANT PLANNING
During the last eight years, the TPC Subcommittee on Plant Planning has been engaged in a continuous series of studies of the master plan and future plant needs of the College. Established prior to TPC, the original plant study group began its work in 1953 under the chairmanship of Prof. John P. Amsden '20. In addition to overseeing the detailed studies made by special ad hoc building committees, the Plant Planning Subcommittee is responsible for recommending priorities to govern the future building program of the College. These are then submitted through the TPC and the TPC Committee on Buildings and Grounds to the Trustees for approval.
MEDICAL SCHOOL
The TPC Subcommittee on the Medical School recommended in 1955 that Dartmouth's unique two-year medical education program be continued, provided adequate funds could be secured to improve plant facilities and faculty compensation. TPC agreed that Dartmouth's two-year program served as a much needed prototype for alleviating some of the critical problems facing American medical education, and that in addition to making an important contribution to society, the Medical School was contributing important positive values to the life of the undergraduate college. To date, over $6 million has been raised in a $lO million fund drive to finance future Medical School needs; and a new Medical Science Building, located adjacent to the Mary Hitchcock Hospital, has been completed. Additional facilities in the Medical School complex, including a dormitory, auditorium, and other vital buildings, are either under construction or in the planning stage.
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
A number of key changes were made in the College's fund-raising organization as a result of the recommendations submitted in 1955 by the TPC Subcommittee on Development. Among the major moves in this area were the creation of the Board of Trustees' Committee on Development (renamed the Committee on Alumni and Public Affairs) and the realignment of a number of Alumni Council committees responsible for various phases of the College's fund-raising program. Once this reorganization had taken place, the College was ready to launch its successful Capital Gifts Campaign under the chairmanship of Charles J. Zimmerman '23 - which realized its goal of $17,000,000 in June 1959.
THAYER SCHOOL
In 1956 the TPC Subcommittee on the Thayer School submitted a report which recommended a basic shift in the engineering education program at Dartmouth from that of specialization to that of increased emphasis on the basic sciences. Under the new concept, the central focus of Dartmouth's engineering program is based upon a new engineering science major, leading to the regular four-year Bachelor of Arts degree with the option of continuing on for a five-year Thayer School bachelor degree in either civil, mechanical or electrical engineering. The Thayer School also continues to offer a Master's degree option. After both the faculty and the Trustees Planning Committee had endorsed this new program, it was approved by the Board of Trustees in April 1958, and a Department of Engineering Science was created in the Science Division of the undergraduate College.
UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM
A special TPC Subcommittee on Educational Program Planning and the standing Faculty Committee on Educational Policy submitted a joint report to the faculty in 1957. Among the major recommendations contained in this report were:
(1) The adoption of a three-term, three-course calendar.
(2) The institution of an independent program of general reading for the first two years and of independent reading prescribed by the major department for the last two years in the undergraduate college.
(3) Modification of certain distributive requirements for freshmen and sophomores in the science, humanities, and foreign language areas.
DARTMOUTH OUTING CLUB
In a report submitted in 1957 the TPC Subcommittee on the Dartmouth Outing Club recommended a number of changes in Outing Club operations looking forward to the DOC's fiftieth anniversary in the academic year 1959-60. A major recomendation. contained in this report was the establishment of a capital improvement program to renovate cabins, trails, and shelters which get heavy use by both undergraduates and alumni.
ALUMNI RELATIONS
In a major seven-volume report, the TPC Subcommittee on Alumni Relations summarized the results of an exhaustive survey of all phases of the Dart- mouth alumni program. In all, the Committee reviewed the history and objectives of alumni relations and submitted eighty separate recommendations covering the areas of alumni communications, alumni organization, intellectual interests activities, and alumni activities. All these have been put into operation and are of significant value to the alumni network.
ATHLETICS
The Subcommittee on Athletics submitted its report to the TPC in 1958. On the basis of a detailed study of the physical education, intramural, and intercollegiate programs (including a comprehensive survey of the athletic programs of ten other colleges and universities), the subcommittee recommended that all athletics at Dartmouth be consolidated under a single administrator, with overall policy guidance in the athletic area being provided by the Athletic Council.
TUCK SCHOOL
In a report submitted to the TPC in 1959 the Subcommittee on the Tuck School set forth the following objectives as constituting the central purpose of the Tuck School:
(1) The preparation of qualified young men for eventual service to society as managers of business enterprises.
(2) The conduct of research in business administration and related disciplines for the purpose of advancing knowledge in these fields.
(3) The encouragement of qualified students to continue preparation for careers as teachers and researchers in business administration.
The TPC endorsed these objectives and approved in principle specific recommendations in the report relating to future teaching, curriculum, and research activities at the Tuck School, as well as revised plans for the development of the joint Tuck-Thayer program.
STUDENT HEALTH
The TPC Subcommittee on Student Health submitted its final report to TPC in 1959. This contained 21 recommendations relative to the scope, organization, and financing of the College's health service program. Practically all these recommendations have now been put into operation.
ADMISSIONS AND FINANCIAL AID
The report of the TPC Subcommittee on Admissions and Financial Aid, which was summarized in the October issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE, stated that Dartmouth's chief admissions problem is one of attraction rather than selection and that the chief key to getting more outstanding applicants is the repute of the faculty. The Subcommittee suggested programs both to strengthen the faculty and give faculty members a more active part in the enrollment programs. It found the admissions staff, and the standards and procedures employed by the Admissions Office, to be generally excellent, although it recommended certain improvements, most of which have since been put into effect.
COUNCIL ON STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
This thoroughgoing survey of non-ath- letic extracurricular activities and of the College's responsibilities in the support and control of them resulted in a number of improvements, organizational and otherwise. More recent planning for the uses of the Hopkins Center has, of course, inspired a new impetus and a greater significance to the whole area of student activities at Dartmouth.
TRANSPORTATION
The TPC Subcommittee on Transportation, which completed its survey in 1960, offered a wide range of recommendations concerning the possible improvement of public transportation by air, rail, and bus to and from Hanover. It also addressed itself to the important matter of student automobiles in Hanover and the regulations and parking problems relating thereto. The majority of these recommendations have since been put into effect.
COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT
The TPC Subcommittee on Community Environment was asked to undertake a study of the best way to make Hanover a more attractive place to live in. Its report, submitted in 1960, contained comprehensive recommendations concerningdo mestic housing; recreational facilities; social, cultural, and athletic programs; and the possible institution of a development council to promote the overall improvement of the community from the point of view of economy and tax base.
