What’s Next?
notebook
CAMPUS
notes from around the green
PANDEMIC
Decision on fall term is coming soon.
Will students return to campus in September? Provost Joe Helble says we’ll know by June 29. The College will open for the start of the school year, scheduled for September 14, and embrace one of three scenarios: another term of remote learning, a full return to normalcy with students living on campus, or a hybrid version of the two.
Helble announced the deadline in late April during the first of a weekly series of live online broadcasts he plans to hold every Wednesday during spring term. The key factor in any decision, he says, will be “the health, safety, and well-being of the community” and “ensuring educational continuity for our students.”
The College will hold no in-person classes this summer. “A residential summer term relying on social distancing and severe restrictions on activities and gatherings would pose a significant public health risk to our students and to our faculty and staff, their families, and the Upper Valley community,” Helble announced in mid April.
Commencement and reunions will not take place on the Green. Instead, these events will be held virtually. As of early May, no specifics had been announced. The only years Dartmouth has not held a full-fledged Commencement ceremony were 1943 through 1945 due to World War II.
Several students tell DAM they would gladly accept a hybrid arrangement for the fall rather than endure another full term of remote learning. “Even if social distancing measures need to be in place if we go back, I would still be willing because being on campus means a lot to my mental health,” says one undergrad.
During the broadcast Helble explained how the severe financial shortfall the College faces cannot be alleviated simply by dipping into the endowment (valued at $5.7 billion last fall), which is “not a rainy day fund,” he says. Contrary to popular thinking, the endowment, he noted, “can’t be used to address institution-wide operational funding deficits.” Meanwhile, three highly compensated College administrators—Helble, President Phil Hanlon ’77, and executive VP Rick Mills—are donating 20 percent of their salaries to Dartmouth during the next year. A spokesperson says other members of the senior administration are also giving back a portion of their salaries, “but it is up to them whether to be public about it.”
ALUMS IN ACTION
2
Rank of Dartmouth among small schools with the most Peace Corps volunteers
IN THE RED
$83
million
Projected revenue loss for the College for fiscal 2020
VISITING VOICES
“Leadership is not an
individual sport.”
-FORMER UN AMBASSADOR SUSAN RICE, SPEAKING ON CAMPUS FEBRUARY 27
