Committee 

May 12–14, 2016

Chair David Van Wie ’79, ‘84Th opened the meeting and reviewed the agenda. Councilors introduced themselves around the table.

Van Wie introduced the candidates for vice chair and allowed time to review the candidates’ written statements. The two candidates – Jim Staros ’69 and David Silbersweig ’82 – also made verbal statements. A paper-ballot vote was taken. After tallying the votes, David Silbersweig will be the new vice chair.

Secretary Robin Albing T’81 reviewed the faculty award that was discussed at the last meeting. This award will be presented to the member(s) of the faculty who have done the most for the alumni and will be selected based on a number of criteria by the alumni with input from Alumni Relations. The members of the committee had been informed about the naming of the award (in honor of the late Professor John Rassias) and had taken a (positive) vote prior to the meeting. (The naming of the award was announced at a later session of the Council.) The first recipient(s) of the award will be discussed at the fall 2016 committee meeting.

Discussion continued about faculty diversity, an issue that concerns committee members as well as their constituents.

Van Wie informed the committee about a request made by one member of the Alumni Council to add more representation from the professional schools. The Executive Committee had earlier asked, how might we elevate professional schools as part of the Alumni Council? Should we add representation from the professional schools to the Academic Affairs Committee? After lengthy discussion, no action was taken on this; it will require more discussion at the next committee meeting.

Panel Discussion
“How the Work of Graduate Students Enriches the Undergraduate Experience at Dartmouth (and Vice Versa)”
 Dean Jon Kull gave a quick update about the School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, then, a panel of current students (two undergraduates and two graduate students) discussed their personal experiences and interactions at Dartmouth. Everyone appreciated the insights provided by the students and it was suggested that we should get this type of reflection in the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine so that the alumni body could better understand the relationship between undergraduate and graduate students.