Chair Omar Rashid ’00 and Vice Chair Chitra Narasimhan ’92 welcomed the committee members. Alumni Council President-Elect Laurie Shapiro ’95 joined the committee meeting to observe the committee’s work.
The committee meeting began with a presentation on Dartmouth NEXT by Robin Albing Tu’81, Director of Alumni Lifelong Learning and Advancement Special Projects, and Jon Hussey, Director of Content for Advancement Marketing and Engagement. Albing and Hussey presented on Dartmouth NEXT’s mission as a “virtual forum for big ideas.” They reviewed past successes in the Great Issues New Perspectives series and discussed the future of Dartmouth NEXT and the upcoming Short Talks on Big Ideas series. At the end of the presentation, committee members participated in a Q&A and provided feedback and suggestions for future Dartmouth NEXT content. Proposed future topics included foreign language learning, additional content on art history (in reference to past Lifelong Learning DOL and Virtual DOL events), history and propaganda, economics, and social impact issues. Finally, the committee provided general Lifelong Learning feedback on desired event formats and factors affecting the return to in-person alumni learning. John Nicholson ’82 proposed the creating of a virtual “suggestion box” for alumni to submit content ideas and wondered whether a Dartmouth NEXT link could be included on the College homepage for ease of access; Rashid offered for the Academic Affairs Committee to act as an alumni sounding board for Lifelong Learning content; and Narasimhan advised that alumni loved the “beyond-Zoom” aspects of the Dartmouth NEXT format.
The committee then discussed an update to the committee name and mission/purpose in line with the 2020 Alumni Council reorganization advisory. Committee members reviewed the proposal of a previous sub-committee regarding the committee name and mission statement which focused on pivoting the committee from an academic-advisory role to a lifelong learning support role as recommended by the 2020 Alumni Council committee task force. The committee further moved to change certain references in the mission statement from “curriculum” to “academic experience” in order to better reflect the encompassing nature of a Dartmouth education and to respect the role of the faculty in setting the curriculum. In keeping with this recommendation, the committee considered a list of ten proposed committee names and voted to adopt the name “Committee on Lifelong Learning,” subject to approval by the Alumni Council Executive Committee.
After adopting the new name and mission, the committee then moved to review a draft Dartmouth Lifelong Learning resource guide which was developed by a sub-committee led by Narasimhan. The committee reviewed the guide and provided enthusiastic and positive feedback. Committee members indicated that a condensed content guide posed advantages over numerous separate emails. Committee members also resolved to solicit additional potential lifelong learning content from existing electronic resources within the Dartmouth Libraries and within individual College departments, such as the Milton Reading Room and Occom Circle Project (English Department). The committee resolved to distribute the guide to their constituencies and to work with the Alumni Lifelong Learning office and Alumni Council Executive Committee to identify further opportunities to share the guide.
The committee then moved to review the 2021 Rassias Faculty Award nominees. The committee conducted electronic voting over the weekend with voting closing on Monday, May 17.
The Alumni Service Committee met on Wednesday May 12, 2021. The meeting was kicked off by Chair Nadine Parris ’06 with brief introductions. Parris presented on the May Season of Service, the more inclusive way the Service Committee is promoting the traditional Day of Service to give more flexibility to the timing of projects. The committee recognized the challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic has presented with the model of the Day of Service and encouraged individual service or virtual service done in a way that is comfortable and follows local health guidelines. Many clubs and groups shared the Season of Service language in their club newsletters and got the word out. There were a few projects to report on as well, and the Club of Dallas was highlighted for their project. The committee shifted to looking ahead at the two projects they have been focusing on this year, a service directory and a service exchange. The service directory, an effort led by Vice Chair Julie Levenson ’84, will compile different non-profits in large and small metro areas around the country to give alumni ideas for opportunities in which to engage. The alumni service exchange, led by Chair Nadine Parris, will be a place where alumni who know of service needs can post and advertise relevant service opportunities.
Nadine Parris will be stepping down as chair of the Service Committee at the end of June and Julie Levenson will become chair. Vice chairs will be elected during the fall meeting.
Colleen Haskell ’94, chair, opened the meeting by welcoming all committee members and reflecting on the past admissions cycle. She shared that the Enrollment and Admissions Committee sponsored an Admissions Tour and Information Session for all admissions ambassadors and thanked the committee for filling out the survey to share feedback and reflections on the experience.
Lee Coffin ‘89a, Vice Provost for Enrollment and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, updated the committee on the final statistics from the 2021-2022 admissions cycle, a class that experienced its whole Dartmouth admissions process virtually, from open houses, high school visits, alumni interviews, Dimensions, and Admitted Student Events. The 33% increase in applications was demanding, the Class of ’25 is the most selective in Dartmouth history and the following are Dartmouth records:
- Most applications: 28,357 (+33%)
- Most ED applications: 2,664 (+29%)
- Most selective: 6.17% admit rate
- 1,749 acceptances: the fewest # of acceptances offered in 40 years
- Most financial aid awarded: ~$51.6M
- 17% first generation college
- 48% BIPOC
- 15% live outside of the US
- 13.2% foreign citizens
- ~17% are Pell Eligible
The meeting concluded with a discussion around the focus of this committee – with a look toward assessing how the test optional policy impacts student performance and a focus on financial/socio-economic access to Dartmouth. The committee thanked Colleen for her service and is looking forward to Alex Barnett’s leadership to come.
The New Alumni Engagement Committee met on Monday, May 3 in advance of the spring Alumni Council meeting. The group focused on updates from its three working groups: 1) Kate Carolan ’05 shared the group’s progress in preparing personalized notes to go to every 2020 graduate with packs of notes going out to councilors and other engaged volunteers this week to then be mailed by June 15; 2) Erica Jacobsen ’91 walked the group through a new survey that was designed and launched with all classes 2017-20 looking at how engaged recent graduates are and how to inform and improve engagement opportunities focused on that cohort; and 3) Vinay Reddy ’20 shared progress in developing a virtual city/region guide that Dartmouth Clubs will be able to update and use as a tool for building community and connection with both new graduates and alums moving to new areas (two Dartmouth Clubs have already piloted the new guide and it will be rolled out with Alumni Relations this summer). Each group plans to complete work in the next few weeks and these projects will help steer the committee’s future work and efforts to smooth the transition to the alumni body and serve all new graduates as they become alums. The meeting closed debriefing the evolution of the committee and its new charge and charter this year and strategically planning how to continue its work next year.
The meeting opened with a greeting from chair Pablo Stern ’01 TH ’01, who welcomed the group to the third session in a row held via Zoom. Walter Palmer ’90, Director of Dartmouth for Life and committee liaison, gave an update on the unit’s activities over the course of the year. Milla McCaghren ’22, Dartmouth for Life’s student worker, gave an overview of the work she has done on the Dartmouth Alumni LinkedIn Group. After the update, Pablo led the committee through a brief summary of the PDC activities since the last meeting and outlined the new process for the election of a new vice chair which will take place at the 2021 fall meeting. Vice Chair Jonathan Weatherly ’90 then led the committee in a brainstorming session for how the committee could develop its activities over the summer and into the fall. Various committee members weighed in with their ideas and feedback. The focus for the committee will continue to be the Dartmouth Alumni LinkedIn Group, engagement around the various aspects of the Dartmouth Connect platform, and crowdsourcing content for the Career Hubs through the various constituencies represented by the members of the committee.