Arts & Sciences Future Project Update

Dear colleagues,

We write with a brief update on the progress of the Arts & Sciences Future project, our collective inquiry into the best organization and budget structures to support the teaching, scholarship, and student experience that come under the umbrella of the arts and sciences at Dartmouth. We also want to highlight upcoming opportunities for the campus community to learn more and participate this spring in the final phase of the project, as we share a proposal for new structures and systems supporting the Arts and Sciences, and solicit campus feedback.

During the fall term, we made important strides, thanks in part to so many of you who participated in town hall meetings outlining the work to date, as well as a variety of meetings with staff units, faculties, governance committees, and more. In these conversations, we heard from you the importance of keeping our arts and sciences mission central to Dartmouth, as well as your willingness to think creatively about the ways we can work together in service of teaching, learning, scholarship and the undergraduate student experience. Your good questions helped us to sharpen our communication, guide the work of our task groups, and had a direct impact on the shape of the emerging proposal. 

We also want to thank the members of our task groups, whose diligence and careful deliberation helped key portions of this project take shape. In addition to bringing their own personal talents and experiences, task group members ably represent their staff and faculty bodies, further ensuring that the project addresses all affected members of our community. 

In late December, the task groups delivered their preliminary findings to the Steering Committee, which is now in the process of synthesizing those findings and developing a proposal for a new organizational and budget model. Over the next six weeks, the Steering Committee will continue to meet with task groups, faculty governance committees, staff, and other key groups of stakeholders. In these meetings, we will provide specific findings and recommendations, as well as ask questions needed to refine our recommendations. The goal is to incorporate this feedback and share a draft proposal with the broader community by the end of March. Presentations and town hall meetings in April and May will provide further opportunity for community input, with a final proposal scheduled for May, and time for governance and advisory votes before the end of the academic year. 

We will continue to update you in person, in writing, and through the A&S Future website as the project moves forward. We updated the website this month to include materials from the presentation we shared with many campus groups in the fall. As we dig further into the important issues at hand, we grow increasingly confident that this project can help pave the way for continued and growing excellence at Dartmouth, removing obstacles to our best work and taking advantage of the talent and wisdom that you all have to offer. And we heard loud and clear how unified you are in your dedication to Dartmouth's mission, and how important it is that we do everything possible to help us fulfill that mission. We look forward to talking with you more in the weeks and months to come.

With appreciation,
Dave & Nina