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Trustees Set Fees, Discuss Plan for 2003, and Promote Faculty

Trustees had a full agenda for their March 7-8 meeting. They set tuition, room, and board fees for next year; discussed the second draft of the Plan for Mount Holyoke 2003; approved recommendations for faculty tenure, promotion, and appointment; heard a variety of committee reports; and chose two new trustees.

What follows is a statement on behalf of the board of trustees about the results of their March meeting. It was provided by President Joanne Creighton and Barbara Rossotti, chair of the board of trustees.

On behalf of the Mount Holyoke board of trustees, we write to report on our committee and full board meetings this past weekend (March 7-8). We covered a wide range of issues in what was our second weekend of meetings under a new structure designed to improve the board's functioning by giving committees more responsibility and fostering board discussion of issues of strategic importance to the College's future.

The board considered the ongoing planning process in several committee meetings and in a plenary session, affirming its support for the directions charted in the draft Plan for Mount Holyoke 2003 and offering suggestions for the final version. The board expressed its general approval of the Plan and expects to take formal action at its meeting May 10.

The Student Conference Committee discussed with the trustees' Student Affairs Committee several complex issues about which there is interest and concern among students--including the future structure of the chaplaincy and requests for cultural space from student organizations. The board appreciated being informed about these issues and expressed its support for the consultative processes which the administration has underway for deciding them.

Trustees joined with President Creighton in expressing their dismay over reports of recent instances of racism in our community and denouncing any and all expressions of racism, homophobia, and other forms of bigotry on the Mount Holyoke campus. The board supports the president and all members of the Mount Holyoke College community in the continuing effort to be a model and leader on issues of inclusiveness and diversity.

Formal actions taken by the board included:

• setting the 1997/98 tuition rate at $22,200, the room rate at $3,200, and board rate at $3,325 for a total fee of $28,725, a 4.5 percent overall increase from last year's fee of $27,500;
• electing Elizabeth Allen Wilson '72 to a five-year term on the board effective January 1, 1997, and Ashanta N. Evans '95 to a three-year term as young alumna trustee beginning July 1, 1997;
• approving recommendations for tenure, promotion, and reappointment of members of the faculty (see related article in this issue for details); and
• selecting auditors for fiscal year 1997.

The trustees would like to thank those students, faculty, and staff with whom they met over the course of the weekend for their thoughtful participation in the board's meetings.