Standard 3: Organization and Governance
The administrative structure, the lines of report between faculty and senior institutional leaders, and the opportunities for participation in governance are clearly delineated in a variety of public documents. All indications are that the senior administration, supported by a strong and effective Board, deserves and enjoys the respect of faculty, students and staff. In addition, Dartmouth has maintained, and in some ways enhanced, its longstanding adherence to the principle of inclusiveness in matters of government.
The decade since the last accreditation has been a period of incremental change with respect to organization and governance at Dartmouth. In 1998, the Board of Trustees undertook a review of its own governance, establishing a new committee structure that delegates the study of particular issues to Board members while also assuring greater involvement on the parts of Board emeriti, faculty, and students in Board decisions. In all matters of consequence, however, the Board acts as a committee of the whole. Board members have a good working relationship and an important bond of trust with senior administrators.
The President's role as Chief Executive Officer of the College takes a traditional form, with evidence of great effectiveness. The Office of the Provost has seen frequent turnover in the past decade, with the most recently appointed Provost taking office in February 1999. In order to strengthen the role of the Provost, the Provost will be given increasingly greater responsibility. We believe that this is a positive change.
The Organization of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Dartmouth College (OFDC) provides for a wide participation of faculty in the governance of the College. The OFDC is made up of a set of Councils that provide forums for the deliberation of policies affecting the entire institution. Divisional Councils represent, through their chairs and directors, the four divisions of the faculty of Arts and Sciences. Standing Committees oversee matters pertaining to the central scholarly and pedagogical life of the College. Three of these committees are of particular importance: (1) The Committee on Organization and Policy (COP), (2) The Committee of Chairs, and (3) The Committee Advisory to the President (CAP).
The Committee on Organization and Policy (COP) is charged with appointing faculty to standing committees, creating ad hoc committees as needed, recommending changes in the OFDC, and receiving reports from standing and ad hoc committees that may be brought before the full faculty for discussion and action. In 1992 COP proposed, and the faculty approved, a reorganization of the committee structure, with the goal of reinforcing the priority of faculty scholarship and teaching without compromising the effectiveness of the committee system or devaluing committee service as a means by which faculty may contribute to the governance of the institution." The new committee structure has eliminated redundancy and ensured more efficient faculty participation in key decisions about the educational life of the College. This change is all the more significant in that it has come at a time when professional demands upon faculty time have diminished the spirit of service that marked many college and university faculties, Dartmouth among them, in a former generation.
The Committee of Chairs, itself chaired by the President, is charged with deliberation about policy and ongoing review of the College budget with respect to institutional plans and priorities.
The Committee Advisory to the President (CAP) acts on personnel matters of reappointment, tenure, and promotion, and thus is worthy of special comment. CAP includes six-elected faculty representing the three divisions, and it affords the faculty its most direct participation in critical issues of membership and advancement in the tenured faculty. The role of CAP highlights how Dartmouth's reviews for reappointment, tenure, and promotion have several unusual aspects. First, the Dean of the Faculty sits as one voting member among others on CAP, but otherwise plays no separable role in reviewing and recommending candidates for advancement. In addition, the Provost has no independent role in the personnel review and sits on CAP without a vote. In contrast, the associate deans of the College have significant authority as intermediaries between the department and CAP, and act without the protection of a committee. Thus the associate dean of each division bears a significant burden in the personnel decision, particularly if he or she chooses to oppose an advancement recommended by a department or supports an advancement opposed by the department. Given the sense among faculty that the standards of achievement for tenure and promotion have been raised in recent years, these personnel procedures may bear reexamination.
The College's continued attention to the quality of student life has encouraged students to want increased involvement in the governance and decision-making process at the College. Students appear on a number of committees at all levels, including the committees of the Board of Trustees, several standing committees of OFDC, and regularly on ad hoc committees devoted to issues of student life. It is notable, for example, that a student chairs the committee currently studying an "Identity, Race, and Ethnicity" requirement. Another co-chairs the Task Force on Undergraduate Social Life. Four students, two elected by the Student Assembly and two appointed by the President, sit on the Trustees Committee on Student Life. The response of students to the Student Life Initiative highlights their keen interest in direct involvement in governance of the College. To the extent that the President and faculty put issues of student life at the top of the institution's agenda, we expect that students will continue to seek additional ways to participate in governance.
In short, Dartmouth College devotes a significant amount of attention to ensuring that the educational mission and intellectual life of the College are regularly reviewed, with participation from a range of constituents and with continued reflection on standards, policies, and administrative structures.