Self Reflection
The College is currently undergoing the reaccreditation process, a self-evaluation and peer review that takes place every decade. In November a team of evaluators from other institutions, led by Anthony Marx, president of Amherst College, arrives in Hanover to meet and speak with faculty, students and administrators before filing its report in January. The evaluators already have plenty of data to cull: Seven committees made up of 40 faculty members and administrators have filed their self-study reports on 11 standards, among them the College’s mission, academic programs, faculty, physical resources and integrity. Administered by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges’ (NEASC) Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, the process does not lead to much in the way of consequences, although the NEASC may make some recommendations. Former provost Barry Scherr has said the last reaccreditation, in 2000, led to the faculty looking “more closely at how we assess our own work.” The 2000 recommendations also inspired the creation of the Office of Institutional Research and the Center for the Advancement of Learning, which provides professional development opportunities to Dartmouth faculty and teachers. President Jim Kim is expected to comment on the NEASC report in February.

A New Direction
The College has turned over the management of the Hanover Inn to Boston-based Pyramid Hotel Group. The company, which runs more than 50 hotels nationwide, including hotels at Harvard and Penn, takes over a business that hasn’t been a profit leader with hopes of turning it around. “We want to maximize the opportunity the Inn represents in supporting our mission,” said Steve Kadish, Dartmouth executive VP and CFO. A $10 million renovation of the Inn by the College is also under way. Pyramid officially took over August 1.

Death Knell
College employees who retire after this year will no longer receive a death benefit. Eliminating the $5,000 payouts will save an estimated $150,000 to $200,000 annually, according to College officials, and help to preserve jobs. The change comes as part of President Jim Kim’s effort to cover a $100 million budget gap over two years.

Renovations on Campus
Phase 1 of the two-year, $12 million transformation of Thayer Dining Hall into the Class of 1953 Commons was completed this summer on schedule. Returning students didn’t see much difference between the old Thayer and the new Commons because the focus so far has been on infrastructure. Contractors have removed asbestos and overhauled the building’s plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems. Another shutdown of the facility next summer will bring more noticeable changes: One large dining area will replace the current configuration of three dining spaces. The seating capacity for the building will increase from 700 to 1,000. Meanwhile, progress continues on the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center and the Visual Arts Center. The Life Sciences Center’s sustainable design includes a stormwater management system that will reuse an estimated 1 million gallons of rainwater each year. Over at the Visual Arts Center site workers were still removing rock in mid-September, which created a minor setback to the construction schedule. One block away, completion of the new Six South Street Hotel (not owned by Dartmouth) has been delayed. Owners now anticipate a late January or early February opening.

Occom Online
Samson Occom is going digital. The student of Dartmouth founder Eleazar Wheelock and the first known Native American to publish his writings in English, Occom left behind a collection of 76 letters along with a variety of petitions, journals and other documents. All of these are about to be digitized thanks to a $250,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant awarded to Ivy Schweitzer, professor of English and women’s and gender studies. “The range of these materials will enable even the casual user to better appreciate the cultural richness of Occom’s milieu,” says Schweitzer. “We are transcribing the documents and offering two modes of viewing the transcribed texts: a modernization for users who are mainly interested in what the letters say, rather than the handwritten documents as artifacts, and a text with a literal transcription, that is, with strike-throughs, carets and insertions and original line lengths. This is for viewers who want to use the transcribed letters to help them find their place in the scanned image.” Not all of the 18th-century penmanship is hard to read. “Occom’s hand was very clear—looks a bit like a typewriter. Wheelock’s is notoriously bad—he often used an amanuensis,” notes Schweitzer.

Emeritus
Several professors have announced their retirements. They include: Andrew Garrod (education), Ursula Gibson ’76 (engineering), Christian Jernstedt (brain sciences), Valeri Kozlyuk (engineering), Benjamin Moss (studio art), Gail Nelson (psychiatry), Louis Renza (English) and Margaret Spicer (theater).

Students Rate the College
At unigo.com, where college students can post reviews about their institutions, Dartmouth comments convey a sense that the campus is safe, small, friendly and great for getting to know professors. Stereotypes about Dartmouth’s conservative nature get bashed, although commenters admit it’s hard to shake the College’s “fraternity-dominated, beer-drinking” culture. As one writes: “Dartmouth social life can be summed up in one word: Pong.” Hold on, writes another: “You can’t categorize a Dartmouth student. We’re a kaleidoscopic bunch.”

The End of Blitz
BlitzMail, the College’s own e-mail system, has finally bitten the dust. This fall most faculty and administrators switched to Microsoft Online Services (students will continue to use BlitzMail for up to another year). The change allows users to enter the 21st century by enabling web and video conferencing, instant messaging, increased storage and the ability to use their mail and calendars on mobile devices. According to Dartmouth computing officials, upgrading BlitzMail—which is more than 20 years old, making it a tech dinosaur—was too costly. Notice to alumni who use BlitzMail: You are still good to use the software; expect an announcement about a replacement within six months.

Class of 2013
Meriting Attention The Ivy League colleges with the most freshman Merit Scholars in 2009 are listed below, first as a percentage of the class, followed by the raw number of scholars:

Yale 17.8% 234

Harvard 15.8% 266

Princeton 15.0% 196

Brown 6.7% 91

Columbia 6.6% 73

Dartmouth 6.5% 72

U Penn 5.2% 125

Cornell 2.0% 68