Update on Important Arts and Sciences Project

Dear Arts and Sciences faculty and staff,

I'm excited to provide an update on a project underway that is exploring how we might transform the organizational structure of the Arts and Sciences, in ways that will capitalize on Dartmouth's distinctive strengths. 

Dartmouth offers world-class undergraduate education built upon the excellence of the scholarship and teaching of the Arts and Sciences faculty in partnership with our talented staff. We can enhance this excellence if we more closely align academics and the undergraduate student experience, and provide greater incentive for collaboration, innovation, and distinction in faculty-led scholarship. To do this, we will revisit our governance and budget models to support these twin aims. 

For members of the faculty, we strive to remove obstacles to joint research, team teaching, and other forms of collaboration within the unit and with colleagues across the institution. We also seek to provide greater agency for you in budgeting and divisional decision-making, and improving support systems you rely on to teach, conduct research, and support students. 

For staff, we want to make it easier for you to work with faculty colleagues to support students and advance Dartmouth's teaching and research mission. For example, a new structure would coordinate academic advising that now comes from faculty advisors, undergraduate deans, and Athletics staff with sometimes conflicting messages. 

Changes will be also designed to improve the experience of the undergraduate students by more seamlessly integrating academics with cocurriculars, extracurriculars, residential life, and well-being, helping them access the resources they need when they need them. 

Ultimately, this will help Dartmouth create a more equitable, welcoming, and supportive community for all.

To seize this opportunity, President Hanlon asked me to lead an exploration of structures and practices to help achieve our goals. We have established an executive committee and two working groups. One working group is looking at organizational structure and governance, with sub-groups focused on student success and faculty success. A second group is considering budget models. These groups have begun to analyze options, which they will present to leadership in June.

For information on the composition of the working groups, FAQs on the project, and other relevant information, I invite you to visit the new website dartmouth.edu/artsci-future. We will provide updates there and in meetings and presentations to you and the wider campus community during the winter and spring terms. Additionally, we welcome your comments and questions. Please send them to artsci-future@dartmouth.edu.

We are inspired by the possibilities this exploration presents, and we look forward to sharing more news with you in the months to come.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth F. Smith
Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences