"It's great to have our new board up and running," says Guarini dean Jon Kull '88."
The inaugural meeting of the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies Advisory Board took place on campus last month.
"It's great to have our new board up and running," says Guarini dean Jon Kull '88. "I look forward to working with these committed board members to make Guarini a distinctive destination for graduate and postdoctoral training."
The board, established this year by the Dartmouth Board of Trustees, is charged with providing the school's dean with "advice and perspective on strategy, programs, policies, and resources," according to the new board's mission statement. Advisors will also provide oversight of the school's budget.
In addition to Kull, President Philip J. Hanlon '77 and Provost Joseph Helble serve as nonvoting members of the board. A Dartmouth trustee also serves as a representative on the board, with voting privileges. Trustee Beth Cogan has been named the board's representative.
Advisors will serve three-year terms and will be limited to three consecutive terms. Board member Cogan has been named by her colleagues to serve as the first board chair, serving a four-year term. The board will meet at least twice a year, with at least one of the meetings to be held in Hanover.
At their Nov. 14-15 meeting, board members talked about graduate education at Dartmouth, met Guarini staff, and had a tour of the newly renovated Dana Hall, which will open in January and will be the new home of the graduate school. They also met with members of the Graduate Student Council's executive board and with faculty members on the Council on Graduate Studies, and heard from Kull about the establishment of the school, its history, and its programs.
The school, which has a current enrollment of approximately 850, offers PhD degrees in 16 fields, master of arts degrees in three programs, and eight master of science degree programs. In addition to students in the degree programs, there are currently about 230 postdoctoral scholars at Dartmouth.
"I was delighted to meet the board members in person and to start working with them to shape the future of the Guarini School. It was immediately clear to me that they are a very engaged group—everyone participated, and I am excited they bring such a diverse set of experiences and perspectives to the table," says Kull.
The board is scheduled to meet next in late April or early May of 2020.
Susan Boutwell can be reached at Susan.J.Boutwell@dartmouth.edu.