What to expect: the key issues and debates surrounding the 2009-10 academic year

When one considers the issues that lie ahead for the 2009-10 academic year, it is difficult—perhaps almost impossible—to not think first to the economic health of the College; following the global recession last winter, Vassar, like all its peer institutions, was confronted with a significant loss in its endowment: last spring, President Catharine Bond Hill wrote a letter to the campus community explaining that nearly 30 percent of its money would be lost by the end of June. As a result, administrators have and will continue throughout the coming year to find pragmatic and creative ways to respond to the financial downturn which has affected so many colleges and universities across the country.

While the College has found a number of small and innovative ways to save money—by, for example, printing the Course Catalogue online instead of in print—it has also had to look towards more significant methods. The operating budget for the coming academic year will be trimmed by $600,000, and overall employment will also be reduced through methods such as cuts in faculty, administration and staff, as well as voluntary retirement incentives. In a June 5 campus-wide letter, Hill explained that the College would have a "better understanding of the need for further staff reductions by early October." 

With discussions of staff reductions, one must also expect to hear assessments of how successful the College's efforts—such as this summer's Hardship Fund—are in mitigating the financial crisis. This summer, fewer independent camps and summer programs were offered on campus; as a result, there was less of a demand for summer staff employment, and, to compensate for the drop in the non-contractual summer jobs, the College established the Hardship Fund, to which anyone can donate money in order support Vassar employees in need. This year, expect to hear more about both the Hardship Fund and staff employment.  

Vassar admissions will also be a much-discussed issue, given that last year the College maintained its need-blind admissions policy for the first round of applicants admitted to the Class of 2013, but became need-sensitive for the approximate 20 students to whom they offered spots from the wait list. Established in 2007, the College's need-blind policy states that financial need will not be a criterion in considering a United States applicant. Students have strongly supported the policy, and one can expect that many will fight to preserve it despite the financial climate. 

One cost-saving method in particular that you may hear discussed this year will be the possible streamlining of student-services—an ongoing goal endorsed by both the Vassar Student Association (VSA) and The Miscellany News in a 2009 spring Staff Editorial. Those in favor of streamlining believe that it will curtail not only unnecessary costs but also the bureaucracy of the student services themselves. One specific goal of the VSA in particular will be the combining of the career services—specifically the Career Development, Student Employment and Field Work Offices—into a comprehensive Career Center, a system implemented at institutions such as Williams and Amherst Colleges. This year, you may hear students and administrators discussing the benefits and drawbacks of combining these and other offices. Learn more about this issue from this Miscellany News 2009 article about administrative offices at Vassar.

Though a prominent issue on campus, the economy will not be the only topic up for discussion this year. Students will also likely be discussing the coming Student Bill of Rights, sustainable efforts on and off campus, the meal plan and the committee structure. The VSA has made it a top priority to work with the administration and Board of Trustees to revise the College's committee structure, which—according to many students on campus who have had to navigate this system—can often be confusing and weighed down in bureaucracy. Many wish for a clear and transparent structure, one cleared of ineffective or inoperative committees and one in which a member of the College community can immediately identify the right committee to go to for their particular issue, hope or concern. 

Course Evaluation Questionnaires (CEQs)—the forms completed by students at the end of each course and used for tenure- and salary-related decisions—will also be up for discussion this year. At a VSA Council Meeting last spring, students on Council expressed concerns that the evaluations were not direct enough in their language or grading system. Many also wished that faculty would be evaluated using additional criteria, such as peer-to-peer reviews or alumnae/i letters. More discussions about CEQs and faculty evaluations will occur this year in Council meetings and amongst the Committee on Curricular Policies. 

Apart from matters of policy and administration, students can expect to see the return of Meet Me in Poughkeepsie and perhaps an additional community-outreach day or program; the VSA hopes to host a Community Service day, during which students can work to serve the larger area on or off campus through acts of community and public service.

Students will also have much to say about the renovations of Davison House, which will once again be home to residents after a year of complete restoration. Each floor of the dorm will now have a study space, the fifth floor will have ceilings with sky-light windows and the basement will now house a fully equipped kitchen. Though the building holds many new features, the College was careful to maintain the original architectural style of the dorm—there is exposed brick in many of the study spaces and stairwells, there is molding in the rooms, white tiles in the bathrooms and copies of the original twin cupolas still rest atop the building.

With Davison's completion, the re-evaluation of the committee structure and the ramifications of a tumultuous economy, the coming year will not be without material for discussion and debate, and, while students will mostly, as they do every year and at every institution, be talking about the week-to-week happenings at the College—about a test or a rugby match, about dinner or a ViCE performance, about art show or a lecture—the aforementioned issues will often be prominent in discussions between administrators, students, the VSA Council, faculty, staff and the Board of Trustees throughout the entirety of the year to come.