New faculty, financial aid top financial priorities

Author: Derek Schlickeisen

Commons Deans are bracing for a nine-year period during which the College's decision to invest in faculty resources and student financial aid will prevent the construction of any new facilities for Brainerd, Cook and Wonnacott Commons. With Middlebury's rise in nationwide college rankings, the College now finds itself competing for top students with schools like Williams and Amherst, with endowments of $1.5 and $1.2 billion respectively.

President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz and others have said that financial aid must take precedence over equalizing Commons housing because the College would otherwise risk losing qualified students to institutions that offer better financial aid offers.

"We are first and foremost trying to level the playing field when it comes to financial aid for students who we accept," said Liebowitz. "We don't want students we accept choosing other schools because our financial aid packages[would] leave them with far greater debt upon graduation."

Liebowitz also emphasized that investing in faculty will allow the College to build on its reputation for top-quality teaching - a reputation which this year's Princeton Review attests by naming Middlebury number one for "Professors Get High Marks."

"Competing with our peer institutions is important so that we can attract and retain the best faculty," Liebowitz said. "I am hopeful we can raise the funds to add 25 new faculty, thereby allowing our faculty to shift some time they spend in front of the class to time with students one-on-one, or in small groups."

That lofty goal will cost the College $85 million in new endowment, according to Dean of Planning John Emerson. The new endowment would support $4.25 million in new annual expenses, including professor salaries.

Emerson stressed that much would depend on the College's upcoming five-year, $500 million fundraising drive. If the campaign is successful - and early signs, including advance pledges by donors to give over $200 million, suggest it will be - then it will be the largest in the history of liberal arts colleges.

"I am quite sure that resources of this magnitude simply cannot come out of income from student comprehensive fees, so the success of the forthcoming campaign is critically important," he said.

Even as the College plans for its record-setting campaign, however, financial constraints are forcing administrators to make hard choices regarding the Commons system to which Liebowitz and President of the College Emeritus John M. McCardell Jr. remain so committed.

Commons Deans worry that their residential communities, already disrupted by the more than 60 percent of juniors who study abroad, could be further damaged by a Student Government Association (SGA) proposal for "open" senior room draw - a move many students believe necessary since the administration's halting of new dorm construction nearly two years ago.

"We have managed to create a sense of identity and community in Cook," said Cook Commons Dean David Edleson, "focusing on the people, the activities, the atmosphere and just trying not to worry too much about the housing and any inequities there."

Edleson said that while the completion of Commons housing would alleviate many of the problems the system faces, he agreed that academics and aid would have to come first.

"In Cook Commons, we have always had huge challenges with housing, particularly for our sophomores," he said. "But I work at this college because I believe in the academic mission, so hiring faculty and improving the education is always the top priority."

Like Edleson, Liebowitz remained positive that the Commons system could continue to prove valuable for students until additional housing is completed.

"The strength of the system lies not in the facilities however, either now or when the system is complete," he said, "but rather in the potential for the human relationships that can develop and serve students best in their lives outside the classroom - relationships between and among students who live together, and between students and their commons heads and deans."