Roughly 70 members of the faculty gathered in the Cole Assembly Room last night to discuss both past and coming matters concerning improvements of the College. President Tony Marx called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. and began by recognizing three members of the faculty who will retire at the end of this semester: Registrar Gerald Mager, Associate Dean of Students and Director of the Writing Center Susan Snively and Career Center Director Rosalind Hoffa. Marx also welcomed the College’s new Chief Advancement Officer Megan Morey and briefly spoke about the College’s recent involvement in the Amherst community such as donating money to the school system, the Lord Jeffrey Inn and Amherst Cinema, inviting faculty to engage in discussion about ideas for further community involvement.

The meeting then proceeded to discussions about recommendations set forth by the Committee on Academic Priorities (CAP). The committee reported that it had received approvals from the Board of Trustees on four out of five admissions goals, including movement toward greater socioeconomic diversity, eliminating loans, increasing the College’s percentage of international students and increasing the number of faculty by 11 percent to accommodate a five-percent increase in the student body. CAP noted that the board continues to assess models for tuition and financial aid and that a fifth recommendation, a proposal to begin need-blind international admission with the class of 2013 will be up for consideration by the board this spring.

On the curricular innovation front, the board has approved two full-time equivalent faculty members (FTEs) and will consider a proposal by CAP to phase in four FTEs per year beginning in 2008-09 which, if approved, would allow for 16 additional FTEs. CAP also noted that a recommendation for need-based summer fellowships for intensive language programs will be up for committee consideration next Monday. Numerous proposals for faculty scholarship have been approved and CAP will look for board approval to expand full-salary senior sabbatical fellowships to all faculty qualified.

The discussion then turned to the capital campaign that the College plans to launch this fall in hope of securing $400-425 million. Proceeds from this campaign will help to fund projects such as financial aid grants, sabbatical support and renovations of academic buildings such as the Merrill Science Building and the Robert Frost Library.

The Committee on Education Policy (CEP) informed the meeting of a few major projects underway, including a keyword system which will allow students to search for courses online using keywords chosen by professors and possible revisions to the Latin honors system. No formal propositions were made concerning the implementation of a writing requirement; however the faculty agreed to discuss the issue further at a later date.