Phillips Academy’s Board of Trustees finalized the operating budget for the upcoming academic year and planned the next phase of the ongoing capital campaign when they convened last week. During last Friday’s meeting, Oscar Tang ’56, President of the Board of Trustees, announced that the capital campaign has raised $200 million in gifts toward its $300 million goal. Tang also announced the Academy’s successful achievement of the permanent $6 million budget restructuring. Tang said, “We mark this achievement with profound gratitude to our alumni, parents, and friends whose support gives us the inspiration and motivation to advance this campaign further. We are steadfast in our commitment to the future of this great Academy and confident that donors understand what is at stake.” In addition to addressing the progress of the campaign, the Trustees finalized the budget and financial aid policy for the 2010-2011 school year. With the recent $1 million commitment made by an anonymous donor to support the financial aid initiative, PA is able to maintain need-blind admission. Regarding Andover’s budget priorities, the board also recognized the need to closely monitor the facilities renewal budget, given that this portion of the budget underwent drastic cuts to compensate for the recent economic crisis. Michael Williams, Director of Facilities, reported that the renovations of the Andover Inn and the Addison Gallery of American Art are progressing on schedule. Williams also announced that Andover recently received a gift towards the renovation of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology. The renovation of the Peabody is scheduled to begin this summer and will allow access to the second floor of the museum. The board also approved a one-year extension of the faculty mortgage program, which will allow participating faculty members to borrow up to four times their base annual salary. Amy Falls ’82, Chief Investment Officer, announced that the current fiscal year’s endowment is tracking at a better pace than projected and that it is important for Andover to maintain steady returns and avoid drastic investments. Aside from the budget planning, the meetings focused primarily on setting the stage for the next phase of the capital campaign and discussing curricular innovations that would promote global and cultural competency of the student body. At the campaign planning meeting, faculty members Trish Russell, Head of the Department of Natural Sciences, Peter Watt, Instructor in Physics, Fred Alonso, Instructor in Math, Chad Green, Director of Community Service and Carroll Perry, Instructor in Economics, delivered a series of presentations on the topics of sustainability, outreach programs, service learning and global opportunities for students. Trustees and Alumni Council members also participated in focus groups for the preliminary research process of Andover’s first longitudinal study. The longitudinal study hopes to examine the role that Phillips Academy plays in shaping the lives of its students as they enter college, develop a value system, and chart a course for life. Nancy Jeton, Special Assistant to the Head of School said, “Alumni reaction to the longitudinal research was very good and they were very enthusiastic to take part in the preliminary brainstorming phase of the research.” “Focus groups were divided by age, and what was so neat about the alumni focus groups was that from the different insights of the alumni who attended PA in different time periods, you could see how PA had changed over time,” said Jeton. On Friday, more than 300 alumni, trustees, and faculty convened for a dinner in the Smith Center to honor retiring trustees Susanna Jones ’77 and Michael Schmertzler ’70 and the fourteen retiring faculty members. This year’s retiring faculty members include Vincent Avery, Instructor in Religion and Philosophy, Carl Bewig, Associate Director of College Counseling, Andrew Cline, Instructor in Math, George Dix, Instructor in Spanish, Maxine Grogan, Director of the Summer Session, Susan McCaslin, Instructor in Religion and Philosophy, David Penner, Instructor in Math, Alice Purington, Edwin Quattlebaum ’60, Instructor in History, Ruth Quattlebaum, School Archivist, Jonathan Stableford ’63, Elwin Sykes, Instructor in English, Stephen Wicks, Instructor in Art and Derek Williams ’65, Instructor in History. Barbara Chase, Head of School, acknowledged each teacher individually and expressed her personal reflections and admirations for the retiring faculty’s collective 447 years of devoted service to Andover. Last week’s Trustees meetings were the third and final of the year, with meetings once per term. The trustees will reconvene next fall to receive updates on the state of the Academy and set their agenda for the year.
