Phillips Academy’s Board of Trustees convened for its annual fall meeting to receive updates on the Campaign for Andover and to finalize the operating budgets for numerous renovations on campus. At last Friday’s meetings, Peter Ramsey, Secretary of the Academy, announced that the capital campaign has raised $212 million in gifts toward its $300 million goal and presented a strategy for securing the final $88 million. Amy Falls ’82, Chief Investment Officer, also gave a detailed presentation on the investment strategies and operations at the Academy’s New York City investment office. Falls reported that the endowment returned 14.5 percent interest this past fiscal year. While final statistics for peer preparatory schools are not yet available, Falls expects that Andover will finish in the top quartile for the fiscal year. Following Falls’s presentation, the trustees examined the financial state of the Academy by deliberating on endowment draw, philanthropy, facilities renewal, financial aid and tuition. The trustees also discussed how various economic factors and shifts in one of these areas could affect another. In addition to addressing the progress of the campaign, the trustees allocated funds for campus renovations. The renovation of the English building, Bulfinch Hall, rose to the forefront of the discussion with a new gift from Tom Israel ’62 this past weekend. Israel’s donation, in addition to the accumulated $1 million from other donors and the designated portion of Oscar Tang’s campaign commitment, puts the total funding for the renovation at over $4 million. The trustees hope to secure the final $2.8 million needed for the initial renovations by the end of the project’s current phase, the design phase. Head of School Barbara Chase said, “Bulfinch Hall is an iconic building, housing legendary teachers – past and present – and touching every Andover student.” “The renovation of Bulfinch Hall is tremendously important to the Academy. We look forward to providing the quality teaching and learning environment that our faculty and students deserve,” she added. In addition to assessing the budgets for the Bulfinch Hall renovation, the Board released the fundraising strategy for the new boathouse project. The new boathouse will be constructed from the foundation of a garage facility that is situated along the Merrimack River. Shelly Guyer ’78, Chair of the Building Committee, said, “The boathouse will be extremely functional and useful as the crew program at Andover grows.” At the meetings, the Board also approved the funding plan for the replacement of the leaking roof of the Addison Gallery of American Art. The replacement is scheduled to begin in April 2011 and last until mid-fall of the same year. Aside from addressing the fiscal matters of the Academy, the trustees participated in small group meetings to discuss curricular innovations that would promote a more globally aware and informed student body and faculty. The school will use this feedback to create a statement for the capital campaign that emphasizes the need for financial support in areas such as global programming and faculty development. Faculty members had the opportunity to interact with the trustees on Friday where they celebrated numerous faculty achievements. Atw the dinner, Carroll Perry, Instructor in History and Social Science; Nina Scott, Instructor in English; Jacques Hugon ’79, Instructor in Mathematics, and Marc Koolen, Instructor in Biology, were awarded instructorships by the trustees as outstanding faculty members. Last week’s trustees meetings were the first of the school year, with meetings once per term. The trustees will reconvene during the winter term to set the framework for the 2011-2012 budget.
