Board of Trustees to meet this weekend

The 31 members of Oberlin's Board of Trustees will be here this weekend for one of their thrice-yearly meetings.

This meeting will be dominated by financial discussions as the Board begins the process of approving a final budget for fiscal year 1997-8.

"The agenda's very packed," President Nancy Dye said.

Student input will be represented in the meetings via reports about Student Senate and the Class Trustee Open Forum (see related story). The class trustees are recent graduates who are elected to the Board by members of their class and the two classes above and below their own. Mike Murphy, OC'96, is the most recently elected class trustee.

The trustees will discuss a variety of items and hear reports on most major College projects. "It's really quite dull stuff," Secretary of the College Bob Haslun said.

Items on the Trustees' agenda include approving the purchase of a collection of Chinese paintings by Allan Memorial Art Museum, electing a new Vice Chairman to replace Allison Valgamore approving the facilities maintenance budget and approving the new code of ethics for the Allen Memorial Art Museum staff, drafted by museum staff.

The trustees will also vote on initial goals and estimates for tuition changes, faculty salary changes and the other major components of the College's 1997-8 budget. Between this meeting and the next one in March, a concrete budget will be drafted from these initial goals. Further approval of the budget will happen in both March and June meetings.

The trustees will also hear reports on the planning of a new science center by planning architects as well as a report on the progress of the planned Environmental Studies Center by architect William McDounogh. The Board will also hear reports on the administrative computing migration funding and the planning of a new capital fundraising campaign.

Instead of adjourning after lunch Saturday as usual, the Board will meet in the afternoon to hear a review of the Strategic Long Range planning to date by Dye and Planning Consultant Elaine Kuttner.

Other business includes the approval of last meeting's minutes, approval of the next meeting's meeting dates, the election of new trustees, recommendations for honorary degrees at this year's commencement, the naming of two endowed chairs and other routine personnel actions.