David K. Lewis, Ph.D.

Dear Connecticut College Parent:

Greetings from the Connecticut College campus. Remembering that I looked forward to the president's letter when my son was a student here, I have been making mental notes about news to share with you since the semester began.

I am pleased and honored to serve as interim president while the Board of Trustees seeks a successor for Claire Gaudiani '66, who is on sabbatical and will step down as President in June. I joined Connecticut College as a professor in the chemistry department in 1995 after 26 years of teaching and research at Colgate University. Two years later, I became provost and dean of the faculty. During a sabbatical last fall, I concentrated on publishing the results of research my students and I have been doing for the past few years. I came back in December so I could hit the ground running with my new responsibilities as interim president.

Enrollment at the college is at an all-time high of 1,710, including 14 students on a Study Away Teach Away (SATA) program in Vietnam. With 1,696 students on campus, there are sometimes slightly longer waits at Harris Refectory and there are fewer single rooms in the dormitories. However, the Office of Student Life is helping to manage these challenges, and I trust any inconveniences will be minimal.

The record enrollment, I believe, reflects the fact that students recognize the value of our highly personalized and innovative approach to liberal arts education. Large entering classes of 475 or more the last two years have stayed here. The Class of 2004 is at almost 100 percent retention and the Class of 2003 is at 92 percent retention. We are in the midst of another exceptional admission year. We received 4,308 applications for the Class of 2005, the second highest number ever, and 40 percent of the class has already been selected via early decision.

I am proud to report that the faculty continues to earn national recognition for teaching and advising. Recently, Theresa Ammirati, dean of freshmen and instructor of English, was named one of ten Outstanding First-Year Student Advocates in the nation. Stephen Loomis, Jean C. Tempel '65 Professor of Zoology, was named Connecticut Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

Faculty members are also winning praise for the Traveling Research and Immersion Program (TRIP), which supplements on-campus courses with learning experiences at sites around the world. Fifty students and six professors are involved in TRIP courses this semester that will visit London, Paris, Venice, Florence and Washington, D.C. The college has just received a $300,000 grant from the Freeman Foundation to create six new TRIP courses in China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam.

Brown Auditorium, the college's newly renovated high-technology "studio" classroom, is making news on campus because it allows faculty in a variety of disciplines to combine individualized instruction with the latest technology. It has been extremely successful and is fully booked for next fall.

Budget discussions have been a top priority this semester. Presenting a balanced budget to the Board of Trustees in May is one of my most important responsibilities. Over the last decade, as the college moved into the top echelon of liberal arts colleges, we spent aggressively on new academic programs, technology, additional faculty, and construction and renovation of campus facilities. We will continue to make strategically important spending increases, but we will offset those increases with cuts in areas that are less essential to the college's mission. As you can imagine, many campus groups have engaged in lively discussions about the college's priorities. Students' active participation in campus committees is one of Connecticut College's great strengths, and it is very helpful in this process.

Our plan to pursue "growth by substitution," eliminating nonessential programs and building those that have the greatest value to students, is influenced in part by what our advisors tell us about the stock market and their estimates of the college's return on its investments. Compared to our peer colleges, we have a fairly small endowment. We are heeding professional advice to increase the endowment and become less dependent on endowment income than we have been in recent years.

Another factor is our desire to keep comprehensive fee increases as small as possible. The Board of Trustees has approved a comprehensive fee of $33,585 for the academic year 2001-2002. This figure represents a 5 percent increase over the current comprehensive fee, but only a 3.5 percent increase over total fees paid this year. (The 2000-2001 comprehensive fee was augmented by a $450 health services fee, bringing total fees to $32,435. In 2001-2002, there will be no separate charge for health services.) The trustees also approved a $638,000 increase in financial aid to $14.9 million so that we can continue to meet the full financial need of all enrolled students.

The search for Connecticut College's next president is under way. A Presidential Search Committee that includes two student members is hard at work under the leadership of trustee Barbara Shattuck Zaccheo Dubow '72, managing director of Shattuck Hammond Partners, Inc. in New York City. I encourage you to follow the progress of the search on the college's Web site at www.conncoll.edu and to submit confidential ideas or nominations for the presidential search to the attention of George J. Willauer, secretary, Presidential Search Committee at Campus Post Office Box 5253 or PresSearch@conncoll.edu

I am impressed by what parents do for this college. I met recently with Phil and RoseMarie McLoughlin P'02 who are co-chairing the Parents Fund this year. The Parents Fund Committee and our phonathon callers contact parents throughout the year. So far this year, parents have given $250,179 with 33 percent of current parents participating. Our goal is to reach $400,000 and 100 percent participation by June 30. I have also seen many parents at the winter sports events, cheering the Camels on.

As my travel schedule permits, I have been attending on-campus cultural and sporting events and having dinner in Harris once a week, often sitting down with an unsuspecting group of students and asking them what they like best and what they like least about the college. Getting to know students is a top priority for me. Please encourage your son or daughter to seek me out in Harris, at a game or concert, in my office, or anywhere else on campus.

I would also be very happy to receive any comments or questions you may have. Please feel free to write to the address on this letterhead or dklew@conncoll.edu. As interim president, as professor and as the parent of an alumnus, I look forward to getting to know you better.

Sincerely,

David K. Lewis, P '95
Interim President