Updates following the Board of Trustees Meeting—April 2024
April 15, 2024
Dear Members of the Trinity College Community,
As we prepare to wind down another successful academic year, with our Bicentennial Gala and the 198th Commencement on the horizon, I continue my promise of providing updates following our Board of Trustees meetings. The board convened on our beautiful capital city campus on April 12 and 13 to discuss important business, to celebrate student and faculty excellence, and to vote on the fiscal year 2025 budget.
The meeting began with an abundance of Trinity spirit and pride. During breakfast on Friday morning, trustees had the opportunity to mix and mingle with and congratulate many of our fall, winter and spring scholar-athletes and coaches who have contributed to one of the most successful years in Trinity College Athletics history (with the spring season still underway!). Our scholar-athletes continue to excel in the classroom and in athletic competition. Acknowledging their success and hard work set the stage for a productive—and impactful—board meeting, which I will highlight for you now.
Capital Campaign
Carrie Pelzel ’74, executive director of the All In campaign, delivered good news on the campaign’s progress. To date, the campaign has raised $382 million, with $69 million in gifts, pledges, and bequest intentions raised thus far in FY24. This is remarkable progress that reaffirms our community’s deep care for Trinity’s future. My sincere gratitude extends to all who have given. We are “all in” as we continue to take important steps to advance our campaign priorities, benefiting academics, athletics, financial aid, the student experience, renovation projects, and many other facets of the College. Thank you to the campaign’s co-chairs, Henry Mallari-D’Auria ’83, Dave Schnadig ’86, and Cornie Thornburgh ’80, for their leadership and to all who are investing in Trinity’s success.
Faculty and Student Excellence
Our faculty remains at the heart of our student-centered mission, and trustees voted to award tenure and promotion to five exemplary faculty members to the rank of associate professor. Please join me in congratulating Lindsey Hanson, chemistry; Mareike Koertner, religious studies; Kirsti Kuenzel, mathematics; Rebecca Pappas, theater and dance; and Gerardo Ruiz Sánchez, economics, for this most special milestone in their careers. I also would like to congratulate three outstanding faculty members who recently have been promoted to full professor: Shane Ewegen, philosophy; Andrew Flibbert, political science; and Michelle Kovarik, chemistry. Well done and well deserved!
During a lovely Friday evening reception, we took time to honor our retiring faculty members, who had given much of themselves in service to Trinity and the academic enterprise. In addition to the faculty we announced in February who are retiring this year, Wendy Bartlett, professor of physical education, will also be awarded emerita status upon her retirement this summer.
Trinity students continue to impress and excel following graduation. We reported on results of the recent first-destination survey, which measures the disposition of our students six months after graduation (i.e., whether they were employed, accepted to graduate school, participating in a service/volunteer program, or serving in the military). Once again, student postgraduation success is high, with 96 percent of the Class of 2023 reporting favorable postgraduate outcomes.
Trinity as a First-Choice Destination
Enrolling the Class of 2028 is on the minds of many, especially Matt Hyde, dean of admissions and financial aid. Although it’s a bit too early to understand the full details of the incoming class, I am thrilled to report that our new flock of Bantams will be selected from one of the College’s largest applicant pools on record, which includes a 47 percent increase in early decision application volume between fall 2022 and fall 2024. Overall, 7,587 students applied to Trinity, and we have an acceptance rate of 29 percent. The incoming cohort once again will include high-achieving and highly talented students—all compelling in their own ways. We will know more about the class soon.
Approving a Budget
Balancing a budget while balancing our competing, collective needs as an institution always is a challenging exercise. The board approved a balanced budget of $153.3 million, an increase from the $144 million FY24 budget. It is important to note that we continue to hold important conversations on how we can diversify our revenue streams while strengthening our five-year budget forecast. The board also approved the FY25 capital budget of $36.7 million, which will continue to advance the heating and cooling master plan, science renovations, and student experience upgrades, such as the first-year student plaza.
All of those on campus are invited to an informal forum on Thursday, May 2, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Smith House, to learn more about our annual budgeting process. Dan Hitchell, vice president of finance and chief financial officer, and Sonia Cardenas, dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs, will lead the forum. Light refreshments will be provided.
Reports from Leadership Groups
Keeping with tradition for the April meeting, trustees heard annual reports from the faculty secretary and leadership of the Trinity College Alumni Association (TCAA) and the Student Government Association. These annual updates were delivered, respectively, by Eric Galm, Jorge Rodriguez ’91, and Jake McPhail ’24. These three important leadership groups share a common goal to make Trinity better, and the board acknowledged their unwavering commitment to lead during challenging times for higher education.
We ended the official April meeting with a thought-provoking Saturday morning plenary session to discuss artificial intelligence (AI). Lilach Mollick, director of pedagogy at Wharton Interactive (University of Pennsylvania), joined trustees to lead a discussion on the impacts of AI on our core mission of teaching, learning, and research. As an expert in the field, Lilach shared how we can leverage the power of AI responsibly and what we should be considering as future advancements materialize. A panel of Trinity members—including David Andres ’04, associate vice president and chief data and analytics officer; Chandranil Chakraborttii, assistant professor of computer science; Alex Helberg, visiting assistant professor in the Allan K. Smith Center for Writing and Rhetoric; Adi Katz, lecturer in language and culture studies and Jewish studies; and Maddie Tershner-Kolodziejski ’24—shared their experiences with AI.
The session was informative and gave us a great deal to consider as we continue to bear witness to the rapid development of AI and how it influences what we teach, who is considered an expert, and how we judge fact from fiction. What is clear is that AI is with us now and will continue to be in the future.
Following the conclusion of the board meeting on Saturday, many trustees participated in a celebration of the new Wellness and Recreation Center addition to the Ferris Athletic Center and the many donors who are making this extraordinary campus project possible. A few trustees also joined us in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Elizabeth Elting ’87 [current trustee] Venture Women’s Leadership program, with Trustee Lisa Alvarez-Calderón ’88 serving as keynote speaker. We can’t celebrate enough the support of our amazing alumni community.
In closing, I look forward to seeing many of you next month for a most memorable Bicentennial Gala to wrap up our yearlong celebration. We have made enormous progress in a challenging year thanks to the strength of the Bantam community.
Onward,
Joanne Berger-Sweeney
President and Trinity College Professor of Neuroscience
