With his arrival in Hanover, Provost Lee Bollinger has the opportunity to direct the evolution of the College in a number of important areas.
Bollinger, as he continues the College's work to increase the beneficial interaction between the graduate schools and the undergraduates, should do so with the goal of enhancing Dartmouth's liberal arts education.
Although many students come to Dartmouth because of the readily available opportunities to interact with professors -- an aspect of the College that should not be undervalued -- the College's undergraduate experience should not be compromised by faculty research.
Bollinger should also continue the efforts of his predecessors and peers to foster intellectualism that have come in part from College President James Freedman's desire to explore the "life of the mind" and from Dean of the Faculty James Wright's push for a new curriculum.
During the past eight years, members of the administration have worked individually and in unison to promote intellectualism on campus and Bollinger should join them.
But intellectual growth is not limited to the classroom.
The College is in need of a new dormitory so that everyone who wants to benefit from the camaraderie residence halls can provide is able to do so.
This fall, 3,904 students will be in residence and the College faces the possibility of more than 150 students being denied housing.
Bollinger, who is the chief financial officer at the College, should consider the housing needs of a residential college when determining the College's financial priorities.
If the College starts budgeting money now, a new residence hall could be built in the near future, saving the College from the complaints of students with no beds.
Plans for further development should also include more student space.
Student organizations that need space currently can not get it. For example, Al Nur, the College's Muslim students organization, has been waiting for more than a year for space for religious purposes.
The College's sororities are bursting at the seams and could use another house to take some pressure off the bigger organizations, but there is no space available. New undergraduate societies will also need residential buildings.
Also, the conversion of Webster Hall to a special collections library leaves the College without a medium-size venue for programming.
Bollinger has inherited one of the best led and most powerful offices at the College; former Provosts John Strohbehn and Bruce Pipes both helped Dartmouth stride forward.
Bollinger must take up the mantle left by his predecessors and continue to make Dartmouth a better place for its faculty and students.
