The Board of Trustees this weekend met students involved with active citizenship programs and heard proposals for renovations in dorm common rooms and a shared, fully equipped kitchen space. These proposals were generally well-received, according to the students who presented to the board.
The three days of closed meetings on Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus also included discussions on alcohol abuse, the university's finances and the stature of the university's Ph.D. programs, among other subjects.
Senior Josh Friedmann, one of three Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate trustee representatives to the board, on Friday argued before the board's Committee for University Advancement that the university should prioritize and upgrade its periodic renovations of dorm common rooms. Upgrades to these areas, including more comfortable furniture, better lighting and new paint and carpeting, would build a stronger sense of community, Friedmann contended.
The board, he said, offered encouraging words to move the proposal forward.
"I was very happy with how supportive they were," Friedmann said of the trustees. "They gave me the go-ahead to come up with a more specific proposal to bring to them at their next meeting."
The trustees meet three times a year.
Friedmann said that his committee also heard presentations on the $1.2 billion Beyond Boundaries capital campaign and the redesigned university media portal, TuftsNow.
The Administration and Finance Committee, meanwhile, heard senior Alix Boulud's plan to put a fully equipped kitchen facility on campus. The kitchen would be open for general use by the Tufts community members and would serve as a space for cooking classes, according to Boulud.
"From what I understood in terms of their comments afterward, it was very well received," Boulud said of her presentation. "I'm guessing that they'll embrace it."
The third trustee representative, senior Chas Morrison, attended the Academic Affairs Committee's meeting and heard discussions on the Institute for Global Leadership and how Tufts' Ph.D. programs compared with others across the country, among other matters.
The trustees earlier that day interacted with a larger group of students from across the university at a luncheon centered on how Beyond Boundaries has promoted active citizenship. The luncheon marked the 10th anniversary of the formation of the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service. Students from each of Tufts' schools participated, according to Secretary of the Corporation Paul Tringale, a university staff member who coordinates trustee business.
The luncheon, this year held at 51 Winthrop Street, has in the past served as a platform for student leaders to share their projects and perspectives with trustees, according to Morrison.
"This year, it was much more of a celebration of Tisch and the work that students have done in terms of active citizenship," he said.
The trustees over the weekend heard from the administration, student leaders and university health officials on the subject of alcohol abuse among the student body, discussing an issue that Tringale said is important to both University President Lawrence Bacow and the trustees.
Director of Public Relations Kim Thurler said the monitoring of alcohol use on campus falls under the trustees' duties.
"It's one of their responsibilities to keep an eye on potential risks at the university and make sure that things are being handled appropriately and so forth," she said.
At the board's full session on Saturday, trustees approved degrees for the students graduating in February and heard a presentation from Bacow, according to Tringale.
The discussion touched on the issue of transition associated with outgoing administrators, as well as upcoming events at the university in the coming months, he said.
Officials from the Tufts Medical Center and the School of Medicine also presented to the trustees, Tringale said.
