Report from the December 3-5, 2009 Alumni Council Meeting

(Adapted from a summary prepared by Brooks Clark '78)

This was the 199th meeting of the Dartmouth Alumni Council. The council, founded by Ernest Martin Hopkins in 1913 to guide and support Dartmouth Alumni Relations, meets twice a year.

As underscored by Alumni Council president Janine Avner '80, who opened the meeting, the mission of the Alumni Council is to sustain a fully informed, representative, and engaged exchange of information and sentiment between the alumni and the College, and to enhance and inspire alumni involvement that furthers the mission of the College.

This report is meant to complement the wealth of information--about this council meeting and alumni affairs in general--available on the Office of Alumni Relations Web site here. If you haven't already, it's a good idea to save this address among your "favorites."

The alumni interview has long been a valuable part of the admissions process at Dartmouth. It's rewarding experience that not only helps the College, but helps you stay connected to the campus and its current students.

To volunteer for interviewing, alums can sign up by clicking the "Sign Up for Interviewing" link at http://www.dartmouth.edu/~interviewers/

For some context on the impact of interviewing on the selection process, we'd recommend that alums read the latest edition of "Notes to Interviewers" at http://www.dartmouth.edu/~interviewers/pdfs/notes_winter09.pdf

As the Notes to Interviewers piece points out - As the applicant has grown over the last decade, the alumni interview has in some ways become more important than ever in both helping to recruit great students and in helping the Admissions Committee select among very highly qualified candidates.

If you're registered and logged in to the site, you should now see a "Classmate Directory" in your navigation menu on the left side of the page, below "Class News." This directoy is only show to registered users (if I configured it right), and link to each person's Profile page.

Enjoy!

An update on the progress of this project, which we're sponsoring:

Things continue to move quickly as we close in on the finish of Phase 1 of our History of Dartmouth Skiing Project to produce the book, Passion for Skiing. It is hard to reach an end point. The story is fighting the wrap-up as we continue to get new information. This is like a marathon where we are desperately trying to get to the top of the last hill so we can hit the home stretch. We hope to introduce Passion for Skiing first at the Friday night of the upcoming Dartmouth Winter Carnival, Feb 12, 2010; and second at CarniVAIL in Vail Colorado on Friday, Feb 26, 2010.

If you couldn't get to Hanover for Dartmouth Night, here's a highlight video to give you some bonfire-like toasty warm feelings...

A few of you have asked how you can see what other classmates have registered and what they've written in their profiles. Absolutely! As soon as I can get some time to add a member directory to the site. I'll do it, I promise! It will only be visible to registered users, so feel free to talk about that time sophomore year you...whatever.

Meanwhile, please fill out those profiles and Reunion Book questions. When I get the profile pages done, yours will be impressive!