Report from Trustees' January Meeting Revealed, Discussed

Phillips Exeter Academy’s trustees returned to campus in January for their annual winter meeting to discuss updates on various facets of the Academy’s efforts to improve student life. Student well-being took the forefront of the discussion as the school administration continues their efforts to protect students.

“We’re hoping to be able to support a diverse community, looking at our similarities and differences, focusing on inclusivity and teaching tolerance and expanding our cultural literacy.”

According to Principal Lisa MacFarlane, the trustees were updated on the progress of the Youth Health Risk Behavior Study Task Force, a program that works in conjunction with the Prevention Innovations Research Center and Strategic Planning to provide information of the results of the Youth Health Risk Behavior Study. The study included questions which students anonymously answered earlier in the year.

The Trustees also attended a presentation from expert psychologist Dr. James Hopper to better understand the effects that traumatic experiences have on mental health.

Director of the College Counseling Office, Betsy Dolan, informed trustees of early college applicant rates. According to MacFarlane, eighty-two percent of the class of 2017 applied early to a college with the early deferral rate at twenty-seven percent. There was also an increase in applications to Ivy League schools and New England Small College Athletic Conference schools.

“With nearly 30 percent of the class with cumulative GPA’s at 10.0 or above, the expectations are higher than ever to be admitted to an Ivy or a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) institution,” MacFarlane wrote in an email to faculty on the events of the trustee meeting. Dolan also added that she will inform the trustees of the early decision results later this month.

Chief of Planning and Facilities, Roger Wakeman, updated the trustees on the progress of the construction projects on the south side of campus. These projects include the David and Stacey Goel Center for Theater and Dance and the new field house and parking garage—which are still on track to finish in about a year from now. Wakeman will also give the trustees an update of  approved plans for the upcoming year in May, as well.

Chief Financial Officer David Hanson reported on the 2017 fiscal year for the school. Hanson initially informed the Trustees that the school projected a four million dollar deficit for the year, largely due to crisis costs from the school’s sexual misconduct cases.

After a recent reevaluation, however, Hanson said that the deficit is only projected to be 1.5 million dollars. “Those projections are a combination of art and science, as they are based on assumptions that may not prove to be true by the end of any given fiscal year,” Hanson said. “Between lower than expected legal and related fees, as well as outcomes on [a] certain settlement and some budgeted positions remaining vacant, our deficit will be lower than expected.”

The Trustees also approved of a tuition increase of 4.3%, according to Hanson, which is a tuition hike that is not unprecedented. “Tuition increases across our group of peer schools over the past 15 years has ranged from 0% - 7%. PEA will still be the lowest priced institution in our group of peer schools,” he said.

Hanson also said that the school’s fiscal year goes from July 1 to June 30 and that when the Trustees reconvene in May, they will likely vote to increase the school’s budget from 99 million dollars to somewhere over 100 million dollars because of  professional positions like the Director of Community, Equity and Diversity and the Director of Student Well-Being, cost-of-living increases and student program needs.

The Dean of Students office took on the role of creating an Academy Life Task Force to “examine student experience” in January. The task force began meeting in April and is led by Dean of Students Melissa Mischke and Dean of Residential Life Arthur Cosgrove.

Since then, the task force is searching for  ways to develop initiatives and changes for the upcoming 2018-19 school year. “The goal is to look at the experiences of our boarding [and] day students; this encompasses looking at our teaching and experiencing what our community values—this includes decency, civility, resilience, empathy, compassion and inclusion,” Mischke said.

The task force plans to pilot programs to change dormitory structures, affiliate day students with dorms and change the programming of dormitories and advising. “We’re trying to look at the biggest picture of the school, not just dormitories, not just day students but what’s really going on outside of the classroom and how can we foster the things we value in this community,” Mischke said.

Moving into next year, Mischke said that the Academy Life Task Force wants to improve the whole of academy life.“We’re hoping to be able to support a diverse community, looking at our similarities and differences, focusing on inclusivity and teaching tolerance and expanding our cultural literacy,” she said.