YALE CLUB of THE SUNCOAST bluELInes April/May, 2010 Volume 6 Edition 2 ANNUAL MEETING SUPPORTS . CONTINUATION OF PRESENT PROGRAM Our Club’s members and directors at the annual meeting, which was held as part of the luncheon meeting on April 13th, supported the Nominating Committee’s recommendations that current directors and officers continue serving for another year. The Nominating Committee, consisting of Brian Kelly, Chair, Nick Gladding and Frank Samponaro, recommended re-election of the following as Directors: Daniel C. Conway ‘60G Mark H. Hamilton ‘53E Roland A Kopp ‘59E Dyer S. Wadsworth ’59. President Oliver Janney At its meeting immediately following the luncheon, the Board of Directors re-elected all of the officers, except that Brian Kelly ’61 will become AYA Representative as of July1st. Dyer S. Wadsworth ’59 has held that position with distinction for the current three-year term. With the May 11th luncheon and two special events, the Ringling Museum event on May 13th and the Yale Glee Club concert on May 27th, we will conclude the regular season and move into the summer season of drop- in luncheons at Marina Jack on the second Tuesday of each month through October. For those who are heading northward, we wish you a safe, healthy and pleasant summer and look forward to seeing you next fall. Oliver Janney PROVOST SALOVEY DISCUSSEDS THE GREAT STATE OF YALE Provost Peter Salovey addressed a well- June 30, 2009. Yale’s endowment typically provides attended luncheon of the Yale Club of the Suncoast at 45% of its annual budget, or about 5 ½% of its Marina Jack’s, Sarasota, on March 9 with his views endowment. (The annual average rate of Yale’s on the state of Yale University. He covered Yale’s endowment return over the past decade is 11.8 %; financial and intellectual resources, and provided us Harvard’s is 8.9%; and Princeton’s is 9.7%) Dr. with a long-range vision of Yale’s future, as well as Salovey is confident that Yale’s endowment is in fair numerous items of current news. shape—back to the 2006 level, which is not bad. He Club President Oliver Janney introduced Dr. expects the endowment to grow more slowly than Salovey, noting that—following an undergraduate and stocks in the near future, especially direct investments a masters degree from Stanford—he came to Yale for in real estate and also other real assets including oil. his doctorate, earned in 1986, and has remained at But now what? What plans and policies are to be Yale ever since. kept intact and what are to be delayed or cut? He became Provost in 2006, having served at different times as Chair of the Psychology Department, Dean of Yale College, and Dean of Yale’s Graduate School. He has remained the Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology, professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, and director of the Department of Psychology’s Health, Emotion and Behavior Laboratory. He also holds faculty appointments in the Schools of Management and Public Health and the Institution for Social and Policy studies. Dr. Salovey’s course on Psychology and the Law had the largest attendance of any course in Yale’s history. He has also written or edited 13 books and hundreds of journal articles focused primarily on human emotion and health behavior. He co-authored the theory of “Emotional Intelligence,” Yale Provost Peter Salovey which measures skills, additional to intellectual abilities, Fiduciary responsibility requires a program-by- that guide thinking and action. (See Woods, Tiger.) program review. As Provost, Dr. Salovey coordinates planning • Financial aid remains sacrosanct. It now goes and allocation of resources to promote academic to 57% of entering freshmen, up from 40% excellence throughout all of Yale University. The five years ago. The average annual assistance Provost also oversees design and implementation of is $30,000, compared to costs that Dr. policies affecting faculty and students. Salovey states amount to $49,000 Dr. Salovey devoted the first part of his (USN&WR says Yale’s 2009-2010 tuition remarks to the effect of “The Great Recession” on and fees are $36,500; apparently the rest is Yale. Regarding the endowment, Yale had a $6.5 routinely forgiven by Yale, even for students billion, or 25%, drop in its last fiscal (June 30) year, who pay full tuition and fees.) The budget for leaving $19.5 billion. (Harvard, according to its financial assistance is higher than for faculty alumni magazine, had $26 billion at June 30, 2009, an salaries. (Club members wishing the services $11 billion, or 29.5%, drop from the prior June 30.) of a devil’s advocate might turn to Andrew A recent U.S. News & World Report shows Manshel’s essay in the Friday, April 9, Wall Yale’s endowment at $22.7 billion, about 16% above St. Journal, p. W11, “Why Top Colleges 2 Squeeze You Dry.” Mr. Manshel, an attorney cost to Bayer, the prior owner. The science who claims recent experience as the vice buildings are now populated for molecular president for finance and administration “at a research. Several eminent scientists are prominent college,” claims that at top coming to Yale because of the attractiveness of colleges, “tuition and fees were not set by this campus environment. analyzing budget projections.” Instead they Dr. Salovey next addressed how Yale may be and were set by examining their peers’ charges remain the best undergraduate college in a research and then adjusting their own charges to keep university setting. Yale’s leadership has identified 8 the “yield” of students in the same position factors—foreign study and 7 others. Three examples: relative to peers as in prior years—a market (1) Interdisciplinary majors where new programs demand approach unrelated to costs. The attract faculty from different academic departments. same process is used to calibrate financial aid, (2) Intensive training to improve writing skills; 400 according to Mr. Manshel. He also makes students now participate, a large recent increase. (3) the related claim that the very richest Quantitative science and reasoning—oriented to institutions could charge no tuition and fees students without a science background. 80% of those and could operate only from endowment who tried one of these courses then took another. funds, if they chose to, but demand is so great Regarding foreign study, Yalies always complained that they don’t. He calls for reexamination of about New Haven but never wanted to leave it. Now the purposes and responsibilities of our there have been summer programs in 17 interesting universities, particularly with regard to countries taught by Yale faculty, and the number is endowment spending.) being increased to 30 countries. Another factor is • Building projects are being slowed down. extracurricular life (always has been). There are 350 None are being commenced except those that extracurricular organizations at Yale training 1,300 men are donor-funded. Yale is not taking on more and women to be leaders at the same time that they get debt. (Princeton has.) Refurbishment of all a liberal education. the residential colleges is being completed on In conclusion, Dr. Salovey noted that a student at schedule. The Smilow Cancer Hospital is Yale today would not notice any hardship from the also going forward. Dr. Salovey delicately recent financial decline, though budgets are pinching mentioned that another university to which Yale’s middle managers. There are some early Yale is sometimes compared has had to retirements and less bureaucracy. Support by alumni is suspend a huge project and now has a big the greatest of any university. “The Yale that you hole in the ground covered by a tarp. (That remember will be the greatest university.” would be Harvard. Compared to the prior year’s plan, its president has announced that Harvard’s capital spending “has been cut in Questions followed: • half for the next several years.” Major Non-science at the West Campus? Lots of assumptions about its campus development in warehousing of collections; more on display. Allston “are completely revised”.) Obviously, Also sculpture, nature walks for children, though not dwelled upon by Dr. Salovey, such conservation of books and objects. • disruptions are punishingly wasteful, even What science at West Campus that cannot be though such losses do not appear in the done at the regular campus? Cancer investment accounts. Yale’s two new research—lab to hospital coordination, large- residential colleges and a “shovel-ready” scale bio-fuel project to turn scum into octane science building are on hold, without any gasoline, other space-using projects to turn construction funds disbursed. plastic back into water and petroleum • Yale’s 137-acre West Campus and science components. laboratories were acquired a couple of years ago for $109 million, one-tenth of their actual 3 • How to use technology to teach Yale courses? Anyone can access 30 open Yale courses on the web, taught by eminent faculty. Primarily for alumni and high school students. But there cannot be a monetary charge unless the course is part of a degree program, and Yale wants its students to come to the campus to earn their degrees. The group experience is critical to educational success. The average class is 12 students; there are not very many huge lectures. 20% of classes have 5 students or fewer. • What connections between undergraduates and graduates? Some “mezzanine” joint classes; many dual graduate and undergraduate faculty appointments; social centers open to both undergraduates and graduate students. • That West Campus again: how to manage communications and travel between it and the rest of Yale? The Obama Stimulus Plan omitted a monorail system to join them.