Following several months of deliberations and consultations with faculty, staff, students, and trustees, President Carol Christ released a proposed budget reduction plan for the college that would achieve $30 million in permanent reductions by June 30, 2011. The proposed plan maintains Smith’s foundational commitment to meeting students’ full demonstrated financial need, ensuring that high-achieving students from all backgrounds will continue to have the benefit of a Smith education. The plan also addresses how Smith can use the current economic situation to make operations more efficient and sustainable, use facilities and resources more wisely, recognize employee contributions, and protect important commitments to financial aid, diversity, and equity. Click here to view the full plan.

Keeping Your Career on Track in a Down Economy … and Beyond is a four-part Webinar series beginning April 22. For more information and to check out Barbara’s blog and video interviews with alumnae business professionals click here.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Schapiro announced that Didem Nisanci ’95 was named SEC chief of staff. Didem most recently served as staff director for the US Senate Banking Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment.

Kellie Bailey McArdle ’99, a US Army bomb squad technician stationed in Iraq, would love to connect with any alumnae on active duty serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. E-mail Kellie at kmoneyyo@yahoo.com.

Smith recently added two new academic concentrations: the Archives Concentration, offering students an understanding of the collection, preservation, and interpretation of historic material, and the Museums Concentration, focusing on museum collections and management. For much more information click here.

Susan Murray ’80 was one of the key leaders in the effort that led to Vermont’s landmark civil union law in 1999 and now to the recent decision by the state legislature to legalize same-sex marriage.

Natalie West ’68 and husband Rob Sellin have sailed approximately two-thirds of the way around the world in their 40-foot sailboat, Wilhelm, currently in Cape Town, South Africa. Check out Natalie’s blog.

David Belanger was appointed director of Smith’s Student Financial Services (SFS) earlier this year, just as the decline in the US economy was accelerating. His task: Help families make a Smith education possible. In a recent interview, Belanger noted the strength of Smith’s commitment to meet students’ needs, reflected in some very impressive statistics.

Support the Alumnae Association of Smith College at no extra cost to you. Sign up for your special, no-annual-fee AASC Visa credit card. To learn more or to apply online click here.

Over the past few months, hundreds of unread newspapers collected from campus newsstands traveled from Smith to Belchertown—and back again, in tatters—to insulate Neilson Library. Click here for the whole story.