(The President's Letter, August 2013)
Another busy summer at
Bethany College has come and gone. In just a few weeks, our students will
return to campus and unpack their semester’s worth of belongings in the
residence halls. How times have changed, when those of us who departed for
college a generation ago brought little more than a suitcase or two!
Much has changed in higher
education in many other ways. As we “unpack” our agenda for the 2013-2014
academic year, I’d like to offer a preview of how Bethany’s leadership amid
these changes is already shaping our future for the better.
Affordability remains a
paramount concern for all of higher education, with students and families
challenging institutions as never before to justify an investment of tuition
dollars. A report on college trends by The Lawlor Group, a leading higher
education marketing firm, states, “Higher education has become less an end in
itself and increasingly a means to an end—primarily an economically viable
career path. In calculating a college’s value proposition, families factor in
outcomes as well as cost and prestige. They expect proof of high graduation
rates and graduate employment at acceptable salary levels.”
Bethany recognizes its
responsibility to deliver that “viable career path.” As one student put it so
well recently, “Comps are proof of that. What more can an employer have than
the knowledge that this student learned something in four years and passed a
test to prove it?” Our responsibility as a college is to find the most productive
and meaningful balance for students of preparing for a career while learning
for life.
We value the life
preparation that our liberal arts tradition offers. One of our alumni, a
prominent attorney on the West Coast, summarizes the Bethany experience this
way: “I have a lot of affinity for Bethany because it does such a good job of
focusing on individuals…Bethany gave me opportunities to see what I wanted to
do, to grow, with personalized attention.” That perspective, echoed by many of
our alumni, reflects a significant, value-added feature of a Bethany education.
Another important trend is
how personal technology and social media are shaping the campus experience—even
before students enroll. The Lawlor Group points out that students use
technology to “instantly verify any claims a college makes.” Another study by
Inigral Insights shows that 72% of new high school seniors have used social
media in the college search process. Bethany continually updates our marketing
to ensure that we reach our preferred audiences with the messages they prefer.
Once in the college
classroom, students today absorb information quite differently, responding less
readily to traditional lectures, relying more on online sources, and learning new
rules that govern Web-based research, verification of facts, and etiquette. The
possibilities posed by technology are also very exciting, however. “Smart”
classrooms, videoconferencing, and other innovations now permit students to
interact in real time with their counterparts thousands of miles away, in other
classrooms around the world. This is important as we continue to prepare
Bethany students for the global career marketplace. As I often advise our
students, they will be as likely to compete with graduates from Delhi and Tokyo
as they will Pittsburgh and Columbus.
MOOCs (Massive Open Online
Courses), along with many social and economic factors, are challenging colleges
and universities to rethink their traditional strategies of teaching and
transferring credits. Bethany is participating in that discussion to discover
new opportunities for college access while preserving the classical,
residential campus experience that we treasure.
Devoted faculty members, of course,
remain at the heart of a Bethany education. We are fortunate to recruit
talented, creative faculty each year to our mountaintop campus. These dedicated
individuals truly go above and beyond what is expected of them as they guide
and mentor their students, arrange internships, and open career doors—often
with the active assistance of Bethany’s worldwide alumni network. As I travel
around the country each year visiting Bethanians in major cities, most credit
the leadership and friendship of our College’s faculty as the most influential and
enduring factors in their personal success.
Part of our agenda each year, however,
is finding the resources to recruit and retain faculty, to provide the tools of
contemporary instruction and research, and to assist students with the shifting
norms and values of a fast-paced society. Although we often stress the need for
scholarship dollars to underwrite student opportunity, gifts dedicated for
faculty research and development are equally welcomed and valued in meeting the
true cost and contemporary needs of a Bethany education.
Finally, each year we recommit ourselves
to enhancing the beauty and learning environment of Bethany’s historic campus.
Today’s students expect comfort, convenience, and contemporary features, where
they live, work, and play. The continued success of our “Transformation Now!” campaign
for Bethany College, now at $45 million in support, will ensure that we remain
competitive in attracting some of America’s best and brightest to our campus.
Much progress has already been achieved
in enriching the academic, residential, recreational and athletic facilities of
Bethany College; as we work through the next phases of our strategic plan, your
support as alumni and friends of Bethany will foretell the pace of our
improvements. Thank you for your gifts and pledges thus far. We hope you will
visit soon to experience the dynamic “new” but traditionally beautiful and
inspiring campus of Bethany College.
The success of any higher-education
agenda depends on a proactive view of the internal and external forces that
influence success. Bethany’s fundamental goal as a national liberal arts
college is not simply to react to those forces, but to lead the necessary
process of planning for change that will anticipate and prevail over them.
I am confident that the new academic
year will see significant contributions to our standing as a leader in American
higher education— indeed, a Small College of National Distinction.
