Big Plans

Suppose someone had asked you a decade ago what Southwestern College would look like at the turn of the century. What would you have said?

Would you have predicted that every incoming student would be issued a laptop computer, and professors would communicate with their classes through electronic messages?

Would you have foreseen national prominence in the field of leadership education, or a campus on which more students participated in campus ministry than in football?

Would you have guessed that adult learners would be completing degrees in three permanent off-campus sites?

Now change perspectives.

What should a snapshot of Southwestern College look like if taken in 2010?

The answers to that question were explored recently, culminating in approval by the college's Board of Trustees of a bold vision for Southwestern's future. Some highlights:

• By 2010 the college's $21 million endowment will increase to $50 million.
• Alumni and friends will enjoy lifelong opportunities for involvement with SC.
• Southwestern will be a top-tier comprehensive college, an important and well-regarded institution in the Midwest.

During the summer and early fall of 1999, trustees, staff, students, alumni class agents, and many community leaders were asked to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the college, and the opportunities, and threats it faces. The results, more than 1,000 individual comments, form the basis of what college leaders say are realistic goals and directions for where Southwestern will be in 2010.

Goals and Directions for Southwestern College were adopted by the Board of Trustees April 14, 2000. Formulated by the college Planning Council and by the Task Force on the Future of Southwestern, these Goals for Excellence represent some of the most comprehensive and inclusive strategic planning ever done at Southwestern.

"It was very exciting to experience the interest and involvement of so many people in the future of Southwestern. It's gratifying to know so many people want to be a part of the plan and participate in helping it become a reality," says President Dick Merriman. "As we went through the process we could sense a growing resolve to be an excellent institution."

Mike Lewis, chair of the Board of Trustees, underscores that view.

"The adoption of this ten-year plan is a true representation of the commitment of the entire Southwestern family. There is a new level of excitement about our future never before felt in my 30 years connected with the institution. We look forward to using these goals and directions as our road map for the next 10 years," Lewis says.

In addition to the 10 goals (delineating areas ranging from the college's position among its peers to the makeup of its student body to its financial viability), a three-year strategic plan was finalized, outlining steps to make the goals reality.

Steve Wilke, vice president for enrollment management, planning, and new programs, shepherded the process to completion.

Both the 10-year goals and the three-year plans will be continuously monitored, Wilke adds. Every year the trustees will take action on a three-year plan; every three years they will take action on 10-year goals.

"The goals document does not attempt to identify issues of priority, scheduling, or implementation," Wilke cautions. "It has worked to create a vision based on assumptions the college and its world would continue somewhat as they are today. However, change is constant, inevitable, and frequently unpredictable. Therefore the task force is fully aware this document will need to be reevaluated and updated on a regular basis."

And as members of the campus community look at the 10-year plan, Wilke says, the stage is set to achieve the excellence called for in the goals.

"From faculty to trustees to students," he says, "people believe this is going to happen."

1) Position
. Southwestern College will offer undergraduate degrees in a residential setting, degree completion programs for non-traditional students, and graduate degrees for part-time learners.
. The college will enjoy an enhanced reputation for the quality and completeness of its educational program and its emphasis on educating the whole person.
. The college will be ranked among the top-quality first tier regional liberal arts colleges, and will continue to be included in the Templeton Honor Roll of Character Building Colleges.
. The college will continually foster a vibrant and mutually beneficial relationship with the United Methodist Church.

2) Learning Opportunities
. Southwestern will offer learning opportunities that are innovative, encourage integration of knowledge, and foster a commitment to lifelong learning.
. Hallmarks of learning at Southwestern will include: increased levels of inquiry, critical thinking, and self-reliance; active and collaborative learning; and student-focused and technology-enhanced learning activities.

3) Student Body
. The student body will be a diverse group of talented students.
. It will include 800 students in campus-based programs, 600 of whom will reside on campus. Of the total student body, at least six percent will be international students and at least 15 percent will be AHANA (Asian, Hispanic, African American, Native American) students.
. At least 3,000 undergraduate students will study at Professional Studies Centers or complete courses and degrees through distance learning opportunities.

4) Faculty and Staff
. Southwestern's faculty and staff will be well qualified and well compensated, and will be committed to the ideals of the institution and to its students.
. Faculty to student ratio will be 1:15. Full-time faculty will teach 70 percent of main campus courses, and 85 percent of these faculty will hold the highest degree in their fields.
. The college will develop performance-based compensation programs that encourage innovation and excellence in administrators and staff members.

5) Facilities
. All facilities will be up to date, attractive, and student centered.
. College buildings will be sited in accordance with a campus master plan, with landscaping, sculpture, and other means to create an appealing total campus environment.

6) Financial Viability
. Southwestern's financial situation will be strong and adequate to fund the vision of the college. Its $50 million endowment will be used in accordance with policies that provide for internal growth in the endowment corpus.
. The college will receive $5 million each year in gift income, of which $2 million will be unrestricted gifts to the annual fund.

7) Financial Aid
. The financial aid program will support the college's commitment to serving a diverse and talented student body. At least 75 percent of institutional financial aid will be funded through the endowment. . The college will pursue aid policies designed to attract talented and qualified students while providing necessary support for those whose financial means are limited.

8) Board of Trustees
. The Board of Trustees will be diverse, talented, and proactive in maintaining year-round involvement with the college and its programs.
. Trustees will exemplify philanthropic leadership for the college's many constituencies through their 100 percent participation in financial support of Southwestern.

9) Relational
. SC's relationship with its alumni and friends will be in the spirit of lifetime learning and leadership.
. The college will provide its alumni and friends multiple opportunities for service.
. The college will offer learning opportunities that respond to the changing interests and needs of its alumni and friends, achieving an alumni giving rate of 30 percent among those who have taken at least one class, and 40 percent among those who have graduated.

10) Partnership
. Southwestern's partnerships and collaborative efforts will be characterized by trust, quality, team effort, proactive style, and the valuing of people as resources.