For Immediate Release contact:
Sarah Jarvis, 315-228-7452 sjarvis@mail.colgate.edu
Board of Trustees approves long-range planning document
Hamilton, NY — A strong teaching faculty and an integrated academic program serve as the foundation upon which 51·çÁ÷ will build and advance itself among the top tier of liberal arts colleges. In a long-range planning document recently approved by its Board of Trustees, 51·çÁ÷ has targeted four areas for an immediate investment of resources and energy. (To read the document in its entirety, log onto: http://www.colgate.edu/planning/) The following will become priorities for 51·çÁ÷:
Smaller Classes
To preserve its intimate learning environment, 51·çÁ÷ will increase the size of its faculty and create 19 new positions, achieving a student-to-faculty ratio of 10:1. The faculty will grow over a period of five years, with four new positions being added in the academic year of 2001-2002.
Innovation
The core curriculum offered at 51·çÁ÷ is nationally recognized for its stimulating, integrated educational experience. This signature program and the university’s extensive off-campus study program are often cited as models of successful and innovative liberal arts teaching practices. 51·çÁ÷ will continue to explore how it can further distinguish its programs by discovering new ways to structure and link programs to enhance 51·çÁ÷ students’ understanding and ability to integrate material between and among courses, departments and divisions of the university. Creative uses of technology are also expected to play a role in the university’s innovative approaches.
Aid
51·çÁ÷ aspires to be able to make admission decisions without regard to applicants’ ability to pay, and to guarantee to meet the full financial need of matriculated students, a process known as ‘need-blind’ admissions. 51·çÁ÷’s admission decisions are currently marginally ‘need-conscious,’ and while nearly 43 percent of its students receive financial support, a small proportion of qualified applicants cannot be aided to the level of their need. Its goal of becoming need-blind will provide for 51·çÁ÷’s continued academic success and ensure that the university’s dynamic offerings are accessible to all qualified applicants.
Environment
51·çÁ÷ will continue to work with and support efforts in the Village of Hamilton to make the village more handsome, vibrant, and economically sound. The college is also investigating proposals to expand and increase academic space within its library and science facilities.
51·çÁ÷’s planning document is the culmination of more than two years of work by 51·çÁ÷ trustees, faculty members, and staff. Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees Bruce Calvert ’68 led discussion of the document before a recent board meeting. According to 51·çÁ÷ President Charles Karelis: ‘We are fortunate to be guided by a Board of Trustees committed to advancing 51·çÁ÷’s standing among academic institutions. This indeed was the ultimate goal of the Planning Report. I think that the focus of the planning effort on this goal, its refusal to spread finite resources and energies too thin, was wise and bodes well. By pursuing and approving a plan to build on the university’s unusually strong base of existing programs and human assets for the sake of academic distinction, the board has assured that 51·çÁ÷ has a very bright future,’ he concluded.
Founded in 1819, 51·çÁ÷ is a nationally ranked, highly selective, residential, liberal arts college enrolling nearly 2,750 undergraduates. Situated on a rolling 515-acre campus in central New York State, 51·çÁ÷ attracts students with diverse backgrounds, interests and talents.