CALVIN COLLEGE EQUIPS STUDENTS TO THINK DEEPLY, TO ACT JUSTLY, AND TO LIVE WHOLEHEARTEDLY AS CHRIST S AGENTS OF RENEWAL IN THE WORLD.

Transcription

1 Presidet s Report 2016

2 CALVIN COLLEGE EQUIPS STUDENTS TO THINK DEEPLY, TO ACT JUSTLY, AND TO LIVE WHOLEHEARTEDLY AS CHRIST S AGENTS OF RENEWAL IN THE WORLD. 2

3 Dear Frieds, A presidet s report is a chace to commuicate with the stakeholders of a college, to share updates o the state of our istitutio ad to demostrate our missio i actio. You play a vital role i our collective Calvi College story, ad I ivite you to read o to get a glimpse of this momet of time i Calvi history. I the followig pages, you will receive a overview of the past year at Calvi, plus a look at three highlighted programs: our Festival of Faith ad Writig, which is goig strog with its 14th istallatio; the emergig Clea Water Istitute which has oe semester uder its belt; ad the ew Calvi College Rehabilitatio Services cliic, which just hosted its grad opeig celebratio. You ll also get a bird s-eye view of our curret fiacial status ad a chace to do some i-depth exploratio of the role that higher educatio plays i today s chagig world. But before we begi, let me first thak you for choosig Calvi as a commuity i which you have ivested your time, prayers ad heart. As I travel aroud the coutry ad the globe, I meet may who love Calvi deeply ad love Christ eve more. It is a hoor to coect with kigdom builders like you, ad I thak you for supportig the kigdom builders curretly studyig at Calvi. Sicerely, Michael K. Le Roy Presidet Calvi College 3

4 Clea Water Istitute 4

5 This ew istitute promotes Calvi s missio i so may ways. I sprig 2012, professor of egieerig David Wuder was more tha 1,000 miles away from Calvi whe he received a call. O sabbatical i Austi, Texas, Wuder listeed as Calvi s Seior Associate to the Presidet Bob Berkhof shared a visio for a water istitute at the college. The coversatio piqued Wuder s iterest, so he peciled i a summer meetig to explore Calvi s role i this edeavor. Little did he kow he was takig o a ambitious iterdiscipliary project that would spa multiple years ad iclude coutless collaborators. But it was a idea he could t shake. CONTAGIOUS ENTHUSIASM A few moths later, Wuder ad Berkhof were sittig dow with those alums to discuss their visio for a istitute at Calvi focused o water ad saitatio i developig coutries, as Wuder puts it. Joiig the Calvi represetatives aroud the table were geologist Jaso Brik 96, busiessma Sid Jasma 65 ad geology professor emeritus Tom Timmermas 84. Soo after iitial discussios, geology professor emeritus Gerry Va Koote 73 joied the visio committee. Support rose as word spread across campus. For Matt Walhout, dea for research ad scholarship, this was o surprise. This ew istitute promotes Calvi s missio i so may ways, Walhout said. Its root motivatio is foud i a gospel-ispired visio of flourishig commuities. Its work draws o the techical expertise of Calvi s faculty, studets ad istitutioal parters. By late 2014, the idea had gaied the force of a formal proposal, campuswide edorsemets from a variety of departmets ad a door at the ready. I November, the cocept passed through the approval process i the faculty seate. Ad o July 1, 2015, the Clea Water Istitute of Calvi College (CWICC) opeed. AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH Though Wuder who serves as the istitute s first director is a egieer, he sees the path to clea water extedig far beyod his field. Water ad saitatio overseas is ot just a techical issue, he said. It s a issue that really liks to watershed-based, commuity-based approaches ad shifts i practice. So whe you look at it with that kid of perspective, you eed the techical aspects egieerig ad geology but you also eed people that are experts with commuity developmet ad educatio, ad more broadly, policy. Wuder expects the istitute to draw from the disciplies of iteratioal developmet, public health, social work ad political sciece. He said that eve with the various academic approaches, some guidig cocepts will resoud: Oe thig that s uique about this istitute is that it s very itetioal about service, learig ad teachig. We expect that the ivolvemet of studets ad faculty with this work will be ot just trasformative for those we are servig overseas, but especially trasformative for those that are ivolved with the work. Jeff Bouma, director of Calvi s Service-Learig Ceter, is excited about the studet opportuities ad commuity parterships the istitute ca offer. This istitute will provide may meaigful opportuities for Calvi studets to participate i service learig i academic cotexts, he said. Cotexts that address real problems, real commuities, real assets i idigeous commuities ad real parterships aroud the world. Wuder views the Calvi commuity s ivolvemet as just the begiig of the ceter s potetial. I would love for [the istitute] to be a place that is drawig ew people to campus, he said. Wuder is workig o a team to vet possible parterships i Ecuador, Ethiopia, Haiti ad other coutries, explorig project compatibility with the istitute s resources ad expertise. 5

6 6 Festival of Faith ad Writig

7 CALVIN COLLEGE S FESTIVAL OF FAITH AND WRITING ADOPTS A SPECIAL POSTURE TOWARD THE WORLD AND TOWARD THE ART OF STORYTELLING. The bieial festival s ew director, Lisa Cockrel, says this posture comes from the ifluece of Reformed theology. The festival is a pure distillatio of what a truly Reformed posture i the world looks like as it relates to literary culture, she said. Istead of beig at war with these voices i literary culture that are across the spectrum as relates to faith whether they re from aother faith or eve just a differet versio of Christiaity there are deep theological resources for geerosity ad listeig ad regeerative coversatio. It is rooted i this cofidece that we do t have aythig to be afraid of. It s all God s. Startig from this positio of cofidece ad curiosity, Cockrel said the festival has become a staple i the literary world durig its 25-year history. She calls it the Lollapalooza of literary festivals. STEADY GROWTH The umbers tell a story of steady growth. Whe the festival bega i 1990, about 200 people atteded. That umber quickly rose withi the first few years, ad ow attedace is aroud 2,000 visitors bieially. What is the magic that draws these thousads? Faculty plaig committee member Lew Klatt, associate professor of Eglish ad Grad Rapids poet laureate, said the plaers specifically look for speakers who ca commad a crowd. Klatt poits to past-year guests as evidece: Marilye Robiso, Michael Chabo, Aie Dillard, Gee Yag, Joh Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, Joatha Safra Foer, Chimamada Ngozi Adichie, Maurice Maig, Maya Agelou, Salma Rushdie. Some of the greatest ames i literature come to the festival for oe purpose, Cockrel said. POINTS OF CONNECTION We are brigig people from differet perspectives together aroud a commo table, aroud a commo purpose of egagig themes of faith, she said. The real magic is i our differeces ad how we ca fid poits of coectio i those differeces versus havig a homogeous group of people here. At the 2016 festival, a coversatio betwee two authors will illustrate those differeces. Authors George Sauders ad Tobias Wolff will have a dialogue at oe of the eveig sessios. Sauders, who formerly was a pupil of Wolff s at Syracuse Uiversity, is a Buddhist who grew up Catholic, ad Wolff is a practicig Catholic. Cockrel said she is excited to see what will come of that discussio. To have them i coversatio is the kid of thig we get to do at the Festival of Faith ad Writig, she said. It s the coversatios betwee writers that I get most excited about hearig people iteract with each other s work ad thought. There really is somethig for everyoe if you love books, she said. Klatt said the festival holds true to Calvi s missio i a umber of ways. The missio of Calvi College seds us out ito the world to be agets of reewal i all areas of life, icludig writig ad readig, he said. Laguage is fudametal to the cultural madate outlied i Geesis; we are called to ulock the potetial of speech, to explore its properties, to develop it as a vehicle for art ad thought. The festival brigs writers ad readers together to talk about vocatio, to explore a life of letters from a faith perspective, to examie the ways literature ca be prophetic, to ejoy the pleasures of story ad the music of words. I short, the festival is ivolved i resuscitatig our relatioship to laguage. Cockrel said the best thig book lovers ca do to support the festival is to come. 7

8 Calvi Rehabilitatio Services CALVIN COLLEGE S SPEECH PATHOLOGY AND AUDIOLOGY (SPAUD) PROGRAM IS FLOURISHING. JUST 23 YEARS AGO, IT WAS RESCUED FROM ELIMINATION AND HAD ONLY A HANDFUL OF MAJORS. NOW, THE PROGRAM INCLUDES A MASTER S DEGREE, 100 STUDENTS, ONGOING STUDENT-FACULTY RESEARCH, A SKYPE-BASED TRAINING PROGRAM FOR DOCTORS IN AFGHANISTAN, AND ITS VERY OWN CLINIC. 8

9 itegratio issues, autism, traumatic brai ijuries ad pediatric hearig services, said Steve Vaderkamp, director of the cliic. SIGNIFICANT GROWTH The cliic, Calvi College Rehabilitatio Services, opeed this fall to meet three crucial eeds for the program ad the regioal cliets it serves. The SPAUD program has see its umbers grow to more tha 100 studets, 34 of them i the master s program. I the fial year of the program, each studet rotates through three itership placemets. Three placemets for 34 studets is 102 placemets a year, said Judy VaderWoude, chair of Calvi s SPAUD departmet. Ad you wat them to be good placemets. The SPAUD program has see its umbers grow to more tha 100 studets. Fidig eough placemets, particularly i medical facilities, has become a challege. I additio, a recet survey amog area rehabilitatio providers foud that every moth early 50 people leave these facilities still i eed of assistace after their isurace beefits have bee exhausted. Ad fially, i the first year of Calvi s master s program i speech-laguage pathology, studets work with cliets i a o-campus cliic. Durig these iteractios, cliical istructors oticed may cliets were i eed of cotiued occupatioal ad physical therapy. CONVERGENCE OF NEEDS The covergece of these eeds ispired the idea for a ew cliic that would provide speech-laguage, occupatioal ad physical therapy uder oe roof. The buildig at East Beltlie ad Lake Drive (1310 East Beltlie) is the home for the ew cliic, which opeed last September. The cliic occupies 4,500 square feet of the secod floor. The space icludes a waitig area, a group therapy room, seve treatmet rooms, two soudproof audiology booths ad a physical therapy gym, complete with a climbig wall, had bike, parallel bars, exercise mat table ad a therapeutic swig. We have top-otch health professioals ad faculty from three uiversities o board to provide specialized services for childre ad adults, such as therapies for persos with Parkiso s, MS, head ad eck cacer, sesory I additio to maagig the cliic, Vaderkamp will serve as a physical therapist. He will be joied by faculty i physical therapy, occupatioal therapy, social work, speech pathology ad audiology. Calvi College, Wester Michiga Uiversity ad Grad Valley State Uiversity will provide graduate iters for the cliic. SWALLOWING THERAPY STUDIES Beyod the work of the cliic, Calvi s SPAUD studet-faculty research is thrivig. We have top-otch health professioals ad faculty from three uiversities. Speech pathology professor Beth Oomme has dedicated her recet research to developig practical ad cost-effective treatmet optios for swallowig disorders: exercise therapy for the togue. I wated to develop a home-based treatmet program that is focused o stregtheig the togue, she said. This past summer, Oomme ad three Calvi speech pathology graduate studets collected data from healthy older adults who performed exercises like pressig the togue to the roof of the mouth ad holdig for five secods over a period of weeks to determie the effects. The results, which are still beig aalyzed, will serve as the foudatio for examiig similar measures i patiets with swallowig impairmets, specifically i patiets who have suffered strokes. 9

10 LECRAE (Festival of Faith ad Music) JAMES K.A. SMITH 2015 Highlights JANUARY Philosophy professor James K.A. Smith wis Christiaity Today s Book of the Year Award i its Christiaity ad Culture category for How (Not) to Be Secular: Readig Charles Taylor. Calvi is recogized by the Caregie Foudatio for its commitmet to commuity egagemet. FEBRUARY Professors Matt Heu (egieerig) ad Becky Haey (ecoomics) ad Clemso professor Michael Carbajales-Dale (evirometal egieerig ad earth scieces) publish a book urgig scietists ad policymakers to look Beyod GDP i defiig ecoomic success i a age of resource depletio. Calvi College is recogized by the U.S. Departmet of State as a top producer of Fulbright U.S. Scholars. MARCH Calvi College hosts its bieial Festival of Faith ad Music. This April, the college will host the 14th editio of its Festival of Faith ad Writig. Read more o p. 6. Parters for a Racism Free Commuity desigate Calvi as a Level II Parter for its ati-racism efforts. Calvi hosts the NCAA III Wome s Basketball Natioal Champioship. APRIL Mathematics major Sam Auyeug becomes Calvi s 16th Goldwater Scholar sice 2008 a umber umatched by ay other udergraduate istitutio over that spa of time. Philosophy majors ad profs iteract with the top scholars i their field at the Coscious Persos Project, a workshop o campus that featured world-reowed philosopher David Chalmers. 10

11 NORA FABER 98 MAY Calvi College publishes the first editio of the Iteratioal Joural of Christiaity & Educatio (IJCE), a ew joural that focuses o the relatioship betwee Christiaity ad educatioal theory ad practice. Calvi graduates more tha 850 studets represetig 60 majors. Calvi wis the Commissioer s Cup i athletics (2015 also marks the first time i school history all four varsity witer sports teams claim league titles). JUNE The Calvi Press releases its first title i the Calvi Shorts Series, a series for global Christias who wat to uderstad the world better. The Nagel Istitute, i cooperatio with Lagham Partership Iteratioal opes the Prophet s Chamber, a furished apartmet ear the college iteded for visitig scholars i theology from aroud the world. JULY The Clea Water Istitute of Calvi College is established. Read more o p. 4. Michelle Loyd-Paige becomes Calvi s first-ever executive associate to the presidet for diversity ad iclusio. AUGUST Calvi releases its ew logo, oe of the more visible outcomes of the college s collaborative re-bradig process. Calvi is recogized as a top college by Priceto Review, Fiske Guide to Colleges ad U.S. News & World Report. Moey magazie says Calvi is the best college for your moey amog private schools i Michiga. SEPTEMBER The Nagel Istitute fuels a $2 millio grat from the Templeto Foudatio to help Africa scholars address log-eglected social ad religious issues. Calvi collaborates with two local uiversities i opeig a iovative rehab cliic that offers speech, physical ad occupatioal therapies all uder oe roof. Read more o p. 8. OCTOBER Nora Faber 98 is the first recipiet of the Calvi Alumi ArtPrize Award for her 2015 ArtPrize paitig Heavely Choir. Biology major Peter Boersma becomes Calvi s first udergraduate studet to preset his research at the prestigious bieial Corea Research Coferece at Harvard Medical School. NOVEMBER Calvi s Etrada Scholars Program receives a $300,000 commitmet over the ext three years from Meijer Corporate, allowig 25 more studets per year to beefit from the college s flagship pre-college program. The Istitute of Iteratioal Educatio raks Calvi secod atioally amog baccalaureate istitutios for total studets studyig abroad. Calvi hosts the NCAA III Volleyball Natioal Champioship. DECEMBER Calvi s Oratorio Society, uder the directio of Sea Ivory, presets Hadel s Messiah, a 96-year traditio of the Christmas seaso, to sold-out audieces i the Coveat Fie Arts Ceter auditorium. 11

12 Fiacial Status CURRENT FUNDS REVENUE (IN MILLIONS) CURRENT FUNDS EXPENDITURES (IN MILLIONS) TUITION & FEES $114 ROOM & BOARD $20 RESTRICTED GIFTS, GRANTS AND CONTRACTS $9 ENDOWMENT INCOME $5 DENOMINATIONAL MINISTRY SHARE $2 OPERATING GIFTS $3 CAMPUS STORE $2 OTHER REVENUE $10 SALARIES & WAGES $53 BENEFITS $19 COLLEGE FINANCIAL AID & SCHOLARSHIPS $44 FOOD CONTRACT $9 OTHER $40 12

13 $30K $20K % 10% $100M $140M $120M $100M $80M % $60M $50M $10K $40M -10% $20M $0M $0K -20% 3500 $0M ENDOWMENT MARKET VALUE ENDOWMENT PER STUDENT USING 12-MONTH FULL TIME ENROLLMENT ENDOWMENT RETURNS 12-MONTH STUDENT FULL TIME ENROLLMENT LONG-TERM DEBT REDUCTION 2015: Eared a four-star ratig from Charity Navigator for soud fiscal maagemet ad commitmet to accoutability ad trasparecy. 13

14 The Future of Higher Educatio by Michael K. Le Roy Whe I leave the college campus to cross the city or the coutry, I frequetly ecouter people who wat to talk with me about the state of higher educatio i the Uited States. I hear deep ucertaity expressed about most social ad cultural istitutios today, but I am also aware of the growig ucertaity about the state ad future of higher educatio. So it becomes clear that if the frieds of Calvi College are to thik about its future, we must cosider this future i the broader cotext of higher educatio. Calvi is a uique place that fully egages a wide rage of the academy s robust subjects ad spirited discovery, all through the eyes of faith i Jesus Christ. As uique as Calvi is i its missio ad its offerigs, this Calvi College exists i a higher educatio space where commo challeges cofrot thousads of other four-year istitutios. So, while this report also offers Calvi-specific updates, I fid it fittig to speak ito the coversatio o the geeral future of higher educatio. The public toe o this subject has become loud ad shrill i recet years, as colleges ad uiversities have faced a barrage of scrutiy i the face of escalatig tuitio sticker prices. The media has doe a iadequate job of explaiig the stregths ad weakesses of higher educatio today as it lumps may very differet istitutios together ad characterizes them with sweepig geeralizatios. As a place of high-caliber Christia learig, I believe Calvi College ca ifluece the coversatio ad perhaps eve help to calm our culture s growig higher educatio hysteria. 14

15 To address the sustaiability of higher educatio, I ll begi by discussig the mai claims of higher educatio hysteria i hopes of helpig us discer fact from fictio i the matter. The, I will break dow eight challeges to higher educatio, each with a respective pathway forward. Third, I will address the uique cotributio that private Christia higher educatio ad Calvi College i particular offers society today. Fially, I will coclude with my ow reasos for optimism about the future of higher educatio i the U.S., ad I ll ivite you to cotiue the coversatio. REASONS FOR ALARM? What I m about to address is a hype you ve probably heard about. The sese of higher educatio hysteria is a doomsday prophecy about the moder academy. The truth is, this kid of hysteria has roots i legitimate cocers, but these cocers have expaded beyod proportio to mischaracterize the whole sector based o specific cases. First is the assertio that higher educatio has lost its purpose ad its value. I the book Academically Adrift, authors Richard Arum ad Josipa Roksa argue colleges ad uiversities have become places where learig is o loger a priority. I their depictio of higher educatio, the campus party culture has eclipsed the missio of learig. Cosiderig istitutios where learig is still happeig, other critics of the America uiversity lamet the cultural ad social tur toward careerism ad the view that educatio is merely a commodity. The fashioable icliatio to measure the value of a educatio by earig potetial is what Adrew Delbaco lamets i College: What it Was, Is, ad Should Be. Moreover, he expresses the cocer that liberal arts educatio has ow become the provice of the wealthy few. This latter poit is a legitimate cocer, but it is a reflectio of stagat family icomes over the past 15 years as much as aythig ad it overlooks the extet to which private higher educatio still provides excellet opportuity for studets from the widest variety of family icome levels. Still, others predict the immiet demise of higher educatio by meas of a techological revolutio. I fact, Gle Harla Reyolds asserts i The Higher Educatio Bubble that colleges ad uiversities are o the verge of ecoomic collapse if they isist o perpetuatig a high-priced ad outdated educatio model likely to be overtake by moder techology. All three staces have otable bases i fact, with eough supportig evidece both to call ito questio may colleges ad uiversities that fit these descriptios ad to provide fair warig to those istitutios that are at risk thaks to these treds. Still, these three major critiques, if take as a characterizatio of all higher educatio, are ot supported by the evidece foud i private Christia istitutios. Likewise, the propoets of this hysteria also evade other positive treds that are emergig or, i may cases, persistig throughout higher educatio s logstadig history of cultural, political ad social value. While learig i the U.S. academy is weakeed by a party culture, is dimiished by the view that higher educatio oly exists to build a studet s resume, ad will be chaged by techological iovatio o some campuses, these argumets do ot ad caot characterize the full ladscape of higher educatio, ow or i the future. I ll cocede this: No oe i higher educatio believes higher educatio will be the same i 20 years. However, few of us agree o what it will look like. The literature o those predictios ca be divided ito revolutioaries (some of whom we just met), who believe that higher educatio is o loger viable ad will either collapse or be made obsolete by techology, ad evolutioaries, who see higher educatio as stable social istitutios that will be buffeted by social, ecoomic ad political forces ad will adapt to these forces with the passage of time. After reviewig most of this literature ad reviewig the evidece, I fid myself stadig with the latter. I am persuaded that higher educatio cotiues to meet sigificat social ad idividual eeds. Furthermore, I believe the private, oprofit versio of higher educatio is the hidde gem i the sector. The educatioal missios that characterize our coutry s more tha 700 oprofit higher educatio istitutios provide a importat foudatio for idetity ad worldview formatio i our diverse coutry. Ad Christia establishmets, whe true to their promises, put Christ at the ceter of those pursuits. Notre Dame Presidet Father Hesbergh oted Christia higher educatio was oe of the last places where all the vital itellectual currets of our time meet i dialogue; where the great issues of the church ad the world today are plumbed to their depths; where every sicere iquirer is welcomed ad listeed to ad respected by a serious cosideratio of what he has to say about his belief or ubelief, his certaity or ucertaity; where differeces of culture ad religio ad covictio ca co-exist with friedship, civility, hospitality, respect ad love; a place where the edless coversatio is harbored ad ot foreclosed. I the midst of the cotemporary obsessio with rakigs ad measures of all that we do, we might be tempted to forget that educatig the ext geeratio of learers ad leaders is a oble callig, ad that service at a place like Calvi College is a great privilege. How do we focus o that privilege ad live ito our missio i the midst of a growig hysteria over the fate of 15

16 Success i recruitmet will require a clear missio, strog performace ad ivestmet i the expasio of our primary recruitig regio all features of our curret recruitmet strategy. higher educatio? We ca begi by puttig this hysteria i perspective as we lear from lessos of the past. HYSTERIA IN PERSPECTIVE Forty years ago, publishers were toutig ew books such as Academy i Aarchy, Academics i Retreat, Destructio of a College Presidet, The Fall of the America Uiversity ad o, ot its sequel Death of the America Uiversity. Sice these forebodig texts were peed i the 1970s, scholar Robert Zemsky otes udergraduate erollmets have icreased from 8.5 millio to early 20.5 millio, the size of the America professoriate has early tripled, the umber of Americas with eared doctorates has quadrupled ad the proportio of year olds with bachelor s degrees has quadrupled. Does graduate quatity aloe determie the wealth of higher educatio? Certaily ot. But, at the very least, it speaks to the vitality ad societal place of higher educatio, despite the cyclical ature of cultural aysayig. A few years ago, I participated i a educatio program at Harvard Uiversity ad read a case study of a strugglig college from the 19th cetury developed by Arthur Levie ad Joseph P. Zoler. Despite a legacy of academic excellece, this college was experiecig sigificat erollmet fluctuatio. The school s fiscal positio had worseed, ad edowmet was used to cover operatig losses. The school s ith leader, Jeremiah Day, bega his presidecy durig a period of substatial chage. The U.S. ecoomy was turbulet ad ucertai. New techologies were burgeoig. Old idustries were troubled. The atioal demographic picture was i flux. The umber of youg people was decreasig, ad the umber of elderly was i ascet. The populatio was movig west ad south. Large umbers of immigrats were eterig the coutry. Civic ivolvemet was decliig. The emphasis i Washigto, D.C., was o shrikig the size ad ifluece of the federal govermet. Withi higher educatio, times were equally difficult. The umber of traditioal college-age studets was decliig. Post-secodary istitutios were dealig with ew fiacial pressures, ad a era of erollmet ad resource growth appeared to be over. There was growig ucertaity about the utility ad value of a liberal arts (classical) educatio. I icreasig umbers, studets were optig for more vocatioal courses of study. I respose to heighteed competitio from o-collegiate istitutios ad techical schools, colleges were aggressively pursuig ew markets by attemptig to attract studets from otraditioal populatios. College costs were thought to be excessive, erodig public cofidece i the higher educatio eterprise. The state legislature had coducted a review of all higher educatio istitutios i the state ad foud this college watig. The legislative cosesus was that educatioal quality had slipped ad costs had rise too much. The state legislature proouced that the college s curriculum was poorly matched to the busiess of the day ad took the college to task for deliverig too much liberal arts ad ot eough career preparatio. This case study remided me that as much as the world chages, may of the challeges remai the same. I the midst of ucertaity, this college ow Yale Uiversity ot oly survived but thrived, risig to the top of America istitutios i may areas. The hysteria waed as Yale passed the test of holdig o albeit iovatig ad reformig through the challeges. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES It may appear that my perspective that chage i higher educatio is likely to be evolutioary rather tha revolutioary dismisses serious cocers ad objectios about higher educatio. This could t be further from the truth. There are serious challeges that keep me awake at ight. With a proper dose of perspective ad humility, I would like to uderscore that higher educatio does have sigificat challeges, but remid us that we are ot the first geeratio to discover them. As I describe these challeges I will also suggest the curret ways that Calvi is risig up to meet them. Will there be studets? For Calvi, our first challege to maitaiig curret erollmet at capacity lies i our geographic locatio. Just as Yale experieced i the 1820s, the primary growth i college-boud populatios are occurrig i the west ad south. The umber of high school graduates i Michiga is decliig as Midwest birth rates declie ad is ot expected to level off util the middle of ext decade. Colleges that remai focused o recruitig close to home eed to be highly competitive, cotiue to develop a strog reputatio ad be prepared to recruit outside this regio. Success i recruitmet will require a clear missio, strog performace ad ivestmet i the expasio of our primary recruitig regio all features of our curret recruitmet strategy. 16

17 Is there a future for the liberal arts? Liberal arts majors as a whole are curretly experiecig erollmet declie. Fifty years ago, 14 percet of those graduatig from college majored i the humaities, whereas oly seve percet of today s graduates come from these programs. Still, majors are ot the oly idicator of the health of the liberal arts, as most majors outside the humaities beefit from learig i the liberal arts. The value of the liberal arts for all Calvi studets is that they develop the kowledge, skills ad Christia virtues associated with a commo core educatio. I additio, Calvi studets are challeged to cultivate a itegrated moral ad spiritual life that most of the rest of higher educatio left behid decades ago. While the power of ecoomic istrumetalism i the culture will chage liberal arts istitutios, I am witessig the adaptatio of liberal arts educatio to our curret circumstaces. Studets ad parets eed to be remided of Harvard Uiversity Presidet Drew Faust s observatio that may of today s studets will hold jobs that have ot yet bee iveted, deployig skills ot yet defied. We ot oly eed to equip them with the ability to aswer the questios relevat to the world we ow ihabit; we must also eable them to ask the right questios to shape the world to come. We eed educatio that urtures judgmet as well as mastery, ethics ad values as well as aalysis. We eed learig that will eable studets to iterpret complexity, to adapt ad to make sese of lives they ever aticipated. We eed a way of teachig that ecourages them to develop uderstadig of those differet from themselves, eablig costructive collaboratios across atioal ad cultural origis ad idetities. This is what the liberal arts teach, ad our social eed for leaders steeped i this educatio is ot likely to dissipate. Is college still worth it? Drawig o aecdotes or eve persoal experiece with post-degree uemploymet or uderemploymet, may i the media cast doubt o college s edurig value. To be sure, the Great Recessio was hard o the youg i our coutry, but college graduates i geeral, ad Calvi graduates i particular, had far lower uemploymet, sigificatly higher icomes tha o-college graduates. Beyod the ecoomic beefits, it is also clear that higher educatioal attaimet also offers sigificat geeral beefits. Gallup is curretly coductig a study o the cocept of well-beig, based o the subcategories of career, social, fiacial, physical ad commuity well-beig. I fact, these are key elemets that lead ito huma flourishig ad key areas built up by a liberal arts curriculum. I its extesive research, Gallup has foud that the sigle most sigificat predictor of well-beig across each of these areas is the completio of a four-year degree. To me, this aloe demostrates that college is well worth it. Ca studets afford it? Stagatig middle class icomes, the perceptio of moutig studet debt load ad risig sticker prices for tuitio i higher educatio lead may parets to woder about the feasibility of a college degree. Over the past 15 years, family icomes for all but the top 20 percet of Americas have stagated. Ubekowst to most, the higher educatio market has had to respod to this tred. Accordig to the College Board s aual pricig study of private oprofit higher educatio, the et price of higher educatio that is, tuitio ad room/board mius fiacial aid has remaied flat betwee 2005 ad What has bee true atioally has also bee true at Calvi durig this period. I additio, Calvi cotiues to eroll ad graduate studets from every icome category i substatial umbers thaks to our strog program of merit- ad eed-based aid. Will govermet support higher educatio? I the Uited States, studets beefit from a excellet public fudig model. The federal govermet supports the educatio of studets directly rather tha givig moey to colleges ad uiversities. Studets the have the freedom to choose a educatio that suits their passios, iterests ad worldview covictios. This bledig of idividual ad commo good represets a geius that is uique, but it is apparet that govermet at all levels is icreasigly reticet about supportig public good through the pathway of higher educatio. Moreover, some eve questio the validity of allowig govermet resources to support a studet s educatio at a faith-based college. Federal ad state appropriatios for private udergraduate istitutios have decreased i recet years at the same time that federal compliace requiremets, ad thereby associated costs, have icreased. I sped a portio of my time with legislators at the state ad federal level to remid them of this ivestmet i future geeratios. You ca help us by doig the same whe you meet your represetatives. The sigle most sigificat predictor of well-beig is the completio of a four-year degree. To me, this aloe demostrates that college is well worth it. 17

18 Ideed, the academy, with its missio to advace ad sustai huma learig so foudatioal to civilizatio, has demostrated its capacity to edure across ceturies. Is there a sustaiable busiess model? The busiess model for private higher educatio cotradicts the covetioal wisdom of busiess ad ecoomics i two cofoudig ways: 1. Competitio leads to higher prices I most markets, icreased competitio leads to decreased prices. But private higher educatio is boud by a opposig priciple. This is, of course, because the thigs that give a college a competitive edge are the very thigs that cost the most moey, icludig services, facilities, techology ad the persoal attetio of faculty. 2. The dilemma of high price, high aid Private higher educatio istitutios ted to offer a high sticker price but iclude high levels of fiacial aid, while public higher educatio operates o a low-cost, low-aid model with high govermet subsidies. Every istace of a tuitio icrease at Calvi is always accompaied by a correspodig icrease i fiacial aid for studets. Studets ad parets like to tout a large fiacial package ad perceive that a higher cost tuitio is associated with greater value. This so-called Chivas Regal effect also leads may to associate a lower tuitio price with a lower level of quality. I kow, this is maddeig to me, too. If it were up to me, ad if collusio were legal, I would gather all higher educatio leaders together i a effort to reduce our published tuitio prices simultaeously. Sice that is ot a optio, we cotiue to focus o affordability, scrutiize our costs, adapt aid to the curret ecoomy ad evaluate opportuities to escape this cycle. Whe will techology disrupt? Sice 1994 whe I etered higher educatio, I have heard about the ed of brick-ad-mortar colleges ad uiversities as we kow them. Ad i some ways sice the techology has disrupted the higher educatio ladscape, largely by opeig up ew degree opportuities for adult learers usig ew techologies. Pedagogy iside ad outside the classroom has also bee trasformed for may disciplies thaks to techological iovatio. But the ed of brick-admortar colleges has ot yet happeed if it ever will for the majority of 18- to 24-year-old college studets. Parets do t seem to wat 19-year-olds livig i the basemet earig a olie degree. Studets do t appear to wat that either. The residetial college experiece is still highly desirable. Of course, we must be ready for chage ad ope to iovative learig, ad yet we eed ot wholly reivet a educatio model of prove success. We look at evolutioary chages rather tha a revolutioary upedig. Ca we compete? The threats to a college such as Calvi aboud. Private colleges do t have the safety et provided by state govermets, or ca we predict what might cause demad to shift. We re faced with the followig reality: We kow higher educatio will be differet i 20 years, but to what degree? Ad if the shift is radical, will we be ready? I believe this emergig competitio will make Calvi College stroger, though it might margialize some private istitutios, amely expesive colleges without a distictive missio, ad those colleges with low erollmet ad high discout rates. Both of these models are usustaiable i the log-term. Through these challeges, I am cofidet educatio will persist, adapt ad edure. Clark Kerr, a presidet of the Uiversity of Califoria who served i his post for more tha 40 years, remids us that about 85 istitutios i the Wester world established by 1520 still exist i recogizable forms, with similar fuctios ad with ubroke histories, icludig the Catholic church, a few parliamets, several Swiss catos ad 70 uiversities. Ideed, the academy, with its missio to advace ad sustai huma learig so foudatioal to civilizatio, has demostrated its capacity to edure across ceturies. UNQUANTIFIABLE VALUE I 1820, a ma by the ame of Alexis de Tocqueville came to America to try to uderstad whether it was possible to have a atio fouded o the priciple of liberty. I the wake of the Frech revolutio, he worried liberty would desced ito a selfishess that would leave oly a atio of arcissists atomized ad discoected from each other. Nothig is more woderful tha the art of beig free, he oce reflected, but othig is harder to lear how to use tha freedom. Whe de Tocqueville came to America he could ot comprehed how a society could believe i huma freedom ad huma depravity at the same time. Istead, he foud a atio where idividual freedom was costraied by educated civic leaders who could restrai their passios. The igrediets to this restrait were the civic istitutios i commuities such as schools, colleges ad churches that modeled ad istructed its members to balace the tesio betwee selfiterest ad the commo good. Ad this became his uderstadig of the 18

19 foudatio to a free society: Liberty caot be established without morality, or morality without faith. There are may great thigs that commed the liberal arts taught i a Christia cotext, but de Tocqueville s lesso might be oe of the greatest. We still believe i the paradox of si ad grace ad teach that the reality of si ad misery is formidable, that we are set free from all our sis ad misery through Jesus Christ, ad we thak God for this deliverace. The way we give thaks is leadig studets to kow their subject well, ad by teachig studets the virtues of humility, self-cotrol ad love of eighbor. There are few places left i society where a professor sits dow with a studet ad says, You are a bright ad capable studet, but this exam did t go very well for you. What s goig o? Coversatios like this oe happe here at Calvi College. It might appear that these are coversatios about grades, but these are character formatio coversatios. These are daily coversatios about si ad grace, ad whether a studet is a egieer, accoutat, artist or philosopher, these are the coversatios that leave the mark of Calvi ad we pray, the mark of Christ o every graduate. These coversatios take time. To have them, faculty must kow their studets ad come to uderstad their stregths ad weakesses. A educatio with this level of attetiveess ad depth has a cost. It comes with a price some may ot be willig to sacrifice for, but I am coviced that studets ad parets will cotiue to seek it out. Ad whe they do, Calvi College eeds to be foud worthy of the hoor of educatig the ext geeratio. 19

20 Office of the Presidet Spoelhof Ceter 3201 Burto Street SE Grad Rapids, MI 49546