My message this morning on the state of the College is filled with both excitement and optimism because I believe our college is poised for greatness. My excitement is sprinkled with caution because of the political realities faced by all of us in public education, but that caution cannot dampen my optimism because I believe we are on the verge of bringing our work to a significantly higher level.
I suspect that some of you are thinking, “Wait a minute, I thought we were great already.” In many respects you are correct. Northampton is an extraordinary institution with a rich 40-year history of serving our community very, very well, but sustained greatness requires a level of commitment, service and performance throughout all aspects of the College and for extended periods of time.
All high-performing organizations are constantly assessing external conditions and realigning their position according to emerging markets and trends. The higher education industry as a whole is not known to be a rapidly changing, flexible entity, with the possible exception being community colleges.
At Northampton we pride ourselves on being agile and innovative. Our statement of values speaks to “creative problem-solving, responsiveness, entrepreneurship and our ability to adapt quickly to a changing world.”
Many of you in response to questions posed as part of the strategic planning process used words like progressive, dynamic, energizing and cutting edge to describe this institution. Those words are nice, but the descriptors have to be earned. To deserve those accolades, we must constantly reexamine what we do in an effort to do it better.
I’m encouraged by the examples I am beginning to see that suggest that we, as a staff, are doing just that. I applaud the computer services staff for conducting departmental audits to determine how to use the CARS system more effectively. I commend the institutional advancement staff for spending time at their annual retreat examining our award-winning magazine and considering how they can make it better. And I salute the student affairs staff for finding new ways every year to make the orientation program more helpful to incoming students.
In a sense, the formation of the Faculty Senate is also an effort in self-improvement as it seeks to enhance the academic life at the College. The President’s Leadership Institute is another example of not being satisfied with the status quo, as it was formed to capture and further develop the talents of our faculty and staff.
Much more behind the scenes, but also very critical to the College, Tom Briggs and members of his department are always finding ways to make our computer network more secure. Just think for a moment of the chaos that could ensue if our system were brought down by a virus.
As other examples, we have the largest non-credit training program in the region, but every year the continuing education division works diligently to serve more clients. Our technology cluster understands the challenges all colleges face in attracting students to manufacturing programs, and therefore has, along with members of the science and math departments, taken a very proactive approach to increasing enrollment in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs. This has resulted in two National Science Foundation grants. Lesser institutions would just say we are good and stay with long standing practices and not look for ways to increase business or to improve.
For this institution to be truly great, the process of self-examination needs to be universal and on-going. Each of us needs to continue to ask, “How can I improve? How can I be a better teacher this semester than last semester? How can we as a college improve the performance of our students? How can we further streamline the enrollment process so it better serves our students? How can we be more responsive to our business clients? How can I be a better president?” The questions go on and on with the point being that we must challenge ourselves and each other to improve everything we do, every day.
As part of this improvement emphasis, I am pleased to support the formation of a Student Learning Outcomes Committee. This committee will focus its work initially on programs scheduled for audit, on developmental education and on gatekeeper courses. Carolyn Bortz and Randy Boone have agreed to be co-chairs of this important effort.
For several years we have been talking about creating a culture of evidence, and for the first time last year I sensed a shift to making more data-driven decisions. Our Achieving the Dream work is revealing important information about our students and their level of success. Some of the data are not pretty, and I know I cringe when Mardi McGuire Closson, Mike McGovern or others present some of the less-than- positive trends, but we need to have the courage to admit that graduation rates in higher education generally, and Northampton specifically, are not high enough.
Yes, it is true that many of our students have no intention of getting a degree, and they often have a successful experience here and move on, but there are many, many students who come to us intent on graduating who do not succeed. That is the population we must continue to study to determine how to better help them. The Achieving the Dream data has yielded important information about our math courses, but we have only scratched the surface with what we need to learn about student success.
I have shifted some of my own thinking and now believe we must be more prescriptive with students who enter our college with remedial needs. The data are clear. Certain practices increase the chances for students to succeed, and we must be willing to make the appropriate adjustments to our offerings. Our measures of success are shifting. The traditional emphasis on enrollment growth and placement rates will always be important, but added to them will be course completion rates, graduation rates, and success of developmental students. The conversation will be difficult at times, but it is necessary and needs to include the integration of our literacy work with our credit developmental offerings.
Over the summer I told a group that it was much easier to build buildings than to change curriculum. I said so half kiddingly, but it reminds me that we can never fall into the widely held perception that higher education is slow to change and to adapt to the changing world around us.
Our college has always been willing to quickly move in and out of programs and to alter our practices to better meet the emerging needs of our students and our community, so I applaud all the faculty and staff who are developing Faculty Innovation Grants (FIGs) and experimenting with ways to improve their courses.
The general education core group has agreed to stay together and begin the arduous process of assessing the general education curriculum. Their work to this point has been extraordinary. We all owe them a debt of gratitude.
At last, the community college movement is beginning to be recognized as essential to economic development at the federal and local level. The College Board, founded in 1900, and long known for such programs as the SAT and AP, recently published a report titled “Winning the Skills Race and Strengthening America’s Middle Class.” The report begins with the following statement:
“American community colleges are the nation’s overlooked asset. As the United States confronts the challenges of globalization, two-year institutions are indispensable to the American future. They are the Ellis Island of American higher education, the crossroads at which K-12 education meets colleges and universities, and the institutions that give many students the tools to navigate the modern world.”
The report goes on to offer a recommendation which follows our Achieving the Dream goals, calling for a culture of evidence and a commitment to open access, but at the same time striving to increase program completion rates.
Another fascinating but depressing report called “America’s Perfect Storm” was published by Educational Testing Service (ETS) in January of 2007. Again, I quote:
“If we are unable to substantially close the existing skill gaps among racial/ethnic groups and substantially boost the literacy levels of the population as a whole, demographic forces will result in a U.S. population in 2030 with tens of millions of adults unable to meet the requirements of the new economy. Moreover, a substantial proportion of those adults will be members of disadvantaged minority groups who will likely consider themselves outside the economic mainstream.
“Accordingly, we must set a national goal of equipping most (if not all) adults with the ability to perform work that is highly valued in the marketplace and the capability to periodically renew themselves as the nature of that work evolves. In fact, with secure, long-term employment becoming rarer and society becoming more complex, there is a growing need for all individuals to become better educated and more skilled. Individuals must have a broad set of literacy and numeracy skills to successfully manage the various aspects of their lives: from planning their careers, to nurturing and guiding their children, to navigating the health-care system, to taking more personal responsibility for their financial future.”
What is being described is the work of community colleges. The comprehensive nature of our mission positions us well to help counter the unfortunate direction in which our country is headed. The increased attention we are receiving is overdue and welcomed; now of course, increased funding must follow. I say it every year: you need only to look at the states that have strong economic development programs and you will find community colleges are major players.
I applaud our colleague Gail Mellow, president of LaGuardia Community College, who raised many eyebrows when she opened the annual meeting of the American Council of Education this past February with a very direct criticism of American higher education. She stated, “Higher education funding and quality assessment is still premised on what are now nostalgic memories of traditional-aged, upper-middle class college students. Unless we let go of this myth and realistically face the modern demographics of the U.S. college population – who goes and who should to go college – the relevance and status of American higher education in a competitive, global education market will erode.”
Our challenge is to take these broad, national issues and play our part in our community. We need to make sure we are a “significant community college” as defined by the authors of the article by that name published in 2005. Significant community colleges, they note, “are economic, drivers and essential community resources…
Significant community colleges have vibrant organizational cultures, where all employees consider themselves ambassadors of the college. They seek to connect the college and community in their external interactions. Consequently, the members of the college community leverage the reputation of the institution as an integral community asset. Self-interest and self-satisfaction are replaced with self-reflection and significant improvement.”
As we reflect, as we examine the Achieving the Dream data, are we willing to make substantive changes? For example, I believe we need to finally have a true freshman-year experience that is more prescriptive than what currently exists. I have asked Mardi McGuire Closson to chair a cross-disciplinary task force to design such a program with an anticipated fall 2009 start date. A true freshman-year experience, based on available research, along with a renewed commitment to developmental education, will give our incoming students the best chance to succeed.
I applaud the student affairs group consisting of Belinda Austin, Laraine Demshock, Sharon Hendriksen, Mark Henry, Janelle Howey, Carolyn Moyer and Troy Tucker, who, as part of their retreat assignment, proposed such a program for our freshmen. This is not about closing the door or isolating under prepared students. Quite the contrary, it is about improving the chance of success for all our students.
As I read everyone’s annual reports and participated in a number of retreats, I was pleased by the consistency of the work being done throughout the College. All areas considered how best to improve the experience for students and are obviously committed to our strategic themes of access, engagement and excellence.
That commitment was further validated through the work on our strategic plan for 2008-2013. The community and all of you spoke loudly and clearly about our positive culture, about our connectedness to the community and about the growth challenges we face. We all owe Jeff Focht, Elizabeth Bugaighis, Karen Rhines, and Karen Britt and their committee members our thanks for spearheading the information-gathering part of the process, and, of course, Jill Hirt for writing the report this summer.
In the fall we will report back to the community and we will share with our community partners our Achieving the Dream work and reinforce that we need them to help us in our effort to have a higher percentage of students succeed. Our plan also outlines how the demographics of the region have changed and how the College needs to continue to play a leadership role in welcoming and learning from a very diverse student body.
Our leadership must also extend to our international students and residents. We are one of the leading community colleges in the country when it comes to international opportunities, but we need to better capitalize on the incredible learning that can occur by interacting with our international students and the many international visitors Manny Gonzalez brings to our campus each year.
The community leaders who participated in the strategic planning process spoke repeatedly about how the region is growing and the critical role Northampton can play in making sure our communities benefit from the growth. Remember, significant community colleges help create the future and that is exactly what we must do.
Over the next five years, we know we will need to continue to invest in our facilities and instructional equipment, and we can anticipate more health care-related offerings and programs attractive to retiring baby boomers. We know the demand for online courses will continue to grow and cost will remain a major issue for our students. And, if we are true to our mission, over the next five years we will have many more of our literacy students enrolled in our credit programs.
As with our prior plan, the 2008-2013 Strategic Plan is a call to action, and I believe it will serve our College well for the next five years. I thank everyone who participated in the planning process.
I want to go back to the growth challenge we face. Let me reinforce what a wonderful opportunity I believe this growth presents.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), on a percentage basis, Northampton is the fastest growing community college in the Commonwealth and for that we should be very proud. It means that we are helping to raise the education level of our community, and when that happens, the quality of life and the economic health within our neighborhoods is improved.
Yes, there are challenges to becoming a large, multi-campus institution, and many of you have questioned whether we can maintain many of the long-standing, small college-practices prized by students and staff. To that question I answer resoundingly, yes. All of us in this theatre hold the key. How do we treat our colleagues –– both full- and part-time? How do we cooperate with each other? Are we territorial or do we realize the boundaries of our jobs need to be very flexible? Do we make an effort to get to know our students? Large comprehensive colleges can have the same level of excellence as smaller institutions.
I cannot tell you how often I am approached in the community by people who want to tell me about an experience they had at the College. I always think, “Oh boy, here we go,” but then I hear an incredible tale of how well they were treated or how they built on their experience at Northampton to go on to do bigger and better things.
We stay a small college by treating everyone well, by connecting with our students and by being passionate about our mission of providing excellent, accessible and comprehensive learning experiences.
The passion, the good feeling we have at our College is obvious and can be felt when you visit our campuses. Organizational culture makes a difference. It affects how we work, the level of community support we receive and how students perceive their time with us. Collectively, we need to always be mindful of our culture and make sure we are a good place to work and to study.
Last August I announced the formation of the President’s Leadership Institute, and we recruited a group to develop the program. Through the steady leadership of Jeff Focht, the team consisting of Wendi Achey, Mitch Murtha, Kathy Siegfried, Melissa Starace and Tammy Tucker Mehlig, put together an outstanding program that attracted over 35 applicants. The class had their first session on August 7, and I can tell you we can put to rest any concerns about succession planning at Northampton. What an outstanding group! All of us must always be looking for professional growth opportunities, and we need well-prepared leaders at all levels of the College. I congratulate the 10 members of the inaugural class and others who will participate in years to come, and I look forward to the role each of you will play in the College’s future.
In the upcoming months, we will continue to look for ways to support good ideas and recognize outstanding performance. At the Cabinet retreat we conducted an exercise labeled Cabinet Innovation Grants (CIGs), which resulted in a lot of good-natured competition and some very worthwhile ideas, such as creating a Center for Sustainable Energy, a Center of Excellence for STEM programs and a Health and Wellness program to include both a credit program and a wellness program for faculty and staff. We also talked about finding ways to recognize what the group called Creative Bursts.
As I said at the start of this message, we are poised for greatness, but we will only become great and stay great if we find ways to be on the edge and to support big dreams.
A few years ago we had a very big dream about the Southside. Today the Fowler Family Southside Center is a vibrant educational hub where more than 9,000 students have studied.
In 2008-2009, we are going to put a shovel in the ground to start the last and most exciting phase of the very big dream of building the Monroe Campus. The complexity of the project is beyond what any of us ever imagined, but it is a perfect example of having a big hairy audacious goal and then having the perseverance to achieve the goal. That is what we do at Northampton.
This year we will also begin the process of becoming a smoke-free campus. The College Life Committee has been given the charge to consult with all of us and then develop this long overdue policy.
Caring for our environment as an institution and having our students consider and understand the environmental issues we face should be part of our daily conversations. So should the upcoming election. National elections provide a wonderful teaching/learning moment. We should seize the opportunity and make sure our campuses are alive with respectful debates.
We also will need to be sensitive to the very trying economic times in which we find ourselves. Our students will struggle financially as never before, and we must be open to alternative thinking that allows students to provide for their families and still be successful academically. Last year our students received more than $17 million in aid. We know many students have to reduce their course loads and drop out because of finances. This College has always gotten high marks as a caring organization, and I know we will continue in this vein.
Financially, we remain strong because we understand the importance of diversifying our revenue sources and because Jim Dunleavy, Deb Doll and the entire business department understand the rules presented to us by the Commonwealth. We have never been an institution that sits back and whines about the bleak political and economic situation facing us. Instead we fulfill our mission by expanding our market and by being efficient in all of our operations.
Our community support has never been higher as evident by the Monroe County commissioners identifying the new Monroe Campus as their number one economic development priority, and by the fact the Northampton County sponsoring school districts are about to extend our Articles of Agreement through the year 2056! We are indeed positioned very well for the future.
I will end my message to you this morning where I started. These are exciting times at Northampton. I am confident our new colleagues, who we just introduced, will catch the spirit of this place very quickly. We are on the verge of greatness because we are willing to think big, but at the same time to care for one student at a time. It has been a privilege to be your president for the past five years, and I look forward to our very bright future.
References:
College Board. (2008). Winning The Skills Race and Strengthening America’s Middle Class: An Action Agenda for Community Colleges. New York: The College Board, Center for Innovative Thought.
Educational Testing Service (ETS), America’s Perfect Storm: Three Forces Changing Our Nation’s Future. (January 2007) 24
Mellow, Gail O. (2008) “Each and All: Creating a Sustainable System of Higher Education,” February 10. Retrieved February 18, 2008, from http://www.insidehighered.com/alyout/set/print/news/2008/02/11/ace
VanWagoner, Randall J. and Bowman, Linda S., and Spraggs, Laurence D. (2005) "Editor's Choice: The Significant Community College." Community College Review (Fall; Vol. 33, No. 1) 38-50.
