New Century Connections Emerges From a Remarkable Campus Collaboration

By President Richard Cook

If you have been a regular reader of ALLEGHENY magazine, you are well aware that during the past year we at Allegheny College have been engaged in an intensive process of institutional self-examination and planning. We are convinced that those colleges that seize control of their own futures rather than simply attempt to resist external forces will emerge as leaders.

The results of our work, New Century Connections, emerged from a remarkable process of collaboration between and among faculty, administrators, staff, students, trustees and alumni. Building from the observations and recommendations of the Summer Working Group, chaired by Professor Jim Bulman, most of the campus has been engaged in some way in shaping our plans, whether in formal committees or in special forums and informal conversation. The campus has been energized by this broad participation and by the process of creating our future.

Keeping Allegheny affordable requires control of our costs and prudent spending of our resources. An important principle of our planning is that rather than attempting to do everything -- with the inevitable compromises in quality that resource limitations bring -- Allegheny will instead direct its attention and resources to areas of strength, distinction and potential distinction. This required taking a hard look at matters of program effectiveness, services, duplication and student interest. There is no sugar-coating the programmatic and personal losses associated with elimination of selected programs and positions in order to strengthen others. However, we collectively approached that challenge with a serious sense of purpose and have emerged a stronger institution, better positioned to fulfill our mission as a highly respected liberal arts college.

In addition to developing plans, we also have identified operating resources to fund those initiatives that have the right combination of readiness and affordability. For example: faculty and students have created a program to advance the speaking abilities of all students; the first- and second-year general education program has been redesigned; and the new Allegheny College Center for Experiential Learning (ACCEL) will be fully operational in Reis Hall in the fall.

Learning through experience outside the classroom has long been an important part of an Allegheny education. Students for many years have benefited from the "senior comp," campus jobs, student leadership positions and a host of other experiences. Our goal through ACCEL and related efforts is to build upon this foundation so that "hands-on" experience more intentionally and pervasively complements course work.

Research has shown the significant educational value of applying learning to real-world challenges in a variety of settings. These findings are confirmed by witnessing the increased intellectual curiosity and maturity, confidence and poise that students gain through experience in both structured and unstructured settings. More than ever, today's students expect and benefit from an educational program that provides an array of opportunities to learn in a variety of ways not limited to the classroom or library -- these include internships, off-campus study domestically or abroad, service-learning, leadership development programs and campus work opportunities.

The value of these experiences is strengthened through integration into academic planning, course work and purposeful reflection. ACCEL will merge related student services to increase student and faculty use of experiential learning and to encourage testing of new models. Academic advising, experiential transcripts and the development of comprehensive student learning portfolios will further recognize the importance of this work.

Allegheny believes that a liberal arts education is great preparation for a lifetime of citizenship, work and fulfillment. We have always emphasized independent thinking as well as inter-dependent teamwork, lifelong learning, communication skills, creativity, flexibility and civic responsibility. However, a recent national survey indicates that the term "liberal arts" carries either a negative or neutral connotation for 80 percent of the general public. And increasingly, graduate programs and employers are looking for evidence of initiative, responsibility and problem-solving ability that set some applicants apart from others. Clearly, we must redouble efforts to demonstrate to others the special aspects of the education we offer.

Wider, more systematic integration of experience into our educational program will advance our educational goals while simultaneously responding to concerns of students, parents, graduate schools and employers. Our efforts to more fully integrate experience with the formal curriculum will weave experiential learning opportunities into the fabric of learning and teaching at Allegheny and more clearly demonstrate the practical aspects of a lifelong liberal education.

In being responsive to these matters, Allegheny will not compromise the education we offer or the value of learning for its own sake. An Allegheny education will always emphasize intellectual development, academic rigor and close student-faculty collaboration. As we enter the next century, our intention is to more fully enrich that tradition with a complementary set of learning experiences that will better educate students in the best liberal arts tradition. That, coupled with the other initiatives and improvements laid out in New Century Connections, will help ensure Allegheny's continuing place among the nation's best liberal arts colleges. We will keep you informed of our progress and welcome you as partners in turning our plans into reality.