February 19, 2018
Dear Saint Mary’s Community,
The Saint Mary’s College Board of Trustees met last week for its annual February meeting and we wanted to share highlights of the gathering with the campus community.
A sharpened focus on retention has Saint Mary’s exploring new ways to support student success both academically and socially. With this in mind, Saint Mary’s is looking to bolster its Early Engagement Programs including “Belles Connect,” which brings first-year students from underrepresented groups in for pre-orientation, and “Starting Saint Mary’s Strong,” a pre-orientation for first-year students with an academic and social focus. Saint Mary’s success depends on our students’ success. These and other programs will help students establish a solid academic and social foundation to strengthen their college experience.
To assure that the College is using best practices when it comes to planning, budgeting, and forecasting, Saint Mary’s has engaged consultant Dr. Kent Chabotar, a nationally recognized expert on higher-education strategy and finance. Dr. Chabotar reported his recommendations for building Saint Mary’s financial strategy, including re-establishing a Budget Advisory Committee. The committee would review budget and program plans, and provide for community involvement by a range of stakeholders, including faculty, staff, students, and administrators. President Cervelli shared with the Board that she would like to reinstate a Budget Advisory Committee by the end of the spring semester.
Work continues on Saint Mary’s Continuous Unified Strategic Plan (CUSP), outlining campus priorities and areas of focus, and an update was shared with the Board. The College has identified four Strategic Directions to guide the strategic plan: “Academic Excellence: One Student at a Time”; “The Whole Person: Empowering the Mind, Body, and Spirit”; “Lifelong Education: Saint Mary’s for a Lifetime”; and “Resourceful Community: Investing in People, Place, and Programs.”
With students at the center, Saint Mary’s is focused on identifying Signature Experiences — visible, distinctive elements of a student’s overall experience — that distinguish the College from competitors. Two proposals are: “Women of Action” (personal leadership development through experiential learning courses and activities) and “The Promise of Discovery” (personal research, scholarship, innovation, and entrepreneurship opportunities). These Signature Experiences are undergoing test marketing with focus groups of prospective students and their parents.
The Board also heard from Dr. Chris Cobb, Dr. Cassie Majetic, and student Paige Schurr ’19 about a proposed new Environmental Studies major designed to give students a deeper theoretical understanding of social, cultural, and scientific issues pertaining to the environment. This interdisciplinary program has found great success as a minor, and the Board’s Academic Affairs committee will consider Environmental Studies becoming a major at a future meeting.
Finally, the Board also voted to accept the Capital Budget for Fiscal Year 2018-2019 as presented.
There is great momentum and optimism among the Board for potential growth in the years ahead. We thank the Board of Trustees for their contributions and commitment to Saint Mary’s College.
Sincerely,
Mary L. Burke
Chair, Board of Trustees
Janice A. Cervelli, FASLA, FCELA
President