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POSITION: President
INSTITUTION: Illinois Wesleyan University
LOCATION: Bloomington, Illinois
The new president of Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU) will join a strong institution that has distinguished itself as an independent, liberal arts university and is rated consistently by U.S. News & World Report among the top 60 of "America’s Best Colleges."
Illinois Wesleyan is a community of highly dedicated staff, students, faculty, and alumni who are eager to build on its many strengths and advantages. A member of the Annapolis Group, IWU enrolls approximately 2,100 students in diverse degree programs through the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Fine Arts; and the School of Nursing. IWU employs 173 full-time faculty and 275 full-time staff members.
The University strives to attain the ideal of a liberal education while providing unique opportunities with its distinctive curricula and programs. As stated in its newly revised mission statement, a liberal education at IWU fosters creativity, critical thinking, effective communication, strength of character and a spirit of inquiry; it deepens the specialized knowledge of a discipline with a comprehensive world view. It affords the greatest possibilities for realizing individual potential while preparing students for democratic citizenship and life in a global society. As the University pursues this ideal for all its students, it helps students to follow a wide range of career and life paths, offering diverse curricula in the liberal arts, fine arts and professional programs as well as opportunities for interdisciplinary study and off-campus learning. The University, through its policies, programs and practices is committed to diversity, social justice and environmental sustainability. A tightly knit, supportive university community, together with a variety of opportunities for close interaction with excellent faculty, both challenges and supports students in their personal and intellectual development.
INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY & FACILITIES
Illinois Wesleyan University was founded in 1850 by 30 civic and Methodist Church leaders who agreed to establish "an Institution of learning of Collegiate grade." Their vision, perhaps best captured on the Founders’ Gate on campus, states:
"We stand in a position of incalculable responsibility to the great wave of population overspreading the valley of the Mississippi. Destiny seems to point out this valley as the depository of the great heart of the nation. From this center, mighty pulsations, for good or evil, must in the future flow, which shall not only affect the fortune of the republic, but reach in their influence other and distant nations of the earth."
The founders began implementing their academic mission with seven male students, and two teachers meeting in a local Methodist church. A few years later, the College Building opened and a sidewalk was constructed linking the University to the growing town of Bloomington. Before long, the University diversified its student body and was serving both African-American and female students, as the Board of Trustees took formal action to invite them to enroll in 1867 and 1870, respectively.
The University began to make measurable progress in organizing its areas of study. Preparatory courses were provided until 1919, by which time public secondary education opportunities had significantly increased. Meanwhile, although the College of Liberal Arts was not formally organized until 1906, explorer-geologist John Wesley Powell, a founder of the National Geographic Society, joined the faculty in 1865 and had already made history. He was one of the first U.S. professors to use fieldwork in teaching science. In 1867, Powell took Illinois Wesleyan students to Colorado's mountains--the first expedition of its kind in the history of U.S. higher education. Also in the 19th century, instruction in music, art, and oratory was established. While music has been taught at IWU since 1877, it was not until 1919 that a program leading to a bachelor's degree was instituted. Similarly, while there was a program in art in the 19th century, the University’s School of Art was formally organized in 1946. Shortly thereafter, the School of Drama (since renamed the School of Theatre Arts) was established in 1947, and the College of Fine Arts–combining art, music, and theatre arts–was established in 1948. Finally, the School of Nursing was established in 1959.
Pre-professional programs were offered at Illinois Wesleyan as early as the 1870s. The University operated a School of Law from 1873 to 1928. Among its nearly 1,000 graduates were Sen. Scott Lucas (D-Ill.), U.S. Senate majority leader during President Harry Truman's administration, Idaho Gov. H. Clarence Baldridge, Wyoming Gov. Lester Hunt, University of Arizona President J. Byron McCormick, and Sigmund Livingston, founder of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith. Beyond law, graduate courses were available to students in absentia by correspondence, leading to approximately 250 dissertations. However, the program ended in 1906 and the University offered no graduate work again until 1932, when the School of Music offered a master of music degree. In 1951, a master of music education degree was introduced. Later in the 1950s a master of science teaching degree was offered. During the 1960’s all master-degrees programs were phased out.
By the 1970s the University had established a stable combination of professional schools and liberal arts. Along those lines Illinois Wesleyan received grants in 1976 from the Lilly Endowment and the Kellogg Foundation. The Lilly grant was designed to craft a liberal arts-professional model for undergraduate education. The Kellogg project focused on bolstering career opportunities for liberal-arts college students and led to the campus’s first Career Education Center. Although the work resulting from the Lilly grant did not produce a distinctive new model of education, the Kellogg grant spurred improvements in career advising, including establishment of the pre-medical advisory committee in 1972, the pre-law committee in 1974, the graduate business committee in 1979, and the pre-engineering and graduate fellowship committees in 1982.
Subsequently, the 1970s were years of significant growth and milestones for Illinois Wesleyan. In the fall of 1972, the University had a record enrollment of 1,685 full-time students, which continued a 10-year trend. The College of Liberal Arts accounted for 67 percent of the total enrollment. Directed efforts to help students stay through graduation had increased junior and senior enrollment by 17 percent, as did the growth of the University’s efforts to offer student financial aid. In October 1975, board approval culminated in a planning process, which aimed at a stable enrollment of 1,650 students. This decade witnessed the evolution of the innovative January Term, proving itself especially appropriate for foreign and domestic travel courses, internships, and student immersion in a single course for concentrated study on campus. The January Term also provided a venue for a long and impressive list of guest speakers to visit campus and for the staging of plays. The program exists to this day, although in 1996 it was moved to the month of May, resulting in a 4-4-1 calendar structure on campus.
Enrollment reached new heights with 1,693 full-time students in 1986-87. The 1980s also brought a new phenomenon–the annual appearance of new college guides. The University’s increasing profile was put in sharp focus in 1981, when Illinois Wesleyan was included among 246 U.S. colleges and universities in The Competitive Colleges: Who Are They? Where Are They? What Are They Like?, published by Peterson’s Guides of Princeton, New Jersey. Campus leaders were pressed to continue to plan strategically for the future, and a nine-member faculty, staff, trustee, and student group – called the Task Force on 1990 – was enlisted to identify priorities for the last half of the 1980s. Their work resulted in the conclusion that the University must "build from strength." The task force urged the campus community to stretch its vision and focus on a six-part strategy: developing new academic programs; enhancing pre-professional opportunities; integrating educational experiences; fostering the faculty’s professional growth; financing excellence; and evaluating and communicating quality. Specifically, the task force report called for establishing an International Studies program and a communications concentration; requiring a flexible, but university-wide senior capstone experience; exploring aggressive program development in pre-engineering; and initiating a comprehensive curriculum review.
The 1990s was a period of continued growth and excitement for the University. Launched with the inauguration of President Minor Myers, jr. in 1989, this decade’s highlights included the successful completion of a $125 million capital campaign; the addition of several cutting-edge new buildings on campus; a surge in campus participation in community service; an NCAA Division III Championship in men’s basketball; and a significant expansion of the faculty ranks supported by the joint success of Development and Admissions. Since 1994, more than 50 percent of the faculty have been appointed. In the 1999-2000 academic year, the combined result of these accomplishments was recognized in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine which ranked IWU 12th among the nation’s best 100 private colleges in providing a top-quality education at an affordable cost.
The facilities which support these academic endeavors have a rich history. The central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854. IWU's first building, Old North Hall, was erected in 1856 and served for 110 years before it was removed in 1966 to make way for Sheean Library. Hedding Hall, also known as "Old Main," was built in 1870 and transformed the campus by providing, for the first time, offices, classrooms, laboratories, and some room to grow. Hedding Hall was destroyed by fire in 1943, spurring post World War II campus development.
The University’s physical plant, described recently in the North Central Association’s Evaluation Report as "enviable and beautiful," has enjoyed significant and impressive growth in the post-war era. Seventeen of the large buildings have been constructed since World War II. The School of Music is located in Presser Hall, constructed in 1929. Examples of more recent growth include the Shirk Center, a 135,344 square-foot multipurpose athletic, recreation, and wellness complex that features Fort Natatorium and Illinois Wesleyan Stadium which opened in the fall of 1994; the 130, 000 square-foot Center for Natural Science Learning and Research, which opened in the fall of 1995; a 1996 refurbishment of the Center for Liberal Arts; and a 54,000 square-foot residence hall featuring 4-, 6-, and 8-person suites for students. Finally, in early 2002, the campus community celebrated the openings of The Ames Library and the Hansen Student Center, two spectacular additions to its physical plant, each of which are detailed further below. In 2002, utilizing the Boston-based architectural firm of Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott, the University completed a campus master plan to direct future building plans.
FACULTY AND ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
Illinois Wesleyan students currently enjoy a student/faculty ratio of 12:1, and 90 percent of the faculty hold the PhD or highest degree in their field. The 173 members of the faculty are committed to excellence in teaching and scholarship, and particularly to the interdependence between these two endeavors. At Illinois Wesleyan a premium is placed on creating an intimate learning community in which students have opportunities for close contact with faculty members and their active research. The Carnegie Foundation reflects an exciting example of the institution's emphasis on this balance in naming Narendra Jaggi, professor of physics, the 2003 Illinois Professor of the Year for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). This is but one of many examples of faculty recognition for their teaching and scholarship. David Vayo, in the School of Music, was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2000; Carl Gillett, in philosophy, was one of 35 scholars from throughout the world to participate in the John Templeton Oxford Seminars on Science and Christianity; and Vicki Folse, in the School of Nursing, was called upon to provide peer counseling and support to the New York law enforcement officers just after the 9/11 tragedy. As noted in the recent accreditation report, since 1993-94 faculty development funding has been a budget priority, more than doubling the funds available for 2002-2003. The University and faculty committees have worked to enhance faculty development programs, adding a junior faculty leave program, a research course-release program for tenured faculty between sabbaticals, and improving compensation for faculty taking their second and subsequent sabbaticals.
The intimate learning community was strengthened in the mid 1990s with the reduction in the faculty teaching load from 7 course units to 6 course units. As noted in the recent accreditation report, an assessment by the faculty Curriculum Council had shown the faculty’s teaching load exceeded those of our peer institutions and, coupled with the increasing national emphasis on undergraduate research, it became clear that for Illinois Wesleyan to continue to move forward, a change in faculty teaching load was needed. In addition, faculty realized that this reduction would not be possible without a review of how academic programs were organized and delivered. In 1994-95 the faculty, with support of the administration and trustees, formally launched a sweeping curricular reform initiative focusing on the General Education Program. Replacing the traditional distribution-across-disciplines model with a goals-based model, the faculty adopted a new set of liberal arts requirements for all students: intellectual independence, critical thinking, imagination, social awareness, and sensitivity to others. Many courses offered for General Education credit are designed to develop students' written and oral communication skills in English and in another language. Other General Education courses improve students' abilities to reason, to interpret cultural, social, and historical changes, to make judgments of value, to understand artistic and creative processes, to use information technology wisely and ethically, and to appreciate the diversity of cultures in the United States and around the world.
The new general education program led to the development of the Gateway Colloquia. These are small, discussion-oriented classes designed to develop students' proficiency in writing and to emphasize its role as a means of discovery, understanding, and critical thinking. Although each colloquium investigates its own issue or question, all focus on writing as a major component of intellectual inquiry. All students complete a Gateway Colloquium by the end of their freshman year.
Finally, an additional outgrowth of the curricular revisions was a shift from a 4-1-4 calendar with a January Short Term to a 4-4-1 calendar with a May Term. The change allowed for longer fall and spring semesters as well as the opportunity to redefine the Short Term experience. As noted earlier, May Term is a distinctive experience, one that provides possibilities for teaching and learning that are substantially different from those available during the fall and spring semesters. The four-week session in which students are immersed in a single class offers advantages to both students and faculty. May Term courses are designed to be so intellectually and personally stimulating that normal academic boundaries between in-class learning and out-of-class learning disappear. Faculty and students have the opportunity to focus on one single topic in three hours of daily class sessions, often followed by intense, interactive research in contemporary and often controversial issues. Students collaborate with faculty from a variety of disciplines; travel to historical, commercial, or cultural sites in conjunction with a course; and attend lectures, concerts, or theatrical events related to a May Term theme.
LIBRARY AND MEDIA SERVICES
The Ames Library, serving as the intellectual center of the community, houses over 368,300 volumes. The five-floor facility boasts a variety of cutting-edge features ranging from wired individual carrels to fully equipped group listening rooms. Nine library faculty and 15 staff gather, organize, and prepare scholarly information, regardless of format, for dissemination to the campus community. With 16 group study rooms, three project rooms, auditorium seating for 70, and 150 lounge seats, the library provides a place for interaction, collaboration, consultation, study and reflection. Perhaps most notable, however, is The Ames Library’s Bates & Merwin Reading Room on the 4th floor, in which 16 historic, stained glass windows, originally from Pembroke College, Oxford are hung. The 19th century "Pembroke Windows" were a combined gift from generous alumni, who underwrote their acquisition and restoration, and from Pembroke College, with whom Illinois Wesleyan has participated in a study abroad program since 1997.
The Ames Library is arranged with the researcher in mind. When conducting research, a library user will find content on a given topic in the same physical location regardless of format so that ease of access is enhanced. For example, when searching in The Ames Library for information on Martin Luther King, Jr., a researcher will find books, journal articles, videos, and electronic sources (available on scholarly workstations) all in the same place.
Forty-two "Scholarly Workstations" include personal computers with unique functions that relate to the physical collection surrounding them. There are seven workstation clusters throughout the library, each with six computers, a printer and help-phone that connects to the Information Services Desk. Each computer runs application software for writing, creating presentations, or working on spreadsheets. In addition, these computers have subject specific software and resources pertaining to the disciplines in the area, integrating spatially the print with the electronic collection.
The library is a member of the Illinois Library Computer System, a network of over 50 Illinois college and university libraries whose on-line catalog provides access to the 22 million volumes held by these academic libraries as well as 750 public and special libraries in the state. Materials not owned my Illinois Wesleyan University can be easily borrowed through inter-library loan. The Ames Library is also a selective depository for federal government information.
STUDENT PROFILE & FACILITIES
Recently ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the 30 most selective institutions in America, admission to the University is competitive, with more than 3,300 candidates applying for approximately 579 places in the entering class. The Universitye accepted 43 percent of the students who applied to the Class of 2007, and 40 percent of those who were accepted enrolled. The current student body, 57 percent of which is female, represents 36 states and 20 countries. Approximately 8 percent of the student population is students of color. For the Class of 2007, the average SAT score is 1277, the average ACT score is 28.5, and 52 percent of the Class ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class. Illinois Wesleyan also boasts 98 Verizon Academic All-Americans – a number surpassed by only the University of Nebraska, University of Notre Dame, MIT, Bucknell Penn State, and Augustana, (IL) since the program was established in 1970. Finally, the University has Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi chapters.
The University is a community of leaders and doers, and student life is focused largely on the campus and surrounding community. Students are characterized as outgoing and entrepreneurial and their energy, enthusiasm, and initiative are reflected in a vibrant campus environment that boasts over 170 extracurricular clubs and activities. The Student Government Association activities budget exceeds $300,000 each year and has been managed directly and autonomously by IWU student leaders for more than 40 years.
Illinois Wesleyan is one of a small number of liberal arts colleges competing athletically in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, a select group of private colleges and universities of similar size and heritage, which share a deep commitment to superior undergraduate education and a common perspective on the role of intercollegiate athletics in that education. IWU athletes compete in nine women’s and nine men’s sports as well as Intramural Sports. Collectively they have exhibited a strong record of success in the Conference, as evidenced by championships in seven men and women's sports, NCAA Division III postseason play, and one national championship.
Students enjoy the benefits of The Hansen Student Center; a 33,000-square-foot facility, which was opened in January 2002 after student government leaders initiated its planning process. Featuring a two-story bookstore, café, grille, information center, offices for student government and other student organizations, conference rooms, newsstand, and an outdoor patio, the Center was the focus of a cover story in the May 2003 edition of The Bulletin, a publication of the Association of College Unions International. The story examined ways in which colleges are designing student union buildings for maximum flexibility, both in terms of programming and offering a variety of kinds of spaces. The article describes the Center as "an adaptive reuse project," which "transformed the historically significant, neoclassical Memorial Gymnasium into a vital college union facility for the campus community. The upper level provides student organizations, meeting rooms, workspace, mailboxes, storage areas, and access to computers, printers, and desktop publishing.
As noted earlier, the campus also boasts the Shirk Center for Athletics & Recreation. Although it is the cornerstone of the University’s athletic facilities, the beautiful facility has attracted attention due to its expanding role as a conference and community center.
ALUMNI
The University’s 15,763 alumni represent a broad range of interests and occupations. Fifty-four percent of all living alumni are women; 3 percent are minorities. Illinois Wesleyan alumni reside in all 50 states of the United States and in 51 countries worldwide.
The Alumni Association, which is represented by a 23-member Executive Board (composed of 22 alumni and 1 undergraduate) is devoted to strengthening the relationship between alumni and the University, enhancing the relationships among alumni, and developing the culture of stewardship of alumni toward Illinois Wesleyan University. The Alumni Association sponsors the activities of 16 regional organizations, hosts an annual reunion, sponsors an active Web site, and provides a variety of publications and services. The Alumni Association, through the Office of Alumni Relations, provides alumni with information about the University, other alumni, and planned alumni activities and events through class newsletters, e-mails, written correspondence, the alumni Web site, and personal contacts. Alumni events and activities offered during the year include: regional events, special reunions, class reunions, Minority Alumni Network events, Student Alumni Council events and Homecoming. A professional staff of two supports the Association. The Association nominates a total of three representatives to the Board of Trustees.
BUDGET AND FINANCE
Illinois Wesleyan is financially strong, with an endowment of $141.7 million (July 2003) and a physical plant valued at $248.3 million. The Illinois Wesleyan community has a proud tradition of living within its financial means as exemplified by its recent completion of its 46th consecutive year with a balanced operating budget. As a result of longstanding fiscal care, the University has financial resources to address emerging strategic opportunities for programs and physical resource improvements. Currently a multi-year budget planning model is serving well to project resource allocations in ways that meet mission and program needs. The 2003-2004 University Budget was $75.2 million.
Over the past ten years, over 1,650 alumni and friends have contributed more than $127 million to the University in gifts and pledges. In addition to the recognition of 1850 Heritage Fellows for planned gifts, this successful fundraising stretch also included the identification of a strong base of prospects for major gifts. Giving for August 2002 – July 2003 totaled over $5.2 million.
REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS
The president serves at the pleasure of 39 trustees who may serve unlimited terms until the age of 70. Twenty-eight percent of the current members of the board are women; 15 percent are minorities.
The president is the chief executive officer of the college, working closely with six senior officers, including the Provost/Dean of the Faculty, the Dean of Students, the Dean of Admissions, the Vice President of Finance, the Vice President for Public Relations, and the Vice President for University Advancement. A dedicated staff of 275 full-time members assists the president and senior officers in their duties. The staff is encouraged to be active participants in the University community.
CHALLENGES FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT
With significant ambition and momentum within the University, the next president will be facing the following challenges:
• Enhancing the national reputation/profile of the University:
The next president must be a strong leader with great imagination, able to relish Illinois Wesleyan’s rich traditions and history, as well as to engage the campus (and local) community in how it can continue to develop.
The faculty are particularly strong in their zeal and ambition for the University, their commitment to outstanding scholarship and teaching, and their engagement with students. In addition, the curriculum is rich, with a strong component of student research, off-campus study and opportunities for extended study. Still, the University is poised for a significant move forward and is looking for the proper mixture of leadership and collaboration in its next president to make that achievement a reality. The Illinois Wesleyan story needs to be told more effectively, and it will be the responsibility of the next president to communicate its excellence to a wider audience, including potential donors, prospective students and faculty, and opinion polls and rating agencies, which currently play a significant role in the perceptions of colleges and universities. The Illinois Wesleyan story is an excellent one to tell and needs to be communicated enthusiastically and often.
• Increasing alumni participation and support of the University
Like many of its competitors, the University is facing rising costs in the area of financial aid and, more particularly, questions about the appropriate type of aid that should be offered by a highly selective, liberal arts institution. In addition, Illinois Wesleyan has effectively been expanding and renovating its facilities and will continue to have a strong demand by students and faculty for outstanding spaces and equipment to further the academic ambitions of the University. Illinois Wesleyan is challenged to raise resources to meet these needs. Therefore, the next president must enjoy fundraising and be passionate about representing Illinois Wesleyan to potential donors and supporters, as well as monitoring carefully how its resources are allocated.
• Conducting a major fundraising campaign focused on the endowment
Having raised in excess of its $125 million goal over the past ten years with the help of over 1,600 donors, the University is utilizing the funds for facility improvement, information technology, program and faculty development, and scholarships. The campus community is already benefiting from many related enhancements. In order for Illinois Wesleyan to fulfill its educational mission, however, more resources are needed. In particular, a 36 percent decrease in market value of the University’s endowment ($213 million to $141.7 million) coupled with bonded indebtedness presents significant challenges for sustaining institutional visions and aspirations. The next president will be responsible for the next capital campaign, the primary goal of which will be endowment growth. The president will be expected to continue to cultivate current donors and expand the University’s circle of friends.
ª Measurably increasing cultural diversity in student, faculty, and administrative ranks on campus
In the spring of 2002, the late President Minor Myers, jr. initiated the Multicultural Study Group (MCSG) and asked it to make recommendations regarding (1) how to improve recruitment and admission of a multicultural student body of racially and ethnically diverse individuals from across the United States and the world, (2) how to improve campus climate in support of a multicultural community, and (3) how to improve the lives of Illinois Wesleyan alumni, a multicultural mix of graduates.
The work of the Study Group resulted in a thorough report containing eight key actions vital to the success of any diversity initiative at Illinois Wesleyan and fundamental to the health and stability of any inclusive and multicultural campus. Foremost among the committee’s recommendations was that the President of the Illinois Wesleyan voice a clear and strong commitment to diversity and work to institutionalize programs in support of diversity, and that the president elicit an equal commitment from members of the Board of Trustees and President’s Cabinet, and leaders from among the faculty, staff, student, and alumni bodies. Research on maintaining a multicultural campus clearly suggests that successful diversity efforts at other universities involved leadership from these bodies; without such visible and vocal leadership, the sea of competing demands at work in every community or institution, particularly in times of tightening finances, will overwhelm the effort before it is fully launched. With this in mind, the next President of Illinois Wesleyan must champion the University’s continuing effort to enhance cultural diversity among faculty, staff, and students.
DESIRED QUALITIES
The successful candidate will exhibit strong leadership and communications skills. In addition to these qualities, s/he must:
• have experience with and enthusiasm for promoting the University’s rich liberal arts tradition and vision;
• demonstrate a record of successful administrative experience with an open and collegial managerial style;
• command scholarly respect with evidence of intellectual achievement, and
& possess the capacity and enthusiasm to raise the level of financial support from alumni, friends, foundations, corporations, and other sources.
COMPENSATION
Open and competitive.
DEADLINE
The review of credentials begins immediately and will continue until early January, 2004.
CONTACTS
Nominations and applications should be sent, in confidence and preferably electronically, to:
Shelly Weiss Storbeck
Managing Director and Vice President
A.T. Kearney Education Practice
333 John Carlyle Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: 703/739-4613
Fax: 703/518-1782
Email : monisha.kaplan@es.atkearney.com
Illinois Wesleyan University is an equal opportunity employer.
For more information about Illinois Wesleyan University, please visit its Web site:
www.iwu.edu
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