Gustavus Holds Annual Colloquium

Gustavus Adolphus College held its annual Colloquium on Wednesday, Aug. 31, where President Jack R. Ohle presented a state of the college address.

President Ohle began his remarks by sharing plans for celebrating the College’s Sesquicentennial. He urged those in attendance to remember to do three things during this historic year: Reflect on 150 years of excellence, celebrate the strength and prosperity of the College today, and engage all of the College’s constituents in order to reach new heights in the future.

President Ohle also made the exciting announcement that the College’s new 125,000 square foot, $30 million academic building will be named the Warren and Donna Beck Academic Hall, acknowledging a generous gift from Warren ’67 and Donna ’66 Beck. Beck Academic Hall will be open for the first day of classes on Tuesday, Sept. 6. Specific details about the gift made by the Becks will be released Saturday, Oct. 1, when Beck Academic Hall is officially dedicated.

In addition, he gave a summary of highlights from the 2010-11 academic year, including:

• The successful recruitment of the class of 2015, which will be the largest incoming class in the College’s history.
• The successful launch of the advertising campaign, built around the “Make Your Life Count” brand line.
• The College maintained its A3 bond rating from Moody’s Investors Service
• The College increased receipted gifts by over $1.2 million from fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year 2011.
• The endowment’s rate of return was 19.1 percent for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2011.
• The College hired eight tenure-track and seven full-time non-tenure-track faculty members.
• The construction of the first new academic building in two decades.
• More than 585 baccalaureate degrees were awarded across 60 academic major areas of study.

Finally, he spoke about institutional goals for the 2011-12 academic year, including:

• Continue to work on Commission Gustavus 150 goals, with special emphasis on goals related to compensation, diversity, health and wellness, facilities, engaging volunteer leadership in admissions, alumni activities, and fundraising.
• Fully implement the Board of Trustees governance structure
• Continue to prepare for the 2013 Higher Learning Commission self-study and accreditation visit.
• Conduct a comprehensive Title IX review to fully understand the College’s current practices and develop short and long term objectives that will aid the College in realizing the institution’s commitment to sexual harassment and sexual violence prevention, education, adjudication, and intervention.
• Achieve enrollment goals, including first-year and transfer targets, revenue goals, diversity and international students targets, and selectivity goals.
• Publicly launch a comprehensive fundraising campaign on September 30, 2011, that will engage all College constituents.
• Continue to grow the College brand – internally and externally – with special emphasis on maximizing the website.
• Achieve institutional financial goals in fundraising and operations.
• Celebrate the Sesquicentennial by reflecting on 150 years of excellence, celebrating the strength of the College today, and engaging all constituents in the College’s future.