Special Edition: Reports from April 3-4 Trustee Meetings
CONTENTS:
1. 2009-10 BUDGET APPROVED
2. ADMISSIONS HAS ADMITTED
3. CURRICULUM WORK PROGRESSES
4. ALCOHOL AND CAMPUS CULTURE
5. WEB SITE REDESIGN IN THE WORKS
6. FUNDRAISING AND PHILANTHROPY
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1. 2009-10 BUDGET APPROVED
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The final 2009-10 budget, which trustees approved April 4, balances $128.6 million in revenues and spending for the coming year. That's a .9 percent increase from 08-09, with a 10 percent increase in the financial aid budget and a modest increase in the instruction and research budget. At a forum Thursday, President Bro Adams said: "It was a budget unlike any I've ever been involved with." Declines in endowment income and the Colby Fund will reduce revenues over the next few years, so "assume zero increases" Bro added.
2. ADMISSIONS HAS ADMITTED
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This year 4,519 students applied for the Class of 2013. That's more than in any year but the last two, though it's a 7 percent decline in from last year's record-typical of what most colleges like Colby are seeing and likely due to the recession. Colby admitted 33.7 percent of applicants, hoping to enroll 495 first-year students next September. Bro Adams explained that that's five to 10 students more than the target last year, which could help with the budget and also capitalizes on the strong applicant pool. That slight increase notwithstanding, enrollment will continue down from the unexpected peak of 2005, allowing Colby to close Colby Gardens, where students have been housed since that year.
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3. CURRICULUM WORK PROGRESSES
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The faculty's Curricular Planning Working Groups have issued final reports, and a series of faculty discussions wraps up April 15. The faculty is probing fundamental questions, Bro Adams said Thursday: about the core curriculum, how Jan Plan fits in the program, how best to engage students, and how to make sure students graduate with excellent communications skills.
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4. ALCOHOL AND CAMPUS CULTURE
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Work also continues in the Student Affairs sector on the end of the
champagne steps and a broader examination of campus culture as it is
affected by alcohol. The Campus Culture Working Group has had
significant student participation, said Bro Adams, who added that,
"This is an enormously complicated and vexing problem," and one common
to most colleges. Dean of Students Jim Terhune and the working group
will announce significant findings and changes soon. Bro hesitated to
label champagne on the steps (which will not happen again) as a
"tradition," though he acknowledged that "it stands in the imagination
of some students as something we've been doing since 1813."
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5. WEB SITE REDESIGN IN THE WORKS
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Mockups for a redesigned Colby home page were presented to the
Marketing Subcommittee April 4. Goals are to improve users' ability to
quickly find the content they seek and to incorporate messages embedded
in the "Colby: Inspired" marketing theme. Watch general announcements
for a notice when a couple of design options go online for review and
comment by members of the Colby community -- late this month, says
Brian Speer (communications).
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6. FUNDRAISING AND PHILANTHROPY
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Despite diligent efforts by the development staff and volunteers, the
Colby Fund is down approximately 20 percent from this time last year,
and it's expected to be down $500,000 from its $5.4-million target when
all gifts are in. The Reaching the World campaign has booked $330
million in cash and commitments. Both fundraising efforts are
experiencing the same pressures as nonprofits throughout the country,
Bro Adams said.