2011 President's Report: Aug. 26, 2011

You have heard in some detail the diligent work of my colleagues and of the faculty and staff whom they represent.  To them I express my great thanks.  This morning I will limit myself to a quick account of what I have done this summer and intend to do over the course of this coming year, reserving the right to change as common sense and shifting circumstance require – and as my conversation with you unfolds.

Summer 2011 Plans:

1. Meet all regents (in person or via phone), and discuss

  • Their vision of Concordia College: strengths, challenges, dreams in light of faith and liberal arts mission
  • How they believe others see our college
  • How we should focus our fundraising efforts
  • How well the board works in relation to mission and vision
  • Their individual service to Concordia as members of the board: engagement in meetings and engagement in giving
  • Their relationship with the president

2. Meet with all cabinet members for an extended time to learn about their work and about how we can best work together within and beyond their individual charge.

3. Meet other leaders on our college staff, including faculty leaders in academic affairs, directors of athletics, facilities, residence life, and dining services/catering to learn their aspirations and challenges and to learn from them how I can best meet and support their staff.

4. Meet with key financial supporters of the college beyond the current regents.

5. Set up a cabinet retreat for August 15 so that we can take a thorough look at the 2010-15 plan: what is underway, what is ready to go, what needs more thought and conversation among the college constituents.  The Heart of Higher Education, by Parker Palmer and Arthur Zajonc, provided the intellectual framework for that day.

6. Get an early read on where we are in major capital and endowment fundraising projects.

Fall Semester 2011:

1. Learn the college rituals: intellectual, spiritual, artistic, athletic, social.  Anne Craft will be a part of this on many occasions: we delight in these events, and we look forward to having students, staff, faculty, and friends of the college into our home.

2. Meet students on formal and informal occasions: learning their stories, challenging them to live the college mission, supporting them at this time of great transformation in their young lives.

3. Continue with you, the board, and all to shape the strategic plan, while inaugurating a campus listening tour on the role of Concordia as a liberal arts college.

4. Meet and learn more about our central external partners in the ELCA, in the Minnesota private colleges, in the MIAC, and begin to think about whose educational company we want to keep.

5. Learn more about the Fargo-Moorhead faith, education, business, artistic, and government communities-our current and potential relationships with them.

Academic Year 2011-12:

1. Reach decisions about shape and fulfillment of the strategic plan.

2. Work with all concerned to discern fundraising capacity for the renewal of science facilities at Concordia, with decisions to follow about design and timeline.

3. Work with all concerned to ready the Grant Center on schedule.

4. Clarify and strengthen the relationship between the Concordia Language Villages and Concordia College as a whole.

5. Review the organizational structure to discern what will work most effectively as we seek to fulfill the mission of the college.

6. Among traditional audiences and new, tell in a compelling way the story of Concordia as a great residential liberal arts college of the church.

7. Work with all of you to ensure that we are indeed a great residential liberal arts college of the church.


Presented at the Fall Faculty Workshop at 9 a.m. Friday, August 26, 2011, in the Centrum, Knutson Campus Center.

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