Board Report: October, 2007
by Frank L. Messa '73, Chairman, Board of Trustees
Dear Friends of Union:
The trustees met on a Homecoming and Family Weekend that brought some 1,500 alumni, family and friends to campus to enjoy the lovely (and cooperative) fall weather, a number of fascinating talks and gatherings, and some exciting wins in football, volleyball and women's soccer.
Homecoming Highlights
The weekend featured talks by three outstanding alumni. Dr. Kathy Magliato '85, one of the few female heart transplant surgeons in the world, spoke about her work and about the importance of recognizing risk factors for heart disease. Phil Alden Robinson '71, perhaps best known as director and screenwriter for Field of Dreams, spoke on his career and the nine-year challenge of making another of his films, Sneakers, as part of the alumni writer series sponsored by the English department. Steve Ritterbush '68, a trustee with an extensive resume of creating companies worldwide, spoke about entrepreneurship to the Eliphalet Nott Society.
We paid tribute to some important volunteers. Harold Krupa '69 received the Special Appreciation Award for his 30-plus-year commitment to the Alumni Council, his class and the Schenectady Club. Since graduating, he has been a ubiquitous presence at campus and club events. For the last two decades, he has been an associate and head class agent, leading the Class of 1969 to a number of records in alumni giving. Stephen Ciesinski '70, received the Distinguished Service Award. Steve has long been a generous contributor of his time, energy and resources. As my predecessor as chairman of the board since 1993, Steve led the trustees through a number of important initiatives including the Minerva system, the blending of liberal arts and technology, international study, undergraduate research, significant improvements to the campus, development, and the selection of the College's 18th president.
Academic Affairs
The College will host a symposium, "Engineering as a Liberal Art," this spring that brings together academic leaders to explore models of integrating engineering and the liberal arts. President Stephen Ainlay has agreed to give the keynote address at this event, which is supported by the Mellon Foundation.
Faculty from across campus attended a workshop in June that addressed ethics and engineering and ways to integrate engineering with the liberal arts. The workshop, modeled after the brainstorming approach used in the engineering design process, produced a number of ideas that will be discussed by work groups developing implementation of elements of the Strategic Plan.
Seven new members and the inaugural "Team of Distinction" will be inducted in the Athletic Hall of Fame on Nov. 3. They are Steve Baker '84, Gretchen Voegler Belanger '96, Harold Enstice '48, John Keller '91. Marco Lainez '93, the late Bob Ridings, and Kevin Scheuer '79. The stellar 1971-72 men's basketball team will be the first team inducted.
Composer and inventor Tod Machover delivered the 69th Steinmetz Memorial Lecture. Known as "America's Most Wired Composer," he discussed the "hyperinstruments" developed at the MIT Media Lab and gave a sneak preview of an opera-in-progress that demonstrates "personal identity archiving" in the physical and virtual worlds.
Modern Languages and Literature has expanded it offerings to include an extremely popular course in Arabic as well as advanced classes in Chinese.
The basement of the F.W. Olin Center is being renovated this fall to make research space for two new courses, Environmentally Friendly Buildings and Environmental Geotechniques, which will be offered this spring.
Students are forming a Union chapter of Engineering Without Borders. Profs. Ron Bucinell (ME) and Hal Fried (Economics) are planning courses this spring that will prepare students for engineering projects abroad next summer.
The College recently upgraded classrooms in Social Sciences to offer state-of-the-art "presentation classrooms." Faculty offices were added in Steinmetz Hall and Olin Center, and some laboratory facilities were renovated in Science and Engineering and Bailey Hall.
A campus committee is working with architects and planners toward a proposal to expand and renovate Science and Engineering. This project, under consideration for some time, would greatly enhance our aging facilities and provide new space for our growing areas of interdisciplinary study,
Athletics has entered a partnership with an Internet service to deliver live audio and video webcasts of selected events. This service will allow alumni, parents and other fans to closely follow their favorite teams anywhere in the world. The service was launched this fall with more webcasts available throughout the year.
Department and Program News
The College this fall welcomed Peter Bedford as the first director of Religious Studies. His first class at Union, Judaism/Christianity/Islam, is fully enrolled, and since some students were turned away, Peter will be offering it again in winter term.
The Anthropology and Economics departments received very positive marks from external review teams. Anthropology was praised for its rigorous field programs in Tasmania and Fiji, which are almost unique among U.S. undergraduate institutions. Economics was cited for the overall quality of its program, in particular the senior thesis component and research productivity among junior faculty.
Posse 2 is on campus with Prof. Christine Henseler as mentor. The first group of Posse students, mentored by Maggie Tongue, had a very successful first year with an average GPA of 2.9 (above the Posse national average) no academic warnings and half the students at 3.0 or higher. Each year, Posse brings to campus a group of about a dozen students who otherwise would not have access to a quality institution like Union.
Last spring, the College approved an Independent Study Abroad, for students with a passion to study where Union does not have an international program or those who want an autonomous experience in another culture. Students will work closely with a faculty member to ensure that each program is appropriate to their academic program. The first ISA will take place this winter when a student who majors in economics and German does a business internship in Germany.
A number of staff from Telecommunications, ITS, the Web Office and Communications have developed a new emergency notification system that includes emergency text messages sent to student and employee cell phones. Other features of the program are outdoor loudspeakers to broadcast messages and a siren above Reamer Campus Center to alert the campus community to an emergency.
This fall marked the start of two new interdepartmental programs from which students can earn a minor. Profs. Andrew Feffer (History) and Michelle Chilcoat (Modern Languages) are directing Film Studies. Ann Anderson (ME) is directing Energy Studies.
Awards and Recognition
Prof. Rebecca Surman (Physics and Astronomy) has received the College's Stillman Prize for Excellence in Teaching.
Profs. Mary Carroll (Chemistry) and Ann Anderson (ME) received another National Science Foundation grant, this one for $175,000 for lab instrumentation in their research on aerogels, highly porous and low density materials that have a range of scientific and engineering applications. Their research, highly interdisciplinary in nature, has involved more than 40 students from several departments over the years. This latest grant brings the total of external support for the Aerogel Lab to $750,000.
Prof. Frank Wicks (ME) has been named a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, a distinction which recognizes his achievements and contributions to the profession.
Profs. Wicks and Richard Wilk have received a $10,000 grant from National Grid for research related to the efficient use of oil and reduction of CO2 emissions. The funding will support their work in the development of Union's 100 MPG Challenge Vehicle and solar energy projects. Prof. Wilk has also received a grant of $80,000 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority for his research on high performance solar collectors.
Twitty Styles and Carl George, emerti of biology, were honored by the College recently for their role in founding the Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) at Union in 1985. The state program assists economically disadvantaged students in grades 7 through 12 for entry in postsecondary programs in scientific, technical and health professions.
Prof. Laurie Tyler (Chemistry) has received a $30,000 grant from the Schiff Foundation to support her research in inorganic chemistry.
In Athletics, a total of 167 student-athletes received All-America recognition for 2006-7. Union had six teams compete in NCAA tournaments and three in ECAC tournaments (including one champion). Four students won Liberty League Player of the Year awards, and three coaches earned league honors. Three students received Liberty League "Rookie of the Year" Awards.
Works in Progress
David Gerhan, professor and head of Public Services and Reference, co-authored an article, "Testing a Recent Model of ICT in Development: Botswana and its University," in the journal Information Technology for Development. The article was based on his research experience at the University of Botswana.
Scott Kirkton (Biology) chaired a symposium at the American Physiological Society's Experimental Biology Conference in Washington at which he also presented a poster, "Morphological and Biochemical Jumping Adaptations in Smaller Grasshoppers." A reporter from Live Science published an on-line piece on Kirkton's work titled "How Grasshoppers are Like Lance Armstrong."
Lori Jo Marso (Political Science and Chair of Women's and Gender Studies) joined two co-authors on a Chicago radio show to discuss their book W Stands for Women about the Bush administration and women's issues.
Daniel Mosquera (Modern Languages) produced a documentary film, Sanpachado, that won "Best Documentary Feature" at the AT&T St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase. The film debuted at the San Francisco Black Film Festival, and has been selected for the inaugural Mid Atlantic Black Film Festival in Norfolk, Va.
Binyavanga Wainaina, Union's writer in residence, was featured in Vanity Fair's special issue on Africa. His piece, "Generation Africa," is a deeply personal tale about growing up in Africa.
Admissions
The College this fall welcomed 561 members of the Class of 2011, two-thirds of whom named Union as their first-choice school. The new class tipped the gender balance in favor of women for the first time in history, with 11 more women than men. A higher percentage of students of color joined the College than in previous years, 17 percent. Union welcomed one Davis Scholar, 11 Posse Scholars, three women from a joint venture with Atlanta public schools, and 18 (3 percent) students from 12 other countries.
In recruitment, national and international outreach continues with visits to key schools. One change for this year is to recruit and attract a larger number of students from the United World Colleges on four continents. These students, five this year, are supported by the Davis Foundation.
Open houses continue to grow and numbers at campus events are at an all-time high. Summer interviews grew from 403 to 542 (34 percent), and student visitor from 461 to 686 (48 percent). For the first time in several years we offered personal interviews in the last two weeks of August, which accounts for some of the increase.
Overall expenditures in financial aid are within budgeted parameters, despite a higher total for the first-year class. Trustee Steve Ritterbush has convened a group of staff and trustees that will focus on controlling financial aid expenditures while increasing academic quality.
Student affairs
All students in the Class of 2011 were invited this summer to begin orientation by reading Lorene Cary's Black Ice, an account of a lone African-American woman's experience at an exclusive boarding school. Each received a copy of the book, along with a cover letter from President Ainlay, and were invited to participate in on-line discussions. More than 80 percent of the class participated. The author appeared on campus this fall in a number of events through the Minervas.
Among the number of emergency notification measures mentioned previously, there have been a number of steps to enhance safety. They include seven additional surveillance cameras, bringing to 32 the number of cameras on the campus and perimeter; new landscaping and lighting to improve sightlines and nighttime visibility; and perimeter patrols by Schenectady police during high-volume night hours.
Among the changes at Reamer Campus Center, the Class of 2007 has provided a fireplace as a class gift. The venue is the site of President Ainlay's "fireside chats" with students. A new counter provides students with fresh, locally grown and organic produce, an important complement to the popular weekly Ozone Café in Old Chapel.
Marcus Hotaling joins the College as the new director of the Counseling Center, and brings with him a progressive campaign to reduce the stigma of student mental health. It includes brochures on a range of topics and outreach programs to promote awareness of Counseling Center programs. The center also has a new Web page with a number of resources including an online screening program for students to assess what they are feeling along with referral to various services including those offered at the Center. The Center has added a new staff psychologist, and a search is under way for a health educator.
Bob Soules joins us as the new director of the Becker Career Center. He comes from Bryant College, where he was in charge of their corporate recruiting efforts. Before joining higher education, he had over 20 years experience in the corporate environment, most recently with CIGNA Insurance, where he rose to manager and associate vice president. Bob's two sons are graduates of Trinity College, where one works as an assistant football coach. We commend the staff of Becker for their work during the absence of a director, particularly for their work to establish new programming through collaborations with College Relations, club leaders and faculty. Pete Fowler, who served as interim director, did an outstanding job paving the way for Bob's arrival.
The Residential Advisor staff, besides doing the critically important work of community building in our living units, has set the standard in academics. Their average GPA is 3.46, making the average RA a dean's list student. Jon Thatcher, a third year RA and Head RA at Richmond last spring won the prestigious Daggett Prize. Each RA has been responsible for running a program on a targeted issue, and we are happy to report that a quality of life survey shows an encouraging upswing in student satisfaction with their community environment. Many fewer students reported negative effects of alcohol and drug usage, for example.
Minervas
Tom McEvoy has been reassigned to devote full time to the Minerva program, and he has created a new Office of Minerva Programs with Sarah Boone as assistant director. The office provides a centralized organizational and meeting space for members of all seven houses. The new office will also go a long way toward encouraging the Minervas to work together and share ideas, a goal of the Strategic Plan.
The trustees were delighted to learn that the College's endowment has grown to about $380 million as of the end of the fiscal year. The 18.44 percent performance, though just under the composite index, places us in the 25th percentile in the Wilshire Endowment Universe. Part of a recent positive variance from the budget has been allocated to reduce the endowment spending rate from 6.15 percent to 6 percent. We are grateful to the Investment Committee, chaired by Trustee David Henle.
The Planning and Priorities Committee has begun development of the 2008-9 operating budget and five-year budget model. This year's process will focus on incorporating the foundational and differentiating components of the Strategic Plan into the budget process. The Trustees will consider vote on the proposed budget at its meeting in February.
College Relations
The 2006-7 year was successful in terms of fundraising and friendraising. We received $17.1 million in gifts and commitments, down somewhat from the previous year when a $6 million bequest from William Williams brought the total to $21.5 million. The Annual Fund brought in $4.56 million, up nearly $500,000 from last year. The You Are Union campaign reached nearly $130 million by June 30, leaving $70 million left to raise.
In July, with support from Nancy Eppler-Wolff '75 and David Eppler '82, we presented the inaugural Alumni Symposium, which drew over 30 alumni and guests for a weekend led by Prof. Byron Nichols, who covered illegal immigration in a setting modeled after his popular "Moral Dilemmas in Governance" course. You can read all about this exciting program, which we hope to make an annual event, in the fall issue of Union College magazine.
There were 15 very successful alumni events around the country last year, featuring President Ainlay. In each city we saw attendance increases between 50 and 100 percent. The "Welcome Back to Union" video shown at each event won the Silver Telly Award, a prestigious national distinction. Besides the spectacular turnouts at ReUnion and Homecoming, the Alumni Relations Office has had a hand in more than 65 alumni events, and even coordinated a trip to the Amazon.
Mike O'Hara, director of development, has added the Office of Communications to his portfolio. This realignment has fostered close collaboration between College Relations and Communications on a number of important initiatives. Among the recent media hits, the College gathered extensive coverage of the 2007 Commencement and speaker Charles Gibson, the ABC News Anchor who came to Union thanks to Trustee Phil Beuth '54. The Web office continues to work on the implementation of a content management system as well as a redesign of the site that will greatly enhance the look and feel. In news and publications, work is nearly complete on the President's Report to the Community, which covers many of the highlights of the last year. The report will be bundled with the fall issue of Union College magazine, which will feature lifelong intellectual engagement. Work is under way on a re-design of the magazine.
Finally, it has been my pleasure to assume the Chairmanship of the Board at such an exciting time. There is much that awaits Union, and I look forward to making the journey with Union's many friends.
Frank L. Messa '73
Chairman