↓ Download PDF ← Back to Library
^. -«-. i ,’rJ^tty
Report to the Board of Trustees
of
Antioch University
October 20,2000
James W. Hall
Chancellor
Report to the Board of Trustees
October 20,2000
Because our scheduled time will be very tight at the October Board meeting, this written
report provides information regarding academics, development, and finances. During the
opening Plenary Session, I will respond to questions and suggestions regarding these and
other matters.
Academics
On-line Collaboration: In the last fiscal year the University took the important step of
making monies available to support proposals for innovation and experimentation on the
campuses. Among the first efforts to receive support funds was a two-campus
collaboration between Southern California and Seattle that has resulted in three on-line
course offerings. All three courses will be listed in the class schedules at Antioch Seattle,
and for Southern California at both Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. Students from any
campus may enroll in the courses offered from any of the three locations. Laurien
Alexandre, Dean of University-wide Programs, coordinated the efforts of three BA chairs
and two faculty involved in the effort. The group obtained instruction in effective on-line
delivery and worked together in planning and design to put Antioch’s distinctive mark on
the course offerings. In the coming winter and spring, Antioch students will, for the first
time, have opportunities to enroll in on-line versions of courses in short story writing,
American Utopian communities, and human relationships. The class sizes will be kept
small and faculty will carefully monitor the experience. In addition to expanding our
course offerings and delivering them in a new format, the experience represents a
University coordinated effort resulting in a cross-campus collaboration. This is a model
of course development and delivery that could potentially open up many new possibilities
for faculty at all of our campuses and be appealing to a wider student audience.
University Innovation Fund: For the coming academic and fiscal year, small awards from
the “Innovation Fund” have been made to strengthen co-op at the College through job
fairs, assist with the academic structural reorganization in Seattle, and contribute to
program exploration and development efforts for an on-line masters programs at
McGregor, technology enhanced low residency BA and MA models in Santa Barbara,
and an MA in Leadership and Educational Reform to operate regionally in both Los
Angeles and Santa Barbara. These program development awards provide some seed
monies to explore feasibility and markets. As development progresses, the ULC intends
to make larger awards for start-up of promising programs.
Ph.D. in Leadership and Change: The Ph.D. Program in Leadership and Change finally
reached the top of the list for the Ohio Board of Regents. Due to an overcrowded
schedule this year at the Regents we experienced considerable delay in scheduling the
review for necessary state authorization. It is now set for October 29th through November
1st. From the time the authorization request was submitted in January to the present,
Laurien Alexandre, as Program Director, and the staff and faculty for this program, have
Report to the Board of Trustees
10/20/00
lof4
continued to refine the curriculum, recruit faculty, develop the residencies and
professional seminars, arrange student academic and support services, and fine tune the
program in preparation for admission of the first cohort. We now move into this review
by the Regents with great confidence and a comprehensive program proposal that we are
rightfully proud of. We anticipate the favorable decision on authorization shortly after the
review is completed and will begin the formal process of soliciting and screening
applications from the over 600 inquiries that we have received. The first class, consisting
of a cohort of 20, will begin in summer 2001. Once the program is up and running, an
NCA consultation review will be scheduled.
NCA Accreditation: Antioch’s decennial comprehensive regional accreditation review by
the North Central Association Commission on Institution of Higher Education is
scheduled for late fall 2002. Preparation for this review has begun and entails self-studies
at each of the campuses as well as a comprehensive University-wide self-study. The self-
studies involve several components including a presentation of evidence demonstrating
that we meet or exceed each of the five general criteria for accreditation, responses to
concerns from the 1993 review, and several self-study goals identified by the university
and the campuses.
A university coordinating committee was formed in August. Paul Ewald, from the
Chancellor’s Office, is coordinating the overall process and working with President Jim
Craiglow, University-wide Dean Laurien Alexandre, and Steve Schwerner, senior faculty
from the College. These four will work and consult with self-study coordinators from
each campus, draft the University self-study, and keep the ULC, Deans, Board, and other
constituents informed and involved in the process. Much of the work for the campus self-
studies will be conducted over the next year and the University-wide self-study will build
on, consolidate, supplement, and complement the campus reports. Board campus
committees and the Educational Affairs Committee can expect to get regular reports and
updates on the process as it unfolds.
University Faculty Conference: In two weeks, Antioch College will host the 7th
University-wide Antioch Faculty Conference. These conferences, scheduled
approximately every 18 months, bring together faculty from all campuses for the
purposes of deepening their understanding of common mission and purpose, the sharing
of scholarship and professional practice ideas, and provide opportunities to better get to
know one another and establish working relationships. For the upcoming conference a
planning and design team has selected the theme Academic Leadership, and have built
the conference around this timely theme.
Development
For University development, the highlight of the year was the Board session on fund
development with Bill Dietel at which Bill helped focus trustees on their role in planning
for a campaign.
Report to the Board of Trustees
10/20/00
2 of 4
As a result of the session and at Bill’s suggestion, the Board passed a resolution with
specific plans and time line to move planning forward. Subsequently, campus strategic
plans were reviewed at the June meeting; a facilitator has been engaged to coordinate a
Board self-assessment at the October meeting; the Development Committee will meet
with two consultants in October, one of whom will be hired to conduct the Feasibility
Study. Securing funding to build institutional capacity remains a top priority.
Excluding gifts from Leo Drey and ongoing grants from the P-L Foundation, trustee
giving for 1999-2000 totaled $1.257.471. a 13% increase over last year. By adding Leo
and P-L, giving soars to $3,146,468. Unfortunately, this does not represent 100% Board
participation, something we will work hard to reverse this year.
A seminar on planned giving, conducted by Frank Ellsworth of the Capital Group
Companies, was held at the Segal Company in New York City on June 26. Members of
the Development Committee and Investment Sub-Committee attended. Frank discussed
1) the stages of planned giving, including how to begin a program, basic concepts and
administrative options; 2) profile of donors; 3) planning and marketing to stakeholders
and financial advisors and 4) investment issues. Attention to this important aspect of
fund-raising will commence this year, including comprising a list of 100 top prospects.
Other activities include the on-going cultivation of trustee prospects and, while only two
new trustees were recruited last year, there are at least five prospects being monitored for
the current year; trustee sohcitations resulted in over $1 million in support for the
College’s admissions and development programs, as well as funding for three
inaugurations; counsel and expertise continue to campus development officers and
Boards of Visitors with staff liaison responsibility at Antioch University Southern
California.
The University/College research function continues to provide profiles for trustee
prospects and a cache of “suspects” as well as research on individuals and foundations for
campuses. In addition, we have begun a central “flow-chart” in order to track foundation
inquiries and to develop foundation files which match needs to university projects.
Increased foundation activity is a high priority for this year.
We have begun to explore a partnership with the Porrath Foundation (Beverly Hills, CA)
to develop a patient advocacy certification program. The Foundation has awarded us a
grant to study the internal and external viability of successfully mounting the program.
ANE, The McGregor School and AUSC, along with Barbara Danley and myself, are
involved in the initial planning stages.
Other priority projects for the current year include:
1) Presenting five-year campus development plans to Development Committee in
February 2001;
2) Securing funding for university planning work.;
3) Completing Feasibility Study;
Report to the Board of Trustees
10/20/00
3 of 4
4) Initiating planned giving program;
5) Increasing trustee giving with 100% participation;
6) Coordinating Board retreats;
7) Working with Antioch University Southern California Board of Visitors to
coordinate priorities and activity to campus strategic plan;
8) Recruiting at least four new trustees.
Finances
Your Board material contains a Report to the Board on the 1999-2000 Year-End
Financial Statements and a copy of the audited Financial Statements prepared by Ernst &
Young, LLP, our independent auditors. The audit shows that the University is in
conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and the auditors gave us a
“clean financial bill of health.” I encourage you to spend some time with the Report to
the Board. It will give you a good understanding of our financial picture as well as some
of the challenges facing the Campuses.
The year 1999-2000 demonstrated the University’s ability to generate revenue as total
revenues increased by more than $4.2 million (8.55%). Revenue growth of this
magnitude is impressive and demonstrates that Antioch continues to offer programs and
services that attract students, benefactors, and organizations interested in our teaching
and other programs. The financial statements also show, however, that our total expenses
grew by more than $4.4 million (8.6%) over the prior year and this suggests that we need
to be a bit more careful about controlling expenditures. Clearly, we have the capacity to
grow and we will grow, but we will also keep a sharp eye on the bottom line.
Report to the Board of Trustees
10/20/00
4 of 4
