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 Strategic
Planning
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Minutes
> November 28
Strategic
Planning Committee
Minutes/Notes - Wednesday, November 28
Teague Library
Present: Margaret
Hampton, Wes Miller, Sara Penhale, Doug Bennett, Newell Pledger-Shinn,
Rick Foreman, Tamara Clark, Monteze Snyder, Paul Ogren, Tamara Clark
Agenda
1. Approval of 11/14
minutes
2. Overview of budget, endowment and facilities issues
[guest: Dick Smith]
3. Overview of fundraising issues
[guest: Avis Stewart]
4. A comparison group for Earlham (redux)
5. Preparations for consultations with students, staff, administrative
faculty,
and Richmond/Wayne County community
6. Progress on the White Papers
Discussion
1. We discussed budget,
endowment and facilities issues with Dick Smith, following closely the
talking points he provided the committee.
2. Avis Stewart,
being ill, was unable to attend. We will reschedule a session on fundraising
issues for another time.
3. We had further
discussion of what colleges we might include in a comparisonm group, and
what items we might use in such comparisons.
4. We reminded ourselves
of various consultation sessions that are coming up with students and
others.
Dick
Smith Talking Points for Strategic Planning
College Operating
Budget
- Falling enrollment
and lack of selectivity are major problems
- $2 million in
merit-based, not very selective, scholarships are a budget millstone
- Increased selectivity
is likely to improve retention and may render merit scholarships less
necessary
- While we aspire
to 1,200 students, current office and classroom space is stretched with
1,100 and Bolling Center will only alleviate, not solve, the space issues
- Soft-money positions
B 1% repositioning, ELII and Bonner B generate expectations about employment
and levels of activities that will not end with the soft money; in some
ways, the soft money requires budget expenditures
- Health insurance
and energy costs are economic risks over which we have no control
- Our size operates
to our significant financial disadvantage as we try to do everything
that Oberlin
does with 1/3 the student body. We have to decide to drop some departments,
programs and/or offices if we get to 1,200 students.
College Endowment
- Large on a per-student
basis but constraining because of the conditions of the Eli Lilly gifts
- Aggressively invested
for long-term growth but could cause some short-term jolts
- The overall size
($300- $400 million) is awkward for staffing. We have too many managers
to oversee well given the part-time staffing; the endowment is too small
to justify a full-time staff
College Facilities
- Quality of academic
space B with the exception of Tyler Hall B is adequate
- Quantity of academic
space and its locations are inadequate for music and art, possibly for
drama
- Residence Halls
are constrained in configuration in Barrett, Earlham, Hoerner and Olvey-Andis
B doubles on long corridors; lack of air conditioning might be an issue
- There might be
a need for another residence hall of 40-50 students if enrollment were
1,200
- The College Houses
B overall B are a plus, especially to satisfy student needs for less
supervision; quality is mixed but has improved over the last 14 years
- National Road
is a significant issue
- Given prevailing
market rates, hiring skilled craftspeople in Maintenance is a problem
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