President's Letter

President David F. Finney

Hello from the Hill,

For more than a year, I have told you about the College's strategic plan, how every department and division established goals, how staff and faculty met several times to review ideas and dreams and blend those into a collective document that will focus our work in the coming years.

Last fall, the Champlain Board of Trustees reviewed and approved our work and as the decade dawned, we set the course ahead for Champlain 2020.

The creation of Champlain 2020 occurs at a time of enormous change for Champlain College. Recent history has seen a complete restructuring of the academic enterprise into divisions focused on discrete professional areas. The separation of adult education into its own academic unit occurred, along with the creation of several new graduate programs. A number of global initiatives have been launched, and the size of the full-time faculty has increased by 52 percent since 2006. The College has tremendous momentum, which bodes well for its next decade.

Champlain College is uniquely poised among American institutions of higher education. The College's career-focused programs remain squarely at the center of what it means to obtain a Champlain degree. With its focus on educating the whole person through the critical thinking aspects of CORE and the life-skills LEAD programs for professionals in an increasingly complex and changing world, Champlain offers the most complete undergraduate education available. This educational approach is not found elsewhere in the world, and its distinctiveness will serve the College well over the next decade.

Competitively, the College finds itself in an arena that is dramatically different from that of 20 years ago. As a private, four-year college in New England, Champlain exists in a highly crowded and competitive marketplace. The College's ability to innovate and its long-standing career focus have allowed it to flourish in this competitive milieu. As with any other endeavor, past performance is no guarantee of future prospects. Champlain must continue to earn its place each year.

In addition to a tradition of innovation, Champlain is characterized by exceptional execution-by its ability not only to change quickly, but also to maintain a focus on excellence in its new and innovative program offerings even as they are being created. This is a rare skill, especially uncommon among institutions of higher education.

The goals set forth in Champlain 2020 are interrelated. The single largest threat to the viability of the College has to do with its ability to improve at a time when the number of high school graduates is falling. We must come to be viewed as an attractive option by a larger number of students. Our programs must be distinctive, so that our capacity to market them effectively is enhanced. They must be academically challenging, so that increasingly bright students engage deeply with their programs and see them through to completion.

It is through all this-a unique and rigorous professionally focused education that fosters awareness of global connections and issues along with an appreciation of Vermont and its possibilities-that Champlain charts its course for the future.

Even as we look forward, we look back. Our plans for the future are built on the accomplishments of our students, graduates, faculty, staff, and generous supporters. We are restless and eager for tomorrow to arrive. Such is our confidence and our commitment to our shared vision. The adoption of Champlain 2020 is our first bold step into that unknown and hope-filled future.

Dr. David F. Finney
President

P.S. I hope you will read the detailed Champlain 2020 report online. And look for more information on this summer's Champlain College Summit on Aug. 10-11 to explore career engagement in the 21st century and create a strategic model for all phases of the professional journey in the future.