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Greetings,
Last week’s Thanksgiving holiday offered a much-needed pause for rest and relaxation as we begin the sprint to the end of the semester.
Campus News
Despite the harried pace that accompanies the end of a semester, students and employees took time out of their busy schedules to join our annual “Into the Streets” tradition on Saturday, November 18. More than 150 students volunteered with 15 local non-profits, and our core values of freedom, education, charity, and justice were present all over town! A special thanks goes to Campus Ministry student-worker McKenzie Nodolf ’25 for organizing the event.
We continued to foster a sense of community on November 27, when we celebrated our annual Christmas Tree Lighting on the front lawn of Mary Frances Hall. This event was followed by a joyous Christmas Dinner on November 29, which included a fantastic menu, singing of carols, and a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Claus. It was a happy send-off to students preparing for finals and winter break.
Also on November 27, Clarke faculty and staff welcomed 15 Hempstead and Senior High School students to campus for “Education Day,” during which faculty and students shared information about careers in education. They also highlighted our new Educational Practices minor, which is designed to give students a basic understanding of the principles of teaching.
Strategic Plan Update
As you might recall, the plan that I introduced in January has 5 phases. The work in each phase naturally overlaps with the work in other phases, and the elements of the current phase—phase 3—are the HLC Visit, Fundraising/Financial Review, and Faculty and Staff Retention.
In Volume 16 of my updates, I noted that a team of reviewers from the Higher Learning Commission met with many members of the Clarke community during their 1.5 days on campus, and the team shared that their interactions were consistently positive. We anticipate receiving a final report in early 2024, and we look forward to acting upon the feedback, especially as it dovetails with our 2023-2026 Strategic Plan.
Our Strategic Plan committee continues working diligently on multiple facets of implementation, and that has included collaborating with programs and departments to gather data which reinforces the plan’s goals and objectives.
The Institutional Advancement staff is putting the final touches on the preliminary phase of the Capital Campaign, as we work toward a final revision of the Student Success Center and library projects.
In addition, the committee focusing on faculty and staff retention is formulating recommendations that will be presented to me by the end of the year.
The key to all of this work is student retention. And the work is yielding results. I’m pleased to share that approximately 75% of our current students are already registered for spring courses!
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