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PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Something old, something new…
Dr. Polly L. Peterson ’89 University of Jamestown President
The familiar wedding rhyme was a part of what made this year special for our family as our daughter, Paige, and her husband, Dylan, were married on a beautiful August day. “Something old, something new” was brought to mind again, this time in the week leading up to the University of Jamestown’s Homecoming, when two different events were both sources of reflection, pride, and celebration for our University.
Something new Nearly 138 years ago, a group of courageous leaders opened the first college in a part of the Dakota Territory that would soon be known as North Dakota. This college was on a bluff overlooking the beautiful James River Valley. Since that time, the University of Jamestown has been innovating and growing the opportunities we offer to students. With each passing decade, the University has become stronger because of people like you—people who believe in education and in investing in the future of those who follow in their footsteps. During a time when many other educational institutions are in decline, I am proud to share that the University of Jamestown is thriving. This year, our enrollment increased by 13 percent, to a record 1295 students. We welcomed the second largest freshmen class in school history. But as we all know, success is short lived if we spend our time looking in the rearview mirror, where we know the future is not. It has never been more important for universities like ours to look forward and plan for an evolving economy. On Oct. 6, we announced the launch of a new division, UJ Accelerated, in a new location, Phoenix, AZ. By establishing UJ Accelerated, we recognize that learning does not begin and end the same way for every student. Through this new division, learners can access a growing number of courses, credentials, boot camps, and short-term certificate programs. For those learners desiring to go further, these opportunities will be stackable into the University’s many degree programs. Our first offerings are in Financial Fluency, Metalearning, and Cybersecurity, followed by Project Management, Digital Marketing and several certificates in Leadership beginning early in 2021. Through UJ Accelerated, we can reach the 73 percent of students who now access education in nontraditional ways, while still giving these students a sense of what makes the University of Jamestown The Best CareerOriented Liberal Arts University in the Midwest, as our vision states.
