The
Springhillian September 29, 2016
Puto’s Plan
By: Austill Harris Contributing Writer Dr. Christopher Puto, with the help of a steering committee, has instituted 10 Strategic Goals that will be a means for strengthening the Spring Hill community. Last year, Dr. Puto began putting together a Strategic Planning Steering Committee, which included faculty, staff and some students. “Their goals was to organize what business planners call a situational analysis,” says Puto. He says that the purpose of a situational analysis is to identify where the college is right now- what we are doing that is good, and what we are doing that isn’t. Within the Strategic Planning Steering Committee, there were 50 units that conducted this analysis for their specific area. “Once we assembled all of this information, we formulated 10 Strategic Goals,” says Puto. As each of the goals affect us as students, we naturally have a desire to see their outcome. However, as Puto states, “it is important to understand that strategy is a multi-year effort.” Puto notes that there are goals that affect the students more than others. For example, Puto says, “One of our Strategic Goals is to establish a flow of income that will allow us to
Volume 103 Issue 6 ∙ Ad Majorem Del Gloriam
offer a Spring Hill education at a reasonable price for all our students, and to maintain our costs within the normal rate of inflation.” The accomplishment of this goal will aid students by limiting tuition increase, and allow tuition to be predictable as it matches inflation. “The end of this goal is to meet every financial need of every admitted student. If you apply here, and we admit you, we will help you find a way to cover your costs,” says Puto. Another goal is to goal to pursue the highest quality academic programs. Puto says that these academic programs, which reflect the values of a Jesuit, Catholic, liberal arts college, will also work to “match the needs of 21st century students.” Matching the needs of 21st century students, specifically, includes looking at how new technologies can enhance the learning experience, and also opening majors and courses catered to more modern interests and careers. The goal of modernizing academic program comes with the knowledge that these modernizations, especially in terms of technologies, must be used responsibly. Despite the addition of more contemporary areas of study and future technological improvements, the goal of Spring Hill will continue to be to provide a liberal arts undergraduate education. “Regardless of your major, every student here learns how to effectively communicate, learns critical thinking and reasoning, and how to be an effective contributor to society. All of these are the foundation of what a liberal arts degree is all about,” says Puto. Puto acknowledges that this makes Spring Hill a unique college in that it provides the opportunity to major in something rather digital or computer-based, and still be expected to productively read and write. “This allows our graduates to leave here with a great sense of their potential for success,” says Puto. In addition to improving the quality of academics, Puto says that another goal that greatly affects students is Spring Hill’s desire to achieve a first-year retention rate that places the college in the top 10% of similar, private colleges in the country. Having a high retention rate is a positive indication that the college is doing its best to admit graduates, and not merely students. “With this goal, we want to create processes to find students who might be experiencing challenges during their first year, and help them to overcome those challenges so those students stay here, and ultimately become seniors.” Therefore, this goal, when accomplished, will prompt the college to work to admit students who will be the most successful, but also allow for the creation of efforts to help struggling students.
Story continued on page 8...
Whose Lives Matter? By: Brandon Myers Contributing Writer
On September 22, 2016, the SHC community gathered together for the first event in “E Pluribus Unum: Out of Many, One,” which is a series of small group discussions created to explore and facilitate the sharing of diverse opinions centered on various topics. Titled, “Whose Lives Matter?” the focus was placed on race relations in the United States. After the viewing of a brief video by Ryan Noble on recent racial tensions and violence in America, discussions from faculty, staff and students of all backgrounds participated in civil discourse. Dr. Christopher Puto, President of Spring Hill College, moderated the event, and table discussions were led by various members of the Spring Hill community. Dr. Puto pointed out, “No single viewpoint will be correct, but the hope is we can all come to an understanding.” Key aspects of the discussions consisted of listening with an open heart, seeking a better understanding of all viewpoints, identifying common concerns, and treating each other with mutual respect. Students and faculty in attendance voiced their thoughts of the events initiative, as they gave insight in order to shed light and bring understanding to relevant issues in our country. “I think these sessions will allow our campus community to work through and discuss these and other issues responsibly by learning from one another and trying to come to a common solution,” said sophomore, Erica Powell, who is a political science major and history minor. “Hopefully we can do more than just
Story continued on page 2...