Message from the President

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

It’s been several years since I began wearing bifocal contact lenses. Some folks seem surprised to find I find them extremely comfortable and easy to wear and how well they correct my nearsightedness and farsightedness. No dizziness, no blurriness—just help in helping me maintain a fairly constant, steady focus on things near and far. When driving, I can see far-off signs and vehicles. Closer, I can read print and digital documents, work crossword puzzles, and even manage to thread an occasional needle.

In a sense, Westminster College also relies on bifocal vision. In glimpsing the richness of our heritage, the challenges of our present, and the unfolding opportunities that lie ahead, we know that success will be seen as we engage individual students in experiential, collaborative learning. Last year, college leadership and key stakeholder groups engaged in a strategic planning process that required us to look intensely at what was happening close to us, while we were also looking ahead to see the next 10 years of change as clearly as possible. Such short- and long-sightedness allowed us to plan ways to take advantage of all opportunities to strengthen the education of our students, present and future. We didn’t physically wear bifocal lenses (or at least some of us didn’t!), but we did try to peer ahead while also looking steadily at our present circumstances.

A collective vision inspires group motivation. While we all see the world through our own individual perceptual lenses, an organizational vision calls us to a shared sense of purpose beyond individual circumstances. Our vision is simple: We want Westminster to be nationally recognized as a leader in providing a supportive and transformative educational experience for all students. The careful work conducted by our key stakeholder groups last year resulted in the strategic plan detailed in this issue. The plan, endorsed by the Board of Trustees, is now guiding our ongoing initiatives and tactics.

The plan’s four goals call us to look ahead to improvements and growth in campus facilities and programs while also concentrating on growing enrollments through broader recruitment and stronger retention of students. Widening and deepening the educational options for students—those within the formal curriculum and those that are a part of the residential, student life experience—will require careful planning and cooperation. Over the coming decade, as we carry out the plan, our eyes must continue to be open, searching for changes in the environment in which we operate so that we may be responsive to them. The need for short-range and long-range visioning will continue.

Seeing clearly the needs and opportunities for today’s students while looking ahead for the betterment for students who will come later will keep us focused and purposeful, with or without contact lenses. An institution that is looking toward its 175th birthday in 2027 has earned the right to be proud of its bifocal vision!

Dr. Kathy Brittain Richardson