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2006 Message Archive

Thanksgiving Message

November 21, 2006

Dear Members of the Board, Faculty, Staff, and Students:

We are a world community in need of healing who can never forget the power of reconciliation and thanksgiving. We are a nation of people who cannot forget to give thanks for the benefits of the earth and the spirit. We are a college community who does not forget to give thanks for the benefits received over the many years of our existence, especially the most recent months.

The psalmist speaks the words of thanksgiving and praise to God (Psalm 110):

I will thank the Lord with all my heart in the meeting of the just and their assembly. Great are the works of the Lord; to be pondered by all who love them. Majestic and glorious His work and His justice stand firm forever. He makes us remember His wonders. The Lord is compassion and love. He gives food to those who fear Him; keeps his covenant ever in mind. He has shown His might to His people by giving them the lands of the nations.

May your thanksgiving words and works be a healing message to all in your family. I want to thank you for your healing presence at Our Lady of Holy Cross College.

Sincerely yours,

Rev. Anthony J. De Conciliis, C.S.C.

July 7, 2006

Dear College Community:

The 2005-2006 academic year is coming to a close. I am sure that we will all agree that it has been a historic and challenging year. On August 6th, we will ask the Lord's blessing on all of us, especially the graduates. In this communication, I would like to report on the task forces that we have worked on over this year and remind us of our vision for the future. In the beginning of the mid-winter session of 2006, I commissioned two very important Presidential Task Forces for the growth and development of the College: a Task Force on Retention and a Task Force on the Renewal of the Web Site. I have received the recommendations from both task forces and I am pleased to announce that we will be able to implement many of the recommendations, either this coming year or in the years to come. I want to thank all the members of the College community who selflessly offered many hours of their time to bring these recommendations to my attention. This type of service demonstrates the dedication that we have to the mission of the College. I especially thank the chairpersons: Ms. Kristine Hatfield, Dr. Judith Miranti, Mr. David McPherson, and Mr. Stanton McNeely.

The Task Force on Retention

At the initial meeting of the task force, the group engaged in a brainstorming session to identify key factors that contribute to lack of retention. Discussions followed on identifying best practices to enhance retention on campus. The ideas were narrowed and five sub-committees were identified, each representing a broad grouping of retention issues. The five subcommittees that were created were:

Student Engagement

Student Life

Advising and Academic Support

Learning Communities

Teaching and Learning

Each subcommittee was tasked to look at the broad retention area and make at least 2-3 recommendations for improving student retention within that area. Each subcommittee was given a list of standards to be met for the group's report.

The following is a summary of the recommendations from each group.

1. Student Engagement
a. Strive for seamless delivery of services through cross-training of staff.
b. Customer service training for members of the College community.

2. Student Life
a. Centralized College event calendar focusing on traditional events that occur annually.
b. Exploration of service learning component for Theology courses.

3. Advising and Academic Support
a. Creation of a new position, Director of Advising (Freshmen/First year), that is solely responsible for oversight of all advising activities on campus.
b. Alteration of the AIS course into a 3-hour course with specific sections for certain sub-populations of students.

4. Learning Communities
a. Creation of a learning community for remedial students, which would include a special section of AIS.
b. Development of a model to identify at-risk students for intervention strategies.

5. Teaching and Learning
a. Creation of an Honors program
b. Expanding the tutoring services at the College
c. Creation of weekend or evening only programs.

Each of the above recommendations will make substantial additions to our retention efforts. As a result, in consultation with the Cabinet and other key members of the faculty and staff, I have approved the restructuring, with existing personnel, of several existing positions in the Division of Enrollment Management and Student Development and, to some extent, in the Division of Academic Affairs. The restructuring in the former is part of the long range plan for efficiency. The changes in both divisions hopefully will fulfill some of the recommendations of the Task Force on Retention in the area of student learning skills and personal development. It will also allow closer communication and action between the divisions and their vice presidents. (In the future, we will attempt to implement other recommendations.) I will ask both Vice Presidents to establish clear evaluation criteria with reports to be given in the next school year. The restructured positions are as follows (initial job descriptions attached):

1. The Director of Admissions and Financial Aid: The position reports to the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Development. The basic functions for admissions are to supervise the enrollment counselors and the admissions data entry process and oversee the technological aspects admissions. The position will also oversee all aspects of financial aid. This position will be held by Ms. Donna Kennedy.

2. The Director of Student Development and Academic Achievement: This position reports to the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Development. The basic function of this position is to oversee all student life programs including the remedial programs for maximum academic achievement. This position will be held by Anne-Katherine Lené.

3. The Assistant Director of Academic Achievement: This position reports to the Director of Student Development and Academic Achievement. The basic function is to provide remedial assistance and programming to students. This position will be held by Dr. Julie Driessen.

The existing Director of Academic Advising position will play an important part in the retention process, and thus the job description will be restructured and evaluated, as necessary, under the direction of the Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs. As part of this new effort, the director will work closely with the office of the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Development. The basic function of the position is to administer the academic advising functions that include, but are not limited to, planning, coordination and evaluation of all aspects of advising for core and major academic programs. This position will be held by Ms. Debbie Panepinto. It is my sincere hope that we may be able to experience some dramatic changes in our retention rates with the implementation of the above changes. It will be a great demonstration of the cooperative work between academic affairs and student development. Again, thank you to all who worked on the Retention Task Force.

Task Force on Web Site

The website is one of the most important recruitment tools at the College. Many agreed that it was time to change our site. As a result, I commissioned a task force to give me some recommendations for a renewed web site. The Task Force on the Web Site was formed and met until they were ready to make important recommendations for change. The members developed a website mission statement: "The mission of the Our Lady of Holy Cross College website is to introduce the public at large as to whom and what we are. We deem it to be a critical communications tool for donors, alumni, prospective and current students, faculty and staff. The site must be an omnipresent and proactive engagement medium to strengthen existing relationships and to build new ones. The website should provide a multitude of links and access to various campus activities, information, needed data, campus processes, and the library. It must be comprehensive but user friendly, and always reflects accurately what OLHCC really is." With this mission statement in mind, the members recommended that an outside vendor be hired to fulfill develop and maintain the site. After considerable investigation, the members recommended a local firm, ZEHNO. The firm was interviewed and was found to have excellent recommendations. We signed a contract with ZEHNO. They will begin their work with us in a month. It is really important that they receive the cooperation of all at the College in the beginning months of their work. They will complete the following steps: strategic content and functional recommendations, site architecture and template development, visual design, template production and site building and launch.

Future Task Force/Standing Committees

Next semester, I will commission a third task force. This one will be on mission and planning. It will be called the Task Force on Mission, Planning and Assessment. The charge of this task force will be to update our present long range strategic plan and one year strategies, with greater inclusion of the academic life. Sister Laura Melancon will chair this task force. The Mission, Planning and Budgeting Committee will be established in September. The major charge of this committee will be to assist the Vice President for Finance and Operations to develop the budget. The Institutional Effectiveness Committee will be established in early fall 2006. This committee will begin the important task of organizing and developing a plan for effectiveness across the campus. It will be chaired by Stanton McNeely III.

Vision for the Future

Our vision at Our Lady of Holy Cross College calls for an active response to continue our educational ministry for the development of the mind and heart. We are an academic community committed to our mission. As an academic community with a vision for the future, allow me, once again, to stress four basic themes for growth.

We will be an academic community with an entrepreneurial spirit, using our creative and motivational gifts to motivate students, staff and friends into the life of the College.

We will be an academic community with excellence and assessment on our minds.
We will be an academic community that is known for its cooperative spirit with internal and external partnerships.
We will be an academic community with the financial stability to achieve our vision.

We will be known as the College with serious results.

Sincerely in Our Lady of Holy Cross,

(Rev.) Anthony J. De Conciliis, C.S.C. President

May 26, 2006

Dear Faculty and Staff: I am happy to report on the following topics that were discussed at Our Lady of Holy Cross College's latest Board of Regents meeting. They are another wonderful example of the dedicated people we have at the College.

The 2006-2007 Budget

Last night, the Board of Regents approved the 2006-2007 Budget (hereafter referred to as Budget). As I promised in my communication with faculty, annual contracts for full-time faculty members have been distributed today. In the future and under normal circumstances, we will be able to follow the distribution time-line for faculty contacts as suggested in the Faculty Handbook. In the development of the Budget, the primary goals were to provide continued employment of the existing faculty and staff and to assure the financial stability of the College. We were able to accomplish these goals, even in the face of the potential reduction in the student population and its impact on tuition and fee income. As a result, however, we were not able to include a cost of living raise for faculty and staff, even with an increase in tuition. In the next week or so, as indicated in my communications, we will announce a series of meetings with faculty and staff to discuss the Budget and the process for the development of future budgets through the Mission, Planning, and Budget Committee. As part of the planning process for the future, we will engage consultants for both a market-rate tuition structure and a review of human resource policies and procedures at the College.

The Master of Arts in Theology Program

In another decision, the Board accepted the recommendation of the faculty to initiate a three-year pilot program for a Master of Arts in Theology. Congratulations to all who participated in the development of this program. Further information about the program will be distributed in the future.

The Board Membership

The Board of Regents and the College Corporation nominated and elected nine new Board members. These members bring to the Board expertise in many fields including secondary and higher education, religious education, business, and public and private leadership. New members to the Board of Ambassadors were also discussed. I look forward to our future conversations. As I have said many times, the College will grow when we continue to build avenues of communication and cooperation. As we move forward, we will achieve our educational goals in light of the College's mission.

Respectfully yours,

Rev. Anthony J. De Conciliis, C.S.C

May 17, 2006

Last night, we hosted students from St. Mary's College located in Kansas. Like the group from the University of Portland, they are working with Catholic Charities to provide aid and alleviate some of the pain and suffering in our community. At that event, I had the opportunity to listen to a presentation on the rescue efforts from Dean Pat Prechter's point of view. It was a moving experience for me because she not only presented the scientific-health care view, but also her faith perspective. She was able to put the two perspectives side by side. My own reactions to the presentation were pride in our school because of Pat's involvement in the grass roots of the tragedy and my own reliving of my own days in the Dome. If nothing else, it gave me another perspective to what we are all feeling these days as we move into summer. Thank you to those who organized and participated in both events.

Mission and Vision

In light of some of the challenges we are now facing, I believe we have to continue to look to a future that will enable us to continue the excellent education of students. I take this opportunity to refresh our direction and look to the vision of the future.

Mission: In the inauguration address I emphasized four themes that stress the core of our mission: seeking the truth, finding solutions, concern for others, and the presence of God. Each of these themes is a work in progress. We must be committed in our efforts to realize our mission.

Vision: Our vision for the future must be shaped by four themes:

We must be an academic community with an entrepreneurial spirit, using our creative and motivational gifts in all aspects of the College's life.
We must be an academic community with excellence and assessment on our minds.
We must be an academic community that is known for its cooperative spirit, with internal and external partnerships.
We must be an academic community with the financial stability to achieve our vision.

Our SACS visit will give us the opportunity to assess the achievement of our vision.

Leadership

Cabinet: To assist in the achievement of these themes, we must continually assess the roles and responsibilities of the leadership on all levels at the College. To this end, I have begun the process of clarifying some of the titles and duties of the administration that reports directly to the President.

Vice President for Mission and Planning

The person in this position is charged with the most important part of the College's existence, the preservation of the mission, which is the responsibility in some way of everyone at the College. It seems natural that the planning process should be under this position. Planning includes the strategic and one year plans. This leader also plays an important role in the Mission, Planning, and Budget Committee in cooperation with the Vice President for Finances and Operations. Sr. Laura Melancon, M.S.C., has already begun to work with her changed responsibilities.

Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs

This person has the ultimate responsibility for all academic affairs at the College. In June, Dr. Myles Seghers will begin in earnest his responsibilities in this position. He has already demonstrated his ability to work with a wide variety of academic related matters. Among the very important responsibilities are the academic structure and the SACS review. Another important role is the clarification and development of the Faculty Handbook and the Faculty Senate By-Laws (or Academic Senate where the faculty and administration can work together to develop policies).

Vice President for Finances and Operations

The person in this position, Mr. Wayne Plaisance, is charged with the financial planning and execution of the plan to insure financial stability. He is also responsible for facilities and the major operations of the College. He is the co-chair of the Mission, Planning, and Budget Committee of the College. At this time, he is also the Human Resources director. At the appropriate time, we will engage a human resources firm to assist us in our human resources planning and process.

Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Development

The person in this position, Ms. Kristine Hatfield, is charged with all matters related to enrollment and student life at the College. This position is extremely important to the College since it relates to the student's relationship with the College throughout his/her College years. It is important that enrollment management is highly correlated with the academic life of the student.

Vice President for External Affairs, Communications, and Institutional Effectiveness

The person in this position, Mr. Stanton McNeely, is responsible for three important areas of the College life: the development of relationships with external donors, foundations, alumni and government relations; the preparation and execution of all marketing publications, public relations communications; and, the planning and execution of all institutional data collection and assessment. He will work closely with the Vice President for Technology in the area of data collection and advances in academic and administrative technology. At the appropriate time, a Vice President or Director of Development and Strategic Initiatives will be added to the leadership Cabinet. We have to diversify our revenue stream and seek new partnerships and opportunities.

Vice President for Technology

The person in this position, Mr. David McPherson, is responsible for all technology related matters and Campus security at the College. He works closely with the Vice President for External Affairs, Communications, and Institutional Effectiveness.

I look forward to the future and the growth of the College.