HOW WE ACT NEXT

How We Act Next Our strategic plan, the pandemic, racial justice, and where we go from here.

Achieve financial, institutional, and environmental sustainability. Diversify and expand the Gustavus community.

Deliver a distinctive and integrated liberal arts education.

THIS IS THE GUSTAVUS ACTS STRATEGIC PLAN 2.0. During the past five years we saw major successes, fueled by support from you—our alumni, family, and friends. We then prioritized our next targets, and put our community to work seeking innovative strategies to reach them. Then, the pandemic. Then, the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. How quickly the world changed. And how quickly this plan flexed to accommodate that change, just as we intended when we, the Gustavus community, built this strategic plan. Now, we lean into year five. It will be a historic year for Gustavus and for the world. This is the midpoint. This is the world we are living in. This is how we act next.

HERE’S WHERE WE’VE BEEN SO FAR.

June 2016

Gustavus Board of Trustees finalizes the Gustavus Acts Strategic Plan; it rolls out shortly after

Nov. 2016

President Bergman and her husband, Tom, announce their $4 million gift to the College, among the first multi-million gifts to fuel Gustavus Acts

Jan. 2017

Trustee and Heritage Scholarship programs launch, a cornerstone of access to a Gustavus education and a major goal of the strategic plan

Feb. 2017

Teams for each of the three Gustavus Acts goals assemble and share plans with Gustavus Board of Trustees

April 2017

Faculty vote on a new general education curriculum

Nov. 2017

An anonymous $25 million grant creates the Center for Career Development

Jan. 2018

In just 18 months, the College raises an unprecedented $75 million to fuel Gustavus Acts

Feb. 2018

Nobel Hall of Science Expansion and Renovation project, the College’s largest facilities undertaking ever and a keystone project of Gustavus Acts, breaks ground

May 2018

Gustavus named a U.S. Dept. of Ed Green Ribbon School for Environmental Sustainability

January 2019

A Cabinet-level position for Mission, Strategy, and Innovation is created

April 2019

The new general education curriculum, now named the Challenge Curriculum, is approved for implementation in 2020-2021

Sept. 2019

The College announces its largest fundraising campaign ever, Show the World, to further fuel the strategic plan (see progress, page 26)

Nov. 2019– Jan. 2020

Open sessions gather input on priorities from the Gustavus community for the next three years of Gustavus Acts

Feb. 2020

Funding is underway for the expansion of Lund Center, another keystone project

March 2020

Global pandemic. In response, the College switches to remote learning and working, adding additional technology strategies to Gustavus Acts

April 2020

Gustavus Acts 2.0 priorities established, cross-community teams reassembled and re-charged

May–June 2020

George Floyd’s death and worldwide outcry. The College announces anti-racism actions, adding additional strategies to Gustavus Acts

Aug. 2020

Faculty and staff move into the new Nobel Hall of Science, and prepare for the 2020-2021 academic year

Aug.–Sept. 2020

The College welcomes students— including a large firstyear class—to live and learn through on-campus, hybrid, and online modules; with room for flexibility in the event of swift, needed change

Onward…

Plan. Act.

A message from Rebecca Bergman, president, Gustavus Adolphus College

I have said it from the start: This is a living document.

The Gustavus Acts Strategic Plan is the blueprint of our planned actions. It is not a series of loose leaf pages stuffed into a binder and slid onto a dusty shelf. It is not a wish list, bits of dreams to fulfill if times are good. It is not what we want to do, someday, if the stars align.

It is what we will do.

Plan. Act.

Here at the midpoint, we’ve already seen transformative change from our actions, brought forth by the impactful engagement of our faculty, staff, students, alumni, friends, and donors. The Nobel Hall of Science, the Center for Career Development, a new curriculum, new endowed professorships, new facultystudent research opportunities, millions of dollars for new scholarships and our endowment, and an enrollment goal met or exceeded three years in a row. In the first half of our work on this plan, we’ve changed the trajectory of this college at a time when many institutions are struggling.

We are at a pivotal moment now. The world is tilted on its edge. The push forward is uphill, steeper than any of us could have imagined. During this past year, I have been proud to serve under President Bergman with the charge of advancing the strategic plan. What I have seen, particularly in recent months, is how desperately the world needs what Gustavus and its graduates have to offer and how truly special the College and its people are.

It would be so easy to shelve this plan for a while. We don’t take the easy road at Gustavus. Instead, we hold ourselves accountable to make the changes we said we would. We now have 18 strategic leaders meeting monthly—a doubling of efforts over last year. The reality of COVID-19 and the renewed urgency for racial justice have prompted decisive and necessary pivots. Our priorities must shift,

But we made a plan with the intention of acting. We will not let up.

As every day creates a new, unprecendented challenge, Gustavus faculty and staff continue to do some heavy lifting to keep the Gustavus Acts Strategic Plan moving forward. They are discerning, prioritizing, adjusting, adapting. As a college, we must critically examine every single dollar. We must demonstrate who and what we truly stand for.

Heavy lifting has never deterred a Gustie. In fact, when the weather gets rough, Gusties tend to show up in greater numbers, roll up their sleeves, and push harder. I ask you now to do just that. See in these pages what we planned for, where we are now, and where we are going. Then help us push.

We built this plan from within, from the ground up, together. Just look at what we’ve done together so far. Imagine

Activated.

A message from Kathi Tunheim, vice president for mission, strategy, and innovation

how much further we can go. our strategies adjust, our tactics change. We must grow as individuals to do the work the world calls on us to do. We press forward, methodically and thoughtfully. It’s called a strategic plan for a reason.

And those three main goals? They are as true today as they were five years ago. They will be true five years from now.

When we achieve them, we will be the Gustavus we know we can be.

OUR VISION

Gustavus equips students to lead purposeful lives and to act on the great challenges of our time through an innovative liberal arts education of recognized excellence. We are leaning into it, as we said we would. Join us: gustavus.edu/gustavusacts.

Midpoint, Mid-Action. With Input from the Gustavus Community

THIS WINTER, THE GUSTAVUS COMMUNITY assessed the progress of the Gustavus Acts Strategic Plan and weighed in on next priorities. College leadership listened, and land- ed on the action items below. The strategic plan is, indeed, a living document. Some of the strategies below may be completed before print. Some may take lesser priority as our world changes and needs shift. Others (planned but not included here) we have yet to work on. That’s to be expected. When the College’s vision statement calls on us to equip students to act on the great challenges of our time, the College too should be equipped to do so. As it stands now, here’s what we’ve done so far, as well as our progress in process.

GOAL: ACHIEVE FINANCIAL, INSTITUTIONAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY. p. 14 – 15

Completed

√Conduct three consecutive years of the Gallup Employee Engagement Survey*, improving the baseline results. Implement an emerging leaders professional development program for 20 high-potential employees. Revise and implement the employee onboarding program.

Complete a staff compensation analysis and financial impact analysis.

Establish a baseline and increase the number of volunteer leaders by 10 percent per year for three years.

Establish a baseline and strategy for annual giving and increase average annual giving by one percent per year.

Generate new scholarship funding of $250,000 per year toward the goal of meeting the financial need of families. Conduct a facilities condition assessment.

Replace air structure and mechanical systems in the Swanson Tennis Center.

Plan and implement a signage and wayfinding project.

Raise total gift income of $20 million per year (annual view).

In Process & On Track

78%

Raise an average of $10 million cash contributions to the endowment annually

50%

Raise $100 million total by 2026.

10%

Adjust Gustavus non-faculty employee total compensation based on staff compensation analysis.

10%

Adjust Gustavus faculty total compensation based on compensation analysis.

40%

Increase attendance to Signature Alumni events (Homecoming and Reunion Weekend) by 10 percent annually.

40%

Establish a measurable baseline for and increase internal cross-campus departmental partnerships to build mission-central engagement.

Rounding the midpoint of the strategic plan, the College checked in with the Gustavus community. During a listening and engagement period from November 2019 to January 2020, and in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, two new strategies emerged for achieving the goal of financial, institutional, and environmental sustainability. These strategies are:

Develop a robust and sustainable technology infrastructure.

Implement environmental stewardship and sustainability principles and practices across the College.

GOAL: DIVERSIFY AND EXPAND THE GUSTAVUS COMMUNITY. p. 16 – 17

Completed

√Increase the percentage of enrolled domestic students from historically underrepresented groups annually to match or exceed the demographics of Minnesota’s college-age population. (In 2020, 22 percent of Minnesota high school students fit this identifier, and 22 percent of

Gustavus students.)

Develop and implement a diversity recruitment and retention plan for students.

Offer all employees diversity, equity, and inclusion training and development annually.

Identify and collect baseline data to determine percentage of employees from historically underrepresented groups. Completed

√Implement a new general education curriculum to advance the College’s vision. Create a three-year academic program review process. Form a Presidential Task Force on vocational and purposeful living to prepare our students with the skills to lead purposeful lives. Increase the percentage of graduating seniors reporting situated.** Transition the Gustavus Mentoring Program from the Peer Education program to the Center for Career Development. Complete the Nobel Hall of Science expansion and renovation and fully open. Increase employee engagement as measured by the Gallup Inclusiveness Index.*

In Process & On Track

70%

Create and implement an organizational structure for oversight responsibility and accountability for campus diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

30%

Increase the percentage of student financial need met, moving toward the overall goal of meeting 100 percent of that need.

Fund the endowment for

30%

need-based aid, equating to $90 million additional dollars. Create a Lund Center renovation and expansion feasibility study and implement a fundraising plan for it. In Process & On Track Increase the number of students by 20 percent per year to reach all registered students. Increase students’ self-reported Increase the number of students Program to reach 50 percent of graduating seniors by 2021.

25%

Increase the percentage of employees participating in diversity, equity, and inclusion training to 100 percent.

10%

Develop and implement a plan to more closely align the percentage of employees from historically underrepresented groups across all job categories with the percentage of historically underrepresented students.

The killing of George Floyd had the College asking, how can we do more?

GOAL: DELIVER A DISTINCTIVE AND INTEGRATED LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION. p. 18 – 19

80 %

selecting Career Interest Clusters

65%

perceived career readiness.

70%

participating in Mentoring Our response, page 17.

70%

Increase first-year student engagement in vocational discernment with a goal of 50 percent for the Class of 2024.

60%

Develop and approve a postbaccalaureate Athletic Training Program, create institutional systems, and receive external accreditation approval.

40%

Implement a three-year academic program review process.

30%

Purposefully and programmatically integrate academic and co-curricular experiences annually through a Great Challenges theme.

*The Gallup Employee Engagement Survey measures actionable workplace elements with proven linkages to performance outcomes. The Inclusiveness Index is a subset of it **“Situated” means a student’s next step is one they wanted to occur, a positive result.

GOAL: ACHIEVE FINANCIAL, INSTITUTIONAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY.

It’s all about systems and structures that maximize the College’s long-term success and viability.

We’ve made great strides in strengthening our greatest resource: our people. The College has completed staff and faculty compensation analyses and developed programs for new employees and emerging leaders. The College is creating internal cross-campus partnerships to build mission-central engagement. And we’ve increased employee engagement and satisfaction. We need to in order to recruit and retain employees of the highest caliber.

In terms of environmental sustainability, Gustavus has created an innovative wastestream process on the way to becoming a zero-waste institution. And for being mindful of the environmental impact of the new Nobel Hall of Science, the College received nearly $200,000 in energy rebates from the City of Saint Peter. That’s not to mention the impressive leadership of students around climate justice.

And of course there’s the necessary work of facilities updates, especially considering all of the post-tornado, 20-year roofs put on Gustavus buildings more than 20 years ago.

The financial instability of the global pandemic cuts across all sectors of society, in the macro and micro. It’s particularly destabilizing to liberal arts colleges that serve residential students. Gustavus is in a solid position to weather the pandemic. Our community continues to drive the strategic plan forward, though we must shift resources to keep the community safe and healthy.

We need you. Whether that’s your Gustie spirit at signature events, your mentorship and career guidance with students and recent grads, or your monetary gifts to the College, we need you.

“A revitalized Lund is going to have an effect on our college and our enrollment. It’s going to affect everyone on campus.” —Tom Brown, director of intercollegiate athletics.

“Thank you, Gustavus donors, for everything you do and all that you give, which will keep this academic community thriving.” —Thomas Young ’88, vice president for advancement

The President’s Council for Environmental

Sustainability is a crosscampus working group reporting directly to President Bergman. Strong student leadership on this team comes from the Environmental Action Coalition, a conglomerate of student groups focused on environmental sustainability.

3highly active student groups combined to form the student-led Environmental Action Coalition

$186,388 amount in energy rebates from the City of Saint Peter, reflecting more than 1,000,000 kilowatt-hours of energy savings from careful management of the Nobel Hall of Science expansion and renovation

8% three-year increase in employee engagement, via the Gallup Employee Engagement Survey

A rendering of the new field house as proposed in the plans for the Lund Center expansion and renovation.

The Promise of a New Lund Center

Tens of thousands of people visit Lund Center every year, yet no space has been added to it since it opened in 1984. All the while, our competitors have built new wellness and athletics facilities.

It’s been almost 40 years, and Lund is ready to take it to the next level.

A new and improved Lund will better serve our entire community and attract prospective students and families to Gustavus. “Our plans meet the community’s needs, identified through 12 months of research,” says Tom Brown, director of intercollegiate athletics. “It’s been an incredibly collaborative effort, and it’s exciting to know the impact this will have on the college and community for the next 30 to 50 years.”

Plans are still being finalized, and fundraising continues, but the renovation and expansion of Lund will likely increase its the facility’s current size by more than 75 percent, dramatically changing its capacity to meet the needs of varsity, club, and intramural sports, as well as growing academic programs in the health sciences.

Here’s just some of what’s in store: • an academic wing that will house classrooms, faculty offices, a lecture hall, and a Human Performance Lab that’s necessary for exercise science and athletic training programs • new, adaptable workout spaces for athletes and the whole Gustavus community • a 60,000-square-foot field house for all-season practice, exercise, and recreation • a new athletic office suite for coaches and administrators • new locker rooms that exceed current standards for safety and efficiency • better wellness opportunities for all students, faculty, and staff • more functional and efficient space for athletics, academics, and recreation

18 different listening groups on Lund with multiple opportunities to come to campus and visit with the community in groups and in individual meetings

17,600

square foot increase in space for cardio and weight training in the Lund Center renovation and expansion. A wellness area benefiting the entire Gustavus community is its number one priority.

$28 million yet to raise to fully fund the Lund Center renovation and expansion. “We need to meet our goal soon so we can get a shovel in the ground,” says Tom Brown.

78% increase in the total square footage over the existing Lund Center in the proposed expansion and renovation

Achieving this goal relies on gifts to the College. For more on gift giving for scholarships, the endowment, the Gustavus Fund, affinity groups, and building projects, and to learn how the Show the World campaign fuels the strategic plan, see page 27.

GOAL: DIVERSIFY AND EXPAND THE GUSTAVUS COMMUNITY.

The next five years will focus on building programs to reach and support more people so that students study in an environment that reflects the world in which they will live and work.

So far, the College has developed and implemented a diversity recruitment and retention plan for students, collected baseline data on diversity among faculty and staff, and begun to offer all employees diversity, equity, and inclusion training and development. Current efforts include increasing the percentage of enrolled U.S. students from historically underrepresented groups, the percentage of employees of color, and the percentage of employees participating in DEI training. The College is also creating an organizational structure for responsibility and accountability for campus DEI efforts.

Here in Minnesota, a state that has had a historically white majority but is changing rapidly, the Gustavus community must reflect that change. In addition to racial diversity, Gustavus seeks a community rich in geographical, social, and economic diversity, one that encompasses a variety of identities and affinities. As an institution, we must provide a campus climate that truly welcomes and values difference. It can be hard to measure campus climate, but student and surveys of inclusiveness and cabinet-level leadership in diversity, equity, and inclusion will be a strong start.

The biggest lever for diversifying and expanding the Gustavus community, though, is the ability to attract high-achieving students from a wide variety of backgrounds. In a competitive marketplace, this largely (though not exclusively) means meeting 100 percent of student financial need. Doing so would make us as competitive as Carleton and Macalester for the best students of all identities from all around the world.

In other words: the cost of a Gustavus education should not be a barrier to anyone who is able to and desires to study and graduate here, and the campus climate should welcome and value all.

The President’s Council for Diversity, Equity, and

Inclusion is a working group reporting directly to President Bergman, with faculty, staff, and student representation at the table.

32% increase in the number of non-white full-time students attending Gustavus from 2010 to 2020

27 number of student-led diversity organizations, a steep uptick over the past three years

“An inclusive and equitable campus depends on the intentions and efforts of the whole Gustavus community.” —Siri Erickson, Chaplain of the College and Special Assistant to the President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion “We need to be affordable for families of all backgrounds. Many families cannot be here without our support.” —Kirk Carlson ’95, Associate Vice President for Enrollment and Associate Dean of Admission and Financial Aid $90million additional endowment funds needed to meet 100 percent of financial need to attract and retain top students from a variety of backgrounds, including historically underrepresented groups

On Recruitment

The percentage of students from historically underrepresented groups has increased. The goal is to match or exceed the state of Minnesota, where 22 percent of high school students are non-white.

PERCENT OF STUDENTS FROM HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS (INCLUDING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS):

2016 17%

2020 22%

Our demographics will continue to change, as evidenced by projected percentages non-white public high school graduates.

MINNESOTA

2020

22 percent

2025

25 percent

2030

29 percent

NATIONALLY

2020

48 percent

2025

51.5 percent

2030

49 percent

On Heritage Scholarships

One of the strongest drivers in meeting student need is scholarships. In response to the Gustavus Acts Strategic Plan, new Heritage Scholarships were created. These scholarships are awarded to bright students with demonstrated financial need. With a four–year commitment of $3,000 per year, the scholarship is awarded to a first-year student and remains with that student during all four years at Gustavus.

This is a named scholarship that can be presented in the donor’s name, the name of a family or group, or in honor of a special person.

IN FOUR YEARS:

118 students were awarded a Heritage Scholarship

135 donors gave (122 unique donors + 13 donors for multiple scholarships) 7 “Class Of” scholarships were created (by individual class years)

3 We Believe scholarships were created (by Gustavus faculty and staff)

On Retention and Graduation Rates

Overall, our four-year graduation rate has hovered around 80 percent for the past five years, higher than the majority of colleges in our class, and we have the second highest graduation rate among Minnesota private colleges for students of color. On our prioritized list of next actions: Increase graduation rates for students from historically

underrepresented groups to be equal to or exceed overall graduation rates.

ACTIONS TOWARD ANTI-RACISM

The killing of George Floyd in south Minneapolis this summer—and the subsequent anguish felt throughout the world—put the need for racial justice into sharp relief. Gustavus leadership responded with the acknowledgement that the College has not done enough to address issues of systemic racism and foster anti-racism. The College also announced specific actions to take moving forward, many of which dovetail with Gustavus Acts strategies. Below is a sampling of those actions:

• an independent review of the College

Bias Response Team’s membership, processes, and practices • a new mental health counselor position with a primary focus on supporting students of color • a new Cabinet-level leader whose work will focus on race, equity, and inclusion • expanded physical space and other resources for the Center for Inclusive

Excellence (formerly the Diversity

Center) • external review of hiring practices for staff positions, as well as a plan to more closely align the percentage of employees from historically underrepresented groups across all job categories with the percentage of students • implicit/unconscious bias training for

Gustavus leadership • implementation of Gustavus’s new interfaith strategic plan

To see the complete list of anti-racism action steps and to read the full statement from President Bergman and the Gustavus Cabinet, see gustavus.edu/ racialjustice.

GOAL: DELIVER A DISTINCTIVE AND INTEGRATED LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION.

“Integrated” means a student’s experiences in and out of class operate in tandem to build a transformative college experience. “Distinctive” means notable and desirable, recognized excellence.

Some of our accomplishments to date relate to facilities that serve students, specifically the completion of the $70 million Nobel Hall of Science expansion and renovation. Some relate to co-curricular enrichment, such as the expansion of the Center for Career Development and the growth of mentoring and peer education programs. And then there is the partnership among student life divisions, “to come at great societal challenges from a co-curricular, campus-life perspective,” says JoNes VanHecke, vice president for student life and dean of students. “Students are ready to make sense of and think of possible solutions for society’s most perplexing problems. It’s exciting to facilitate deep conversations outside of the classroom.”

And the anchor of this strategic plan goal takes the stage as you read this. This is the inaugural year of the Challenge Curriculum, the result of five years of discovery and design by Gustavus faculty. This new general education curriculum launches during a global pandemic. But like much of the Gustavus Acts Strategic Plan, this curriculum is built to flex with the world around it, and, in doing so, teach students (and all of us who serve those students) to become more resilient. In other words: The Challenge Curriculum will meet its challenges in an integrated, interdisciplinary way, so that students may go forth in the world and do the same.

“Through the COVID-19 experience, our faculty took a student-centered approach. They asked, ‘How are our students going to best receive this instruction I am trying to deliver?’ This retained the relational aspects of what we do and do well.” —Brenda Kelly, Provost and Dean of the College

“We need to never lose our passion for the development of 18- to 22-year-olds, nor the engaging way Gustavus does community—like very few colleges in the country. There is abiding appreciation for the undergraduate liberal arts experience.” —JoNes VanHecke ’88, Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students 400 Gustavus students will have a Gustavus mentor this year

225 new courses approved for the new Challenge Curriculum

0majors eliminated, unlike many colleges and universities around the country

28 average ACT score of the Class of 2023

70%

of students complete some form of experiential learning through internships, career explorations, undergraduate research, and study away programs

STEAM

Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Math; the liberal arts concept embodied by the new theatre space between the Anderson Theatre lobby and the south entrance of Nobel

Welcome to the Challenge Curriculum

This is not the liberal arts education of yore.

The new general education curriculum sharpens the best skills we know employers want from applicants: written and verbal communication skills; the ability to work within teams and across cultural, geographic, and language boundaries; and creative, multidisciplinary problem-solving of open-ended problems.

“We want to encourage students to get out of the checkbox mentality of general education courses,” says Brenda Kelly, “to allow students the opportunity to integrate concepts across all courses, across their time at Gustavus.” The world is not a linear, checkbox world. A Gustavus education shouldn’t be either.

HERE’S WHAT’S NEW

Global Affairs and Cultures These courses examine past or present topics of global reach, from multiple perspectives and including diverse voices, in relation to human populations in their social, economic, cultural, political, or ecological environments.

U.S. Identities and Difference These courses examine multiple and non-majority social constructions of identity in the US, including the intersectionality between race/ ethnicity and at least one other category of identity (gender, class, sexuality, etc.).

The Challenge Seminar A bookend to the First-Term Seminar, this capstone course is the culmination of a student’s general education experience. It is an opportunity for a student to examine, respond to, and reflect on contemporary questions and challenges from an interdisciplinary perspective, as well as their personal values, plans for life after college, and their future role in the world.

WHAT STAYS THE SAME

In classic liberal arts fashion, all courses stem from five areas of study: the arts, humanities, natural science, human behavior and social institutions, and theological studies. Most students are introduced to the Gustavus learning experience through a First-Term Seminar. The Three Crowns Curriculum (formerly Curriculum II) remains.

A GENERAL EDUCATION EXPERIENCE UNLIKE ANY OTHER

Hundreds of new and contemporary courses have been developed by faculty and approved for the Challenge Curriculum. Here’s an interdisciplinary sampling of new semester-long offerings.

• Revolution & Rebellion in

Modern French Culture • Ethics in Politics • #college: College Life in the Media • Discovering Arts in Community • Understanding Environmental Issues through Documentary & Film • The Nature Movement • Foundations of Wellbeing • Personal Finance • Women in East Asian Literature • The New Testament • The Individual and Morality • Sex, Race, Money, God • Experiments in Arts Technology

PLUS: A SPECIAL TOPIC COURSE— THE CHALLENGES OF OUR TIME. These interdisciplinary offerings, delivered online and asynchronously, are tailored to the Class of 2024. Amid the current challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, course options examine these challenges from diverse disciplinary perspectives, including public health, racial justice, international commerce, media and communication, and the role of the artist. Introducing students to online academic communities, they help prepare students for work in a digital landscape.

Have something to offer a current Gustavus student or recent grad? They need mentors, informational interviews, and jobs. Reach out: gustavus.edu/career.

Who Leads Next

DIVERSIFY AND EXPAND THE GUSTAVUS COMMUNITY DELIVER A DISTINCTIVE AND INTEGRATED LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION.

JESÚS HERNÁNDEZ MEJÍA

Associate Dean of Financial Aid

Excited about: Making Gustavus more affordable. What a difference the new scholarships make, particularly in our number of students from historically underrepresented groups. Impressed by: Our good job communicating with students this spring, the quick decision to reimburse students their room and board, to loan computers. It showed Gustavus really cares. Will need: To keep our scholarships going so that students can focus on getting a Gustavus education that will prepare them for the world. In progress: Making plans for social distancing on campus.

“A lot of the direction we get comes from our students. We will be more of what our students want us to be.”

TOM FLUNKER

Director, Center for Inclusive Excellence

Excited about: The fact that we are on our toes, looking for ways to get better. Impressed by: How the goals for President’s Council for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are infused into the strategic plan. It holds us accountable. Will need: Support that addresses the bigger constructs affecting historically underrepresented student groups. Scholarships don’t relieve all of the pressures of college life. In progress: Our Black male students, one of the least connected groups, have started a group.

“Are we going to back off of diversity, equity, and inclusion endeavors when it’s no longer convenient? We need our students and alumni to keep being vocal.”

VALERIE BANSCHBACH

Associate Provost and Dean of Sciences and Education

Excited about: The new Challenge Seminar. It connects the dots of a student’s experiences through the general education curriculum. It’s where they’ll apply all they’ve learned. Impressed by: This living strategic plan. We interact with it on a daily basis. It truly guides decision-making. Will need: Time to develop new courses, patience as we experiment, and vigilance to make sure we increase equity for disadvantaged students. In progress: We are adapting to the challenges of COVID-19 in the short term and asking how we can turn this adaptation work into further innovation.

“The new Challenge Curriculum will leverage interdisciplinary connections and highlight the best of Gustavus.”

Spread out through the College is a vast network of leaders and experts providing guidance, insight, and management. Here are just some of the folks driving the strategic plan safely and securely through shifting sands.

DELIVER A DISTINCTIVE AND INTEGRATED LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION. ACHIEVE FINANCIAL, INSTITUTIONAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY.

ANDREW COSTON

Executive Director, Center for Career Development

Excited about: Watching students leave with the skills to go out and navigate, to find something they can be successful at. Impressed by: Our alumni base. They’re passionate. They want to help current Gusties. Will need: Alums to let us know about opportunities for work, internships, job shadowing, career treks. Call us. Let’s talk through how you can help. In progress: Integrating the vocational and the educational. We don’t want students to think of career development as something they do in their senior year.

“We want students to be able to adjust to any circumstance that might occur. The great challenge is having a Plan B and a Plan C.”

TAMI AUNE ’82

Chief Technology Officer

Excited about: Every single classroom experience is unique. How do we find tech solutions that support that rich and diverse learning environment? Impressed by: The efforts and conversations around Gustavus mission, vision, and strategy. Will need: Obviously funding and budgeting is a challenge. So is finding and retaining excellent staff. In progress: Technology-based responses to COVID-19, providing access and making sure people have the tools and resources that they need.

“We love change, we live for change, for the challenge of a constantly evolving environment.”

CURT KOWALESKI

CFO, Vice President for Finance, and Treasurer

Excited about: Kicking off Lund Center, thinking about all the benefits students will get from it. Impressed by: This well-defined strategic plan and the many ways we keep it alive. This is what we need to do to make our college as vibrant and great as we want it to be. Will need: Discernment around the reallocation of funds. Especially in higher education, you can’t just keep increasing the revenue line. In progress: Agreeing on what the top priorities are and allocating resources to fund them.

“We need to keep an eye on the longterm success of the College.”

Are you in? What can you do? gustavus.edu/gustavusacts.

Gustie head football coach Tuddie Lindenberg bids farewell to the Gustavus enlisted Naval servicemen during the 1944 season. That season featured seven non-conference games. Once the servicemen returned to campus after World War II, Coach Tuddie led the 1945 Gusties to the MIAC championship with a perfect 4-0 MIAC record (6-0 overall).

ECHOES OF NEARLY 80 YEARS AGO

In August, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference made the difficult decision to postpone all athletic competition until January of 2021. A fall with few conference sports is not exactly unprecedented, though. There was also an absence of intercollegiate athletics during World War II.

It’s hard to compare firearms to facemasks, but let’s take a shot at it. Back then, we were battling a global war. Today, we combat a global pandemic. During the 1940s, there were less than a dozen Gustie teams participating in intercollegiate competition. Today, the cancellation and postponement of sports affects all 23 varsity teams. During WWII, Gustavus athletic teams still competed in exhibition games with the students who remained on campus. This fall, even intramurals are a no-go.

The best approach here is one that channels our indomitable Gustie spirit, one of optimism. Imagine a football game at Hollingsworth Field on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in April. Imagine a spring season with twice as many athletic options. Want to watch volleyball and softball on the same day? That may well be our unprecendented reality.

Gustavus prides itself on equipping students to lead purposeful lives and acting on the great challenges of our time. Right now, we face a great challenge, just as Gustie athletes did during the first half of the 1940s. How we react will shape our future.

In the meantime, what are traditionally fall sports will continue to practice this fall, preparing for spring victories and waiting for competition season to begin. And when we are reintroduced to intercollegiate competition in January, it will be with an anticipation and excitement unlike any time before.

“I hope the audience saw the indomitable spirit of these characters and took a little bit of that with them when they left.” —Morgan Fuller ’20, theatre honors major, actor and codirector of the online production of Mother Courage, seen here in miniature scale.

THE COURAGE TO CREATE DURING COVID

Everything about this year’s Gustavus Adolphus College Department of Theatre and Dance production of Bertolt Brecht’s war-time play Mother Courage was unorthodox: 10 directors, a three-inch scale model of the set, and original music recorded by students living thousands of miles away from each other. And, of course, its delivery to an audience, in May, via Google Meet.

The original plan for this year’s mainstage production was to perform in the new Rob and Judy Gardner Laboratory Theatre. Set designer Nicole Meyer ’20 spent several months researching and designing the set for the flexible space as part of her theatre honors project.

As building was about to start, the College moved to online instruction due to COVID-19.

But Meyer found a way forward. She built her own three-inch scale model of the set in her garage, complete with scaleddown figures of the actors in the play.

Professor of Theatre Amy Seham seized the opportunity to use the virtual production and a learning experience for her beginning directing class. The 10 students each directed, interpreting and communicating to their fellow student actors via phone, digital files, and Zoom meetings. “The show was a montage of innovative solutions to making art under quarantine,” Seham says.

Morgan Fuller ’20 had been cast as Mother Courage in the final piece of her theatre honors project. She was in most of the scenes, and directed some herself. Her dad was behind the camera, her brother acted. She even sourced a wagon from a neighboring farm. “This situation allowed me to use the theatre skills of adaptability and creativity and apply them in a new way,” she says.