from the president
GREETINGS FROM COLGATE! We’re a very fortunate college community, and I have exciting news to share about how our nimble, forward-thinking institution is acting to ensure a successful future. As you know, New England colleges currently face myriad challenges. In the past year, several institutions have closed or merged, primarily due to high school students’ shrinking demographics: between 2013 and 2032, their number will drop by 18 percent. Looking at the Future To address these challenges, in June 2018, the Board of Trustees engaged Parthenon EY, a worldwide consulting firm with a strong presence in higher education. Parthenon first assessed my team’s assumptions and my operating model and tactical plans to remedy the most pronounced issues of 2016–17. Parthenon found that our model’s assumptions were sound, yet, given the highly competitive marketplace, perhaps insufficient to advance the college effectively. Parthenon recommended that we implement our tactical plan while also thinking boldly about Colby-Sawyer’s future. Between November and February, six trustees; Karen Bonewald, our vice president for Finance and Administration; and I met numerous times with Parthenon to imagine a future that builds on Colby-Sawyer’s history and mission while also distinguishing the college in ways that would help it endure the next 15 years as a standalone institution. Our thoughts soon centered on health professions, the enormous current demand for qualified personnel in those areas, and our existing partnership with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health. There is tremendous, immediate need for graduates in nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, social work, mental health counseling and other related fields. While the college can’t meet all the demand, we can grow or add a number of academic disciplines that will be consistent with our mission and contribute to our region’s greater good. Colby-Sawyer & Dartmouth-Hitchcock Since 1981, Colby-Sawyer has been Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s nursing school, and our current partnership that enables nursing students to complete clinical rotations at the Major Trauma-III hospital in Lebanon plays a central role in those students’ successes. It’s my honor to share with you that we’ve enhanced and expanded our partnership with D-H to allow greater opportunity for most health science students to have meaningful experiential and clinical opportunities, along with access to high-demand fields once they graduate.