President's Message

President Clarence R. Wyatt

THE SPIRIT OF INNOVATION

STEM Initiative Reflects Our Commitment to Preparing Students for Changing World

Our three new programs in engineering, neuroscience and data science are exciting in and of themselves, not least for their intellectual rigor, but also for their strong appeal to prospective students and to prospective employers.

These programs are even more encouraging and important for the spirit of innovation that they represent. Monmouth has always been a place that seeks to serve its students more effectively, but the energy and action around that spirit have grown significantly in the last few years.

The development of the three new programs has been a model of creativity, discipline and teamwork—all three necessary ingredients to any successful effort at innovation. In the fall of 2017, I encouraged the faculty to propose new or significantly modified academic programs that strengthened our liberal arts and sciences mission, that would prepare students for fields with strong career prospects, and that would broaden and deepen the College’s appeal to bright and motivated students.

We received several excellent proposals, and then moved them through a thorough and purposeful process of evaluation by the faculty, through rigorous market testing, and consideration by the Board of Trustees. At each step, we were increasingly encouraged by the promise of these programs, and were able to move ahead with implementation through a special commitment by the Board of Trustees to provide start-up funding.

This process is also inspiring existing academic programs to look at themselves anew, to consider how they can augment and modify their offerings and how they can link their particular perspectives and methods to those of

other programs,providing aneven richerexperience forour students.The faculty isalso workingto describe theoutcomes forstudents in theirprograms in ways that are more compelling, to prospectivestudents and prospective employers. The intellectualenergy and sense of possibility are infectious.

Most encouraging is the fact that, at the heart of allof this, rests the desire to prepare young people moreeffectively for rewarding and contributing lives in a worldchanging by the second. The faculty is guiding our studentsthrough evolving fields of inquiry so that our alumni willthrive in, and create, emerging fields of endeavor. Byenhancing the quality of the Monmouth Experience in thisway, we are placing the College on a stronger foundationfor the long run, and empowering our students to be ofeven greater service to society.

As always, Lobie and I thank you for all that you do tosupport this gratifying work.

My Best,

Dr. Clarence R. Wyatt

President