Message From the President

In the fall of 2003, looking forward to the College’s centennial in 2011, I convened a committee of faculty, staff, students and alumni to undertake a strategic planning process with an ambitious goal: To prepare Connecticut College for a second century of excellence. One year and thousands of work hours later, the Strategic Planning Steering Committee unveiled Connecticut College 2011, a strategic plan that builds on the College’s current strengths and lays out a vision for an even stronger future. To transform the vision into reality, Connecticut College 2011 will focus energy and investment in three areas:

Liberal Arts in Action

The Connecticut College experience is characterized by outstanding academics and diverse opportunities for students to put the liberal arts into action, particularly through funded internships, study abroad, community service, and faculty-student research. This approach to education is exemplified by the four interdisciplinary academic centers, which offer an integrated experience of coursework, internships, and senior research projects. Students also put the liberal arts into action through participation in campus governance, athletics and other co-curricular activities.

Connecticut College 2011 will expand this range of learning opportunities and connect them more closely through an integrated system of academic and career advising. The plan will increase support for general education, freshman seminars, outstanding teaching and close student-faculty relationships. New functionality will be added to the College’s sophisticated electronic portfolio that students are already using to record and reflect on their learning experiences.

Campus Renewal

One of the College’s greatest assets is its beautiful campus. The grounds and facilities are the essential setting for the educational experience. During the 1990s, maintenance and upgrades were deferred in order to finance the development of the educational program. Connecticut College 2011 will bring the physical campus to the same level of excellence as the educational program. Campus renewal will include a $30 million investment in infrastructure and technology, renovations of Marshall and Hamilton residence halls, and a $3.9 million investment in classroom improvements.

The plan also envisions a set of new facilities that is essential to maintaining the College’s competitive position among its admission peers. These include a new fitness center, a residence hall, a library expansion and an academic building that will house life sciences, mathematics and computer science.

Building Community

Like the physical space of campus, the community in which learning takes place is an essential element of the Connecticut College experience. The campus community is where students learn the skills of citizenship—respect for differences, participation in governance, how to effect change, and how to negotiate compromises between different priorities.

Connecticut College 2011 calls for the College to develop a more diverse and pluralistic community and provide increased support for all the individuals—faculty, staff and students—who comprise the community. The plan will increase financial aid to support increased racial, economic and social diversity. The plan will also create an academic Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity to provide an intellectual home for discussion of these important issues.

Moving ahead

Connecticut College 2011 is focused and organized around a succinct, new mission statement: “ Connecticut College educates students to put the liberal arts into action as citizens in a global society.” This mission statement rests on a foundation of institutional values that are intrinsic to the institution.

According to preliminary estimates, the plan will require around $100 million in capital investment and a permanent addition to the operating budget of $16 million per year by 2011. Reaching these goals will require a highly successful fundraising effort and strengthened communications and outreach to alumni and other friends of the College.

These are lofty but still realistic goals. Connecticut College 2011 is eminently worthy of support. With the enthusiastic backing of the College’s friends, this plan will take Connecticut College to new heights of excellence.

Norman Fainstein

President

November 1, 2004