| Letter from Ron Remick, Board Chair, to Alumni June 2, 2008 Dear Alumni of Rosemont College, I am pleased to announce that on May 30, the Board of Trustees of Rosemont College approved a Strategic Plan which will emphasize and expand the College's enrollment, programs, and reputation by embracing co-education, partnerships, and online education. The approved Plan proposes that the College will open its doors at the undergraduate level to all interested and qualified women and men in the fall of 2009, unifying the College's three schools and expanding the College's mission of being a 'community of learners'. In addition to changes on the undergraduate level, the approved Plan proposes major changes in the Schools of Graduate and Professional Studies, specifically expanding online degrees. The unanimous vote by the Board of Trustees, of which 38 percent are alumni and 25 percent are members of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus (SHCJ), the College's sponsoring religious congregation, comes after more than 15-months of study, research, discussion, and deliberation involving all constituents of the College's community, including trustees, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends. In the spring of 2007, the Board of Trustees engaged a consultant to lead a strategic planning initiative with one straightforward goal: the development of a shared vision and strategic agenda for the institution's future. The process presented the College community with an opportunity to respond to higher education environmental challenges and to explore all possible avenues to enhance Rosemont's academic, spiritual, and financial well-being. The College evaluated its strengths, analyzed its financial position, researched its markets, solicited input from all campus constituents, and studied the experiences of other women's colleges which have also examined the viability of single-sex education in the United States. Research concluded in February, 2008 and the findings are the basis of the plan which was presented for consideration at a meeting of the Board of Trustees this past weekend. Goals of the Strategic Plan:
The Strategic Plan is based on the College's clearly articulated and unchanged Mission and proposes that Rosemont is, and continues to be, the world's only Catholic college offering Cornelia Connelly's 'solid education' with holistic development, individual attention to talents, and with excellence and joy. I am very grateful to the members of the Board, hundreds of alumni, many faculty and staff members, numerous students, and dozens of friends of the College who contributed countless hours and much dedication to the Strategic Planning Process; because of their efforts I can assure you that Rosemont College will continue to deliver its unique brand of education, focused on the individual student, and that its community of trustees, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends will continue to celebrate the dignity and richness of each person. Sincerely, Ron Remick Chair, Board of Trustees Letter from Ron Remick, Board Chair, to Alumni May 2008 Dear Alumni of Rosemont, As you know, in the spring of 2007, the Board of Trustees engaged a consultant to lead a strategic planning initiative with one straightforward goal: the development of a shared vision and strategic agenda for the institution's future. The process presented the College community with an opportunity to respond to higher education environmental challenges and to explore all avenues to enhance Rosemont's academic, spiritual, and financial well-being. With the considerable help of the Stevens Strategy Group, the College evaluated its strengths, analyzed its financial position, researched its markets, solicited input from College stakeholders, including many alumni. We also looked to and learned from the experiences of other women's colleges, which have also examined the viability of single-sex education in the United States. Our research was completed in February, 2008 and the findings are the basis of the draft Strategic Plan to be presented for consideration at a meeting of the Board of Trustees on May 30-31. Alumni Participation & Communication Alumni have been encouraged and invited to participate in the Strategic Planning Process from the very beginning. In fact, in April of 2007, a letter from President Hirsh was mailed to all alumni at their home addresses to inform them that the Strategic Planning Process would be starting in the summer of 2007 and to invite them to take part. In addition, a total of 12 communications about the Process were emailed to alumni who have email addresses on file with the Alumni Office (approximately 5,000) and an additional 2 letters from President Hirsh were mailed to over 8,100 alumni - one in the Fall/Winter issue of Rosemont Magazine (along with an Alumni Survey) and one in January of this year. The College even produced a Special Edition of Rosemont Magazine which focused solely on the Strategic Planning Process. It was mailed to all alumni in April. The most recent letter from President Hirsh was emailed to alumni who have email addresses last week and was mailed to those without email. Four Open Campus Meetings have been held - each was attended by numerous alumni. In addition, the most recent Open Campus Meeting - held on May 1st - was broadcast live via a webcast on the Rosemont Alumni Online Community for any alum to view. The footage of the May 1st Open Campus Meeting was posted soon after within the Online Community, where it still resides, for alumni to view at their convenience. The College also set up an email address for questions to be submitted during the meeting. In addition, the Offices of Alumni Relations and College Relations, Ann Myhr, the President of the Alumni Association, President Hirsh, and/or I have been in communication via email, phone, and in-person meetings with many members of the alumni community since this Process began. We've all heard and responded to complaints, concerns, and suggestions, as well as to the many, many words of encouragement that have come in from alumni across the country. Our biggest priority in the Process has been to make it inclusive and open for all stakeholders - students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees, and friends. Conclusions of Analysis, Research, & Evaluation I want to assure you that the College community, and all of those involved in the Strategic Planning Process, have done considerable due diligence in arriving at the recommendations contained in the draft Plan. I also want you to know that at the beginning of this process, and in many cases throughout the process, the majority of those involved - students, faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, and friends of the College - did not want Rosemont to become co-ed at the undergraduate level, myself included- though, of course, we have been co-ed at the graduate level and in our professional studies programs for more than 20 years. Our survey of alumni, conducted early on in the process, reflected much the same sentiment. We all have been great proponents of Rosemont and we know, understand, and value the merits of an all-women's education. However, through our analysis, research, and evaluation we learned that we cannot continue to be viable as a Catholic single-sex college at the undergraduate level. In fact, a market research study was conducted, as part of the planning process, and concluded that there is virtually no market demand for a Catholic women's college in this area. The clash of perceptions of women's colleges versus Catholic colleges was confirmed by the College's survey of 30,000 regional high school girls: those who preferred a women's college (8%) had virtually no preference (less than 1%) for Catholic higher education, while those preferring a Catholic college (24%) had no desire for single-sex education (less than 1%). In addition, the analysis of enrollment models shows that while we might raise enrollment as a single-sex institution with huge and heroic efforts, we could never expect to gain the number of applications needed to raise the academic criteria for acceptance. If Rosemont becomes co-ed, our enrollment models forecast that we can be academically competitive within the next four to five years. Possibility of Merger with Another Institution Further, after investigating the possibility of merging Rosemont with another institution --- Villanova, as well as others --- and examining the histories of other higher education mergers, the Work Groups involved in the Strategic Planning Process further determined that a full merger with another institution would not serve Rosemont's best interests at this time, nor would it guarantee that Rosemont would continue to sustain its mission, identity, nor the single-sex nature of the Undergraduate Women's College. Instead, in the draft of the Plan we agreed to focus on strengthening existing partnerships - such as those we've had for many years with Villanova, Drexel, and the SEPCHE schools, as well as developing new partnerships. Funding Co-Education The full text of the draft Plan details much about the financial aspects of the Strategic Plan. (If you have not had the opportunity to read the entire draft, I encourage you to contact the Alumni Office to review it online or in paper format.) The College estimates that it will cost $4.6 million to cover the costs of becoming co-educational. Those funds will be secured through donations, the revenue resulting from increased enrollment, and through loans. What you may not realize, however, is that the College has invested five times that amount from many of the same income sources --- to say nothing of the energy and effort expended --- over the last 15 years under four presidents in its, and their, best and most sincere effort to sustain the Undergraduate Women's College. Mission Remains Unchanged The realities noted above, as well as several others that our research and analysis brought to light, prompted us to employ logic and reasoning, rather than emotion, to make the recommendation that we strengthen our financial viability and ultimately thrive by maintaining our identity and our Mission by providing an opportunity for all - both women and men - who desire a Holy Child educational experience. That said, I have to tell you, I am excited --- as is the College Community --- about the fact that in the coming years, new students will benefit from all that is Rosemont because of the recommendation that has been put forward in the draft of the Strategic Plan. The draft of the Strategic Plan is based on the College's clearly articulated and unchanged Mission and proposes that Rosemont is, and continues to be, the world's only Catholic college offering Cornelia Connelly's 'solid education' with holistic development, individual attention to talents, and with excellence and joy. It states that Rosemont is ready to expand the College in enrollment, programs, and reputation by embracing co-education, partnerships, and online education. I can assure you that, whatever the outcome of the Board's consideration of the draft Plan this coming weekend, Rosemont College will continue to deliver its unique brand of education, focused on the individual student, and that its community of trustees, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends will continue to celebrate the dignity and richness of each person. I sincerely hope that the facts and data contained in this email has helped to shed light on the College's Strategic Planning Process; I encourage you to be in touch with me directly if you have additional questions. Sincerely, Ron Remick Chair, Board of Trustees rremick@rosemont.edu |
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