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Review
of 2003 goals reveals good news
BY LINDA MCHUGH
What a difference a year makes. In 2002, the long-used Cassell Building
sat empty on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue at Ward Circle.
By November the site was cleared, a new basketball court was dedicated
to AU’s “Pop” Cassell, and ground was broken at Ward
Circle for the Katzen Arts Center. Today, bulldozers, cement mixers,
and cranes make daily progress toward completing a long-held university
dream.
While the construction on the Katzen Arts Center and the completion
of the new Greenberg Theatre mark both literal and figurative progress
toward a new AU, the list of academic and administrative improvements
made in 2002–2003 is long and varied.
A full list of 2002–2003 faculty, staff, and administration
performance management goals and accomplishments is available on-line,
but all that hard work deserves some ink. Below are some highlights
of the past year’s good news.
Academic Affairs
Provost Neil Kerwin reports more than two dozen academic achievements,
including:
- „ AU
placed five semi-finalists in the Truman Fellowship competition
and one candidate received the prestigious national award.
- The Washington
College of Law received an award of $733,516 from the Institute
of International Education to serve as a host institution for
a Humphrey Fellowship Program (U.S. Department of State) in human
rights.
- The Washington
Semester Program and the Office of International Affairs collaborated
in launching the North American Studies Institute and expanding
AU’s partnership with Monterrey Tec in Mexico.
Campus Life
Vice president
of campus life (OCL) Gail Hanson noted numerous projects and fine-tunings
in housing, dining, social, health, and service programs that enhance
student services. Highlights include:
- Gifts and
grants made to OCL totaled $150,000.
- Twenty-seven
Campus Dialogues on Race engaged over 250 students.
- A campuswide
AOD Task Force recommended strategies for further developing students’
sense of responsibility and good citizenship based on results
of the national Core Alcohol and Drug Survey.
Development
Al Checcio, vice president of development, reported on the university’s
top priority for 2002–2003: the launch of a $200 million capital
campaign. Among the development department’s accomplishments
are:
- $12.6 million
in new campaign gifts and pledges raised that marked completion
of the quiet phase of the campaign
- Successful
recruitment of committee members for all major areas of the campaign,
and three schools and colleges
Enrollment Services
In enrollment
services eyes were on the prize of making AU a smaller, more selective
university, and they succeeded.
- The fall
2003 freshman class was the smallest in recent history with an
increase of 14 points in the average SAT and an admit rate of
only 59 percent.
- Design,
editorial, marketing, and media made contributions to the capital
campaign launch through consultations and with stories placed
in internal and external press.
Finance
and Treasurer
Vice president of finance and treasurer Don Myers, who oversees
finances, human resources, facilities, and risk management, listed
nearly three dozen successfully met goals for his areas, including:
- The May
grand opening of the Greenberg Theatre, which fulfilled a longtime
goal for improved academic and performance space for the performing
arts program
- Safety and
risk management projects, including creation of a University Safety
Project Team; completion of an evacuation plan for residence halls,
classrooms, and offices; and recruitment and training of more
than 200 emergency assistance volunteers
- An upgraded
credit rating from Standard and Poor’s from A- to A, and
a first-time Moody’s rating of A2
- Selection
of a new life and disability insurer, which offers identical levels
of coverage, at a saving for the university and employees of $200,000
- General
Counsel
- Provided
legal assistance to committees and project teams on projects,
including HIPPA (human resources), SEVIS (international students),
FERPA (registrar’s office), and Title IX and Title VI (financial
aid)
- Launched
an aggressive campaign to prevent the dilution of the university’s
name, trademarks, and logos
- Consulted
on more than 20 requests for immigration assistance from faculty
researchers and staff
International
Affairs
- Inaugurated
the Center for Democracy and Election Management (CDEM), which
cosponsored two dialogues between Israelis and Palestinians in
Washington and in Jerusalem. CDEM also sponsored faculty seminars
and began planning two major conferences for fall and winter 2003–2004.
- The vice
president chaired a project team as a first phase in improving
the level of internationalization at AU. The team recommended
doubling the number of students studying abroad and expanding
significantly the number and improving the quality of international
students studying at AU. Took lead in organizing an advisory group
to ABTI University in Nigeria to consider options for a long-term
relationship.
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