Notre Dame College...Becoming the finest, small, Catholic,
liberal arts college in the Great Lakes region

Notre Dame College Self-Study Report

Chapter One: Three Themes

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Self-Study Report

• Chapter 1
  • Introduction
  • Three Themes
  • Self-Study 2000 Events
  • Self-Study 2000 Findings
  • Self-Study Goals 2007
• Chapter 2: Criterion One - Mission and Integrity
• Chapter 3: Criterion Two - Preparing for the Future
• Chapter 4: Criterion Three - Student Learning & Effective Teaching
• Chapter 5: Criterion Four - Acquisition, Discovery, and Application of Knowledge
• Chapter 6: Criterion Five - Engagement & Service
• Chapter 7: Conclusions

 

Maintaining and strengthening the College’s legacy
The College’s legacy is tightly entwined with the Sisters of Notre Dame and their history, charism, and presence. The Sisters serve on the Board of Directors, work as faculty and staff, and support the College’s activities. In his Inaugural Address, Dr. Andrew P. Roth said,

“Notre Dame College’s…core values come from and remain those of the Sisters of Notre Dame. (They)…established a presence on Ansel Road and then for 80-plus years on this land in South Euclid provided educational excellence in the Catholic tradition as witnesses to God’s providential goodness, the truth that life is worth living and Fr. Bernard Overberg’s philosophy of teaching rooted in the Catholic tradition.”

In speaking for Notre Dame College, Dr. Roth avowed that it is “one who serves” and strives to change the world one student at a time. Several strategic initiatives support this promise:

• The College’s strategic planning employs a template that guides the consideration of all strategic initiatives. This template presents three lenses through which an initiative is evaluated. The first lens requires that the initiative pass through the mission test. That is, each initiative must be deemed as mission-based before an initiative is further evaluated through the remaining lenses, financial/budget and facilities.

• The Office of Campus Ministry was established in February, 2005. It “promotes the spiritual growth of the Notre Dame College community. Through the Catholic identity of the institution and the charism of the Sisters of Notre Dame, Campus Ministry seeks to foster personal and spiritual growth through which each person grows in their understanding of themselves, God, and the world. This is accomplished through service to the community around us, worship and prayerful experiences, meaningful activities, and community building.” (Notre Dame College Prayer Book, page 38)

• Although the College owns its buildings, the land on which Notre Dame College sits belongs to the Sisters of Notre Dame. The result of many conversations is a generous offer from the Sisters to sell the land to the College. The effect of this transaction will be to increase the borrowing power of the College. This is necessary so that the College can improve and build facilities.

• In February, 2007, a new position, Special Assistant to the President for Mission Effectiveness, was added. The responsibilities of this position include ensuring the College mission and the charism of the Sisters of Notre Dame are infused throughout the College community; ensuring that academic affairs, student development, athletics, and various outreach efforts are consonant with the mission and charism. The Special Assistant will also chair an ad hoc committee for faculty and student development.

The theme of Notre Dame College’s efforts to maintain and strengthen the College’s legacy is apparent throughout this Report. However, Chapter Two explores the College’s efforts to operate with integrity to ensure the fulfillment of its mission.

Notre Dame College as a Turn-around Institution
Dr. Roth described serious challenges facing the College in his Inaugural Address in November 2003: a culture of austerity that kept the College from funding initiatives that would help the College grow, a culture that needed to break its mold of seeing limitations rather than possibilities, a culture confronted by difficult enrollment challenges, and a culture clinging to the false hope that fund raising would solve the College’s financial difficulties. These ways of thinking and behaving hampered the College’s ability to continue the growth that began in 2001 when the College made the decision to accept men as students and become a coeducational institution. Success required a new culture, a new belief, and a new behavioral structure. The College focused on enrollment as a strategy for turning around these serious challenges. By reviewing the College’s enrollment history, alumni giving, and current operating challenges it became clear why this was and continues to be so important.

 

Enrollment History
Table 1.1 provides a review of enrollment by headcount over 60 years, a period of time that transcends several current demographic trends affecting higher education. It shows that Notre Dame was affected by the same factors as other Catholic colleges.

• While a single-sex college, full-time enrollment peaked in the late 1960s.

• Part-time, convenience-oriented enrollment of mostly adults, became a significant factor by the mid 1970s.

Unlike most other religious based colleges in the United States that turned coeducational earlier, Notre Dame College remained a singlesex college until 2001. This key factor explains many of the challenges facing the College.

• Total headcount is at an all-time high following three years (2004, 2005, and 2006) of significant growth in full-time enrollment.

• During the period as a single-sex college, full-time enrollment peaked at almost 500 students from 1962 through 1968, then declined to approximately 300 students by 1975, followed by an increase to 400 or so during the 1980’s before declining steadily again to nearly 200 by 1999.

• After the expansion to coeducation in 2001, full-time enrollment increased to about 300 by 2003.

• Under the current administration, full-time enrollment more than doubled to 793 in 2006.

• Part-time, convenience-oriented enrollment became significant by 1975 and thus increased enrollment. Part-time enrollment has remained level and a steady component of total headcount since 1980.

• Graduate enrollment began in 1991 but was not significant until 2000.

Table 1.1: Headcount and Alumni Impact Over 60 Years

View Table 1.1: Headcount and Alumni Impact Over 60 Years
(PDF File Table1.1.pdf, 430KB)

An examination of full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment offers further information. Table 1.2 illustrates the following:

• FTEs also reached record levels in 2004, 2005, and again in 2006. All groups (full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate) have impacted this growth.

• Before the recent peaks, driven by different factors, FTEs peaked twice:

In 1966, FTEs reached 575 mostly from full-time enrollment.

In 1990, FTEs exceeded 600 driven by a second peak in full-time enrollment and a strong part-time enrollment.

While remaining an all women’s college, full-time enrollment declined by more than half over a 30-year period from its peak until the decision to become coeducational. This decline created a sustained, long term period of constrained resources that impacted the following:

• Facility maintenance was curtailed, leading to deferred maintenance,

• Lack of investment in new programs, courses of study, and facilities limited the College’s attraction to new students and perhaps risked its quality of education,

• The College experienced difficulty in recruiting students,

• There was a downward pressure on tuition pricing, and

• Alumni and community leaders were often called upon for financial support since the College relied heavily on donations to fund its basic operations.

Table 1.2: Full-Time Equivalent Enrollment over 60 Years

View Table 1.2: Full-Time Equivalent Enrollment over 60 Years
(PDF File Table1.2.pdf, 361KB)

 

Alumni Giving
The College could not depend on fund raising as a way out of financial fragility. Despite having common educational programming while being a single-sex college, three alumnae groups evolved having very distinctive characteristics:

• Pre-1975 alumnae are very loyal to the College, its mission, and the Sisters of Notre Dame. Contributions were generally regular and strong, even if not yielding significant results.

• 1975 to 2000 alumnae are not as loyal contributors, some having a lasting resentment of the single-sex institution, perhaps because Notre Dame College was chosen for them by their families. Annual giving is nominal, perhaps because the alumnae believe that gifts will subsidize operations and not have a lasting impact.

• 1975 to present Weekend College (WECO) alumnae are very loyal to their peers, faculty, and staff, having only lukewarm connections to the College due in part to the convenience element or commuter nature of adult education.

By 2003, each of these groups required a new and fresh connection with the College given its recent change to coeducation. An emerging group, alumni since 2001, are different from earlier alumnae and appear to be better connected to the College.

 

Table 1.3: Gifts and Grants 1995 – 2006
Source: Finance Office

View Table 1.3: Gifts and Grants 1995 – 2006
(PDF File Table1.3-Gifts-Grants.pdf, 11KB)

Table 1.3 illustrates the gifts and grants contributed to the College from 1995 through 2006. This financial support is shown as three types of giving: permanently restricted gifts (endowments), temporarily restricted gifts (scholarships, educational equipment), and unrestricted gifts. The unrestricted gifts subsidize on-going operational expenses and are the funds that could help the College move away from financial fragility.

However, since 1995, even though gifts and grants averaged about $1.5 million per year, the unrestricted portion of gifts provided by alumni has decreased significantly. The College will need to connect with each of the four alumnae/alumni groups and its unique educational experience with the College before expecting unrestricted giving to increase. This is a difficult and time-consuming challenge.

Operating Challenges
The College depends on continued improvement through turnaround efforts. The following operating challenges are affected by these efforts:

• Traditional enrollment is increasing but it is still below an optimal point to support the College’s operations. Full-time enrollment must grow to about 1,200 to 1,400 undergraduate students to sustain economic stability.

To attain this goal, annual recruitment goals are now set at 300 for firsttime, full-time freshmen and transfer students. Table 1.4 illustrates current traditional-aged enrollment growth. Since 2004, each Fall welcomed more than 200 new traditional students to campus. Traditional enrollment is attributed to improved recruiting strategies that include direct and personal marketing, new academic and athletic programs, and a close relationship with athletics.

Table 1.4: Traditional-aged Student Enrollment Growth
Source: Admissions Office

View Table 1.4: Traditional-aged Student Enrollment Growth
(PDF File Table1.4-Traditional-Aged-Student-Enrollment.pdf, 11KB)

This effort, in addition to increased adult recruitment success, has resulted in 505 full-time undergraduate students in 2004, 604 full-time undergraduate students (traditional, adult, WECO, and Teacher Education Evening Licensure Students) in 2005, and 793 full-time undergraduate students in 2006. (See Table 1.6, page 20.)

• Faculty salaries remain the lowest in the state. A salary plan is now in effect to increase salaries. (See page 29.)

• There is heavy reliance on adjunct faculty. Although this allows great flexibility, there is limited oversight of course content, instructional methods, and student support. Improved adjunct orientation and department involvement are addressing this challenge.

• Prior to 2003, academic programs were contracting rather than expanding due to low enrollment and financial concerns. New curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular programs are being designed and implemented. Additional faculty and staff have been hired to create and manage innovative programs.

• Prior to 2003, an accurate portrayal of the College’s economic condition was not shared with the College community and the budgeting process was not well communicated. The College community had a general knowledge that resources were scarce as budgets were held steady or reduced every year. Financial information is now shared at General Meetings with faculty and staff and the Finance Office is open to budget discussions.

The theme of Notre Dame College’s efforts to turnaround the institution is apparent throughout this Report. Chapter Three in particular explores the College’s allocation of resources, planning, and more details of its turnaround efforts.

The Vision
Dr. Roth described his vision during his Inaugural Address and has stayed true to it throughout his three-and-a-half years as President. In that address he asked three questions:

1. “How will Notre Dame College become a 21st century liberal arts college – one that not only prepares students to earn a living but also helps them learn how to live a life?

2. How will it become a college anchored in its historic mission and roots but a college looking to the future?

3. How will it remain a college that serves the underserved?”

 

He answered these questions. The College will become masters of:

• “Replacing a culture of austerity with a culture of execution and achievement,

• Slow, steady, incremental growth, and

• Creativity in programming, finances, distribution, and recruitment and promotion.”

He ended his address with the words of the vision, “at Notre Dame College we will dream great dreams and live large lives so that in 10 years the next generation of leaders will find a college ‘poised to assume its place as one of the finest, small, Catholic, liberal arts colleges in the Great Lakes region.’” The theme of Notre Dame College’s efforts to live the vision is apparent throughout the College. Chapters Four, Five, and Six of this Report provide more focus on the efforts in these arenas.

 

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