Renaissance II: What Has Been Done; What is Left To Do

Although there is much to do, we have already begun our academic focus by:

• Revising our Freshman Orientation and Welcome Week programming;
• Studying and revising our First Year Experience classes;
• Establishing an Office of Institutional Research to track our successes and challenges;
• Establishing an Office of International Study and widely expanding the number of international programs our students can select as part of their education;
• Launching a reinvigorated Faculty Development Program, with renewed emphasis on scholarly activity, including the Faculty Brown Bag Scholarship series, and with ample opportunities for faculty to learn more about teaching and learning;
• Auditing the physical infrastructure of our academic buildings so we can prioritize and plan upgrades;
• Updating our Mathematics Laboratory to reflect the needs of a 21st century student
• Expanding our wireless technology to cover all of campus;
• Increasing Internet bandwidth by over 500% to support the growing technology needs of our students and faculty;
• Upgrading every computer lab on campus;
• Developing capstone courses in department without them;
• Initiating an agreement with the Specs Howard School of Broadcasting;
• Increasing the size of our faculty to 80 full or half-time positions;
• Establishing an Institutional Review Board in order to allow using human subjects in student research;
• Purchased major science and exercise science equipment such as a “Bod Pod” body fat analyzer, one of only a few located on a college campus in Michigan;
• Reconstructed our Human Anatomy Laboratory
• And much more.

There is also much to look forward to. Over the next several years, we anticipate major renovations of Rush Hall and Knight Auditorium. We also anticipate a major addition to Peelle Hall to house our sciences and laboratories, and the potential of a new music and performing arts center. In addition, all academic facilities will be upgraded to better serve our students and their learning.

Faculty are now working hard on developing exciting curricular changes that will include institutes, innovative internships, and experiential learning. The faculty and campus community recently approved “Ribbons of Excellence,” the first academic mission statement in Adrian College’s 148 year history. Moreover, Adrian College students will find a choice of studies that will provide a broad-based liberal arts education, which is the hallmark of Adrian College. The curriculum is intended to provide the skills and experiences students need to become 21st century leaders.