TO:	Board of Trustees
FROM:	Richard E. Greene
DATE:	October 26, 1995
SUBJECT:	How can Goddard become the national leader in progressive education?

The following outline is a compilation of my notes, observations, and numerous drafts of a vision statement that is currently before the Goddard community.

Many of these ideas came from various college constituencies, including past and present Trustees; previous Presidents, former administrators and faculty, and alumni/ae in order to gain a perspective of Goddard's rich history. I also listened to the present Goddard community of faculty, staff, students, and external observers of Goddard College's contributions to higher education.

1. Resources - Academic upgrades and endowment enhancement

2. Educational experimentation and innovation

3. Commitment to diversity among staff, faculty and students

4. Fiscal stability and enrollment growth

5. A national Board of Trustees committed to providing resources and focusing on futuristic issues

6. Quality academic programs

7. Mastery of technology through a video and interactive communications network

8. An outstanding faculty committed to progressive values

9. New academic program development (for example, a possible innovative doctoral program)

10. Institutional-wide commitment to change (cultural and structural) while maintaining progressive values and Goddard traditions

11. A national research center on progressive education composed of Goddard faculty and other national scholars

12. Restoration of present campus facilities and development of new facilities based on a comprehensive campus plan

13. Shared leadership with clearly defined decision-making authority of individuals, committees, and bodies of the College.

14. Planning - the development of a strategic long?range plan that incorporates the goals of the Priorities Plan and the Governance Report

Student/Faculty Ratio

The current student/faculty ratio at Goddard College is 6:1. There are 3,300 colleges and universities in America, and that ratio may be one of the lowest faculty/student ratio in the country. In the September 1995 "U. S. News and World Report" version of America's Best Colleges and Universities, it listed only one university and one college that had a similar student/faculty ratio: the California Institute of Technology and Sarah Lawrence College.

If you contrast Goddard to Hampshire College (another progressive school), Hampshire has a faculty/student ratio of 12:1. That means in terms of efficiency, it costs Goddard twice as many dollars to provide direct educational services (courses/group studies and advising) as it does for Hampshire College.

Class Size

There is a need to reach an agreement for a minimum number of students (exclusive of staff enrollment) in order for a group study to run. We may want to consider a number such as 7 or 8. We are currently running 14 group studies with 6 students or less; one group study has 2 students.

Restructuring Faculty Workload

During the Fall 1994 semester, only two (possibly three) full-time faculty taught a normal load due to reduction in load for administrative duties. During the Fall 1995 semester, the full-time faculty are teaching 58% of the courses offered; 42% of our courses are being taught by part-time faculty.

The faculty need to review their workload assignments to determine how we can change the model in order to give the faculty more time for teaching and advising.

Faculty Profile

Number of Faculty Female/Male Doctorates Off-Campus Faculty (part-time) 36 22 F / 13 M 13 On-Campus and Core Faculty (full-time) 17 10 F / 7 M 7 3 part-time 1 F / 2 M 3 Associate On-Campus Faculty (part-time) 7 4 F / 3 M 1 Summary Totals 52 (full & part-time) 37 F / 15 M 24 * 71% F / 29% M ** 46%

* This is a very positive figure for the College to promote. Even all-women college faculties do not have that percentage of women faculty members.

** A number of the 11 full and part-time Masters of Fine Arts faculty hold the MFA degree, which may be considered a terminal degree in the creative arts area. If you added them with the doctorates, the percentage with terminal degrees increases to 67%.

During the past sixty days:

1. Goddard College's name has appeared in Time magazine, The New Yorker. The New York Times, and The Chronicle of Higher Education due to faculty member Eric Zencey's outstandingly successful first novel, Panama. Eric is currently on a book tour and on sabbatical from his faculty responsibilities for this academic year.

2. The students performed Samuel Beckett's play, "Waiting for Godot," and received excellent reviews for their efforts.

3. We have initiated dialogue with the Senior Citizens Advisory Group in Plainfield. The senior citizens will be taking their noon meals with our students in the cafeteria and we are considering finding space for them to move the Senior Center onto the campus. What an inter-generational mix that would bring to campus since we already have a preschool center as well.

4. At the beginning of the semester, the College conducted a symposium on "individuality and community" which successfully engaged the community in a common learning experience during the first week of the semester, focusing attention on these two issues and building a base of common language and experience. Evaluations of this experiment indicate that it helped us to get the campus program off to an excellent start.

5. We had a highly successful Work Day on October 25 - projects included rebuilding the Design Center stairs; putting siding on the new kiln building; painting in the Studies Building, the Manor, the Haybarn Theater, and the Community Center; winterizing the gardens, and a general clean-up of the grounds and buildings.

6. The local battered women's shelter held a volunteer training on campus for the first time, and at least eight students are serving as volunteers.

7. We have held a variety of campus activities, including a multicultural film series, a sunset hike to Owl's Head, the Art Group Art Show, rock climbing and hiking at Smuggler's Notch, the Womyn's Center held a mask-making workshop, Goddard hosted a rainforest awareness program, and the community can participate in the weekly movie series, Jazz Night, and Family Night at the Ratskellar (G-rated movies, juice, and home-baked goodies).

8. Upcoming activities on campus include a Halloween costume party, the Bread and Puppet "Passion Play for Bosnia," Joyce Johnson speaking on The Beat Generation, the First Annual Goddard College Holiday Marketplace, and the Goddard "Prom."

9. Nearly doubling the size of the counseling staff is enabling the counselors to begin doing more outreach and educational programming on topics such as stress management, eating disorders, and career/life planning.

10. WGDR is receiving and installing nearly $40,000 worth of equipment from NPR to establish a digital downlink.

11. WGDR held an on-campus fund-raiser that brought in about $1,000 for the station while providing a day of music and entertainment for the campus and the community.

12. $75,000 from the Work College grant has brought an increase in aid to students and resulted in Goddard students working in a variety of community service settings.

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