Presidential Search 2015

Transcription

1 Presidential Search 2015

2 Founded in 1846, Taylor University is an evangelical Christian liberal arts college that integrates faith, living, and learning to provide an exceptional educational experience. Taylor, one of the oldest schools in the 120-member Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), has been ranked for eight consecutive years as the #1 Midwest regional college by U.S. News & World Report. The University is located in Upland, Indiana about 80 miles northeast of Indianapolis. This overview highlights eight areas that have allowed the University to achieve this level of distinction and, more importantly, fulfill its mission. The mission of Taylor University is to develop servant leaders marked with a passion to minister Christ s redemptive love and truth to a world in need. In order to advance this mission, Taylor University is committed to the following anchor points: Whole-Person Focused: We involve students in learning experiences imbued with a vital Christian interpretation of truth and life which foster their intellectual, emotional, physical, vocational, social, and spiritual development. Biblically Anchored and Liberal-Arts Grounded: We offer a liberal arts, professional, and life-long education based upon the conviction that all truth has its source in God and His Word. Christ Centered: Our Christian faith should permeate all learning, leading to a consistent life of worship, servant leadership, stewardship, and world outreach. Faith and Learning Integrated: We strive to create specific experiences where the integrative focus of a Christian liberal arts education is clarified, personalized, and applied. World Engaging: We contribute to the advancement of human knowledge and understanding and serve the evangelical Christian church and the larger (public) community for the glory of God. Servant-Leader Motivated: We foster a biblical model of relationships acknowledging both unity and diversity of the followers of Christ within a covenant community, which can be evidenced in a continuing lifestyle of service to and concern for others.

3 Taylor focuses on enrolling students who demonstrate the University's most prized qualities: the potential to thrive academically, a commitment to whole-person development in an intentional community, and the desire to live out the school's mission. Each year, approximately 475 academically motivated freshmen from across the country and around the world reinvigorate the highly residential Taylor campus. Their average high school GPA is 3.7, and their ACT Composite score is 30, compared to the national average of 25 (both measured at the 75 th percentile). This ACT scoring places Taylor freshmen at second place in comparison with the other Christian College Consortium (CCC) institutions. This past year's class was the most diverse in our history, with nearly 20% identifying themselves as American ethnic, international, or third-culture students. The entire student body represented 42 states and 31 countries, with about one-third of students coming from Indiana. Taylor's six-year graduation rate is consistently about 77%, compared to an average of 55% for all CCCU schools. In the latest National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), 90% of seniors said they would attend Taylor again, which is significantly higher than peer institutions. For each of the past two years, all 18 of the varsity sports at Taylor have earned NAIA Scholar- Team status, placing the University in the top three in the nation. The vast majority of students attend chapel services three times each week. Many are also involved in discipleship groups in their residence halls and elsewhere.

4 Taylor seeks to employ and retain committed, mission-driven faculty members who demonstrate academic excellence, a personal Christian faith, a dedication to the holistic development of University students, and a commitment to fostering intentional community on the campus. Taylor's faculty comprises 126 full-time academic members and 21 student development members, many of whom live close to campus. Of the full-time teaching faculty, 90% have the highest degrees in their fields. In a recent survey, 93% of alumni could cite a professor by name who had a significant, personal impact on their lives. There are 281 other staff members supporting academic and co-curricular programs, enrollment, facilities, finance, marketing, alumni relations, and development. Taylor's dedicated faculty members are known not only for their excellent teaching but also for engaging students in curricular and extracurricular activities that create a climate of deep learning. The student-faculty ratio is 13:1. Taylor's faculty includes award-winning professors, and each year approximately 85% of faculty members choose to participate in pedagogical development activities through the Bedi Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence. They are actively involved in scholarship that enriches their teaching as they write books and articles, undertake important research, and present to their peers.

5 Taylor is committed to ensuring that students participate in a highly integrated, engaging, and innovative liberal arts-based Foundational Core Curriculum. Participation nurtures students as they embrace what is true, good, and beautiful. It deepens their understanding of the world and increases their disposition and ability to learn throughout life. Discussions about the enduring questions of life foster substantive interaction between students and faculty. This, in turn, facilitates growth in the foundational core learning objectives of aesthetic competency, civic-mindedness, communication fluency, critical thinking and information literacy, quantitative and scientific knowledge, responsible stewardship, and spiritual maturity. The University offers 112 undergraduate degree programs. Currently, 36% of undergraduate students major in the areas of Business, Kinesiology, Elementary Education, or Biology. Other popular majors are Media Communication, Psychology, Biblical Literature, Christian Educational Ministries, Philosophy, and Computer Science and Engineering. Newer curricular offerings include a major in Public Health, a minor in Orphans and Vulnerable Children, and a minor in Political Science, Philosophy, and Economics. According to the 2014 Senior Exit Survey, more than 90% of Taylor seniors strongly agreed or agreed that My general education/foundational core courses helped me to think critically in the acquisition of knowledge and assessing the validity of ideas. Taylor emphasizes signature learning experiences by promoting the high-impact educational practices of undergraduate research, service-learning, community-based learning, and capstone projects. Involving students in signature learning opportunities helps them to develop critical thinking and creative problemsolving skills and better prepares them for work, graduate school, and living in a complex world. The intensive nature of faculty-mentored signature learning opportunities leads faculty to build distinctive relationships with students. The 2014 NSSE Survey revealed that Taylor seniors reported significantly higher levels of participation than peers at CCCU institutions in High-Impact Practices. For instance, 94% of Taylor students

6 participated in a senior capstone course, senior project or thesis, comprehensive exam, or portfolio development, as compared to the CCCU average of 58%. Similarly, 40% of Taylor students were able to work with a faculty member on a research project, as compared to the CCCU average of 24%. University, and Indiana University. Taylor fields several academic intercollegiate teams that provide significant faculty/student interaction and intensive learning opportunities. In the last 10 years, the Math Team has had more top-three finishes than any other institution in the annual Indiana Collegiate Mathematics Competition, including winning the competition in 2009, 2014, and The Ethics Bowl Debate Team regularly finishes well in regional and national competitions, including winning the National Ethics Bowl Championship in February 2015 and defeating such preeminent institutions as Duke University, Villanova In a recent national competition sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate University Nanosat Program, Taylor was one of just five schools to receive a $110,000 grant and the opportunity to launch their satellite. Taylor finished ahead of Boston University, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, UCLA, and the University of Florida. All the other teams that competed involved graduate students, while Taylor was the only team composed exclusively of undergraduate students. A Taylor education promotes growth in each student's understanding, appreciating, and valuing diverse cultures and peoples, and it fosters global knowledge and engagement to develop intercultural competency. As part of an increasingly pluralistic society which is embedded in an evershrinking world, students must be equipped with new

7 understandings, attitudes, and skills to effectively live, work, and partner with people of diverse cultural backgrounds and worldviews. Global engagement and service is at the core of the Taylor experience. The University has received high national rankings in Open Doors, published by the Institute of International Education in association with the U.S. Department of State. Taylor ranks third nationally among baccalaureate schools for student participation in study/service abroad. This past year, 463 students participated in 32 programs in 38 countries, and 80% of Taylor students have traveled overseas. Global engagement includes involvement in the Upland community, throughout northeast Indiana, and across the country. For the past five years, Taylor has been selected for the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll in the General Community Service category. This recognition reflects numerous initiatives, including Community Plunge and other efforts that send hundreds of Taylor students throughout neighboring communities each year for service projects. Taylor helps students understand vocation both in its general sense and as a particular calling in their lives, while providing specific guidance on how students can achieve success in securing choice work or graduate school opportunities upon graduation. Taylor fosters vocational discernment by helping students understand their strengths, interests, and skills; introducing them to helpful alumni networks; and increasing student participation in internship-type experiences. According to the 2014 NSSE results, 85% of Taylor seniors reported participation in internships, co-op and field experiences, or student-teaching or clinical placements, as compared to 56% for the University's CCCU peers. The 2014 Alumni Survey revealed that 96% of the University's first-year graduates were employed full-time or part-time, or attending graduate school. According to the 2014 Parent Survey, 85% of parents strongly agreed or agreed that Taylor helped their students develop a sense of vocation. The University's Promising Ventures program is demonstrating early success in connecting entrepreneurialminded students with alumni for the purpose of creating meaningful work opportunities within Indiana.

8 Taylor University has a 952-acre campus with more than 1.1 million square feet in facilities, of which 238,000 square feet represents new construction and 175,000 square feet has been extensively renovated within the last 10 years. New facilities include the Euler Science Complex, three residence halls, a Memorial Prayer Chapel, and a football/soccer stadium. On April 9, 2015, construction began on the 50,000-square-foot LaRita Boren Campus Center (student union). That project also will substantially renovate the Rediger Chapel/Auditorium. The University's annual operating budget is $77 million and has consistently finished with a positive operating margin. The budget is primarily funded by student tuition and fees ($38,768 for ). Taylor continues to focus on providing a great value for a great price by innovatively managing costs and limiting tuition increases. (Tuition has increased approximately 2.5% for each of the past three years, which falls below the average rate of increase for all colleges and universities.) About 60% of students graduate with debt. For those who do have debt, the average is $25,150, which is below the national average. Taylor's extended community shows its support for Taylor in multiple ways. For example, each year one out of three alumni makes a gift to Taylor or participates in a University event. According to the 2014 Parent Survey, parents strongly support the University, and 95% would support their student's choice to attend Taylor again. In the past 10 years, net assets have grown from $134.9 million to $198.5 million, and the endowment has increased from $50 million to $85 million. During that same time, more than 10,000 families and individuals have given gifts to Taylor totaling more than $155 million.

9 The Board of Trustees of Taylor University announces the search for the University s next president. The search is being launched in response to Dr. Eugene Habecker s announcement that the upcoming academic year will be his final year after having served as Taylor s president for eleven years. The University seeks an experienced, proven leader who will embrace the tradition, ethos, and vision of Taylor University and will empower and propagate its core values Christian scholarship, whole-person education, faith, life, ethics, and service. The president will lead the effort of making stronger the qualities that distinguish Taylor while guiding the institution in continued achievement of its mission and vision. Taylor University is seeking a Christian leader with a clear sense of divine calling to the ministry of Christian higher education and to the leadership of Taylor University. Committed to the institutional church and the nondenominational character of the University, this person must demonstrate the abilities necessary to provide spiritual leadership for all university constituencies. Willingness to affirm and embrace the foundational policies of the University is pivotal. The University s foundational policies are the Mission and Purposes of the University, the Statement of Faith, the Life Together Covenant, the Statement on the Sanctity of Life, and the Statement of Multicultural Philosophy. Committed to excellence in classroom academics, out-of-classroom education, and intentional community life, this individual should personify and be able to articulate the whole-person educational philosophy of Taylor University. Accomplished in both academic scholarship and organizational leadership, the University president is expected, through visionary and entrepreneurial leadership, to create, maintain, and enhance a whole-person educational environment of the highest quality for a diverse student body. The University president must have a clear commitment to and love for students. He or she must articulate, teach, defend, and promote the value of scholarship, Christian doctrine, and thoughtful reflection in the context of a pragmatic and utilitarian world. An earned doctorate is preferred.

10 The Taylor University president must be a team builder with proven ability to lead a complex organization. He or she must be able to lead the University in successfully addressing the fast-changing issues facing Christian higher education. Such leadership requires the people skills and personality to develop a trusted and comfortable rapport and relationship with all university communities. Such leadership also requires having a clear grasp of the marketing imperative of a Christian liberal arts institution seeking to increase its national recognition. These leadership skills should be implemented through a management style that promotes transparency, collegiality, achievement, accountability, and support. Other factors crucial to the president s success are the relationship skills and personality needed to attract, develop, and enhance strong financial support for the University. The president should expect to participate in the University s fundraising program by using those skills to develop key donor relationships and accomplish significant fundraising efforts. Although applications will be accepted until the time that a new president is appointed, candidates should submit materials by September 10, 2015, for most favorable consideration. Nominations, expressions of interest, and applications should be submitted to [email protected]. Confidential inquiries and questions concerning this search may be directed to: Price Harding Partner [email protected] Bill Peterson Partner [email protected]