Of Mind & Heart Newsletter: Summer 1998

An update from Whitworth University President Bill Robinson

As usual, summer has covered the campus with extraordinary color and beauty. Actually, this has been one of the more lively "dodge the sprinkler" seasons in recent Whitworth history. (Everyone who has visited Whitworth during the summer has played, willingly or not.) We've had very little rain and temperatures upwards of 90 degrees (dry heat, of course, much like you would find in a microwave) all July. When visitors come to campus during this season, we veterans sport a little swagger in our step as we time perfectly our paths through these water assaults. So last week, when I smugly approached a group of admiring campus visitors after an impressive display of my navigational skills, you can imagine my embarrassment when an 8-year-old took manual control of the sprinkler head and drilled me with a full frontal attack. I guess pride goeth before immersion as well as before a fall. But not even an 8-year-old water terrorist can dampen our spirits as we reflect on God's grace during the year past, and as we prepare for the year to come. Final reports of our 1997-98 year are very encouraging, as are all the indicators for this fall. Thanks for your interest in Whitworth. I hope this summer finds you well.

Academics

The big news is from Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Gordon Jackson, chair of the regional accreditation team. Last week we sent our 250-page self-study to the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges. An evaluation team will visit the campus at the end of September for this once-per-decade review. Colleges are more accustomed to giving grades than to receiving them, but gaining the NASC's approval is important. I'm sure we'll receive high marks.

A fine group of new faculty members joins us this year. Some of these names are familiar, as they've already served us well as adjunct faculty or in other capacities.

• Phyllis Andersen: instructor, modern languages (Spanish)
• Sean Bushey: assistant professor, kinesiology; head men's and women's soccer coach; head men's tennis coach
• Nadine Chapman: instructor, English
• David Holt: visiting assistant professor, history/political and international studies
• Judy Lang: administrative faculty; assistant professor, English Language Program
• Susan Mabry: assistant professor, mathematics and computer science and MIM (beginning Jan. 1, 1999)
• Douglas Nelson: visiting assistant professor, economics and business
• Martin Niboh: visiting assistant professor, physics
• Ralph (Rick) Otteson: instructor, mathematics and computer science
• S. Bryan Priddy: assistant professor, music; director of choral activities
• Richard Stevens: assistant professor, physics
• Betty Williams: associate professor, school of education
• Keith Wyma: assistant professor, religion and philosophy

Our faculty members continue to make very significant contributions in their fields. Two recent examples from our science division include Lois Kieffaber in physics and Tony Mega in chemistry. Lois was awarded a prestigious POWRE grant (Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education) from the National Science Foundation. The grant will support her research in atmospheric physics and provide $8,000 in additional instrumentation for the Physics Department to use in student research projects. Tony has received a $90,000 National Science Foundation grant that will provide half the funding needed for a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. This instrument is intended both for our students' use and for the use of area high school students and their teachers, who will be able to do highly sophisticated analysis in our remodeled science building. Tony is now working on raising the other $90,000 of needed funds. We'd love to hear from you if you have an interest in supporting this project.

With the rising importance of grant dollars, we are working hard to give our faculty the training and tools needed to generate support for their projects. To that end, the college's academic grant writer, Lynn Noland, presented a week-long workshop in June for 30 faculty and administrators to help them develop grant applications for FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education), a U. S. Department of Education program. By the week's end, nine preliminary proposals were complete; they're now being polished for submission in October.

English Professor Laura Bloxham has been appointed to continue the fine job of faculty mentoring and development that she has provided as one of our acting associate deans during the past two years. She'll now be spending a portion of her time as director of faculty development.

Psychology Professor Jim Waller will go on the road to present Core 650 in Portland on Aug. 29. Jim will discuss Whitworth's nationally recognized "Prejudice Across America" Jan Term study tour as well as his new book, Face to Face: The Changing State of Racism Across America. For information or to RSVP for this event, contact the Alumni Office at 509-777-3799 or 1-800-533-4668.

Journalism major (and member of the Class of '01) Peter Metcalf ended his first year at Whitworth by earning a spot in a nationally competitive journalism program in Washington, D.C., run by the Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities. Reporting from the nation's capital, Peter recently had two major stories on politics and government published in Spokane's Spokesman-Review. I think the D.C. media could use some Whitworth influence.

A delegation of Whitworth faculty and administrators recently returned from a trip to Korea and Hong Kong, where they visited Whitworth's sister institutions and met with corporate leaders and social and economic commentators. The trip, funded by a Title VI grant from the U. S. Department of Education, focused on building partnerships between institutions of higher education and the Asian corporate sector. According to Whitworth Institute of International Management Director Dan Sanford, who led the trip, George Weber (Business & Economics), John Falvey (MIM), Jack Burns (education/communication studies), Ginny Whitehouse (communication studies), Bob Clark (sociology) and Marlene Niemeier (MIM) will integrate their new business contacts and the information they gathered into their courses here at Whitworth. Vice President for Institutional Advancement Kristi Burns, who accompanied the group, also traveled to Bangkok for alumni meetings there. She reports that alums in the cities she visited dearly loved their Whitworth experience and are now making substantial contributions to Asian society through their churches, businesses and schools.

Enrollment

Freshman registration for this fall is right where we want it, and our new students will again be very bright and accomplished. For the fifth consecutive year, we will be at our "capacity" enrollment. Actually, in each of these years our overall enrollment has gone up, but growth has been in areas that are somewhat elastic, such as our evening programs. I suppose these increases beg the definition of capacity, but we feel very close to the point of optimum efficiency and effectiveness. The biggest factor fueling our growth is a retention percentage that has risen every year during that period. Strong retention is a very reliable indicator of a college's quality, so we are delighted that Whitworth is far above the national average in this area.

Resources

On behalf of the students and employees of Whitworth College, I want to express our deepest appreciation for your support during the 1997-98 fiscal year. The college recorded more than $7 million in gift revenue, including bequests. Kudos to the people who helped secure these important resources for our students and faculty, and thanks again to you devoted donors who have given so generously this past year.

Great news on the Johnston Science Center. The Murdock Charitable Trust has approved a grant of $500,000 for the center's renovation. As I have said in past issues of Mind and Heart, over the years no individual or organization has invested in science and technology at Whitworth at a level that comes close to Murdock's support. We are very grateful to the Murdock trustees and staff for the ways in which they have enriched our programs. Another cause for celebration is a $150,000 pledge to the renovation project from Telect, Inc. This amazing company, started by Whitworth Trustee Judi Williams and her husband, Bill, has enjoyed explosive growth over the past 15 years. Now under the leadership of the Williamses' son, Wayne, Telect has an explicitly Christian orientation in its service to employees and customers alike. So we are not only grateful, but we are also proud to be supported by Telect so generously.

Summer projects are going well, and we look forward to greeting new and returning students with a number of exciting facility changes. Phase II of the Campus Center will be operational when the academic year begins, and students will be able to dine in the elegance of a beautiful and spacious commons. Early response from students indicates that the new meal plan, which includes a late-night option (9:30 to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday), is wildly popular, especially with those known to graze nocturnally at some of the fast-food joints on Division. Offices of the Student Life staff have moved to the second floor of the Campus Center and will be conveniently located for student visits.

Both Arend and Baldwin-Jenkins Halls have been undergoing significant remodeling this summer, with huge improvements to the baths, student rooms, corridors and lounges. Students will enjoy fresh paint (more than 400 gallons of which has been applied by our own capable student paint crew), and new wallcoverings and carpet. I toured these residence halls last week, and although they're really torn up right now, they'll feel like new this fall.

I also walked through the Johnston Science Center last week. It looks like a war zone — but that's a good sign. Much of the work being done in this $2.5 million project is devoted to infrastructure. While the project is on schedule for completion in about six months, we will only be able to use one chemistry classroom in the building this fall. Classes for biology and physics will have temporary locations in other buildings for the fall term.

Thanks to your support, and to our very disciplined budget managers and strong enrollments, the college has completed another fiscal year in good financial shape. It is essential for us to maintain a stable base of operations. One small concern at the close of the 1998 fiscal year was that a wonderful increase in restricted gifts was accompanied by a slight decline in unrestricted giving, which left The Whitworth Fund (our annual fund) just short of goal. We rely on more than $1 million per year from The Whitworth Fund, so we couple our deep gratitude for your targeted gifts with a reminder of the importance of unrestricted dollars.

Student Life

Local parents of Whitworth students, we could really use your help on Saturday, Sept. 5. Last year we instituted a "Parent Dorm Helpers" program to welcome and support the parents of new Whitworth students on the day they deliver their sons and daughters to campus. Dorm helpers perform all kinds of important tasks, from providing directions to calming the emotions of parents who are grieving (or euphoric) over the imminent separation from their children. Please contact Director of Development Dolly Jackson at 777-4447 if you can help us. Bonnie and I were involved in this last year, and it was really fun.

Athletics

Last year tens of thousands of you wrote me and said, "Bill, you must tell us every detail of your 3-on-3 Spokane Hoopfest accomplishments in the ‘mature division.'"Modesty, as well as well as our pathetic performance, forces me to demur this year. However I do have a great Hoopfest story, which I have no need to embellish. Here goes:

This year's Hoopfest included a record 4,763 teams, with another 250 on the waiting list. For some reason, Hoopfest officials decided to depart from their tradition of providing clinics by pros from the Sonics, and instead brought in the championship 3-on-3 teams from New York City and Los Angeles to play in the "open division." A lot of people were upset, thinking that now the competition would be to see who would capture third place behind the big dogs from the big cities. Remarkably, L.A. was eliminated early on in the double-elimination format. The N.Y.C. team, with three former stars from the Big East, sailed through their bracket to the championship game. A team comprising four guys from Whitworth's 1996 national NAIA Div. II championship runner-up team (Jeff Arkills, John Beckman, Nate Dunham and Nate Williams) lost in the second round, then played through the loser's bracket to the final game with N.Y.C. So the championship game pitted the best of New York City against just a few of your average Whitworth hoopsters. Center Court was packed with fans, many of whom (like me) were sunburned and sore from their own contests. The final game was a war. Williams was unstoppable driving to the basket; Arkills was big on offense and defense and looked down on the rim for most of the game; Beckman hit a monstrous three-pointer at a crucial moment; and Whitworth All-American Nate Dunham lofted in a fadeaway jumper over former pro Gordon Winchester to seal the one-point victory. We all went crazy. I sat with Head Men's Basketball Coach Warren Friedrichs, and even he was rubbing his eyes. Actually, there was more to the story, but this is all the space I have, and this is already the longest item in Mind and Heart history.

Miscellaneous

We just finished up the Whitworth Institute of Ministry. What a privilege it was to host pastors and their families from around the country. Evening preacher Marguerite Shuster of Fuller Seminary presented fascinating lessons from the life of David; in the Bible hour, Steve Hayner of Intervarsity peeled back familiar passages in Galatians to uncover new insights on the freedom and grace found in Christ; Columbia Seminary's Ben Johnson challenged, inspired and instructed as he presented strategies for advancing the church in the 21st century. This teaching was wonderful, but it was no more effective or important than the rich guidance and care provided for all the children at the institute. For many young pastors, WIM has become an annual highlight of family life. Thanks to the WIM staff and to all who attended. We had a great week.

Dates to Remember

Closing Thoughts

We at Whitworth are at that point in the summer where our emotions are banging into each other. We are very anxious for September to arrive, but we wish it were further away. The different work rhythms and a few chances to pause make summer a time of renewal. But our calling is students, and to all of you students who read this letter, we wish you Godspeed. We're anxious to see you, and in a few weeks we'll be ready for another great year together. Thanks to all of you who bless Whitworth in so many ways.