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Annual Report - December 2001 |
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Following our college-wide opening dinner this September in which I reported on our last academic year, one administrator asked me, “Did you ever give so much good news to so many people all at the same ever before?” I had not thought of it that way, but it was indeed an exciting perspective. God blessed Greenville College last year in a wonderful way. So as the year began we celebrated a fresh sense of momentum and energy unlike any I have seen in my three years here so far. The blessings were both financial and human as we build on strengths.
FINANCIAL
When the economy began to falter last fall and into the spring, it
seemed clear we would not reach our giving goal. At Greenville we
depend heavily not only on the tuition of our students but also on the
generosity of our friends world-wide. We receive gifts every year out
of proportion to our size. While the giving did fall short, the hard
work of our finance office staff in providing accurate and timely
budget data, combined with the amazing efforts of our budget managers,
not only made up the shortfall, but produced another $316,000 in net
savings above and beyond our budget! In a small celebration of their
efforts this past month, I told these managers I would never have
imagined it was possible.
While unrestricted giving did fall short, last year was still the
second highest in our history. And even more exciting, it was an
all-time high in restricted giving with major grants alone totally
nearly a million dollars for the second year in a row. And of course
the big news from late last year was the award of yet another $1
million; this time in a grant from the state of Illinois.
As the summer progressed, we saw that the slowing economy was also
having some impact on potential enrollment for the fall. As late as
two weeks before classes began we imagined we might be as many as 15-20
students below our historic high enrollment of last year. When the
turnstiles stopped we had virtually matched it and hit our enrollment
projection virtually “spot on.” What is more, we had called for no
increase in financial aid, and that is exactly what happened. So for
only the second year in a row in the past six, our net revenue per
student increased. And our new auditors delivered a clean audit with
no financial findings whatsoever.
Having begun last year opening the new Tower Apartments Residence, we
marked the mid-year by opening the new Dietzman Center and started this
year dedicating the College Avenue Residence. Just today, the pastor
of Greenville’s largest church told me how much our College means to
the whole region and remarked how delighted so many are to see these
signs of progress.
Then as we finished the academic year in May, our Board of Trustees
considered the “first steps” of comprehensive campaign. In the past
three years we have established an independent Greenville College
Foundation, revised our mission statement, developed a New Millennium
Strategic Plan, updated our Campus Master Plan. The trustees
unanimously agreed to undertake the significant challenge of “covering”
our internal debt of $3.74 million dollars. Even with an estate gift
expected to provide $1 million, the balance was significant. As of
mid-fall, we have commitments for all but only about $300,000!
HUMAN
But Greenville College is still all about people. When we said goodbye
to some very good and very long-time faculty and staff last spring we
wondered how we could ever find others to take their places. As a
former dean myself, each year it always seems impossible that these all
important searches can ever be completed in time and with the kind of
people who have the rare combination of preparation, heart, and purpose
crucial for the high task of Christian liberal arts. God blessed us
again. I wish you could all meet the new faculty who have joined us.
With sterling credentials and experience, they come to Greenville
College as a calling. Many of them make significant sacrifices
financially and personally because they believe in our mission and
because they make themselves available to God’s leading in their
lives. Biology, Social Work, Physics, Psychology, Art, Music, and
Science Education are all infused with new energy that encourages those
who already engage our students in the transformative work we
undertake.
I hope as you browse this issue, you will find yourself drawn into the
excitement we feel as we build on the strengths. They are strengths of
our history, of our recent past, of our former and new faculty and
staff, of our longstanding “signature programs” and the prospects of
new programs in Digital Media and Promotions, in Education, in urban
St. Louis, in Zimbabwe/Mozambique, in Jewish-Christian Studies…..and
the strengths go on.
Some would say it dangerous to tell “stockholders” that last year was
miraculous. It might suggest the business was “out of control” or that
management was so spiritually minded they are of no “earthly good.”
But at Greenville College we are not afraid to say matters are in His
control, nor to pray daily that we may grow in our understanding of His
purposes.
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