Submitted by crosby (not verified) on October 21, 2011 - 6:46pm.
I see stuff here about the college being in a small mid-west town, but the topics and themes don't seem to include anything about non-college town participation in the college planning. For example, the town's presence affects the town. What it decides to do will affect the town. Are any city council/gov people involved with the strategic planning? Are any school board members/admin involved. The college currently gives money to various community enhancement projects. Would that change? Also, the college currently allows high school students to take classes at the college. Would that change? Could there be other ways that the college could interact more with the town?
Submitted by Robert Phair (not verified) on October 16, 2011 - 11:51pm.
In the fall 2011 number of The Grinnell Magazine, Dr. Kingston introduces the strategic planning year with an article titled, "Choosing Grinnell's Future." First among Grinnell's advantages, says Dr. Kingston, is "Our intellectual capital."
I am not an alum, but my wife is and together we have attended many Grinnell events. Nor did I attend a small liberal arts college, but I have often been envious of those who did. It seems to me that the opportunity to think deeply about important things and to debate with friends and teachers who have thought just as deeply, and reached differing conclusions, embodies the beauty, the importance, and the uniqueness of a liberal arts education. Grinnell graduates can think, speak, and write cogently and beautifully about important things - about what we can learn from the past, about how we interact with other human beings, about beauty and the creative passion of art in all its forms, about science and mathematics, and about the future. You have built an amazing institution.
But to point to those of your peer institutions who "...have started to call themselves 'research colleges'," and to imply that Grinnell will never be tarred with that brush, by emphasizing that "We do not and will not call Grinnell such." must surely be disheartening to scholars everywhere. This brief paragraph appears to adopt the facile but patently absurd view that research is the antithesis of teaching.
The best teaching encourages research - every Grinnell faculty member I have met lives this axiom. The best research encourages teaching. Every scientist I have met in almost 40 research years (academic and for-profit) loves to teach. We do research, as Carl Sagan said, "because we love the subject. When you love something, it's a human instinct to teach it."
Grinnell is and always has been a research college. Its comittment to research should grow, not wane.
Research is what one does to solve unsolved problems. Palpably, Grinnell cares deeply about solving unsolved problems.
The Grinnell strategic planners may be tempted to say my argument is purely semantic. This would be a mistake. You know intuitively what makes Grinnell great. Your challenge is to discover (and acknowledge) what it is that makes a great research university great, and then to adopt some key ingredient, some research spice, and blend it with all that is uniquely Grinnell.
I am not one of you, but I care deeply about education. For 17 years I was a professor at one of those great research universities. I won every teaching award they had to give. From my perspective, it is not your focus on teaching that makes Grinnell great. It is the intimacy of your research environment; it is the passion of your faculty for what they do; it is the luxury of time for reading and for thought and the ease of arranging discussion and debate; it's the depth and the breadth of your scholarship and your freedom to choose breadth whenever it is your heart's desire. And finally, it is your amazing ability to transform learners into scholars - people who thrive on intractable problems and for whom research has become second nature.
Submitted by Deborah Berk (not verified) on October 4, 2011 - 9:27pm.
1) I love Grinnell's open curriculum. It makes all the difference in the world to be in classes where the participants have chosen to be there. I can't emphasize this enough -- it's the reason why I came to this school, and it's still my favorite thing about going here.
2) I think it's extremely important to continue providing arenas where students take lone ownership over major programs or admnistrative projects. Examples include the Grinnell Ambassador's Program (GAP), Bob's Cafe, the S&B, KDIC, and SPARC, among countless others. Experiences like these not only provide students with a sense of accountability and ownership of the day-to-day functions of Grinnell, but it also provides amazing resume-building experience in leadership and management.
3) The school needs to encourage more inter-department collaboration. We talk a great game about interdisiplanary eductation, but we can go further. Having departments work together to create classes and/or extracurricular programs would provide opportunities for students to discover how far their talents can really reach, by applying them to more than one discipline. The music and theater departments should put on musicals more frequently, for example. Art and Computer Science students should have opportunities to explore digital art.
Submitted by Cheryl Cole-Treadwell (not verified) on September 19, 2011 - 12:24am.
I am very interested in the alumni engagement as well as the enrollment distinction theme. I've not been actively engaged since leaving Grinnell, and has to ask. Well not that I have had a hand in suggesting schools to young people - it made me quite proud to have a young person ask me about how I felt about going to Grinnell...my perception mattered. That is a huge role to play for someone's future that person was my son...
Submitted by Josh Burke (not verified) on September 18, 2011 - 10:51am.
I was interested in the focus on enrollment. I'm very curious about what was meant by some changes being "unintentional." I have long felt that the growth over the last two decades in the size of the student body is a mistake. Would a student body of 2,000 still be a "small" school? Of course it would. But when the school grows beyond the size where everyone knows everyone, at least tangentially, it is not the same school and that experience is lost. And that is one of the very things that attracted me to Grinnell.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on September 16, 2011 - 9:21pm.
Grinnell needs more emphasis on the arts and the interdisciplinary aspects of this area. For instance, a film department or concentration would be very attractive to many students who also want a strong liberal arts education but who use film genres, especially perhaps documentary film, as their way of understanding the world and creating meaningful dialogue with a larger community.
Also needs more transportation options for students who would like to participate in activities and resources of other nearby places such as Iowa City. Some students feel claustrophobic in Grinnell, especially those who are not from the Midwest. Sorry, but it's quite flat and the prairie landscape is an acquired taste.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on September 16, 2011 - 3:34pm.
As an alum (and legacy) whose child was denied admission to the college, I'll be interested to see details on the "A" (Alumni) and "E" (Enrollment) components of the ADEPT plan. I don't know how these components relate to legacy consideration, but the reality is my family's money and attention will now be on another selective liberal arts college for at least the next four years. There's also a deeper hurt that goes with such a rejection.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on September 16, 2011 - 3:07pm.
I disagree with the comment to lessen the focus on peer institutions. My daughter goes to one of the peer-est of Grinnell's peer institutions, and comparing Grinnell to it and its other peers is a good way to benchmark how Grinnell is doing. That said, one of Grinnell's most distictive characteristics in comparison with its peer institutions :) is its location on the Great Tallgrass Prairie so I would encourage Grinnell to continue to promote its location in the natural environment as a positive through reseach, outreach and sustainability efforts.
Submitted by 1981 alum (not verified) on August 25, 2011 - 6:04am.
As an alum and (now) a townie, I can say that Grinnell is distinctive because of:
a) its location - the students that come here WANT to be here
b) campus culture - quirky, individualistic, and caring
c) predilection to social justic
What it needs:
a) a new library
b) less concern/obsession with peer institutions from the trustees
c) more rain (at least right now)
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:45pm.
Grinnell's only hope for carving out a uniquely excellent future for itself is to apply its abundunt resources to the development and execution of student scholarship, creativity, and service. More focus on translating class discussion into productive action - original research, art, entrepreneurship, etc.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:40pm.
Grinnell enjoys a unique blend of talented, energized faculty, abundant resources, and an independent, willful student
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:33pm.
Grinnell is great because of the student it attracts, young people entering this realm self-select to those who want to be here for the academic excellence and the caring community.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:33pm.
Im proud of 3 am pancakes during finals.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:33pm.
We support our community so that passion can translate to action
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:32pm.
Bropsters: Someone who identifies as both a bro and a hipster.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:32pm.
Self gov is love. Freedom to make your decisions: right or wrong and accept responsibility for them.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:32pm.
A student is more than just a number and tuition bill
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:31pm.
The study cubes in the library!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:31pm.
I love grinnell, but i hope in the future we can be more organized and more focused on students needs.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:31pm.
I love its beauty and its emphasis on diversity
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:31pm.
I love the bathrooms in the library!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:30pm.
10/10
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:18pm.
The psychology profs
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:14pm.
Grinnell is distinctive because of it's wonderful student body of loving, open, and accepting students
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:13pm.
Trains!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:13pm.
Freedom to develop individuality
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:09pm.
We put the arts back in the liberal arts
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 24, 2011 - 1:09pm.
Grinnell has the best faculty
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 23, 2011 - 11:17am.
I hate to say this but Grinnell really needs to work on having a unified image. It's almost across the board described as academically challenging and quirky yet our materials (whether it be print or web) do not convey this.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 23, 2011 - 10:01am.
From Townhall June 15, 2011
To the questions: What makes Grinnell distinctive?
“The Board of Trustees charges the President with the development, within the next academic year, of an ambitious, five-year Strategic Plan and authorizes the Board Chair and the President to take all actions deemed necessary and appropriate to implement the formation of such a plan.”
Contact Us
David Lopatto, Chair of Faculty/Co-Chair Strategic Planning
Angela Voos, Special Asst. to the President/Co-Chair Strategic Planning
I see stuff here about the college being in a small mid-west town, but the topics and themes don't seem to include anything about non-college town participation in the college planning. For example, the town's presence affects the town. What it decides to do will affect the town. Are any city council/gov people involved with the strategic planning? Are any school board members/admin involved. The college currently gives money to various community enhancement projects. Would that change? Also, the college currently allows high school students to take classes at the college. Would that change? Could there be other ways that the college could interact more with the town?
In the fall 2011 number of The Grinnell Magazine, Dr. Kingston introduces the strategic planning year with an article titled, "Choosing Grinnell's Future." First among Grinnell's advantages, says Dr. Kingston, is "Our intellectual capital."
I am not an alum, but my wife is and together we have attended many Grinnell events. Nor did I attend a small liberal arts college, but I have often been envious of those who did. It seems to me that the opportunity to think deeply about important things and to debate with friends and teachers who have thought just as deeply, and reached differing conclusions, embodies the beauty, the importance, and the uniqueness of a liberal arts education. Grinnell graduates can think, speak, and write cogently and beautifully about important things - about what we can learn from the past, about how we interact with other human beings, about beauty and the creative passion of art in all its forms, about science and mathematics, and about the future. You have built an amazing institution.
But to point to those of your peer institutions who "...have started to call themselves 'research colleges'," and to imply that Grinnell will never be tarred with that brush, by emphasizing that "We do not and will not call Grinnell such." must surely be disheartening to scholars everywhere. This brief paragraph appears to adopt the facile but patently absurd view that research is the antithesis of teaching.
The best teaching encourages research - every Grinnell faculty member I have met lives this axiom. The best research encourages teaching. Every scientist I have met in almost 40 research years (academic and for-profit) loves to teach. We do research, as Carl Sagan said, "because we love the subject. When you love something, it's a human instinct to teach it."
Grinnell is and always has been a research college. Its comittment to research should grow, not wane.
Research is what one does to solve unsolved problems. Palpably, Grinnell cares deeply about solving unsolved problems.
The Grinnell strategic planners may be tempted to say my argument is purely semantic. This would be a mistake. You know intuitively what makes Grinnell great. Your challenge is to discover (and acknowledge) what it is that makes a great research university great, and then to adopt some key ingredient, some research spice, and blend it with all that is uniquely Grinnell.
I am not one of you, but I care deeply about education. For 17 years I was a professor at one of those great research universities. I won every teaching award they had to give. From my perspective, it is not your focus on teaching that makes Grinnell great. It is the intimacy of your research environment; it is the passion of your faculty for what they do; it is the luxury of time for reading and for thought and the ease of arranging discussion and debate; it's the depth and the breadth of your scholarship and your freedom to choose breadth whenever it is your heart's desire. And finally, it is your amazing ability to transform learners into scholars - people who thrive on intractable problems and for whom research has become second nature.
1) I love Grinnell's open curriculum. It makes all the difference in the world to be in classes where the participants have chosen to be there. I can't emphasize this enough -- it's the reason why I came to this school, and it's still my favorite thing about going here.
2) I think it's extremely important to continue providing arenas where students take lone ownership over major programs or admnistrative projects. Examples include the Grinnell Ambassador's Program (GAP), Bob's Cafe, the S&B, KDIC, and SPARC, among countless others. Experiences like these not only provide students with a sense of accountability and ownership of the day-to-day functions of Grinnell, but it also provides amazing resume-building experience in leadership and management.
3) The school needs to encourage more inter-department collaboration. We talk a great game about interdisiplanary eductation, but we can go further. Having departments work together to create classes and/or extracurricular programs would provide opportunities for students to discover how far their talents can really reach, by applying them to more than one discipline. The music and theater departments should put on musicals more frequently, for example. Art and Computer Science students should have opportunities to explore digital art.
I am very interested in the alumni engagement as well as the enrollment distinction theme. I've not been actively engaged since leaving Grinnell, and has to ask. Well not that I have had a hand in suggesting schools to young people - it made me quite proud to have a young person ask me about how I felt about going to Grinnell...my perception mattered. That is a huge role to play for someone's future that person was my son...
I was interested in the focus on enrollment. I'm very curious about what was meant by some changes being "unintentional." I have long felt that the growth over the last two decades in the size of the student body is a mistake. Would a student body of 2,000 still be a "small" school? Of course it would. But when the school grows beyond the size where everyone knows everyone, at least tangentially, it is not the same school and that experience is lost. And that is one of the very things that attracted me to Grinnell.
Grinnell needs more emphasis on the arts and the interdisciplinary aspects of this area. For instance, a film department or concentration would be very attractive to many students who also want a strong liberal arts education but who use film genres, especially perhaps documentary film, as their way of understanding the world and creating meaningful dialogue with a larger community.
Also needs more transportation options for students who would like to participate in activities and resources of other nearby places such as Iowa City. Some students feel claustrophobic in Grinnell, especially those who are not from the Midwest. Sorry, but it's quite flat and the prairie landscape is an acquired taste.
As an alum (and legacy) whose child was denied admission to the college, I'll be interested to see details on the "A" (Alumni) and "E" (Enrollment) components of the ADEPT plan. I don't know how these components relate to legacy consideration, but the reality is my family's money and attention will now be on another selective liberal arts college for at least the next four years. There's also a deeper hurt that goes with such a rejection.
I disagree with the comment to lessen the focus on peer institutions. My daughter goes to one of the peer-est of Grinnell's peer institutions, and comparing Grinnell to it and its other peers is a good way to benchmark how Grinnell is doing. That said, one of Grinnell's most distictive characteristics in comparison with its peer institutions :) is its location on the Great Tallgrass Prairie so I would encourage Grinnell to continue to promote its location in the natural environment as a positive through reseach, outreach and sustainability efforts.
As an alum and (now) a townie, I can say that Grinnell is distinctive because of:
a) its location - the students that come here WANT to be here
b) campus culture - quirky, individualistic, and caring
c) predilection to social justic
What it needs:
a) a new library
b) less concern/obsession with peer institutions from the trustees
c) more rain (at least right now)
Grinnell's only hope for carving out a uniquely excellent future for itself is to apply its abundunt resources to the development and execution of student scholarship, creativity, and service. More focus on translating class discussion into productive action - original research, art, entrepreneurship, etc.
Grinnell is great because of the student it attracts, young people entering this realm self-select to those who want to be here for the academic excellence and the caring community.
We support our community so that passion can translate to action
10/10
The psychology profs
Grinnell has the best faculty
I hate to say this but Grinnell really needs to work on having a unified image. It's almost across the board described as academically challenging and quirky yet our materials (whether it be print or web) do not convey this.
From Townhall June 15, 2011
To the questions: What makes Grinnell distinctive?
Funky, do-gooder personality.