Wilkes University continues moving toward excellence

In last week’s editorial on the future of the University, The Beacon Editorial Board recounted the story of Benjamin Franklin at the signing of the Constitution of the United States. They noted that, “Franklin wondered whether a carving of a half sun in Independence Hall was rising or setting during the crafting of the Constitution.” They went on to ask the same question about Wilkes University and opined that for us the sun is setting.

It is interesting that they did not finish Franklin’s thought on that occasion. Referring to the half sun, Franklin went on to say, “I have often looked at that picture … without being able to tell whether it was a rising or setting sun. Now at length I have the happiness to know that it is indeed a rising, not a setting sun.” And it is my firm belief that the sun is also rising for our University.

The Middle States Evaluation Team has presented us with a highly complimentary report. It notes Wilkes’ considerable progress in the 10 years since our last accreditation visit, found us in compliance with every standard of excellence, and cited only one recommendation regarding the Faculty Handbook. This recommendation is in stark contrast to the 40 Wilkes received in 2000.

It also is worth noting that the Middle States Team – whose job is to objectively evaluate our university -- noted that we are better off financially than we were 10 years ago. This is because we invested in new undergraduate programs like integrative media and graduate programs like Creative Writing and Discovery Education. These programs have added more than $20 million to the University’s overall budget. And without this significant revenue growth, we would not be the vibrant University that we are today, nor would we be able to maintain the integrity of our core academic programs as well as we have.

We also have the great promise of a new law school. We will present a final proposal to the Board for the school at its June meeting. In that report, the administration will recommend opening the school in Fall 2012. While the University has invested venture capital in the school, it will, once open, be self-sustaining and after five years produce surpluses that will support the University. But the greatest benefit of the law school will be the boost it will provide to our prestige and the increase in the number and quality of undergraduate enrollments to the arts, humanities and social sciences, disciplines typically chosen by pre-law students.

Other new initiatives have the potential to impact the academic experience of our undergraduate students positively and enhance the quality of our science health and engineering facilities. For example, we are talking with The Commonwealth Medical College about a partnership that takes advantage of our strengths in the sciences, engineering and health professions. And as you may have read in the newspaper, I accompanied Congressman Kanjorski to Washington to visit with Vice President Biden and Secretary of Energy Chu on April 19 to discuss the funding of a research center to assist the region in addressing the opportunities and challenges associated with the Marcellus Shale formation. Although there is much to be done, we are hopeful Wilkes will play a central role in this Center and that it will greatly benefit our academic programs.

All of this said, I understand the concerns in our community about the pace of change and the shifting balance between undergraduate and graduate education that underlie The Beacon editorial. Indeed, over the past decade, we have made the strengthening of our traditional undergraduate programs a priority through increased faculty salaries, reduced student/faculty ratios, significant investment in undergraduate research and travel through mentoring, and improved facilities. And certainly the very modest reductions for FY11 in no way signal a retreat from this quest for quality. Indeed, there was an overall increase of  six percent to the academic budget within next year’s operating budget.

In closing, when you combine the great strides we have made since the last Middle States Accreditation visit and these promising developments, Wilkes is certain to emerge over the next five years as the leader in higher education in Northeast Pennsylvania. There is nothing mediocre about this goal; it is a far cry from The Beacon Editorial Board’s pessimistic view and much more akin to Benjamin Franklin’s optimism about our young nation.