TO:  ATHENA COLLEGE

FROM: Community-Business Alliance Grant Foundation

RE:  Presentation

DATE:  16 April 2001

The Community-Business Alliance Grant Committee is pleased to announce that you have been awarded a $1 million start-up grant for your alternative liberal arts/business college, Athena College.  We were extremely impressed by your business plans, your attention to the environment and the community, and your thoughtful and polished presentation.

We thought your plans and organizational strategies for Athena College were extremely well developed and well thought out.  It was wise to begin with a mission statement that encapsulated your main business goals.  We especially liked the student-centered aspect of your institution.  The small class size, the faculty-administrator relationships, the more individualized means of assessment and evaluation, and the wonderful improvements to your physical plant will all contribute to a wonderful and unique student atmosphere at your institution.

We would like to make a few suggestions for your college.  First, and most important, we think you need to flesh out the nuts and bolts of your business in greater detail as you prepare the written documents of your grant application.  Each of us independently noticed that you could have developed this aspect of your presentation as well as your marketing plan in greater detail.  You did mention that the idea of Athena College would “sell itself,” but we thought you should find additional ways of getting the word out so that you would have plenty of applicants from whom you could then select the best. Although we assume that your college would be a not-for-profit institution, we also wanted to make sure that our $1 million will not be lost.  In other words, we would like to have a better sense of how you plan to keep afloat economically.

The committee gave you very high marks in the social conscience category.  We appreciate how you researched faculty needs and administrative issues in higher education.   We were also greatly interested in your plans for a small, humanitarian campus.  Your attention to the layout of the campus, the architecture of the classrooms, and the design of the dormitories was superb; we could really tell that you were putting the needs of students’ first.  The curriculum you outlined was fascinating as well.  We were especially impressed at the innovative and thought-provoking classes you discussed.  One member of the committee was especially interested in your nature appreciation course and we all thought highly of your requirement that students plant trees, care for the environment, and undertake a community service project.  We also think highly of your idea to hire faculty based on their interest in the most up-to-date pedagogical practices and not on their research credentials.

A few of us worried, however, about faculty turnover and how it might affect your school.  It seems that you are setting up a system that would encourage transience among faculty.  This is not to say that graduate students cannot be very good teachers, but we worried about your having to deal with large influxes of new teachers every year who were extremely busy finishing their own degrees.  We weren’t sure about the level of commitment among such people and how much they would care about serving the school and its students if they were only planning to work at Athena College for one or two years before moving on.  While we liked the idea of hiring and keeping faculty independent of the tenure system, we wanted to suggest that you consider hiring faculty that already have degrees and wish to stay at Athena for a longer time, working on teaching innovations.  This wold ensure much greater continuity and stability.

Finally, we all loved your presentation.  Each of you handled your area superbly and professionally, and we thought the four of you worked well together as a team.  The Powerpoint slides suited your purpose excellently; the photograph of the Rocky Mountain scene was especially convincing and attractive.  We could just imagine your campus tucked away in those beautiful mountains.  We also appreciated the dormitory floorplan and your map of the campus.  These demonstrated the thought and effort you invested in your project.

Our only suggestion about your presentation concerns keeping your presentation within the 30 minute time limit.  We were sorry that the end of your talk became rather rushed, especially as you got to the curriculum, for instance.  We would have liked to hear more about the wonderful classes you proposed, but there simply wasn’t enough time.