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Leslie Garner
President
Cornell College
October 2008
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A Gazette Minute Interview conducted in three parts
Bachelor's from 1972 from UNC Chapel Hill. Master's in Public Policy from Harvard in 1974. Worked in a scientific research institute in Austria for three years. Lecturer, assistant professor, college president at North Carolina Wesleyan College until 1994 at age 36, then president of Cornell College.
What is a national liberal arts college?
We focus on undergraduate education and we offer a curriculum that is broad and deep, sufficient to last a graduate a lifetime. We are known nationally, and we recruit students nationally.
Describe your unique educational calendar.
We've trademarked it One Course At A Time. That means each student pursues one course and only one each term. Each term lasts three and a half weeks, ending mid-Wednesday, followed by Thursday and Friday days off called 'block breaks.' We conduct nine terms each nine-month year. Typically students are in the classroom two hours each morning and two hours each afternoon, but that varies by course material and setting. This is our 30th year conducting that calendar.
Will that calendar become widespread or serve a niche within higher education?
While we occasionally see a college switching to it, I do not see it becoming widespread.
How closely do faculty members interact with students as a result of the intensity of that calendar?
Close faculty-student interaction is definitely a feature. Together they make up a day-long, week-long learning community. The intensity and relative speed of coverage of course material produces unusually close interaction. For example, when a student misses one or two days of classes, it's common for the instructor to track him down to find out the reason.
What competitive advantage does the calendar provide?
We have the opportunity to create truly unique learning opportunities for a wide variety of students, both on and off campus. For example, we can teach ocean geology and biology in the Bahamas, and we do. We use our calendar and its competitive advantage when we're recruiting in and out of Iowa. It's a great point of distinction. As a bonus, it adds luster to cornell college in the eyes of high achievers, self-starters and people who flourish in collaborative learning environments.
What happens at Cornell College during the summer?
The primary activity involves students doing collaborative research with faculty members. It's done without formal credit, and with no tuition charges. Students who participate advance their research skills and their writing, both of which will serve them well in their careers, or very likely in graduate school. We're exploring other camps, conferences and institutes for future summers.
Part 2 continues below...
Describe your students and where they come from.
They are very talented academically. Our average ACT/SAT scores are 26.5 and 1,200 respectively. As high school students they were very much involved in activities outside the classroom. Our new fall freshmen and transfers totalled 383, and they come from 38 states and seven foreign countries. Illinois and Iowa account for 40 percent of them. Colorado and Minnesota provide eight percent each. The student body is 50/50 male/female and has been so for three years. Eleven percent are non-white. Almost all are age 18 - 22.
Do they share a unique characteristic that's readily identifiable?
Yes. They are adventurous enough to want to try a unique academic calendar.
What are your charges and how are your students paying them?
Our tuition, fees, room and board for 2008-09 total $35,070 per year. About two-thirds of our annual student revenue comes from students, families and non-Cornell financial aid. The other third is provided by Cornell, and it's gift aid.
Were many Cornell College students affected by the loan shortage this fall, and how was it handled?
When we found private loans were likely to be curtailed, we worked with about 200 students through the spring and summer. We used PLUS loans more aggressively than we had before. And the Department of Education helped by making the repayment provisions and in-school deferments more attractive.
What complication does federal financial aid add to college administration?
When a small college wants to chart and navigate a new direction regarding access and financial aid, the federal rules and procedures make it daunting. I think many colleges would like to do the financial aid job better, and they would do so if the federal role could be streamlined.
Any other financial aid complications?
We are involved in screening far more family financial information than we would otherwise choose. In addition, the array of aid programs that have resulted from serial additions over the years presents unusual complexity to parents and families. As a result of this summer's extra attention it's become clear to me that a solution may lie in being able to present a clear pathway to a family. And it's likely that one path won't be suitable for all families.
What is U-CAN and your relationship to it?
The University and College Accountability Network is a web-based source of consumer information about independent colleges and universities. At present 700 colleges are on display, and they are viewable via a single template. Launched in September 2007, I chaired the U-CAN board during that year. We conducted focus groups of students and parents. We've subsequently involved high school counselors. About 400,000 unique visitors have viewed 1 million pages in its first year. We expect to add another 100 schools this year.
What is the 'kitchen-table test?'
Early in our focus groups, students and parents prescribed a template that they wanted to use as follows. They wanted to print templates for four to ten schools on their home printers and compare them sitting together at the kitchen table. The template had to be right for that process. It had to be relatively concise. We made it two pages. It had to have color, and understandable charts and graphs. The template and the U-CAN site facilitate the next step by enabling access to each selected campus web site.
What results of U-CAN have become evident?
Visitors are happy and their usage is robust. Participation among the colleges has been excellent. In addition, we now clearly distinguish between transparency and accountability. Transparency, which tells what we do, is an essential first step to accountability. And accountability tells how well we do it. U-CAN represents a major step forward in transparency. As we develop better outcome measures, those results will appear in the template as well.
part 3 continues below...
Is it reasonable to view the college as a stakeholder in each of its students?
Yes, an important stake, both while they are students and after they leave us. The overall experience is a product of the individual experiences. We should make each individual's experience the best we can while he or she attends. Each alumnus is so very important to us. Their success reflects on their college, an we depend on their support in many ways.
Can you suggest tangible ways a school can show it's serious about its stake?
It's very well demonstrated to students when faculty are accessible to them outside the classroom. A campuswide Student Success Committee can spawn a remakable number of helpful initiatives. One example is provide direct help to students during the transition from general education to a major - the right major. Another is the creation of requested living and learning communities in the residence halls.
Is it reasonable to view a graduate's first employer as a stakeholder in his or her education?
Absolutely. The first employer is a primary stakeholder in a student's higher education. What we need to master is the ability to capture it in a tangible way. An employer rarely knows who it will be employing until after graduation. Ditto for most students. Internships are a very tangible way to bridge that apparent gap.
We operate 35-40 internships per year. Many of the interns who are not intent on graduate school have been hired by the fellowship sponsor and have advanced rapidly in their jobs. They also help us keep abreast of what employers are looking for in the hiring marketplace.
Are there other ways for employers to give evidence to their stake?
Clearly corporate philanthropy is a tangible way in which they do so. Iowa corporations regularly provide operating support and scholarships for liberal arts colleges through the Iowa College Foundation. The foundation has strong business leadership, and it's been doing its work for more than fifty years.
What rules are in place for managing the college's $75 million endowment?
We have a forma investment policy, which puts ultimate stewardship responsibility on the Board of Trustees and its business affairs committee. Included in those responsibilities are asset allocation, our annual spend rate, and ovrall endowment objectives.
How is the recent Wachovia/Commonfund freeze-up affecting Cornell?
We had $6 million in the CommonFund that was partially frozen recently. We've been able to withdraw 40 percent already, and we have a workable schedule for withdrawal of the remainder. We were quite surprised to learn that a fund we rely on for liquidity was in fact, not liquid.
Your colleague at Mount Mercy College expressed some interesting comparisons between higher education and the restaurant industry. Would you care to offer one?
The diversity among higher education institutions is very much like the diversity in the restaurant industry. A considerable difference exists between choosing where to have one meal and choosing where to spend four years. The college purchase is a big complex decision that bears almost no resemblance to any dining purchase.
TOPICS: Deals, Executive Briefing, Finance
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