The St. John’s College Board of Visitors and Governors (BVG) met in Annapolis from June 13–15, 2019. The meeting centered on effective governance in an era of uncertainty and significant challenges for small liberal arts colleges. What does it mean for a board to honor its fiduciary duty? The BVG is very clear: it has a legal and ethical obligation to ensure the college’s financial health and student well-being.
As has been our custom over the past three years, what follows is a report to our community of the key takeaways from the BVG meeting including improving the student experience, an update on inclusion and wellness, progress on the Freeing Minds campaign and our finances, as well as enrollment and launching our new visual identity.
As detailed in a statement from the board that was also highlighted at its public Plenary session, higher education in America is at an inflection point; 10–15 small liberal arts colleges are projected to close every year. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, as our deficits grew annually, many at St. John’s were convinced that the problem was cyclical and would correct itself. Eleven years later, we know this is not the case, and have had to make significant cost reductions and hard decisions to reduce this deficit.
While the BVG properly cedes much of the responsibility for designing and implementing these deficit reduction measures to college management, in the end it is the BVG that bears the ultimate responsibility for the college’s financial future.
As Chair of the Board Ron Fielding (A70) said during the Plenary session:
“We have a fiduciary duty to have the longer-term viewpoint of what needs to happen to the [college] over generations rather than just in years or decades … So it’s extremely important that we make sure that we preserve the strength and vitality of this institution for many years to come because of its uniqueness. It does mean that we need to make changes, and this is going to remain a very difficult time for us [to get to a balanced budget].”
Now, we are at another turning point: becoming a student-centered institution. We are looking at the total student experience at St. John’s—from orientation to graduation and beyond—and how we can do better.
“The students are our north star,” stated Annapolis President Pano Kanelos, “the thing to which we always have to be oriented. We live in a different world and the young people who are experiencing this world are experiencing it as more turbulent and chaotic than it was when we were their age.”
The changing nature of student needs was a major theme at the BVG meeting. “I strongly believe that we still underestimate not only the financial change that is affecting colleges across the country, but other changes that are almost equally profound in the nature of who it is that we serve,” said College-wide and Santa Fe President Mark Roosevelt. “And recognition of this is essential to us adapting appropriately.”
We must ask ourselves what we can do to improve the student experience at St. John’s so that students not only “survive” our Program (as so many alumni have told us), but flourish, both inside and outside the classroom (as well as post-St. John’s).
Of course we also know that improving the student experience—student life, academic and personal supports, extracurricular activities, mental health services, and campus culture—is dependent upon improving our financial position. Once we arrive at a balanced budget, much more will be possible.
These and other matters were part of the BVG discussion, and you can read more about them in the full report that follows.
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The Visiting Committee has been examining retention at St. John’s for a full year. The committee has interviewed and surveyed over 100 students, examined “best practices” at other colleges, and interviewed many St. John’s faculty and staff representatives. During our most recent meeting, the committee reviewed potential remedies that address the identified causes for withdrawal. There were several recommendations put forth that included promoting tutor mentorship of students, improving Greek and math assistance, and implementing more mental health supports.
While there are differing opinions as to the most effective tactics to address student attrition, the meeting made clear that there is broad support from leadership to improve student retention.
“Any impediment to student flourishing we have an obligation to address,” said President Kanelos.
Quite a few potential remedies, such as reworking freshman orientation, are actively under consideration on both campuses. The next step is for the presidents, key administrators, and the faculties (led by their respective deans) to respond to the committee with their comments and suggestions by the next BVG meeting in November.
Gender equity issues and the concerns of underrepresented minorities were also discussed in multiple sessions. Santa Fe Dean Walter Sterling (A93) provided an overview of ongoing efforts in Santa Fe to address these disparities, including faculty seminars on gender dynamics and underrepresented voices in the classroom, in which every member of the faculty participated.
“It’s been reported to me by students that many tutors made this issue thematic in ways that had not happened before,” said Dean Sterling. “In class, the tutor would say something if the discussion seemed imbalanced with regard to men’s vs. women’s voices being heard.”
In Annapolis, Dean Joe Macfarland (A87) related how student leaders, Resident Assistants, archons of student clubs, and other members of the student body met with one another and held conversations that cut across gender and class year, partly so that they could learn from one another how they manage situations that are difficult for them, but also so that these student voices could be collected and heard by the faculty.
“The faculty take these questions seriously when they know that students are concerned about them,” said Dean Macfarland, “because [the faculty] are concerned about how students experience the classroom and under what circumstances they thrive in the classroom.”
These are just a few examples of how the deans have been working with the faculty and the student community to carry out the recommendations of the ad hoc Campus Culture Committee (CCC), which issued a report last year on a range of campus culture issues, including gender equity in the classroom.
In Annapolis and Santa Fe, multiple steps have been taken on the mental health front as well, from hiring additional counselors to restructuring the intake process for counseling services, all done with the goal of meeting increased student demand.
“[Students] have significantly more anxiety, and stress, and mental health challenges,” said President Roosevelt. “There’s been a tripling of demand for mental health services on [college] campuses over the last 15 years. We are not immune from that.”
The Freeing Minds capital campaign has secured commitments to date of $202.7 million towards the campaign goal of $300 million. The performance of the Annual Fund continues to improve; the number of gifts to the Annual Fund is up 40 percent compared to last year. We also achieved a new milestone in giving to the college, thanks to new and re-engaged friends and alumni who have contributed over $1 million in gifts under $5,000.
The goals of the campaign launch and the Winiarski Family Foundation Challenge were to excite alumni and inspire new philanthropy, and alumni and friends of the college have responded enthusiastically. But we will need several thousand new and re-engaged donors at all giving levels to reach the campaign goal in four years. An analysis by the development team presented during the Advancement Committee shows that this is possible, and we are excited to meet new donors whom we do not yet know (but will know, soon) and re-engage with lapsed donors. To learn more, visit freeingminds.sjc.edu.
We remain on track to come in under the $3.9 million deficit goal that the board set for us for this fiscal year ending June 30. The BVG unanimously approved a budget for FY 19-20 which should meet the goal of bringing the deficit down to $1.9 million.
For the year thereafter, 2021, we have to reach a balanced budget. Although some savings have already been found, we still need to identify an additional $1 million to reach our goal. We will be grappling with how to do this over the next six months.
In recognition of the progress that has been made and the challenges that still remain, the BVG voted to extend Mark Roosevelt’s term as college-wide president by four years, from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2023 and renew his contract as president of the Santa Fe campus until June 30, 2024.
May 1 is an important marker in the admissions world, as most colleges require admitted students to accept offers of admission by this date. Annapolis is reporting a one-year, 10 percent increase in deposits, while Santa Fe has a one-year, 26 percent increase in deposits. These positive results come at a time when other small colleges sharing data saw an average 5 percent decrease in May 1 deposits.
Domestic applications are up 14 percent, while international applications are down 12 percent—the latter statistic reflecting a national trend. Twenty percent of our admitted students are Pell Grant recipients, 31 percent are the first in their families to attend college, and women make up nearly half of the admitted freshman classes in both Annapolis and Santa Fe (49 percent and 47 percent, respectively, which, historically, represents good balance for us). We also had encouraging increases in both SAT and ACT scores and GPA, especially in Santa Fe.
At St. John’s, the admissions cycle does not end until later in the summer. Thus far, 1,368 students have applied for Fall 2019, and more will continue to submit applications in the coming months, with others rescinding their intention to enroll. As a result, both campuses will continue to enroll more students until each campus meets its enrollment goals. In Annapolis, the goal is 140 to 144 fall freshmen and in Santa Fe, 90 to 95 fall freshmen to be joined by 20–30 new freshmen in January for the spring semester. The final numbers will be reported after matriculation day in August.
The Advancement Committee also heard an overview of new initiatives centered around the visual identity of the college. For the last two and a half years, we have solicited and listened to alumni about all aspects of the college. Driven in large part by alumni feedback, our new visual identity harkens back to the traditional seal and colors of St. John’s. The new look appears on everything from staff and faculty email signatures to the college’s website, sjc.edu. This initiative also includes the launch of our new online store and differentiation in marketing that will showcase the two campuses’ unique strengths, highlighting differences in location and campus culture.
These are challenging times for small liberal arts colleges. Declines in student-derived revenue, fueled by shifting demographics and downward trends in family financial capacity, have left many schools with an uncertain future—while changing student needs simultaneously require much more care and support.
These new realities require much more from the governing body of St. John’s. The BVG’s fiduciary obligations do not permit it to view the college’s future through a best-case scenario, and it has therefore set clear goals for the college to restore its financial health, the most important of which is reaching a balanced operating budget by 2021.
The board has also committed to efforts to address and improve the overall student experience. As President Roosevelt said in the Plenary session, once we have accepted a student, we have invited them into our home, and our home should be a place of love and care. Warren Spector (A81), chair of the Advancement and Campaign Steering Committees, echoed that sentiment: “I would not be here in this room if it weren’t for the love and support I received from the faculty.”
We have more work to do to achieve a balanced budget, which will allow for the college to do things to improve the student experience that are just not possible when running deficits. But reaching—and maintaining—a balanced budget is a collaborative effort among all college constituencies, senior management, staff, faculty, alumni, and friends. We are deeply grateful for the sacrifices made by members of our community in order to ensure we achieve our goals.
If there are topics that you think we should be covering in the emails that follow board meetings, or if you have specific suggestions on how this message could be more helpful, please send an email to presidents(at)sjc.edu. We would also welcome any comments you would like to offer about the student experience at St. John’s and how it might be improved. Please know that while we may not be able to respond to these comments individually, we value your feedback and will utilize it in our decision-making.
