June 6, 2005

The Board of Trustees met on May 20. Here are excerpts from President Hochstettler’s report to the board:

I approach the end of my first year at Lewis & Clark with many things accomplished and with many tasks remaining yet to be done. The successful completion of the two senior searches—those for the new Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Vice President for Institutional Advancement—are among the signal events of this academic year. We have been most pleased to have recruited Dr. Julio de Paula from Haverford College as the new undergraduate Dean and Philip Akers from Eastern Washington University as the new Vice President for Institutional Advancement. … Let me take this opportunity to express how grateful I am to the current senior staff for their indefatigable support of me during my initial year, and particularly to those who will be stepping aside at the end of this academic year. Although Jane Atkinson, Curtis Johnson, and Jim Walker have acted on an interim basis during this last year in fulfilling their respective roles—chief development officer, undergraduate dean, and chief finance officer—their dedication and accomplishments were in every way of absolutely the highest professional caliber.

Please let me list here several highlights from this last semester:

• The faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences have adopted a new first-year common course format, Exploration and Discovery, to replace the course Inventing America. The new course retains the emphasis on great ideas, on civic responsibility, and on teaching writing and analytical skills that were essential parts of Inventing America. The new course, however, will be designed to encourage collaborative teaching and to permit the incorporation of a wider range of thematic materials than was earlier the case. Beginning in fall semester, 2006, Exploration and Discovery will be required for all new first-year students;

• In early April, the Graduate School of Education and Counseling passed with highest praise its accreditation review with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the State of Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission;

• John R. Howard Hall has now been placed in service, housing the Departments in the Division of Social Sciences, as well as the Religious Studies and Philosophy Departments. On Friday, April 22, 2005, the building was dedicated, with both Ruth and John Howard in attendance and with appropriate reflections on the past and the future. It is a wonderful facility and expresses the best traditions of Lewis & Clark;

• The Lewis & Clark School of Law has been ranked number one in the nation in the field of environmental law by U.S. News & World Report. This distinction reflects the values and intellectual engagement not only of the School of Law but also of the entire institution. In this regard, I had the pleasure on Earth Day, April 22, 2005, of signing on behalf of the College the International Talloires Declaration, a document that affirms the commitment of the 310 signatory colleges and universities worldwide to promote environmental education and to embrace sustainable business practices. Lewis & Clark is the first private institution in the Pacific Northwest to sign the Declaration;

• Finally, the Princeton Review and the Campus Compact this month named Lewis & Clark as one of the 81 colleges of conscience, nationwide. Lewis & Clark is the only private institution in Oregon to be so designated. This classification recognizes and affirms the strength of the outreach programs of the College and our commitment to contributing to the common good both within our local community and beyond.

Looking forward to the new academic year, I remain most optimistic about the prospects of our College in every regard. I look forward to working with the Board with renewed enthusiasm and confidence as we pursue our mission of world-class education, scholarship, and service.

Respectfully submitted,

Thomas J. Hochstettler

President

Note: With the selection of Denis Ransmeier as the College’s new vice president for business and finance, the senior leadership team at the College is in place. More information about Ransmeier is included below, under People News.