The Context Of Leadership
The vice president for academics at Westmont College has an uncommon opportunity to provide leadership within American higher education. To provide potential applicants with some context, the descriptions that follow reflect our perceptions of who we are today and who we seek to be in the near future; they are listed alphabetically for ease of reference.
Academics: The academic program at Westmont implements our distinctive mission through an integration of course work, spiritual life, and student activities. This Christian liberal arts philosophy is expected in both the academic and personal life of all members of our community. The vice president for academics must therefore provide the leadership necessary to guarantee that this distinctive academic program retain, and improve upon, the high quality we have already achieved.
As a leading national liberal arts college, a top priority for us is the quality of our academic program. One of the most important factors influencing our collective future is maintaining the strength of our curricular offerings. For this reason it will be important for us to place continuing emphasis on this agenda in terms of personnel, program and facility. We recently completed and implemented a comprehensive revision of the general education program, are sharpening our processes of assessment and program review, and are making a concerted effort to improve the facilities in which the instructional process occurs. Our ongoing focus on a high quality liberal arts education is fostered in part by the good work of Westmont’s Institute for the Liberal Arts, a relatively young Institute that connects the college nationwide with the best thinking about the liberal arts.
Christian Foundation: Westmont was founded in the Protestant evangelical tradition. Our roots are interdenominational and we remain committed to a broad focus on historic Christian faith and to active participation in Christian community. Westmont is one of a select group of national liberal arts colleges holding membership in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. A reflective examination of personal faith in conjunction with rigorous academic pursuit and the integration of faith and learning are central to the college’s mission.
Community Life: Westmont is a caring residential community of faculty, students, staff and administrators, living and working together in an atmosphere of respect and common purpose. We will expect our vice president to provide a style of leadership in which the continued building of campus community is one of central importance.
Diversity: An area in which we have made limited but consistent progress is the racial and ethnic diversity of our student body, faculty, staff and trustees. In response to a serious self-study, we have made greater diversity a long-range goal. Thanks to a significant grant from a major California foundation, an intentional and concerted effort has been made in recent years to diversify our community. People of color now comprise 25 percent of our student body and 14 percent of our faculty. However, in a state with a widely diverse population, we are still among the most homogeneous colleges in California. In order to carry out our mission more effectively, and to prepare our students for the environment in which they will function in the twenty-first century, efforts to enhance and value diversity must be continued. Significant efforts must be made to recruit students, faculty, administrators and trustees from varied backgrounds, and to develop our programs in accordance with the college’s mission and goals.
Enrollment: The conditional use permit, issued and administered by Santa Barbara County, establishes the conditions under which we can use and operate our campus in a residential area. This permit caps on-campus enrollments at 1200 students. Our major challenge will be how we compose that total number -- academic ability, economic class, race, gender, etc. Our pattern to date has been to become more selective. Because of our relatively small endowment, tuition and fees represent a major portion of our revenue budget; annual tuition, fees, room, and board are now approximately $43,250 per student. As a result, it is an ongoing challenge for us to provide sufficient financial aid to ensure that a Westmont education remains available to all socio-economic groups.
Finance: Our annual operating budgets have been conservative and responsible. Although the college is heavily dependent upon student charges to fund operations, carefully managed budgets have resulted in 24 consecutive years of operating surpluses.
Global Imperative: A Westmont education is geared toward cultivating graduates who can engage and interact effectively with people and cultures throughout our world. The rising tide of our global economy is making it imperative that we develop a worldview that can move easily within and between the various cultures and societies that make up our world community. In the years ahead, we anticipate the various expressions of Westmont around the world to take on an even greater importance.
Master Plan: The campus master plan, initially approved in the mid-1970s, has been updated and contains the blueprint for the completion of the campus. Thanks to approval by Santa Barbara County officials in 2007 of an updated master plan, Westmont is on the verge of beginning the first phase of construction under the new plan. Phase I includes the construction of two new academic buildings, a Chapel, a residence hall, and new athletic fields. Subsequent construction phases will provide two additional academic buildings and expansions of the student center and the library.
Personnel: While the attractive Las Barrancas faculty housing village adjacent to the campus has helped with the recruitment of faculty, the lack of additional Las Barrancas homes and the very high cost of housing in Santa Barbara is a complicating factor in hiring administrative and staff personnel.
Resource Development. Fundraising is of vital importance to the college. Of utmost priority is securing the funds that are necessary to undertake Phase I construction. Also, additional budget resources will be needed to maintain these buildings; this is a challenge because on-campus enrollment is capped at 1200 and the college’s tuition and fees already are high relative to many of the institutions with which we compete for students. Though the last campaign helped the endowment triple in value, continuing to build the endowment remains a major imperative; our endowment remains far below that of the other prominent national liberal arts colleges in California.
Santa Barbara Community: Few private colleges in the nation are as accountable to local government as is Westmont, the direct result of the parameters of the conditional use permit, and its 116 specific conditions, under which the college operates. The college and its leadership have done an exceptional job in building relationships with the communities of Montecito and Santa Barbara, as well as Santa Barbara County, and these must continue.