From These Grounds

President's Letter

by William G. Durden ’71, President

July 1, 2009

Dear Dickinsonians:

During the next year, the Dickinson community will engage in a most important endeavor as we focus our attention on drafting the strategic plan that will guide us for the next five years. This will be the third plan we have developed during my 10-year tenure as president. As with the first two, we fully intend for the third strategic plan to serve as a blueprint for our long-term vision for Dickinson and to provide guidance for the day-to-day operations of the college.

We enter this planning process at a critical juncture in Dickinson’s history, and it is imperative that we seize this opportunity for the full benefit of the college. Dickinson has made remarkable strides in the last decade. We are, quite simply, not the same institution we were 10 years ago. We now move among a much more prestigious group of national liberal-arts colleges as we count Brown, Colgate, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts and William & Mary among our competitors.

But we cannot rest on past performance. What sustained us even a year ago will no longer do so. We must continue to push forward by refining and defining those characteristics that distinguish Dickinson as a top-quality, prestigious institution of higher learning. Change is an inevitable part of our world and must be approached with confidence and resolution.

During the recent board of trustees meeting, we began to clarify and articulate those premium assets that define a Dickinson education. Throughout an afternoon of lively conversation, we discussed 13 premium assets—such as useful education, global sensibility, sustainability, the Benjamin Rush story, active learning, engaged citizenship and individualized education—grappling to discern which of these characteristics best reflect Dickinson’s excellence and its distinctive approach to a liberal-arts education.

This trustee discussion was the first of many conversations we will have with alumni, faculty and students during the next year. The all-college planning and budget committee—comprised of faculty, administrative, staff and student representatives—will take the lead in drafting Strategic Plan III, which we anticipate will be ready for distribution to all Dickinson constituencies next spring.

At Dickinson, drafting a strategic plan is serious business. To many other institutions, a strategic plan is a document that rests on a shelf. In contrast, our strategic plans are familiar documents, well used by many members of the campus community as the primary guide for decision making and action.

Indeed, the root of our recent success is, I believe, attributable to the strength and viability of the two previous plans. These documents have given us a shared vision that is rooted in our historic legacy along with specific objectives, goals and benchmarks against which to gauge our performance. The previous plans, in short, have clarified our identity, articulated our aspirations and charted for us a clear course of action.

With the drafting of the third plan, we now have before us the opportunity to form a bridge of achievement and high ambition between the accomplishments of the past and a competitive and prestigious future for Dickinson College. We will be actively reaching out to alumni and our campus constituencies to gather your thoughts about the premium assets you feel best distinguish Dickinson. I thank you in advance for your willingness to participate in this important discussion, and I invite you to share your thoughts and reflections directly with me via e-mail at durden@dickinson.edu.

This is a most exciting moment for our college. By beginning our planning process at least a full year in advance, we have the luxury to think broadly, to think creatively and to think beyond our current paradigm to project a future for Dickinson that will position us permanently among the nation’s top liberal-arts colleges. I look forward to the stimulating and engaging campuswide discussion that will clarify and articulate our highest ambitions for the future of our alma mater. What a challenging but rewarding task we have before us!