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Preface

A Call to Action

In his inaugural address, Hamilton President Eugene Tobin told the communitythat "colleges, like people, must have dreams, or more appropriately visionsthat inspire each of us with a shared sense of direction, purpose and mission."He said that such a vision is especially appropriate when a person or a college"arrives at a historical moment when change is not only desirable butnecessary." President Tobin believes that Hamilton has arrived at such a timewhen the College has the rare opportunity and responsibility of makingdecisions that will secure its future well into the next century.

To seize the opportunity presented by new leadership at the College, aheightened awareness of external forces, and an internal culture ready forchange, President Tobin formally asked the Campus Planning Committee onSeptember 16, 1994, to identify those issues upon which the College shouldfocus its considerable resources in anticipation of creating a strategic planfor the institution. What follows is the Committee's assessment of thoseissues, along with recommendations, where appropriate, to be considered in thenext phase of this process.

The Committee (whose members are listed in the Appendix) met weekly throughoutthe fall and spring terms, both in subcommittees and as a Committee of thewhole. In addition, two general meetings were held to gather suggestions fromthe entire Hamilton community. Members of the Committee met with the TrusteePlanning Committee at the September, December, and March meetings of the Boardof Trustees, and four interim draft documents were shared with the Collegecommunity and the Trustees over the campus network and in printed form.

This report and its recommendations, set in motion future planning activities.It is the start of a journey, rather than the end. It suggests that a broadlyrepresentative and continuous planning process will help Hamilton not onlyimagine its future but create it.

I. Introduction

Education in all its forms is the central mission of Hamilton College. AtHamilton it is understood that the pivotal commitment of the faculty,administration and staff to the intellectual and personal development ofstudents is the College's most important and enduring tradition. Hamilton is acoeducational, residential liberal arts community whose members value and seekintellectual and cultural diversity.

--Hamilton College Catalogue

Hamilton faces many challenges in the coming years. It exists in a culturethat is increasingly anti-intellectual, focused on specialization of servicesand knowledge, and frequently concerned with the material benefits of aneducation rather than with ideas and learning. External economic anddemographic factors constrain the options available to respond to thesechallenges.

Fortunately, Hamilton is in a good position to examine areas that may needstrengthening to help meet the particular challenges presented by a rapidlychanging world. During the last decade, Hamilton invested in its humanresources (faculty, administration, staff and students), exercised soundfinancial management, maintained a beautiful and attractive campus, and manageda growing endowment. These resources, along with changes in leadership in manykey positions and new directions in the College's residential life program,offer unique opportunities to plan efforts that fully support the College'seducational mission and enhance the working and learning environment at theinstitution.

Starting from a position of many strengths, therefore, Hamilton has chosen tochart a course for its future utilizing a four-part process for strategicplanning. The four phases include:

* identification of key issues

* preparation of the strategic plan

* implementation of the plan

* ongoing analysis, review and modification

Phase I, which is represented in this report, helps to create communityawareness of the need for strategic planning and provides a general sense ofdirection for future efforts. In his charge to the Planning Committee inSeptember 1994, President Tobin said, "the best way to bring about changewithin a college is to focus on a limited number of initiatives, that, ifsuccessfully implemented, hold out the promise of altering the institution'sfuture." The On-Campus Planning Committee believes that the issues described inthe pages that follow serve as an important foundation upon which the College'sfuture can be considered.

II. The External Environment

Summary: Economic and demographic factors ranging from the number ofhigh school seniors and where they live, to concerns about college costs andthe value of a liberal arts degree have conspired in recent years to create akeenly competitive environment in which to recruit prospective students. Sincea college is defined largely by the quality of the students it attracts (andnot nearly as much, unfortunately, by the graduates it produces), it's vitallyimportant that we understand the environment in which we compete for thesestudents.

Private, residential, liberal arts education is no longer the clear choice forthe nation's most talented students. In the 1960s, private colleges enrolled50% of the college population attending

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