From: Phil deHaan (dehp@calvin.edu)
Date: Fri Feb 14 2003 - 17:38:22 EST
February 14, 2003 == FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The 31-member Calvin College Board of Trustees concluded its winter meetings
today on the school's campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The winter meeting is
one of three annual sessions for the Calvin Board. The Board also meets annually
in October and May.
Tenure interviews are always a highlight at the February Board meeting. This
meeting was no exception.
The Board interviewed and granted tenure to 13 professors: Johnathan Bascom
(geography), Gayle Ermer (engineering), David Fuentes (music), Ruth Groenhout
(philosophy), Marjorie Gunnoe (psychology), Won Lee (religion), Paul Moes
(psychology), Carl Plantinga (communication arts and sciences), Paulo Ribeiro
(engineering), Stephanie Sandberg (communication arts and sciences), S. Kummar
Sinniah (chemistry), Donald Tellinghuisen (psychology), Todd VandenBerg
(sociology) and Kevin VandeStreek (physical education).
"Each year faculty interviews are a highlight of our February (Board of
Trustees) meetings," says Rev. Ed Blankespoor, the secretary of the Calvin
Board. "Calvin's faculty is amazing. And when we do the tenure interviews we
get a taste of what makes the faculty so strong. We hear not only their
passionate Christian commitment, but also their remarkable academic expertise
and gifts and their desire to serve students. One faculty member said something
very telling. He spoke of no longer chasing success but rather seeking
significance. That sort of statement says a lot and it's why the faculty
interviews are always such a highlight."
Besides the tenure interviews the Board also interviewed and approved for
reappointment an additional 22 faculty members and ratified nine administrative
reappointments, including another four-year term for Henry DeVries as vice
president for administration, finance and information technology and a two-year
appointment for Ellen Monsma as director of off-campus programs.
Another significant topic of discussion was the financial side of the college,
including the setting of tuition and room and board rates for next year and the
approval of an overall budget. Both the tuition and room and board increases are
6.5 percent. Tuition for 2003-2004 will be $16,775, while room and board will be
$5,840 for a total of $22,615.
Calvin vice president Tom McWhertor notes that with about 85% of its
$76-million budget coming from tuition and room and board, Calvin continues to
balance staying affordable and having the financial resources to offer a superb
academic education.
"We're a top-rated school in a number of different guidebooks," says McWhertor,
"yet we're also a best buy or best value in many of those same books. In fact,
we garnered national attention recently when the Princeton Review put us second
in the nation in a category they call 'best academic bang for your buck.' We
trailed only Rice University so we were in good company."
McWhertor notes that Calvin's tuition and room and board charges are well below
the national average for four-year private colleges. "Even more so," he adds,
"when you look at schools that are comparable to Calvin academically."
McWhertor says Calvin also has a strong financial aid program which serves
students and their families well.
Calvin will award over $17 million in financial aid in 2003-2004 and over 90
percent of the student body will receive some form of financial aid, making the
actual cost to attend Calvin far less, in most cases, than the $22,615 figure.
In fact, the average need-based award at Calvin next year will be over $11,000.
McWhertor says that Calvin also remains committed to faculty development,
including not just a competitive salary structure, but also an ambitious program
of sabbaticals and research fellowships, which in turn enhances and expands the
education available to students.
In fact, at its recent meeting Calvin's Board approved 24 sabbatical requests,
13 Diekema Fellowships (named for former President Anthony Diekema and awarded
to younger faculty) and five other Calvin Research Fellowships.
Among the sabbaticals are such projects as: research on the political factors
that have shaped HIV/AIDS policies in South Africa; a book analyzing the March
on Washington; and a re-working of the book Christianity and the Age of the
Earth.
"All of these type of projects," says McWhertor, "make our professors active
learners themselves and better teachers. That in turn benefits our students."
The Board also attended a special Faculty/Board dinner where Calvin's
Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching was given to professor of sociology
and social work Peter DeJong. He is the 11th winner -- dating back to the
award's inception in 1993 by then-president Anthony Diekema. The award includes
a one-of-a-kind medallion and provides the winner with a significant financial
stipend thanks to the George B. and Margaret K. Tinholt Endowment fund, set up
at Calvin by an anonymous donor in honor of George Tinholt, a former member of
the Calvin Board of Trustees.
Contact Tom McWhertor at 481-9013
-end-
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