Calvin Board Wraps Feruary Meetings

February 13, 2004 == 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 16 professors: Kevin Corcoran
(philosophy), Laura DeHaan (psychology), Fred DeJong (social work), Leonard
DeRooy (engineering), Herman DeVries (Germanic languages and literature),
Simona Goi (political science), Daniel Harlow (religion), Jennifer Steensma
Hoag (art), Jong-Il Kim (physical education), David Koetje (biology), Barbara
Omolade (sociology), Charles Pollard (English), James Rooks (education),
Elizabeth VanderLei (English), Jolene Vos-Camy (French) and David Warners
(biology).

"The tenure interviews are a very affirming process for the Board," says Board
secretary Cindi Veenstra of Kalamazoo. "Several Board members again commented
that the interviews were for them the highlight of the meetings. To hear about
how faculty integrate faith and learning and to hear about their mentoring of
students is very inspiring."

Besides the tenure interviews the Board also approved for reappointment an
additional 21 faculty members and ratified six administrative reappointments,
including Randall Wolthuis as director of the Broene Counseling Center. It
also endorsed a trio of new administrative appointments, including Kurt
Schaefer as director of the Center for Social Research, David Smith as director
of the brand-new Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning, and Uko
Zylstra as academic dean of Contextual Disciplines and of Natural Sciences and
Mathematics.

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 5.9 percent, down from last year. Tuition for 2004-2005 will be $17,770,
while room and board will be $6,185 for a total of $23,955.

The overall Calvin budget for 2004-2005 is $79 million. Calvin vice president
Tom McWhertor notes that with about 85% of that $79-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.

"Though a top-rated school by a number different measures," says McWhertor,
"many college guidebooks also call Calvin an exceptional value. And our
tuition and room and board charges continue to be well below the national
average for four-year private colleges. Even more so when you look at schools
that are more comparable to Calvin academically."

And, McWhertor says, Calvin has a strong financial aid program which serves
students and their families well. In fact, Calvin will award over $45 million
in total aid in 2004-2005, including $19 million in grants and scholarships
from Calvin, $16 million in loans, $7.5 million in grants and scholarships from
federal, state and other sources and $2.5 million in work. Over 90 percent of
the Calvin student body will receive some form of financial aid, making the
actual cost to attend Calvin far less, in most cases, than the $23,995 figure.
The average need-based award at Calvin next year will be over $12,500.

McWhertor adds that Calvin continues to improve faculty development, including
enhancements to its competitive salary structure and an ambitious and growing
program of sabbaticals and research fellowships.

"Those programs," he says, "enhance and expand the education available to
students since they benefit from what professors are learning and they often
are involved in research projects and fellowships as student researchers."

In fact, at its recent meeting Calvin's Board approved 34 sabbatical requests,
five Diekema Fellowships (named for former President Anthony Diekema and
awarded to younger faculty) and five other Calvin Research Fellowships. All
told those leaves will cost the college about $1.5 million.

Among the sabbaticals are David Koetje's plan to create a Christian framework
for engaging agricultural biotechnology, Garth Pauley's research on the history
and rhetoric of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and Jennifer
Steensma Hoag's photographic examination of society's increasingly complex
relationship with animals.

The Board also attended a special Faculty/Board dinner where Calvin's
Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching was given to professor of germanic
languages and literature Barbara Carvill. She is the 12th 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.

The Board also recognized two individuals: John Joldersma, a West Michigan
pastor who cannot attend the May 2004 Board meeting and thus completed his term
on the Board with this February meeting, and Andrea Dekker, retiring from
Calvin after almost a decade of service to the college, including the last five
years as an administrative assistant to Calvin President Gaylen Byker. The
Board also hosted a member of the Christian Reformed Church in North America's
Board of Trustees: Marion VanSoelen, who made the trip to Calvin's campus from
his home in Iowa.

Contact Tom McWhertor at 481-9013

-end-

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Received on Fri Feb 13 21:31:56 2004