From
the President
Dear friends,
In early February I participated in “Southwestern Sunday” at
First United Methodist Church in Dodge City. I, along with students
in the college’s ministry outreach teams, have participated in
six or seven of these special Sundays so far this year. Each worship
service is different, but the visit to Dodge City stood out because
a graduate of the college gave me a button, one that’s many years
old, bearing the simple message: FOR SOUTHWESTERN I WILL.
I’ll admit, I got a little choked up when I read
that button. It expresses perfectly the credo of the Moundbuilder.
You will recommend
students to us and you will talk up the college with prospective students
and their parents. You will send gifts to support Southwestern now
and you will make provision for estate gifts later. You will serve
as guest lecturers and mentors, will provide internships, will work
on advisory committees and boards, will support Builder athletics and
athletes. You name it, someone is doing it for the college and doing
it willingly.
The people who live and work at Southwestern want,
and very much need, your involvement and support. Never doubt that.
Your readiness to say “I
will” fuels our passion for the college and its future.
Best regards,
Dick Merriman
President
Professional
Studies
Viewpoint
Southwestern
College is a college with a planning culture. We have a 2010 vision…a
strategic plan…short-term directions and steps…an academic
vision. It was our “2010 Goals for Excellence” that prompted
us two years ago to seek approval from The Higher Learning Commission
(our regional accrediting body) to offer undergraduate and graduate
courses, majors, and degree programs online.
With this approval SC Online became a reality. SC Online started with
only two majors (pastoral studies and business administration). We
quickly added four additional undergraduate majors and our online offerings
will include our newest major, security management, in September. (See
our Web site, www.sckans.edu/online, for a full list of majors.)
The two years since accreditation have gone by at a dizzying speed.
SC Online has taken us in new directions and new milestones have been
realized. One of these milestones occurred in December when SC Online
was selected as one of 32 institutions to provide online coursework
to soldier-students worldwide through eArmyU. Through a competitive
process, Southwestern College was selected (along with Indiana University,
UCLA, and others well-known institutions) to participate in this innovative
initiative.
Why the growth in online education? It’s simply
response to learner demand. Whether a soldier-student or an adult
learner in Ponca City, Okla., or Palmyra, Va.,
the online format provides students with a flexible and convenient
learning environment without the time/location constraints of traditional
classroom-based courses. A learner who is working full-time, raising
a family, traveling on business, active in community activities and
taking classes to complete a degree finds that each of these is competing
for a very important resource: time.
And because we can now recruit learners and faculty
members in all 50 states and around the globe, the world is our marketplace
and we
need your assistance. If a colleague, family member, neighbor or friend
is interested in earning a degree but can’t come to the main
campus for a four-year experience, please refer them to SC Online.
That’s all part of the plan.
Karen L. Pedersen
Vice President for Professional Studies
