Congratulations to our newest Fort Lewis College alumni! This Commencement marked a historic milestone for Fort Lewis College as we awarded graduate degrees for the first time in our history. The creation of the Master of Arts in Education was a community need and I’m grateful to the FLC Teacher Education program for responding to that need.
Among the reasons that students choose Fort Lewis College, two come up time and time again: adventure and the desire to make a difference in the world. These two pursuits are why Fort Lewis College was ranked as a top producer of Peace Corps volunteers. It’s why a group of current FLC students and alumni are planning to climb all the 14-ers in Colorado this summer to raise awareness of social and health issues. These are the kinds of things many of our graduates want to do, and we’re very proud of them.
So much of the good that our students and alumni do is supported by a dedicated community of Fort Lewis College friends and supporters. People like Paula Lutz, who created two new scholarship programs for our cycling and biology students in honor of her late husband, Stan Rabbe. Carol Salomon and Norman Broad for their support of science, music and other initiatives through the President’s Discretionary Fund. Walter Dear and Gene and Sally Bradley for endowing new scholarships. This list goes on… Belief in the future of our students is running high!
FLC faculty, staff, and students, as well as community members, are hard at work on the College’s re-accreditation effort. The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is our accrediting body, and representatives from the HLC will be visiting campus this October.
This accreditation process is an important opportunity to closely examine every aspect of how the College operates. The campus discussions that this process has inspired are valuable and have led us to discover ways that we can improve FLC now and in the future.
We are also preparing for a new strategic planning cycle for the College. Our current strategic plan expires at the end of 2016, so we will begin the conversation about a new plan this fall. Input from community members was invaluable in the creation of the current strategic plan, and we look forward to hearing where Fort Lewis College’s friends and supporters think we should go next.
In the sciences, we are working to meet the increasing demand from our students for engineering and geosciences degrees. Construction continues on our new Geosciences, Physics and Engineering Hall and we’re on schedule to move in fall 2016. Come up and see the progress this summer, or check the campus webcams.
Dr. Ryan Haaland and Dr. Ryan Smith, both from the FLC Physics and Engineering Department, have been giving tours showing what our students are doing in the old facilities. It’s remarkable the research that is going on in those labs. They are building autonomous robots, Baja racers, as well as literally doing rocket science.
Moving to the other side of campus, professors from our Department of Philosophy worked with the FLC Ethics Bowl Team over the past year. Led by Coach Mark Mastalski, the students of the team traveled to the regional Ethics Bowl competition late last year… and won! The team was invited to the national competition this winter where they shared company with schools like Duke, Gonzaga, and the University of Michigan. Our students did an amazing job representing Fort Lewis College on a national stage.
Within the FLC Accounting program, our Beta Alpha Psi chapter, which is a national honor society for accounting, was recently named a Superior Chapter. The designation means that our chapter exceeds the expectations of Beta Alpha Psi in academics, professionalism, and leadership. The outcomes of recognitions like this are shown in our accounting graduates who not only get jobs, but great paying jobs. In fact, FLC Accounting is ranked among the top programs in the state in terms of salary.
These are just a few examples of the return on an investment in Fort Lewis College. Again, thank you to all who support FLC and our students. We would not be who we are today without a great community around us.