From the President |
TRENT CONTENTS Association President's Message The Higher Cost of High Education Are You Being Served? Discounts and benefits for alumni Course profile - Women in the Greek and Roman World Alumni Staff Profile - Doug Brown '71 Which Way Is Up? - Investment strategies in difficult times |
Encouragement and choices by Bonnie M. Patterson As I prepare this column, I am nearly a six-month veteran of Trent University. And, what an exhilarating time these six months have been. One of the special highlights was the Head of the Trent reunion event, conveniently held on the October weekend of my installation into office! It was very encouraging to have so many academic leaders from Canada and the United States join us in that celebration and experience the "Head" while at Trent, one of our finest alumni and community traditions. For those of you unable to attend, please visit our Web site to view pictures of the ceremony and read the text of my intallation speech. It was also an honour to have Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come, a Trent alumn, accept our highest academic award at the event, an honorary doctor of laws. I have been encouraged by the many activities of our Alumni Association, and have met several hundred committed volunteers. Many of you have almost daily contact with Trent in a variety of ways, while some of you are less frequently heard from. Our aliation with you is not forgotten. Your numbers have now grown to 21,000-plus, and I know from this magazine's mailing list that you reside in a variety of locations around the world where you have developed your post-Trent lives. Major improvements are in store for the alumni's Web site, so I know you'll also want to keep track of those enhancements and what they'll offer you in terms of staying connected to Trent world-wide. The past few months have not only been a time of introduction for me to the internal world of Trent that you have had intimate contact with, but they have been a time of taking stock of Trent today and where we should be placing our energies as we move into and beyond the next millennium. I am so mindful that a smaller institution cannot do and be everything for all. We must make choices. We are currently engaged in an academic planning process, part of which involves conducting a survey on potential strategic directions. I'll share those results with you in my next column and I sincerely hope you will visit our Web site to provide your opinions through the survey. During my introduction to Trent, I have come to determine that we need your assistance more than ever before. If Trent is to remain the premium quality liberal arts and science university of choice in today's highly-competitive market, we will need to have you share your pride and the prestige of your degree with others. We need you to add your voice to those who recognize that Trent is the best choice for pursuing the type of interactive student-centred education that is and always has been our mainstay. I encourage you to share with neighbours, friends and work associates your views on how well a quality liberal arts and science education at Trent prepared you for the workplace. By the time you read this, we will be actively and strategically pursuing a student recruitment agenda that we hope will see us return to our previous market dominance in the primarily-undergraduate field. You can help us by contacting the alumni oce (1-800-267-5774 or www/trentu.ca/alumni) and agreeing to serve in a volunteer recruitment capacity. I think there's no better way to attract high-quality students than by the success of those who have graduated from Trent. Don't be timid - brag about Trent! Lend your career profile to help prospective students see their path to a successful future. In addition, during the latter part of 1999, we will launch the public phase of our capital campaign to raise $17-million to improve the learning experience for Trent's students of today and the future. This provides another opportunity for you to share your pride in Trent, as we raise funds across the local area, the province, and indeed, the country. The success of the campaign will depend not only on generous corporate and financial gifts, but each and every contribution that allows us to demonstrate that our own "family" thinks of us kindly. Faculty, staff and student campaign planning is underway. I was so very pleased to have Trent alumni supporters shown prominently for their generosity in the Maclean's November 1998 edition on university rankings. Placing second of all primarily undergraduate schools across the country for alumni participation is a "try-harder" position we can really be proud of! In closing, I strongly encourage you to offer your support to Trent. The year 1999 brings our 35th anniversary of founding, and I hope that you will help in celebrating what I now know to be a truly wonderful place for learning, research, personal and professional growth. | |
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