Mike Veseth, the Robert G. Albertson Professor of International Political Economy at the University of Puget Sound, was recognized as Washington State Professor of the Year at a ceremony today in Washington, D.C. The award is sponsored by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

University of Puget Sound Prof. Mike Veseth has been named Washington Professor of the Year. Photo: University of Puget Sound.

CASE started the awards program in 1981, recognizing a national professor of the year, and expanded it in 1985 to include a professor of the year from each state. Of 26 Washington professors to win the state award, 12 have taught at Independent Colleges of Washington members. Puget Sound has the most of any college in Washington with six, including three of the last four.

We think those numbers are a reflection of the commitment to outstanding teaching shared by our member colleges, which offer broad-based, academically rigorous liberal arts education that emphasizes critical thinking, lifelong learning, ethics, leadership, and community service. That’s essentially what University of Puget Sound President Ronald R. Thomas said in describing Veseth:

“Mike Veseth is a teacher for a lifetime and a person who wears his greatness with the grace of Baryshnikov, without a trace of the prima donna,” Thomas said. “From the beginning of his teaching career to this day, from his first book on the debt crisis in Victorian England to his most recent volume critiquing globalization, Mike sees the big picture and encourages his students to do the same. As an international political economist who knows the importance of wise investments, Mike invests generously in all his students, and the life-time return is impressive indeed.”

This is an interesting circle-is-complete story. Veseth is the Robert G. Albertson Professor of International Political Economy at Puget Sound. Albertson, also from Puget Sound, was the first Washington Professor of the Year award recipient back in 1985.

Congratulations to Mike Veseth for this marvelous recognition, and thank you for being one of the many great teachers at Washington’s independent colleges and universities, on the front lines helping create educational opportunity, choice, and success for students.

John Bassett will be inaugurated as president of Heritage University Nov. 13. He comes to Washington from Clark University in Worcester, Mass.

When Dr. John Bassett is formally installed as president of Heritage University in Toppenish on Nov. 13 it will wrap up a string of three presidential inaugurations at Independent Colleges of Washington member institutions in the last month. Beck Taylor was sworn in at Whitworth University Oct. 15 and Thayne McCulloh at Gonzaga University on the 22nd.

Presidential inaugurations are a little funny because they often come long after the president has assumed the duties of the post. In the case of McCulloh, it had been about a year and a half, as he’d already served as interim president for a year when the GU trustees handed him the permanent gig this summer. We started working with Bassett this summer, too, as he’s also the board chair of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and we met him at a workshop with folks from other state private higher education associations back in July.

The inauguration lends an official stamp of approval, though, as dignitaries from other colleges and community leaders all come together for some speechifying and other activities. It’s a great opportunity to reach out and talk about the partnerships that make higher education successful in the community.

Bassett has been making the rounds. There’s a nice story in this morning’s Tri-City Herald in which he talks about expanding Heritage’s partnership with Columbia Basin College. Heritage offers teaching, social work, and criminal justice courses at the Pasco campus, and may soon be offering science degrees as well. Heritage partners with a number of community colleges around the state, mostly offering education degree programs. It all fits in with their mission to provide quality, accessible higher education to multicultural populations which have been educationally isolated.

Welcome to all the new presidents. We look forward to working collaboratively with all of our member colleges to help bring opportunity, choice, and success to our students!

We’re welcoming some new people to the Independent Colleges of Washington family these days, with three of our 10 member colleges inaugurating new presidents in the space of a month.

L-R: Presidents John Bassett of Heritage University, Beck Taylor of Whitworth University, and Thayne McCulloh of Gonzaga University pause for a photo at Taylor's inauguration in Spokane Oct. 15. ICW photo by Violet Boyer.

Beck A. Taylor was inaugurated at Whitworth University last Friday. Inauguration for Thayne M. McCulloh at Gonzaga University will be Oct. 22. John Bassett‘s inauguration at Heritage University is scheduled for Nov. 13.

Three of the other presidents among the ICW membership have been on the job five years or less. Six of 10 changing in the last five years feels like a bit of turnover, but it’s actually about what one would expect. The American Council on Education last did a study in 2007 and found that college presidents stayed on the job an average of 8.5 years.

Several of our presidents have beaten that mark. Fr. Stephen Sundborg has been president of Seattle University for 13 years, Phil Eaton at Seattle Pacific University for 14, and Loren Anderson is the “dean” of ICW presidents, having been at the helm of PLU for 19 years now.

The presidents work together as board members of ICW, along with 24 business and community leaders who guide us along our mission to provide educational opportunity, choice, and success for students. We welcome these new leaders and look forward to working with you to achieve our mission.

Whitworth University President Beck A. Taylor. Photo: Whitworth University.

It’s been a full week of special events at Whitworth University leading up to this afternoon’s inauguration of the university’s 18th president, Beck A. Taylor.

Taylor was appointed president of Whitworth in April and has been on the job since July. The week-long celebration of his formal inauguration winds up with a picnic on the Whitworth campus in Spokane on Saturday.

We offer a warm Independent Colleges of Washington welcome to Beck Taylor, and look forward to getting to know him better when the ICW board meets at Heritage University in Toppenish later this month.

Speaking of Whitworth, you’d know all about Taylor’s inauguration, how to contact the president or anyone else on faculty or staff, where all campus events are being held, and how to find them, if only you had the new Whitworth app for iPhone. I downloaded it today, and it’s pretty slick! It was designed by a talented group: Whitworth seniors, who put the app together for their software engineering class project last spring. They spent the summer tweaking the app and formally published it last month. You can read all about it in an article in The Whitworthian, the student newspaper.

Party on, Whitworth!

The Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board conducted a nationwide search for a new executive director, and found its man just down the hall. The board has hired Don Bennett, who has been the interim ED since April, to the position.

Don Bennett is the new executive director of the Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Bennett has been with the HEC Board for nearly 3½ years. He started in March of 2007 as deputy director, and was promoted to executive deputy director last year. He’s been serving as interim executive director since Ann Daley retired at the end of March.

Greg Scheiderer, vice president of Independent Colleges of Washington, has known Bennett for many years. They worked together on the staff of the Washington State Senate in the early 1990s.

Jesús Hernández, board chair, said Bennett is the right person to lead the HEC Board as it continues to confront a critical set of complex strategic challenges facing the state’s postsecondary education system.

“Don Bennett’s deep knowledge of budget and finance, his long history working with education policy issues in Washington, his experience directing HECB operations, and his understanding of the state’s higher education institutions and the political process constitute a unique skill set for this position,” said Hernández in a news release.

The HEC Board provides strategic planning, coordination, monitoring, and policy analysis for higher education in Washington, and administers state and federal financial aid and other education services. It is charged by state law with representing the “broad public interest above the interests of the individual colleges and universities.”

Congratulations, Don! There are challenging times ahead for higher education in Washington. We look forward to working with you and the rest of the HEC Board staff to give students every opportunity to get a good college education.

Dr. Thayne McCulloh has been elected president of Gonzaga University by the board of trustees. GU photo by Jennifer Raudebaugh.

The Gonzaga University Board of Trustees today elected Dr. Thayne M. McCulloh as Gonzaga’s 26th president, succeeding Rev. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J. McCulloh has served as interim president since Rev. Spitzer’s departure in July 2009.

“Over the past two years we have looked at a number of potential candidates,” said John Luger, chair of the Board of Trustees. “What we have in Thayne McCulloh is an exceptionally talented individual who has the background, the vision and the leadership skills to lead Gonzaga to a very bright future, and how fortunate we are to have this leader in our own community. His work in championing the mission of Gonzaga, and his work this past year as interim president, has given us every confidence that he will be Gonzaga’s next great leader.”

To read more about the decision, visit Gonzaga’s news site.

Coverage from the Spokesman-Review in Spokane.

The Board of Directors of Independent Colleges of Washington welcomes five new members as we kick off a new fiscal year. Two of our 10 member institutions have new presidents, who are ex officio members of the board, and three other new board members were elected.

Linneweh

We have written about the new presidents already. Beck Taylor was selected as president at Whitworth University in April and began his duties July 1. Dr. Taylor has already started his own blog! Heritage University selected Dr. John Bassett as its next president back in November, and he takes up his new duties next week. In addition to being at the helm at Heritage, Bassett is the board chair for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the unified national voice of independent higher education.

O'Halloran

Three elected directors join the board this month. Franz Lazarus is senior vice president for global operations at Costco Wholesale. Richard W. Linneweh, Jr., is president and CEO of Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital. John O’Halloran is chairman and CEO of Rainier Funds at Rainier Investment Management.

Departing the board are two retiring college presidents, Sister Kathleen Ross of Heritage and Dr. Bill Robinson of Whitworth; and five elected members who have completed two three-year terms, the limit under our by-laws: Paul Cantor of Whittier Trust, Rick Gross of Boeing, Chris Heman of U.S. Bank, Doug Schutt of Costco, and attorney Steve Seward.

Thanks to our departing board members for your service, and welcome to our new colleagues as we work to provide opportunity, choice, and success for students.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Generous donors to Independent Colleges of Washington this year again gave more than $1 million to provide opportunity, choice, and success for our students through scholarships and other support.

Board member Steve Seward kicked in the final donation that got us to the million dollar mark. It came on his last "official" day on the ICW board. Seward served two three-year terms helping ICW create opportunity, choice, and success for students. Well done, Steve!

It was close. As the clock ticked down on our fiscal year yesterday, the tally came in: We were at $999,890.27, a mere $109.73 short of a nice even million.

We put out the call through email, Twitter, and Facebook to see if someone out there would put us over the top. A very few minutes went by before we heard a whoop from the office of Anne Cassidy, our development director. ICW board member Steve Seward had kicked in precisely $109.73 to put us at the million dollar mark. A few other donations came in, and when the bell rang at the end of the day we had:

$1,000,040.

Thank you so much to all of our donors on behalf of our students!

Seward’s contribution was especially appreciated, as he has now completed his board service with us after two three-year terms. His tenure ended at about the time he made that final donation. Thanks, Steve! Henceforth we’ll be calling you the million dollar man.

Scholarship support is so critical for so many students. Scholarships, state and federal aid, and institutional grants and other forms of aid all help keep the dream of an outstanding, academically rigorous independent higher education alive for all capable students, regardless of their family’s resources.

State Sen. Ken Jacobsen, a strong advocate for higher education, announced he will not seek re-election this fall. He will have served 28 years in the Washington State Legislature.

Independent Colleges of Washington will lose one of our most stalwart legislative friends next year. State Sen. Ken Jacobsen of Seattle has announced that he will not seek re-election this fall, citing high blood pressure that landed him in the hospital for a brief stay in October. (We wonder if hypertension might be an occupational hazard of lawmaking.)

When his term runs out in January Jacobsen will have served in the legislature for 28 years. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1982, and then to the Senate in 1998. For most of those years he served on, and often chaired, the higher education committee. A strong advocate for higher education, Jacobsen received ICW’s highest honor, the Stanley O. McNaughton Leadership Award, in 2001. The award recognizes companies, legislators and leaders that have demonstrated passion for and commitment to Washington’s independent colleges and universities.

Jacobsen has long pushed for a higher education finance model used by most independent colleges: market-driven tuition pricing coupled with generous financial aid for qualified students to help them cover the cost. He continues that push as he departs, saying in a post by Joel Connelly on seattlepi.com yesterday:

“I am, and always will be, a high tuition-high financial aid guy. We should give the university the authority to set tuition as high as it wants. The state should move big time into financial aid… We have been sacrificing up the university on the altar of low tuition.”

We agree with Jake. The model works; private colleges serve low-income students in about the same proportions as do public colleges at which the sticker price is far lower. Financial aid levels the playing field for these students.

Jacobsen is the fifth member of the senate to announce plans to depart that august body this year, joining Republican Dale Brandland and fellow Democrats Rosa Franklin, Joe McDermott, and Darlene Fairley.

We wish Ken Jacobsen good health and happy birdwatching as he moves into new adventures.

More media thoughts on Jacobsen’s departure:

• Josh Feit, Publicola
• Peter Callaghan, The News Tribune
• Jim Brunner, The Seattle Times
• The Spokesman-Review

Whitworth University President-elect Beck Taylor

The Whitworth University Board of Trustees has announced that Beck Taylor, Ph.D., has been appointed the university’s next president. He will assume his duties July 1, 2010, succeeding Bill Robinson, who is stepping down after 17 years as president. Dr. Taylor currently serves as dean of the Brock School of Business at Samford University, in Birmingham, Ala.

“The Whitworth University Board of Trustees is excited to announce the appointment of Dr. Beck Taylor as Whitworth’s 18th president,” said Board Chair Walt Oliver. “We are confident he brings the vision, experience and clear commitment to Whitworth’s mission that will move the university forward in exciting ways. This is a great day for the entire Whitworth community.”

Taylor also will join the board of directors of Independent Colleges of Washington. The ICW board consists of the presidents of the 10 member colleges and 27 business and community leaders from around the state.

There’s more information on the Whitworth website, including their news story about the announcement and other details of the presidential search. You can also start following Taylor; he has a Twitter account and is an active tweeter! We’ve embedded the news conference of the announcement below.

Welcome to Whitworth, Washington, and ICW, Dr. Taylor!

The board of directors of Independent Colleges of Washington presented state Sen. Mike Hewitt with its Stanley O. McNaughton Leadership Award at a luncheon yesterday at Seattle Pacific University.

Created in 1999, the award is named in honor of Mr. McNaughton, a founding director of ICW. The award recognizes companies, legislators, and leaders that have demonstrated passion for and commitment to Washington’s independent colleges and universities and the students who attend them.

From left: Ron Thomas (seated), president of University of Puget Sound and chairman of the ICW Board; Sen. Mike Hewitt; DeLona Lang Bell, president of CM Bell Company and ICW board member; John McVay, president of Walla Walla University; George Bridges, president of Whitman College. ICW photo.

Hewitt played a key role during budget negotiations in 2009 in defeating a proposal to freeze financial aid for students attending independent colleges and universities. In addition, he has long been an outspoken advocate for independent higher education, noting that the college provide an outstanding education for nearly 40,000 students at minimal cost to the state, saving taxpayers upwards of $340 million each year. He’s committed to keeping college affordable for low- and middle-income students.

Past winners of the McNaughton Award are:

2008: The Wollenberg Foundation
2007: Bob Craves
2006: Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air
2005: Sen. Margarita Prentice
2004: Fluke Corporation
2003: Sen. Dino Rossi
2002: PACCAR Inc
2001: Sen. Ken Jacobsen
2000: The Boeing Company
1999: Rep. Tom Huff

Congratulations to Sen. Mike Hewitt for joining this wonderful group. Thank you for your support.

Dr. John Bassett

The Heritage University board of directors has appointed Dr. John Bassett as the second president of Heritage University. Bassett currently serves as the president of Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, a position he has held since 2000. He will begin his new duties at Heritage next summer.

Bassett will succeed Dr. Kathleen Ross, who has been president at Heritage since its founding in 1982. Ross announced her plans to retire from the presidency in March of this year.

In addition to his duties as president at Clark, Bassett has a high profile leadership position on national education policy, serving as the vice-chair of the board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. NAICU is the unified national voice of independent higher education.

“I can think of no greater calling than to lead Heritage University,” said Bassett. “Higher education is the foundation for our future success as a society. Heritage was founded on the belief that no one should be denied access for reasons of poverty, culture or geography. My wife Kay and I are thrilled by the opportunity to live in the Pacific Northwest and build on the work of Dr. Ross.”

For more information, read the Heritage University news release on the announcement, Bassett’s letter to the Clark University community, and coverage from the Yakima Herald-Republic.

A lot can happen sometimes when one is on vacation!

Last week, as already chronicled on the One Student at a Time blog, Bill Robinson, the president of Whitworth University, announced that this academic year would be his last in that post.

In addition, it was a week for new beginnings. Dr. Roy Heynderickx, who became the president of Saint Martin’s University in January, was formally inaugurated last Friday, as reported in the Olympian.

Over at Gonzaga University interim President Thayne McCulloh, who assumed that post in July, started a blog. McCulloh plans to focus his blog posts on his reflections on Gonzaga, its mission, its people, and issues affecting higher education.

That sounds to us like a good topic for a blog!

With the death of U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy on August 25, college students have lost one of their greatest champions.  A man of great privilege, Senator Kennedy understood the importance of giving back.  He did it in so many ways, but most important to us was his advocacy for students and helping them get a high-quality education, and his commitment to providing student financial assistance where appropriate. Some see Senator Kennedy as an ultra-liberal to be used as the icon of evil.  In truth, while he had very strongly held convictions, he was at heart a great legislator. He wanted laws to pass that would make a difference in peoples lives. Without denying his convictions, he found compromise as the first order of good Senatorial work.  He often gave the credit to his colleagues, listing them as the primary sponsor of bills that were his idea. As Harry Truman said, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.”

There was nothing like Senator Kennedy’s rallying cries. He understood the power of motivation. Once I heard him at a gathering of education lobbyists in D.C.  We were in a small hotel meeting room, packed beyond capacity, I’m sure.  (Everyone showed up when Kennedy was coming—and when he told you he would attend he came, unlike many of his colleagues.)  By the time he was through you felt like you were going to fight the battle at Agincourt.

It will be hard to replace the education legacy of both Senators Pell and Kennedy.  Let’s hope there are some Senators trying.

The News Tribune is one of many to report that state revenue collections were $41 million lower than projected last month. The continued shortfalls raise the possibility that the legislature will need a special session some time before January. The budget adopted last month by the legislature, and not yet signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire, leaves $830 million in reserve, but $260 million of that is tied up in the state’s Rainy Day Fund, which takes legislative approval to spend. So the government could run out of cash before the legislature convenes for the 2010 session in January.

GET price up

The price for a share in the state’s Guaranteed Education Tuition program (GET) has been increased to $101 per unit because of increasing public tuition and flagging investment income. One hundred units cover tuition and state-mandated fees at the most expensive public university in Washington. GET units can be used at private colleges as well.

What is a cut?

Also in The News Tribune another exercise in legislative semantics. Gov. Gregoire notes that the widely reported cut of 9,000 enrollment “slots” at public baccalaureate institutions isn’t really that large, because the schools had enrolled more than budgeted in the first place. Gregoire says the real cut is 3,000, because the other 6,000 didn’t exist, at least in the eyes of budget writers. This is a corrolary to the annual give-and-take between the colleges and the budgeters about whether they’re “overenrolled” or “underfunded.”

Bell interns with Senate

The Walla Walla University Web site has a nice story about Christian Bell, a student who worked as an intern with state Sen. Don Benton during this year’s legislative session. I had a chance to meet Bell during the session and found him to be a delightful individual and he really seemed to be enjoying his work. His mom is DeLona Bell, who serves on the WWU board of trustees and the ICW board.