Elon College will become Elon University on June 1, 2001. The unanimous decision, which was made by the board of trustees Oct. 11, was accompanied by the announcement of a bold $116 million strategic plan to propel Elon forward as a distinctive national model of excellence in higher education.
“Elon is one of the nation’s premier small, private, selective universities,” says Gail Drew, chair of the board. “The name Elon University, in conjunction with NewCentury@Elon, our new strategic plan, will position the institution for continued dramatic improvements in academic programs, personnel and facilities. Elon will be a leader in 21st century higher education.”
The move to university status was envisioned in 1994, when trustees launched the Elon Vision, the institution’s current strategic plan that is being concluded. The 14th goal of the plan was “To have the programs, personnel, students and trustees worthy of recognition as a comprehensive undergraduate university.”
Over the past six years, Elon has added 60 faculty positions; established a college of arts and sciences and schools of education and communications; built a new state-of-the-art library, science building, campus center and other facilities; begun construction of a new athletics stadium; increased enrollment from 3,500 to more than 4,100; made the transition to NCAA Division I athletics and gained extensive national recognition in numerous college guides and other publications.
“The name Elon University celebrates the fact that we have met and surpassed the goals of the Elon Vision,” says Leo M. Lambert, Elon president. “We embark on NewCentury@Elon with enthusiasm and a renewed commitment to our core values. Elon will always be a close-knit academic community that is student-centered, promoting strong mentoring relationships between students and faculty.”
Among the NewCentury@Elon objectives are the following:
– Develop a new program of information science and technology
– Develop the Isabella Cannon Centre for International Studies as a premier national model
– Establish centers for innovation in teaching and learning, public policy and public affairs and environmental studies
– Construct a new arts building, a new building for the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, a new student health center and additional on-campus residence halls
– Determine the feasibility of building a convocation center and support development of the surrounding community
– Increase the endowment, expanding scholarship programs to support outstanding students
– Endow the College of Arts and Sciences and schools of education and communications
– Improve stature of Elon’s NCAA Division I athletics program
– Plan for slow and targeted enrollment growth while improving the academic credentials of entering freshmen
“With the NewCentury@Elon plan in place, we are ready to compare ourselves with the very best,” says trustee Noel Allen, chair of the task force that created the plan over the past year. “Elon will set the standard – in a sense, defining the field for quality programs in higher education.”
The board decided to adopt the university name on recommendation of a 16-member task force made up of trustees, alumni, faculty, staff and students. All members of the Elon community were given the opportunity to express their opinions about the change in a series of 24 on-campus forums and meetings held during September.
“We were very encouraged by the feedback we received on this issue,” says Zachary Walker, trustee and chair of the Task Force on University Designation. “People associated with Elon, who have experienced the dramatic growth of the past decade, see the university name as a natural step in the evolution of the institution. But they also made it clear that Elon must remain faithful to its core values. As Elon continues to develop, it is up to all members of our community to make sure that we continue to embrace and retain the qualities that make this school so special.”
Following the vote to adopt the university name, trustees issued the following statement:
In adopting the name Elon University, the board of trustees affirms Elon’s position as a premier small, private, selective university that gives students the individual attention traditionally associated with liberal arts colleges along with the opportunities found at comprehensive universities.
Recognizing its obligations to the past, present and future, Elon will define a university on its own terms. Elon University will place primary emphasis on student-centered programs, promoting engaged and experiential learning and close, mentoring relationships between students and faculty-scholars whose primary responsibility is to teach. Elon University will pursue a policy of slow, targeted growth, retaining and enhancing its intimate, residential campus.
We envision these qualities as foundational to the NewCentury@Elon goal, to be a distinctive national model of academic excellence founded upon our traditions of innovation and community.
Elon’s undergraduate enrollment is in the 90th percentile of U.S. private colleges and universities and is the third largest among private institutions in North Carolina. The large majority of Elon’s peers are now designated as universities, and the list of top 25 admissions competitors includes UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University, Wake Forest University, Clemson University, James Madison University, University of Virginia, University of Maryland, UNC-Greensboro and UNC-Charlotte.
Elon is ranked #11 among Southern universities by U.S. News & World Report, is classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a Master’s I institution and is a member of the NCAA Division I. Nearly 80 percent of Master’s I schools and more than 90 percent of NCAA Division I schools are designated as universities.
In adopting the name, trustees instructed administrators to spend the next several months resolving important issues related to the transition to a university.
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