They challenge the research institutions to break free of departmental hegemony, of old definitions of workload, and of current budget practices. The unique circumstances of these universities their size, complexity, multifaceted nature and overriding emphasis on research make it more difficult for them to become the kind of academic community we enjoy at Gettysburg and Stevens Point. But, when it comes to undergraduate education, there are aspects of our campuses that are instructive and worth emulating by the major research centers. Primarily undergraduate liberal arts institutions like Gettysburg College and Stevens Point typically devote considerable time, resources and effort to providing the optimal freshman experience for incoming students. Gettysburg also has a residential college program where department-based classes in the majors are scheduled in the residence halls.
Enrollment is limited to a comfortable fifteen, and almost every academic department participates.
These academic opportunities where the students live clearly build a sense of community. Add to this the thoughtful advising and mentoring our incoming students receive from fully-credentialed faculty and the message is clear that we genuinely care about our undergraduate students. Every university I am acquainted with, public or private, undergraduate or graduate, is grappling with the technological revolution and its major impact on education. But schools like Stevens Point and Gettysburg College strike me as especially careful and creative in incorporating information technology into the very fabric of our undergraduate teaching missions. When I became Chancellor at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point in July 1996, we identified the advancing of classroom technology as a major challenge of the institution.