The first faculty meeting of the year was filled with agendas and committee member updates.
The meeting also contained its fair share of remorse as the Monday afternoon meeting was opened with the announcement of two deaths in DePauw alumni and past faculty.
Forst D. Fuller '38 and Robert H. Farber '35 both passed this summer. Vanessa Fox, Professor of Biology, read the remembrance for Forst Fuller while David Bohmer, Director of the Pulliam Center for Contemporary Media and Media Fellows, shared a few comments and a story about Bob Farber.
"I certainly don't know somebody who committed more of his adult life to the place he loved first and foremost, DePauw University," said Dr. Bohmer when speaking about Bob Farber.
Shifting back to business, faculty members from various committees including Committee on Academic Policy and Planning (CAPP), Management of Academic Operations (MAO), Committee of Faculty (COF), Student Life and Academic Atmosphere Committee (SLAAC), Faculty Governance Steering Committee (FGSC), Faculty Development Committee (FDC), Committee on Administration (COA), and Committee on Honorary Degrees (CHD) spoke regarding the status of their committees and new members.
Since the school year has just started, most committees had no news because they had not yet met.
Faculty members requested that Committee on Academic Policy and Planning (CAPP) to "revisit the newly-implemented requirement that students may only earn W's for W courses taken in their sophomore year" (DePauw University Faculty Meeting Agenda) so as to accommodate transfer students transferring in after their sophomore year and other circumstances.
After the committees spoke, most of the meeting was taken up with presentations from President Brian Casey and Vice President of Finance Brad Kelsheimer.
Casey's presentation offered a broad University update on such things as diversity within the faculty and Ubben lectures. He noted that in the past, classes have been cancelled for a few Ubben lectures of great importance (Bill Clinton and Margaret Thatcher); however, classes will not be cancelled today for Ron Paul's Ubben lecture.
There was a break in Casey's presentation for Kelsheimer's presentation on the University's finances. He noted that DePauw's net worth this year is a little over $682 million and has grown by over $100 million since last year.
However, it was also noted that DePauw is $119 million in debt, though Kelsheimer added DePauw still has a good ratio of assets to debt compared to other universities. DePauw has also broken even each year in cash flow since 2009.
President Casey was then given the floor once again to discuss the future for DePauw University known as the 'DePauw 2020 Plan.' The plan consists of several short-term plans including adding staff to the Admissions Office and increasing Alumni Engagement, as well as several long-term plans involving strengthening the Academic Program and the Student Experience.
In order to offer future students in financial need with more aid, as well as to compete with colleges such as Grinnell College, Oberlin College, and Kenyon College, DePauw will be switching to a precipice admission policy starting with the class of 2019.
This means that DePauw will no longer be a rolling-admission university where applicants find out whether or not they got into DePauw a few weeks after they send in their application. Instead, everyone will find out the status of their application on April 1, like most top tier colleges and universities.
"This is a big cultural shift for our Admissions Office, this is a big deal, this is a big gamble," said President Casey. "We're going to start acting like a national institution."
Furthermore, improvements to the campus were discussed, including the construction of the Hoover Dining Hall starting in 2014.
In order for DePauw to continue providing the "DePauw Experience," worth more than what students are paying, President Casey is in charge of getting a further endowment of around $150 million in the next two years.