College receives $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment
FOR RELEASE: Monday, November 22, 2004
Huntington, Ind. "Additional opportunities for faculty development will soon be provided to Huntington College faculty through funds granted to the College by Lilly Endowment Inc. Huntington College is among a number of Indiana higher education institutions receiving funds through the Initiative to Recruit and Retain Intellectual Capital for Indiana Higher Education Institutions, the Endowment announced today. A $1 million grant will allow Huntington College to establish an endowed faculty award which will provide faculty development funds to the selected faculty member. The endowed award will benefit current faculty members and serve as an additional incentive to attract new faculty to Huntington College. The endowment will also help to underwrite faculty salaries.
The endowed faculty award will be a two-year rotational grant to a selected faculty member. The recipient would receive a reduced teaching load, extra professional development money and a special title associated with the award.
Huntington College has a particularly strong faculty; it is the College's most valued asset, said Dr. Norris Friesen, vice president and dean of the College. Students particularly value the close contact they have with faculty who serve as both classroom teachers and out-of-class mentors. The faculty demonstrates significant commitment to this relationship with students, as one might expect at a student-centered undergraduate college. However, student-centered teaching is challenging for the faculty because of the extensive commitments of time and energy, especially because most of Huntington College's 63 faculty members are also active professionally in publishing, creating, performing, and serving as officers in a broad range of discipline-related organizations.
The faculty has been integral to the College's growth into one of the Midwest's Best Colleges as determined by U.S.News & World Report. Furthermore, Huntington College students regard the faculty as one of the institution's greatest strengths, a fact reflected in the consistently-high student satisfaction scores given to the College as measured by the Student Satisfaction Inventory.
Last February, the Indianapolis-based Endowment announced this $100 million program, asking 37 public and private colleges and universities to consider how they can attract or keep more of the brightest and most talented minds in Indiana. All proposals were submitted by September 15, and the amount of each grant depended on each institution's enrollment.
Other institutions receiving grants for the Initiative to Recruit and Retain Intellectual Capital for Indiana Higher Education Institutions included Ancilla Domini College, Anderson University, Ball State University, Bethel College, Butler University, Calumet College, DePauw University, Franklin College, Goshen College, Grace College, Hanover College, Holy Cross College, Indiana Institute of Technology, Indiana State University Foundation, Indiana University Foundation, Indiana Wesleyan University, Ivy Tech Foundation, Manchester College, Marian College, Martin University, Oakland City University, Purdue Research Foundation, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, St. Joseph's College, St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, St. Mary's College, Taylor University, Tri-State University, University of Evansville, University of Indianapolis, University of Notre Dame, University of Southern Indiana, University of St. Francis, Valparaiso University, Vincennes University, and Wabash College.
