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A Letter from the President

Every college and university with which I have been affiliated has had a love-hate relationship with “the rankings.” On the one hand, yes, we all like to be ranked high and if we rise in any ranking, we feel good and are likely to tell people about it. On the other hand, as educators, we know that what matters more than a ranking is the appropriateness of a particular institution for a particular young man or woman seeking a college education. There are plenty of good reasons why a school ranked #1, 25, or 99 might be the absolute wrong choice for a student; there are also reasons why a school with no ranking will be the best possible choice for another student.

If the ranking of St. Mary’s College of Maryland by a magazine or newspaper can help us understand where we need to work harder, or where we are doing well, we are grateful for the input. But nothing can take the place of a young person visiting our campus, talking to our faculty and students, and deciding whether this residential, public honors college is the right place for him or her to pursue a liberal arts education.

We’d like for that prospective student to hear about the interesting things our faculty do, like Michael J.G. Cain, professor of political science and director of the Center for the Study of Democracy, who will spend the spring 2011 semester in China on a Fulbright lecture scholarship, researching energy reforms in China. We’d like that young person to know about our alumni who put their liberal arts values to work in the world through the Peace Corps or through scholarship as these current Fulbrights are doing: Mikey Church ’04 (Tajikistan), Kevin Beanland ’02 (Greece), Betsy Anthony ’93 (Austria), and Allison Dale ’10 (Morocco).

An annual report is one where numbers help tell the story of the successes and the challenges an institution has had during the year. Stakeholders who’ve invested in the institution look to the annual report for confirmation that their investment is worthwhile. Alumni, parents, and friends of St. Mary’s College of Maryland—you are our stakeholders—and I am pleased to say that in our 170th year of operation, our numbers (like our alumni) demonstrate the value of a St. Mary’s education:

• 50% of all 2010 graduates participated in at least one international program.

• We have 11 national honor societies on campus, including Phi Beta Kappa.

• U.S. News & World Report 2011 rankings list St. Mary’s as one of the top five public liberal arts colleges in the nation and move the College up four spots to 88 in the list of the top 100 national liberal arts colleges. We’ve been in the “top 100” list for more than a decade.

• BloombergBusinessweek listed St. Mary’s as one of the best value colleges in the country: #12 for return on investment value, and #2 for liberal arts colleges.     

• St. Mary’s College was named one of five winners in the Maryland Green Registry’s first annual Leadership Awards. The awards recognize organizations that have demonstrated sustainable practices, measurable results, and continuous improvement of environmental performance. Our students led the way, going trayless in the dining hall and cutting waste by 23 percent. These same students helped the College achieve 100 percent carbon neutrality through the purchase of renewable energy credits.

• As one of the largest regional purchasers of green power, St. Mary’s earned the Capital Conference title in April 2010 for the EPA Green Power Challenge. The Princeton Review included St. Mary’s in its Guide to 286 Green Colleges this year. Our students and faculty worked together with Historic St. Mary’s City to start a community garden, and our food service partner, Bon Appétit, has begun to purchase the produce as part of its farm to fork effort.

• Goodpaster Hall won a Maryland Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) honor award for Excellence in Design. Last year it won two awards for green design (one from the D.C. chapter of AIA and one from the D.C. chapter of U.S. Green Building Council).

• The Mathematics and Computer Science Department at St. Mary’s College of Maryland was awarded a $265,000 grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU). Beginning next summer, the Emerging Scholars REU will bring talented underrepresented mathematics undergraduates from across the country to St. Mary’s College to give them research opportunities that will help them succeed in mathematics classes and prepare them for degrees in mathematics or other science fields.

• The College received $600,000 in federal grant money for science laboratory and information technology equipment. These funds are being used to renovate and re-equip the biology and physics laboratories and teaching spaces in Schaefer Hall.

It is my first year as St. Mary’s president. In August, I welcomed 448 students to the Class of 2014. I have a special tie with this first-year class, and recall the advice I gave to them during opening Convocation: “Remember that what lies within you is your best asset, and know that you are surrounded by some of this generation’s very best minds, including your own.” As stewards of St. Mary’s College of Maryland, I thank all of you who put your best selves forward to preserve the legacy of this very special place.

 

Joseph Urgo

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