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Item Bennington College Reevaluation Study (Self-Study)(Bennington College, 1977-11)Item Reaccreditation Report on the Social Science Division(Bennington College, 1983) Sugarman, SallyItem Report to the Faculty, Students, Administration and Trustees of Bennington College Bennington Vermont by An Evaluation Team Representing The Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges(1983-12) Lynton, Ernest A.; Doro, Marion; Egan, Margarita; Higgins, Jon B.; Ladd, Florence C.; May, George B.; Tomasini, Wallace J."One might therefore conclude that Bennington College is managing quite well in spite of what both the 1977 and the 1983 Team perceive as weaknesses, and that there is no real need for change. Indeed this is the prevalent attitude among the faculty, who feel that they and the institution have weathered many storms, and that many well intended visitors - as well as Presidents - have come and gone while Bennington has survived with little change. The cry of "wolf" has been heard too often to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, it is our considered opinion that this time the wolf is indeed at the door, and that Bennington College is facing nothing less than a crisis requiring the attention as well as the involvement of all constituencies: trustees, administration, faculty and students. The situation now differs from past circumstances because of two concurrent and interrelated factors: l) substantial budget deficits, which can be eliminated only by a combination of developing a substantial endowment and, at the same time, maintaining adequate enrollment; 2) a sharp drop in the applicant pool and a resulting decrease in enrollment which further aggravates the financial situation. As a result of both of these conditions, Bennington College finds itself in a much more serious situation than in the past. The institution cannot continue to rely only on an intensification of recruitment and fund raising by the President and his staff, with all other components of the Bennington community continuing business as usual. The situation demands drastic attitudinal changes."Item Bennington Focused Evaluation Report to Commission on The Institutions of Higher Education(1985) Rock, Michael T.; Cohen, Ronald J.; Welter, RushIn 1984, The Commission on Institutions of Higher Education placed Bennington College on warning status. The Commission asked that the College submit a report with data relevant to applications, admissions, and enrollment, to the then pending lease-leaseback arrangement , to the College's financial status, and to the status of fundraising. In addition, the Commission scheduled an evaluation visit for the fall of 1985 to review the College's warning status. This report was prepared for the focused evaluation visit scheduled for September, 1985.Item Report from Bennington College to the New England Association of Schools and Colleges(1988-01-01) Bennington CollegeBennington College began the current academic year on an optimistic note, and with good reason. The financial and enrollment information contained in the accompanying tables makes clear that the College has turned an important corner in stabilizing its current situation, in identifying areas that require more and sustained attention, and in laying the reasonable groundwork for a more secure future. In all of this, the College has retained the essential features of its educational program, features that have led all the New England Association teams that have visited Bennington to remark on the educational vitality of the institution and the importance of preserving its unique place in American higher education. This narrative will identify four different features of the current situation that provide the grounds for optimism. Attention will be directed first to changes in the College's administrative personnel. Though these changes are not reflected directly in the statistical information contained in the accompanying tables, they are crucial to an understanding of the College's improved situation. Detailed information on the remaining three (applications and enrollment, annual budgets, and planning guidelines for the near-term future) is contained in the accompanying tables and will be discussed in turn.Item Report from Bennington College to the New England Association of Schools and Colleges(1988-12-01) Bennington CollegeOver the past year, Bennington College has continued to improve its financial and enrollment picture. As the accompanying data indicate, we are in the midst of our fourth consecutive balanced operating budget, our applications have continued to increase, and our enrollment has shown steady, though moderate, growth. At the same time, the College has been able to reorganize three important administrative offices (Development, Student Affairs , and Admissions), to develop new educational programs, and to lay the groundwork for significantly increased arenas for fund-raising and a capital campaign. After a discussion of the accompanying data on finances and enrollment (following immediately in Sections I and II) attention will be directed to recent developments in these other areas. Such developments provide the context from which any evaluation of the College's last three years of stability and continued improvement, and the prospects for continued improvement over the next five years, must proceed.Item Report by Bennington College to the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education New England Association of Schools and Colleges Prepared for a Focused Evaluation October 1-3, 1989(1989) Bennington CollegeOn April 27, 1984, the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (CIHE) placed Bennington College on warning status, requested various reports (on applications, admissions, enrollment, financial condition, and fundraising), and mandated an evaluation visit in 1985 to review the warning status. Because of a change in the College's presidential leadership , that visit was postponed to the Fall of 1986. As a result of the report by the 1986 visiting team chaired by Richard P. Traina, President of Clark University, the College was asked to submit yearly reports on applications, admissions, enrollments, and financial matters, and to prepare for a focused visit in the Fall of 1989. The requested yearly reports were submitted on December 29, 1987 and November 21, 1988. At its meeting of March 2, 1989 the CIHE accepted the 1988 yearly report and confirmed the evaluation visit of October 1-2, 1989 focused "on the College's success in addressing its fiscal problems and the impact of those problems on the ability of the institution to offer high quality academic programs." In addition, the College was asked specifically to report on: 1. annual giving and plans for the capital campaign; 2. plans for securing the long-term financial strength of the College and the projected growth of the endowment; and 3. plans for correcting deferred maintenance.Item Report on a Focused Evaluation of Bennington College Bennington, VT An Evaluation Committee representing the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges prepared after study of the institution's focused report and a visit to the campus on October 1-3, 1989(1990-01) Broekhuizen, Karl W.; Vaughan, Virginia M.; McCarthy, Kathryn A.The task for the committee that visited Bennington College in early October, 1989 was to assess the College's ability to understand and find solutions for its fiscal problems and to determine the impact, if any, of these problems on the quality of its academic programs. The team was well aware from the academic grapevine, from several publications from the College, from the New York Times piece of 18 October 1988, and, of course, from the self-evaluation report prepared for the October visit, that much had happened since the visit of November 1986. However, I do not think that anyone of us was pre pared for the intensity of the effort by all Benningtonites to guarantee a healthy future for the College as we ll as their dedication to preserving and enhancing the Bennington concept of liberal education.Item Report from Bennington College to the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education New England Association of Schools and Colleges(1990-12-01) Bennington CollegeThe report by the 1986 visiting team chaired by Richard P. Traina, President of Clark University, asked that Bennington submit yearly reports on applications, admissions, enrollments, and financial matters, and to prepare for a focused visit in the Fall of 1989. The requested yearly reports were submitted on December 29, 1987 and November 21, 1988. Bennington prepared an institutional report during the summer of 1989, and in October, 1989, a team chaired by Kathryn McCarthy, Professor of Physics at Tufts University, conducted a focused visit. As a result of that report and visit, at its meeting on March 2, 1990 the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education: accepted the report submitted by the College; asked that the College continue to submit Annual Reports on Finance and Enrollment; confirmed the scheduling of evaluation for Fall, 1993; and the next comprehensive asked "that the self-study undertaken in advance of the evaluation give particular attention to the institution's success in achieving financial wellbeing, as measured in part by its ability to address long-standing concerns resulting from deferred maintenance."Item Report from Bennington College to the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education New England Association of Schools and Colleges(1991-11-25) Bennington CollegeThe fall of 1991 finds Bennington College at a crossroads in its quest for long-term financial stability. Most signs are extremely promising: the Capital campaign is on target; the quality of the undergraduate students Bennington attracts continues to improve; efforts to achieve a modest expansion in graduate programs have met with success; and new ventures, the most exciting of which is the College's impending association with Jacob's Pillow, are on the horizon. Not surprisingly, the one discordant note is undergraduate enrollment. Yet, even on this score , there is reason to believe the College is rebounding.Item Correspondence to Elizabeth Coleman from Barbara E. Brittingham(1992-03-23) Brittingham, Barbara E.I write to inform you that at its meeting on March 6, 1992 the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education considered the Annual Report on Finance and Enrollment (ARFE) submitted by Bennington College and voted to take the following action: that the Annual Report on Finance and Enrollment submitted by Bennington College be accepted; that the College submit another such report for consideration in Spring, 1993; that the ARFE submitted for consideration for Spring, 1993 focus on: 1. progress of the Capital Campaign with particular reference to the income and allocation of Capital Campaign funds; 2. success in building the endowment; 3. progress toward downsizing the institution; 4. the enrollment of Fall, 1992 and future enrollment projections and budgetsItem Correspondence to Elizabeth Coleman from Barbara E. Brittingham(1992-03-23) Brittingham, Barbara E.I write to inform you that at its meeting on March 6, 1992 the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education considered the Annual Report on Finance and Enrollment (ARFE) submitted by Bennington College and voted to take the following action: that the Annual Report on Finance and Enrollment submitted by Bennington College be accepted; that the College submit another such report for consideration in Spring, 1993; that the ARFE submitted for consideration for Spring, 1993 focus on: 1. progress of the Capital Campaign with particular reference to the income and allocation of Capital Campaign funds ; 2. success in building the endowment; 3. progress toward downsizing the institution; 4. the enrollment of Fall, 1992 and future enrollment projections and budgets; that the scheduling of the next comprehensive evaluation for Fall, 1993 be confirmed.Item Report from Bennington College to the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education New England Association of Schools and Colleges(1992-11-20) Bennington CollegeSince last year's report to NEASC there have been a number of changes at Bennington College. In recognition of the absence of desired growth in undergraduate enrollment and an unwelcome increase in institutional financial aid awards, the Board of Trustees at its April 1992 meeting mandated permanent expenditure cuts. It also directed the president and the deans to devise an enrollment strategy which would lead to an annualized enrollment of 550 undergraduates by 1996/97. Finally, it authorized additional spending from Capital Campaign proceeds for the period during which the abovementioned actions will be carried out. The Board statement on these matters is attached as Appendix D. The goal of these Board actions is the attainment by 1996/97 of financial stability which foresees a reasonable increase in undergraduate enrollment, a decrease in institutional financial aid and no budgetary reliance on the Capital Campaign other than the spending of endowment . earnings. Bennington has taken the first steps toward that goal. Appendix E. Steering Committee Report Faculty Reduction RecommendationsItem Bennington College Self Study(1994-03) Bennington CollegeThe academic strengths of the College remain inseparable from its originating ideas: students taking responsibility for designing their education; the central role of academic counseling; the immersion of students from the outset in the center of the working life of the faculty; the continual pursuit and elaborations of the interrelationships between life inside the classroom and life in the world (the Field Work Term, emphasis on the practitioner teacher, teaching and learning as performing arts). In those instances where the college works, the power and intensity of the educational experience remain formidable. The academic weaknesses of the College are: the recalcitrant rigidity of the divisions and the subsequent problems for faculty and students in putting together educational programs that transcend divisions; the unevenness in the quality of the counseling experience; the excesses of the focus on the individual and, conversely, the inadequacies in the experience of shared purposes and of social responsibility; an absence of uniformly high standards with respect to the demands made on students; and the freshman year experience.Item Report on a Comprehensive Evaluation of Bennington College: An Evaluation Committee representing the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges(1994-04) Art, Henry W.; Creighton, Joanne V.; Kennan, Elizabeth T.; Lewandowski, Susan J.; Siegel, Sharon G.; Bergman, Sherrie; Leskes, Andrea; Pelton, M. Lee"The many components of the standard set for accreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges rest upon two fundamental elements: the clear articulation of institutional purpose appropriate to education and the adequate organization of resources necessary to meet that purpose both now and in the future. Of these, Bennington College historically has excelled in the expression of a pedagogy and style of learning which was once unique in American liberal arts education and which is still highly distinctive. Bennington is recognized throughout the nation for exactly what it aims to provide: participatory education in which the teacher-practitioner and the student collaborate in projects which both create and instruct. In its marshaling of resources to provide this sort of experience, Bennington has struggled over the past decade and more. After making notable progress at the end of the 1980s, declining student population coupled with increased need for financial aid have, since 1992, precipitated a financial crisis at the College. It was within the strictures of this crisis that the visiting team was required to make its evaluation. Our conclusions, therefore, are based upon observation of current conditions in the College and cannot reach to possible outcomes of the crisis planning now underway, the results of which would be announced in June, 1994."Item Correspondence to Charles Cook from Elizabeth Coleman(1994-11-10) Coleman, ElizabethItem Correspondence to Elizabeth Coleman from Frances C. Volkmann(1994-12-07) Volkmann, Frances C.I write to inform you that at its meeting on November 18, 1994, the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education took the following action in regard to Bennington College: that action on the accreditation of Bennington College be deferred; that the College submit a report on its finances and enrollment by December 1, 1995 for consideration in Spring, 1996; that an evaluation be scheduled for Spring, 1996, focusing on the College's success in the following areas: L reinvigorating the academic life of the institution in order to enhance the academic quality of the undergraduate experience; 2. ensuring that the faculty is sufficient to carry out the institution's recently redefined educational objectives and that it appropriately participates in educational policymaking and institutional governance; 3. improving the quality of student life; that the scheduling of the next comprehensive evaluation be determined based on the Commission's findings following the focused evaluation.Item Report from Bennington College to the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education New England Association of Schools and Colleges(1995-11-29)As the fall term of 1995 draws to a close, we are cautiously optimistic that the bold restructuring announced by the Board of Trustees in June of last year has set Bennington College on the road to long-term financial viability. The two principal keys t o success in this venture are enrollment and fund raising. Even as we are sobered b y the challenges we face on both these fronts, we remain confident that we will be successful.