Wealthy Pomona Where "Skies Are Blue"!

Courtesy of the Chronicle of Higher Education, Money and Management Section, Pomona has announced a new strategic plan.

Pomona's strategic-planning committee opted to put together the plan on its own, without retaining an outside consulting firm, whose services have become the norm for most colleges. The process began with seven faculty-led committees, which were encouraged to do "blue-sky thinking" in strategic areas and not to even consider costs. Their work was picked up by a planning committee of 20 members, including trustees, faculty members, students, and the president.

After two years of studies, meetings, drafts, and revisions, Pomona unveiled a 23-page draft plan in September.

Some of the plans' highlights include

plans for increasing enrollment by as much as 150 students, and increasing research opportunities through a bulked-up sabbatical system for faculty members.

After Claremont McKenna President Pamela Gann was caught dancing to "I'm a Barby Girl," one wonders what Pomona Pres. David W. Oxtoby will dance to when his big break comes along. My recommendation is here.

Claremont Independent on Lit. Department Reaction to Day Grant

Written by Ilan Wurman, Michael Wilner and I helped contribute to the reporting.

The notable quotation is from Professor Robert Faggen, who you may remember, was one of the professors that was critical of the Day grant.

Prof. Faggen states his reservations.

"We argued that the grant might--because of its size in relation to the college the endowment of the college (480 million dollars)--distort the culture of the college," Robert Faggen, chair of the literature department and principal author of the letter, told the CI. "There are no plans right now for development in the humanities. There has been no serious interest in fundraising for the humanities. That is seen as 'off-mission.' To me, that is an unfortunate and unbalanced view of any liberal arts college."