Increased enrollment
Education faculty member Marissa King leads freshman through academic orientation during Opening Weekend, Saturday, Aug. 20.
Official fall 2011 numbers show an increased enrollment with a total student count of 468 compared to 448 last year, including 249 new students. Hesston students represent 27 states and 14 countries and 30 international students contribute to total enrollment. Spring term 2012 brought 31 new students, including six international, to campus. Vice President of Student Life Lamar Roth notes that strong retention numbers are a major contributing factor to the positive enrollment. Academics and Student Life have improved ways to identify student needs, address student issues and give support to increase retention.
Fiscal year ends in the black
Due to ongoing generous support, Hesston College met the Annual Fund goal for the third consecutive year. About 750 households from 36 states and three countries are members of the Partner program and are a primary reason for the success as 80 percent of the $1.24 million goal came from Partner gifts. All of the money raised for the Annual Fund provides institutional scholarships for students. The fiscal year also ended with a positive balance for the sixth consecutive year due to careful management of budgets across campus.
AVDS Conference explores ways to be inclusive
Pastors, students, church leaders and members and other interested people gathered for the 12th annual Anabaptist Vision and Discipleship Series (AVDS) at Hesston College Oct. 28 to 30. The theme was “Getting Beyond Them and Us – to We,” and explored the tension of the church’s call to be both distinctive and open to those who are unfamiliar with Anabaptist or Mennonite theology. Speakers were Anton Flores-Maisonet, co-founder of Alterna, a missional community of U.S. citizens and Latin American immigrants in LaGrange, Ga.; Hal Shrader, pastor of Trinity Mennonite Church in Phoenix, Ariz.; and Joanna Shenk, associate for Interchurch Relations and Communication with Mennonite Church USA in Elkhart, Ind.
China and Europe May term trips
Hesston College will host two international trips this spring that Hesston College alumni and friends are invited to join. During the May 2012 term beginning May 7, sociology professor and artist-in-residence Tony Brown will lead students and other interested persons on a three-week trip to China. Chunrong Li, a Chinese citizen living in Philadelphia, will serve as the group’s tour guide. “Global awareness is a big part of what we do at Hesston College,” said Brown. “The trip is meant to be an inter-cultural experience for people to experience and explore China’s history and culture.” Interested persons can contact Tony Brown at 620-327-8285 or tonyhb@hesston.edu for more information or to reserve a spot.
May 25 to June 7, Dallas Stutzman, director of Alumni and Church Relations, and music faculty member Ken Rodgers will lead Hesston College alumni and friends on an Alpine tour through Europe. The group will travel to France, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Spain, where they will overlap with the college’s International Chorale and attend a concert.
Visit www.tourmagination.com for complete information and registration forms for the Europe tour or call the Alumni Relations Office at 866-437-7866.
Homecoming 2011 recognizes achievements of aviation professionals
A Hesston College airplane, flown by instructor Travis Pickerill ’99, prepares to land north of town on Old Highway 81. The plane was displayed on campus over the weekend.
Aviation was the focus of Homecoming 2011: A View From Everywhere Sept. 23 to 25. The premier event for the weekend was a symposium featuring professional aviation alumni and friends of the college presenting on various aspects of the aviation industry. Keynote speakers were Ben Savanick ’97, captain for Atlantic Southeast Airlines, and Roger Yoder ’79, captain for American Airlines. Flight training has been a program of study at Hesston College since 1970. In 2009 the college added an air traffic control program, which was certified by the FAA in 2010 as one of 36 Collegiate Training Initiative programs in the country and the only one in Kansas.
Surveys provide institutional assessment
Student, faculty and alumni evaluation surveys are used at Hesston College as learning tools for improving classes and discovering ways a new generation of students learns best. Since the college’s first run with the Individualized Developmental Education Assessment survey (IDEA) in 2006, summary results show the Hesston College courses ranking above average among the other 380 two-year and four-year institutions that use the survey increased from 51 percent to 76 percent during the spring 2011 semester. IDEA states that “when this percentage exceeds 60 percent, the inference is that the college’s overall instructional effectiveness was unusually high.”
College explores sustainability
Hesston College students, faculty, staff and local community members came together to package more than 50,000 meals during Numana’s food-packaging event Oct. 1. The project was the culminating event for the college’s first No Impact Week. Pictured clockwise from left in the foreground: Scott Weaver (Goshen, Ind.), Rachel Teeter, staff member Angie Teeter, Collin Miller (Wellman, Iowa), Bible faculty Marion Bontrager and Alex Miller (Beemer, Neb.).
Hesston College observed its first No Impact Week Sept. 25 to Oct. 2. The week’s events were an opportunity for the campus community to experiment with sustainable living and care of the environment on campus and in their personal lives. Each day had a different focus, including consumption, trash, transportation, food, energy, water and eco-sabbath. The culminating event for the week was a service day in which about 470 people from the campus and wider community packaged 51,296 meals to be sent to the horn of Africa through Numana, Inc.
2011-12 Larks athletics
Under the direction of first-year Athletic Director Joel Kauffman, Hesston College Athletics welcomed new coaches Jessica Cleveland (volleyball) and Rob Ramseyer (baseball) for the 2011-12 year. Keep up with the Larks www.hesston.edu/larks. Online streaming for select home games has been expanded to include volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball. To watch these games, fans can access each teams’ online schedule and click on the icon that appears by the event.
A glimpse at Pastoral Ministries
Ron Moyo discusses class concepts with Tim Lichti, Director of the Hesston College Pastoral Ministries program. Moyo, who is in his second year of the two-year program, has built on his gift for ministry through the program and campus community.
Ron Moyo came to Hesston College in the fall of 2009 having found political asylum in the United States from his war-torn country of Zimbabwe. It did not take Moyo long to find a home in the Hesston College community. The diversity and variety of life experiences among the student population allows each person to learn from another. Ultimately, Moyo hopes to carry the knowledge he has gained back to his hurting country. The Pastoral Ministries program started in the fall of 1985 as a way for non-traditional students to receive formal training in congregational leadership. The program has trained 135 graduates in its 27 years to discern their call to ministry. If there is someone in your congregation with a gift for ministry, contact Hesston College Pastoral Ministries at 620-327-8295 or timl@hesston.edu.
Congregational student aid
Hesston College offers a match grant for scholarships provided by students’ churches. During the 2010-11 year, 102 churches contributed $242,066 in student scholarships to 158 recipients. Hesston College matched a total of $154,953. The average church aid per student was $1,532 while the average church-and-college aid per student was $2,513. About 92 percent of the students to receive a church scholarship were Mennonite students.
If your congregation is interested in providing a scholarship program to support Christian higher education, contact the Church Relations Office at 866-437-7866.