Whither Ave Maria University?
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Published on Monday, 02 March 2015 03:45
Several long-time members of Ave Maria University's faculty as well as current and former students have begun voicing concerns that the school's mission, identity and practices have declined significantly in the last several years.
These concerns bubbled to the surface at a recent meeting of the academic affairs committee of the AMU board of trustees in presentations by two department chairs – Economics Professor Joseph Burke and Music Professor Tim McDonnell.
"The Catholic mission and liberal arts identity of the school has been continuously watered down," Dr. Burke told the committee. "Each year fewer and fewer incoming students are a good fit for the university."
Dr. McDonnell, in an email sent to all full-time faculty members, said he told the committee that AMU's marketing efforts are failing to distinguish AMU from an academic or spiritual standpoint.
AMU President Jim Towey said in an email to faculty that concerns were raised "about faculty morale, compensation, governance and how the University recruits students and markets our Catholic identity," and said the concerns would be investigated. The president also took the step of announcing a question-and-answer session for students March 5 (see poster at left).
Dr. Robert G. Kennedy, the chair of the academic affairs committee, said in an interview that he takes the concerns seriously and will ensure they are investigated in a way that is "impartial and fair to everyone involved."
Dr. Kennedy, a professor at St. Thomas University in Minnesota, said the exact procedure for such an investigation still needs to be worked out, and that some of the concerns expressed to him are outside the purview of the academic affairs committee and would require involvement by other board members such as Board Chairman Michael Timmis. (A request to Mr. Timmis for comment did not receive a response by the time this article was posted.) But Dr. Kennedy said that he has heard from several other faculty members and hoped to hear from more. "We are prepared to take this seriously because these are serious people," he said, adding that he had "complete confidence that we will be able to find adequate resolution and solutions."
"There are so many fine people at AMU. The board can succeed if we sustain their trust."
Dr. McDonnell said he welcomes the announced intention of the board to get more involved.
"I believe that Dr. Kennedy is an impartial and fair person, and I'm hopeful that we will be having new lines of communication between the faculty and the board," he said, adding that another faculty member told him AMU was at an "extraordinary moment, with the board using its governance to investigate these matters."
Many of the concerns expressed to the board committee, particularly those involving the behavior of several students and the school's identity, have been a topic of conversation for several years among faculty, alumni, donors and town residents. Some point to a video made by a student of a disturbance outside the Pub of Ave Maria in late September, saying that the behavior of the students, particularly their language, would never have been heard or tolerated in the school's earlier days. (Click here to view at the Naples Daily News website)
Mr. Towey has acknowledged privately that financial pressures he inherited when he assumed the presidency in 2011 -- including large debt and expenses for programs such as football – left AMU with no choice but to lower its admission selectivity to increase enrollment and tuition revenue, at least in the near term.
The university is reported to be on much firmer financial footing today, but a question many faculty, staff, students and alumni are posing now is to what degree a decline in selectivity has permanently changed the character of a university originally intended by founder Tom Monaghan to be an example of the highest academic and Catholic standards.
The heading of the university's website illustrates what some regard as a change in positioning. In 2011, the website heading carried the motto "Ex Corde Ecclesiae – from the Heart of the Church." After a website redesign in 2012 the motto became "Excellence, Affordability and Catholic Values ," which was shortened later that year to "Excellent. Affordable. Catholic." Since 2014, however, there has been no motto at all in the heading.
A graduate anonymously posted a video on YouTube recently that contrasts a video produced to market the school in 2010, which heavily promotes the school's Catholic identity, with a similar promotional video from 2014 that more strongly emphasizes other aspects of campus life. (The video can be seen by clicking here)
"It is what we all see and know," said one town resident who has been involved with the university since its establishment in the town of Ave Maria in 2007.
Read more in this week's column by Ave Herald Editor Patricia Sette in the Naples Daily News Collier Citizen: Is Marketing the Sun the Brightest Way to Attract Students?
