final version of the self-study document - Keuka College's Middle ...

offer online course and accelerated formats, to expand counseling hours, and to enhance multicultural
programming, to name some of the recent student-centered initiatives. Strong congruence exists, then,
between our self-described mission to be student-centered and our institutional actions.
In summary, Keuka College lives its mission, guided by its principles and values, in all of its actions.
Vision and Message
Working with the consultant GDA Integrated Services in 2003, the College underwent a branding
exercise to identify more clearly its unique contribution to higher education. Not surprisingly, the report,
entitled, “Marketing and Branding Report Based on Surveys of Inquirers and Alumni,” singled out
experiential learning as a key defining feature: “Rarely have we discovered more opportunities for a
college than we found for Keuka… in our view, [Keuka] is truly the leader in the opportunities for
hands-on, experiential learning” (Appendix 1.8 GDA Marketing and Branding Report). This report led
the College to announce as its new vision statement that Keuka’s goal was to be “the national leader in
experiential, hands-on learning.”
For many years, the brand resonated. Keuka College – the small, undergraduate school on the shores of
Keuka Lake – was the national leader in experiential, hands-on learning. Keuka’s commitment to
experiential learning as underscored by its hallmark Field Period made it distinctive among its peers, and
students regularly cited this as a top reason for their enrollment at the College. To an even greater
extent, the College’s robust Accelerated Studies for Adults Program, designed for the working adult
learner, emphasized the value of the experiential learning model, recognizing the wealth of experience
adult learners bring to the classroom and the enhanced skills they carry back to the workplace. Keuka
continued to use this vision statement and brand for the next 6 years. All print and online publications
included this vision, and the College invested in physical renovations to create the Center for
Experiential Learning. In addition, the High School Experiential Learner scholarship was created to
honor those students who made a difference in their communities. Television campaigns for this
scholarship program were also created. Keuka’s prominence in experiential learning was a source of
institutional pride.
In working on the Strategic Plan 2009-2012, an additional commitment to this brand was made, while
simultaneously acknowledging the College’s international growth. The College announced that the new
vision statement would be “to become the global leader in innovative, experiential learning,” following
the work of a planning team from the College Strategic Planning Committee. However, many people,
both internal and external, started to question this new vision statement. A 2008 STAMATS study of
prospective students in New York State noted that although “The intentional nature of students acquiring
multiple internships during the course of their college career is a value-added option that is likely to be
prized within the marketplace because it leads to better jobs after graduation” (Appendix 1.9 2008
STAMATS Report, p. 3), it pointed out that Keuka’s brand was too little known overall to be effective
in recruiting students successfully. Moreover, as the educational value of experiential learning became
more widely known, increasing numbers of colleges began to embed experiential learning practices
within their own curricula and to market aggressively this aspect of their portfolio. The result is that
experiential learning, although a still highly valued learning outcome at Keuka, is no longer a trait
distinctive only of Keuka College.
At the June 2012 retreat, attended by the Board of Trustees, members of the Long Range Strategic
Planning Committee, and various subject matter experts from all of the LRSP task forces, the Taskforce
on Updating the External Environmental Analysis underscored this salient point that Keuka could no
Page 6 of 10 Chapter 1: Mission, Goals & Integrity