Kenyon College - CASE

Administrators not seen in
great numbers by previous
generations include those
working in information
technology, health and career
counseling, writing resources,
{and other student services.
Auxiliary
14.4 percent
Plant
operation
6.7 percent
Instructional
23 percent
Student services
12.8 percent
Academic
support
5 percent
Kenyon expenses
by function, 2010-11:
$102,916,000
Financial aid
21.5 percent
Reserves
5.3 percent
Institutional
9 percent
Information services
2.3 percent
was supposed to start. It was kind of like just throwing you out of
the Gates of Hell into the real world.”
Her father, Steven R. Hayes, is a corporate lawyer who knows
his way around higher education; he has a son in college and his
father is a former president of Marshall University. “I’m very
fond of Kenyon,” he said. “I really like what they do. My daughter
loved it.”
Like his daughter, he wonders why Kenyon does not provide
more help in finding internships and developing career choices.
“One would have expected, given the price of Kenyon, strong, active
support,” he said. He also thinks the College should do more to
help club sports, such as providing the women’s rugby team with a
trainer. Women’s rugby is one of fourteen club sports at the College.
The services advocated by Jo Hayes and her father are typical of
those expected by many of today’s college consumers.
Kenyon does have a Career Development Office, with a staff of
five. The number of full-time employees at Kenyon has grown to
574, from 455 in 2000. The roll call in that time includes, among
others, new staff for multicultural affairs, student activities, and
financial-aid assistance; a women’s lacrosse coach; a crew of about
nine to run the KAC; and about nine new professors added during
the period 2001-03 as the annual teaching load was reduced to five
courses a year, from six. And the curriculum continues to grow,
adding, for example, courses in Arabic, environmental studies, and
neuroscience. A film major was added as well.
“There’s always new knowledge, and the consumer is going to
demand access to new knowledge,” said Joseph G. Nelson, Kenyon
vice president for finance. Nelson likes to add that knowledge
multiplies—there is always more to learn. He’s seen the budget
grow about tenfold since he arrived at Kenyon in 1978. “The
College’s entrance qualifications are dramatically different than
they were then. That’s because the College has something to offer to
that sector of the market. The College wants to improve the quality
to attract a higher level of consumer.”
The faculty course load was reduced before Nugent arrived—
“and, indeed, it does add costs,” she said. One reason for the switch
was to enhance research opportunities that are attractive to faculty.
Nugent believes teaching should be the highest priority at a liberal
arts college and that the shift has enabled more time for course
preparation, advising, and grading.
“One reason why some parents are willing to spend $50,000 is
they want excellent teaching,” she said.
What You Get
Excellent teaching at Kenyon is defined partly by the ten-to-one
student-faculty ratio and ready access to top-notch professors.
Provost Nayef Samhat believes the “intimate learning environment”
pays off in a strong academic community. In “the pursuit
of research and scholarship,” moreover, faculty members deepen
their knowledge, expand their contacts with colleagues worldwide,
and familiarize themselves with new tools, trends, and methodologies—all
of which translate into more challenging classes and more
opportunities for students.