Members

Accountability.I can't think of another word that describes thetask that lies ahead for higher education. Taxpayersdemand it, and we as an institution of higher learningowe it to them and to ourselves to be accountable toall of our customers, both external and internal.Admittedly, we have struggled with the wholeconcept of accountability for years. We know we dogreat things. Our students transfer to four-year schoolsand earn degrees. They go on and acquire well-payingjobs in technical fields. We know that.But the difficult task is tracking our students andtheir successes, as well as examining our own processesto see how we measure up. We are making stridesto do just that, implementing a plan through our NorthCentral Accreditation self study that will provide uswith valuable information en route to improvedaccountability.The entire campus community will becomeinvolved in this process, ensuring that input is beingreceived from all parts of the college.Organizing for the North Central process was justone of the highlights of the 1997-98 academic year.Once again, the year provided many exciting momentsfor our students, our faculty, and our entire staff. Here are just a few examples:• Arkansas City sophomore Austin Graves served as president of the national Vocational IndustrialClubs of America, truly an outstanding accomplishment. Throughout the year. Graves traveled to givespeeches and presentations to our nation's youth, emphasizing the importance of VICA.• Arkansas City sophomore Damon Young served as president of the Kansas Association ofCommunity College Students, an organization formed to help with dialogue between students at Kansascommunity colleges and their boards of trustees.• The college captured its second consecutive Kansas Award for Excellence.• Three people earned Master Teacher Awards, bringing the total to 37 in the last 1 1 years.• Humanities Division Chair and speech/drama instructor Dejon Ewing was the first recipient of theEndowed Chair for Teaching Excellence and Student Learning.• Our baseball team won an incredible second consecutive National Junior College AthleticAssociation World Series title.• Our Endowment Association began an aggressive fund-raising campaign to increase the amount ofmoney in our Endowed Scholarship fund and to date has raised more than $600,000.• Our Business and Industry Institute at Strother Field expanded into a larger facility, allowing us tobetter serve our business and industry customers.• The college received several grants, including a Student Support Services (TRIO) grant for nearly$1 million through five years to assist 150 students annually.• Enrollment in the fall of 1997 reached an all-time high with nearly 2,100 full-time and nearly 3,900total students.• And more than 500 students received degrees in May 1998, the most ever at Cowley.As you can see, it was another successful year at Cowley. But as I've said in this column many timesbefore, we cannot, and will not, rest on our laurels. A great deal of work lies ahead of us.We are proud of what we haveaccomplished, and I look forward to asuccessful1998-99 academic year.*Ui/m