American Magazine: November 2016

SHARON ALSTON, VICE PROVOST FOR
UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT
“I can only speak for us in the office of
enrollment: we are motivated by the
confidence he’s expressed in us, his
recognition of the work we’ve done, and
the respect he’s shown for our knowledge.
When someone trusts you and respects
you, you never, ever want to let him down.”
SINE
“He’s not one of these inspirational, messianic
leaders—that’s not Neil’s style. He leads by
example.”
AHRENS
“Neil is not a micromanager. He has done
very well at identifying a team to work for the
university and then giving them a lot of room
to run with that. That’s been a big contribution.
That’s set us up to be in a position where we
could expand the number of faculty, we could
start to expand aid to people who were coming
from Pell-eligible backgrounds, we could
recruit better undergraduates.”
KERWIN
“We’re blessed with people throughout
the organization that share a common vision
for academic quality and know the influence
that comes with that academic quality in
the communities beyond the campus that
depend on us: the city, the nation, and
the world.”
Kerwin and his wife, Ann, recently celebrated
their 44th wedding anniversary. She has played
an important role advocating for the arts and
the arboretum on campus.
MIKE MASTROTA, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
“The Kerwins both have the unique
perspective of having been here so long that
they’ve seen the transformation of the campus
and the way it looks. The arboretum is now 13
years old. I’d say in the last five or six years,
with their support and help, it’s really taken
off as far as some of the donations that we’ve
gotten and its connection with academics on
campus. A lot of people now come to AU just
to see the arboretum.”
14
AU BUILDINGS RENOVATED, COMPLETED,
OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION
since 2005
48%
INCREASE IN
OVERALL CAMPUS SQUARE FOOTAGE
since 2005
#1
FOR PRESIDENTIAL MANAGEMENT
FELLOWSHIP FINALISTS
IN 2015 AND 2016
100%
INCREASE IN
PELL GRANTS AWARDED
TO INCOMING FRESHMEN
since 2007
89%
OF UNDERGRADS
HAD INTERNSHIPS IN 2015
(up 13% since 2005)
132,656
STUDENT VOLUNTEER
SERVICE HOURS IN 2015
(up 51% since 2005)
75%
MORE SPACE FOR
WCL ON ITS NEW TENLEY CAMPUS
ANN KERWIN
“Environment has always been important to
me. I think that subconsciously it creeps into
everybody’s lives and their psyches. Walking
across campus, what you see, the peace and the
calm that it reflects, it’s beautiful. At the Katzen
you can look out the window and see straight
down the quad to the library. It’s amazing.”
KERWIN
“I’ve had a partner in all this. Ann really
deserves an immense amount of credit for
what she’s done. She’s been very active in the
arboretum, very active with the library, with
the arts, primarily with the museum. What I
hope is that people acknowledge the hours and
time that Ann’s put in. She spends an awful lot
of time supporting the work of the institution.”
In 2014, the Middle States Commission on
Higher Education reaccredited AU.
SINE
“I’ve been told that in the parlance of those
reports, which are usually quite dry and
academic in their language, that it really read
like a valentine to AU. That was a very strong
source of validation, but the validation comes
in so many different ways.”
KERWIN
“I took immense pride in it because of what
peers had to say about where the institution
now stood in higher ed and how a group of
critical outsiders evaluated our work. We’re
not perfect by any means—there’s still a lot
to be done. But I feel there’s an awful lot that
people can take pride in, and should.”
BASS
“AU’s different than it was when I arrived (in
2008). Every measure, from the Middle States
review to our Carnegie research classification,
it’s a different institution. The hiring of
faculty, the expectations of scholarship and
performance, merit awards for our students—
in every respect it’s a different place.”
KEANE
“This university today has a personality that
it simply didn’t have when I was there. Now
it’s a nationally-recognized university of
proportions we couldn’t fathom when I was
there. I couldn’t get into AU today.”
32 AMERICAN MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2016