Tom Sawyer, professor of psychology at North Central College, at ANAC Summer Institute 2003.

Rollins College campus.

• ANAC Senior Survey Probes Late Career Perceptions and Retirement Plans
• ANAC Members Highly Regarded in US News Rankings
• Round-up of ANAC Member Fall Enrollments

ANAC Senior Survey Probes Late Career Perceptions and Retirement Plans

More than 2,000 ANAC member faculty and academic administrators with faculty appointments, age 50 and over, have been invited to provide perceptions on a range of topics related to the late career and plans and aspirations for retirement. The survey is being conducted online in collaboration with the University of North Carolina system and the University of Minnesota with funding support from the TIAA-CREF Institute-a survey population involving diverse public and private institutions. Survey results, available early next year, will be used to help institutions to plan for faculty roles and professional development during the late career and to design retirement policies responsive to both institutional and faculty needs. The American Association of Higher Education (AAHE), interested in developing tools to assist faculty and their institutions in planning for retirements and the transition to a new generation of faculty, is also a partner in the project.

Little is known directly of the views of older faculty, as they have seldom been surveyed. Yet, understanding the views of this group of faculty seems critical at a time when more than 50 percent of the faculty and two-thirds or more of the faculty payroll nationwide are in this age category. A generation turnover of faculty is widely expected in the next decade, even though faculty members are under no legal obligation to retire at a particular age. Consequently, exploring innovative late career roles that utilize well faculty interests and accumulated expertise for institutional benefit may be as important to institutional welfare as particular retirement policies. ANAC has been a leader in this project in order to promote the well-being of faculty, their institutions, and students in the spirit of reciprocity and mutual benefit articulated in the 2002 book resulting from the ANAC Faculty Work Project (McMillin and Berberet, A New Academic Compact: Revisioning the Relationship of Faculty and Their Institutions, Anker Press).

ANAC Members Highly Regarded in US News Rankings

The annual US News and World Report college rankings issue (September 1, 2003) continues the high regard in which ANAC members are held by their peers in the Carnegie Master's classification and on a scale of numerical measures (student retention, small classes, student/faculty ratio, % fulltime faculty, SAT scores, admissions acceptance and alumni giving rates). Fifteen of the nineteen ANAC members were named in the top fifteen in their Master's region (573 Master's institutions nationally). In addition to the second place ranking of Valparaiso in the Midwest and Rollins in the South, Valparaiso had the second highest graduation rate among Midwest schools (73%).

The regional rankings of ANAC members:

Round-up of ANAC Member Fall Enrollments

ANAC members report both a continuation of the enrollment increases that many have enjoyed in recent years and increases some are experiencing after several years of fairly flat enrollments. Belmont University which has seen steady growth in recent years reports a 10 percent increase over last year and 23 percent enrollment growth since 2000. Elon University, another member experiencing steady annual growth, has a Fall 2003 enrollment of 4,525, about 100 students more than last year. Rollins College reports its largest undergraduate enrollment in history, a total of 1,730, including 490 freshmen and 60 transfer students. The Sage Colleges reports its largest enrollment in twelve years, an increase of 5 percent in full-time students over last year, while Valparaiso has enrolled its largest number of new students in fifteen years and has a 5 percent enrollment increase overall. North Central College reports an increase of more than 10 percent in the size of the freshman class.

Valparaiso University students are delighted to renew friendships
after a summer away from campus.