New name suits Christian college.Byline: GUEST VIEWPOINT By David Wilson David Wilson may refer to:
I am pleased to announce that the Board of Trustees board of trustees Politics The posse of thugs who oversee an institution's administration. See Board of directors. of Northwest Christian College Northwest Christian College is a private, liberal arts college located in Eugene, Oregon and is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. voted unanimously on May 4 to change the name of the college to Northwest Christian University. The new name will become effective on July 1, 2008. The coming months will be filled with excitement and preparations for the historic event as we change campus signage, obtain a new Web site address, and engage in a host of other activities necessitated by the new name. Why change from `college' to `university'? Several factors were considered: 1. The new name will appropriately describe what we already do, given that a typical university has an academic structure like ours, offering both undergraduate and graduate programs. More specifically, we have a daytime traditional undergraduate program as well as evening professional studies (degree completion) and graduate programs geared toward the full-time working adult. 2. Having the word "university" in our name will enhance our image and credibility both here and abroad. Internationally, `college' is often perceived as `high school.' This is important, because we desire to recruit international students as well as offer some of our programs abroad. We will soon launch a pilot MBA MBA abbr. Master of Business Administration Noun 1. MBA - a master's degree in business Master in Business, Master in Business Administration program in Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. . 3. Our new name, with its abbreviation abbreviation, in writing, arbitrary shortening of a word, usually by cutting off letters from the end, as in U.S. and Gen. (General). Contraction serves the same purpose but is understood strictly to be the shortening of a word by cutting out letters in the middle, of NCU NCU North Central University NCU Network Configuration Utility (HP) NCU Network Control Unit NCU National Currency Unit (dollar, pound, etc) NCU National Communications Union NCU Navigation Computer Unit , will allow us to avoid a common misperception mis·per·ceive tr.v. mis·per·ceived, mis·per·ceiv·ing, mis·per·ceives To perceive incorrectly; misunderstand. mis that NCC NCC See National Clearing Corporation (NCC). stands for Northwest Community College The NWCC, through its First Nations Council, has entered into a relationship with the Nisga'a Wilp Wilxo'oskwhl Nisga'a (“Nisga'a House of Learning”) to promote and enable resident of the Nass Valley region to obtain post-secondary education. . NCC is on the move as we seek to be one of America's great Christian liberal arts liberal arts, term originally used to designate the arts or studies suited to freemen. It was applied in the Middle Ages to seven branches of learning, the trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric, and the quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. institutions. We are guided by our vision `to be a college known for its integration of excellent academic programs, a foundation in the Christian faith, and a focus on teaching leadership and ethics.' This spring, our enrollment was at an all-time high of 519. Our target is 1,200 students by 2014. As we grow in enrollment (our fastest-growing program is our evening professional studies program), we also grow in a number of key areas, including the faculty, curriculum, facilities and co-curricular programs such as campus ministries and athletics. Recently added majors include mathematics, accounting and exercise science. Newly acquired facilities include several former fraternity houses; plus, we are leasing one floor of a professional building located on the former site of "Animal House.' Nineteen of our students and two staff members, including the campus pastor, are currently on a mission trip in Mozambique where they are working at an AIDS orphanage. In athletics, we recently added volleyball, soccer, cross country and golf while becoming a member of the Cascade Collegiate Conference and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
We are also taking steps to enhance the quality of every aspect of our operations. For example, we now require all new full-time faculty to have doctoral degrees. Our new name will not alter the fundamental nature of our purpose or programs. We will continue to offer a liberal arts education in a faith-based Christian context. The new name will help us become the institution we aspire to aspire to verb aim for, desire, pursue, hope for, long for, crave, seek out, wish for, dream about, yearn for, hunger for, hanker after, be eager for, set your heart on, set your sights on, be ambitious for be. When Eugene Sanderson founded our college in 1895 as Eugene Divinity School, the mission or purpose was `educating workers for the Church.' We still take that mission seriously and continue to honor our heritage as we live out our current mission `to develop competent, ethical leaders for service in the workplace, community, church and world.' Our current mission clearly encompasses, yet broadens, the original one. Compared to earlier times, we are preparing students for a much wider range of careers while still holding the Bible central to what we do and still believing in the importance of integrating faith with learning. So even as we prepare tomorrow's leaders for wide-ranging `ministries' in business, education, human services, psychology, health care administration and a variety of other fields, we also continue to "educate workers for the Church" as students prepare for careers in pastoral ministry, youth ministry and missions/global ministries. Our plan to initiate a new School of Christian Ministry (an expansion of our already-growing ministry program) in the 2008-09 academic year signals that even as we grow and become a more diverse and comprehensive institution, we will not lose sight of our cherished roots. In the summer and fall of 2008, we will have a big celebration and unveil not only the new name and the new School of Christian Ministry, but also new signage that will lend greater visibility and identity to our campus. We are proud to have been a part of this community since 1895, and we look forward to continued service as we meet many of our region's diverse learning and workforce needs through our programs and activities, and through our distinctive brand of higher education. In that spirit, we invite everyone to join us in our celebration! David Wilson (davidwilson@nwcc .edu) has been president of Northwest Christian College since 2004. The college's Web site is www.nwcc.edu. |
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