LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1983, Page 261

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PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION 261

St. John’s offers an education grounded in the liberal arts and
enniched by the Chnistian perspective. The college assists students
in preparing for lives of service to God and man, either as pro-
fessional workers in the church orin other vocations. To that end, St.
John’s offers the following academic programs: preseminary stud-
ies, parish work, elementary education, secretarial science, business
administration, nursing, and music. Through its liberal arts courses
the college assists the general education student in selecting a course
of study for personal life enrichment or for preparation in other
professional programs.

St. John’'sis in transition: it is emerging from a junior college into
a baccalaureate-degree-granting institution. During the decade of
the 1980s the college intends to strengthen and consolidate its four-
year programs, which it first offered during the 1981—82 academic
year, and also to continue to offer and strengthen its established
associate degree program. At this same time a high priority will be
placed upon developing and enriching the college's liberal arts
offerings.

St. John’s College offers the following degrees:

Bachelor of science (B.S.)

Bachelor of science in business administration (B.S.B.A.)
Bachelor of arts (B.A.)

Associate in arts (A.A.)

Associate degree in nursing (A.D.N.)

Although the student population has been national in charac-
ter. the primary recruitment area is in the Kansas. Colorado,
Oklahoma, and Mid-South Districts of The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod.

Since the synodical convention of 1981 St. John’s College has
prepared a number of young people for entrance into the
professional church ministry. The following statistics also
include the results of the 1982—83 school year:

Men entering synodical seminaries .............. 12

Teachers 0.0.0.0... 0c ccc cece eee eae 26

Parish workers ............00000 cc cc eve eeeeeee 14
Recruitment

The success of an institution is somewhat dependent upon
its ability to recruit students. Recently the college contracted
for the services of a professional marketing consultant to give
guidance in setting up and carrying out a more comprehensive
plan to improve student recruitment efficiency. At the time of
this writing, we have received a 57": increase in the total
number of applications. St. John’s anticipates this percentage
to grow with the prayer of enrolling the largest freshman class
in the 90-year existence of this institution.

The primary market for the college has been and continues
to be the membership of the congregations of The Lutheran
Church— Missouri Synod within the Kansas, Oklahoma, Colo-
rado, and Mid-South Districts of the Synod. Approximately
65") of the annual total enrollment is drawn from this area.

In addition to its Lutheran population the College enrolls
students having a religious preference other than Lutheran.
This segment of the enrollment generally makes up 15—20" of
the total enrollment. The majority of the group are students
who elect to attend St. John’s College because of the character
and quality of the education offered or because vocational
programs in nursing and business are readily available to
them.

Finances and the Development Plan

The financial picture of St. John’s College is positive. An
examination of audited financial statements shows that the
college, which essentially is debt free, is able to budget income
and expenses accurately and over the past 10 years has
demonstrated a nearly equalizing balance of modest deficits or
excesses of income over expenses.

For many years the college was heavily subsidized by The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, receiving up to 50" of its
operating income from the church. In 1982 income from the
Svnod constituted only 19%. of the college's current fund
revenues.

St. John’s efforts to move toward greater fiscal self-
sufficiency are becoming visible. A three-person development
office has been established, a major fundraising drive has been
introduced, and the endowment fund, while still small. has
increased 440" since 1979. In addition a substantial five-vear
federal grant amounting to approximately $1.3 million has
been received from Title III funds.

Tostrengthen the development effort the college has worked
closely in 1982 with an outside consulting firm. Major assis-
tance has been received in determining direction for the
development office, identifying appropriate large donors, and
planning objectives for the development program.

In addition to increasing the base of external support,
charges for tuition and fees have now been set at more realistic
figures. The greatest adjustment occurred in 1980—81 when
the cost of liberal arts tuition rose from $1,550 to $2,400, a 27".
increase. Since that time increases have been more moderate;
in general St. John’s charges now fall at approximately the
midrange of Kansas private colleges.

While the current fund revenues depend less on church
subsidy than in the past, St. John’s continues to receive
substantial synodical support in other areas. The deferred
maintenance project carried out this past year ($504,495) was
underwritten completely by the church's Forward in Remem-
brance fund, as will be the second funding cycle ($791,000
requested).

With the introduction of stronger development activities at
the local level, St. John’s plans to obtain more gift income and
will construct its budget accordingly. The emphasis will be to
increase revenues in the current fund; at present no drive for
capital or endowment funds is anticiapted.

St. John’s College continues to enjoy the support of its own
alumni association which has invested $750,000, the interest to
be used for scholarship and schoo! purposes.

A major assist to St. John’s finances will be the estate ofa
Winfield resident, an unrestricted gift which was probated late
in 1982 but has not yet been placed on the college's books. This
will include approximately $214,000 in money market certifi-
cates and bonds and farm land valued arbitrarily at $144,000.
This land includes nine active oil wells and an undetermined
potential for income beyond the value stated. .

Unique to St. John's as a synodical school is the Kansas
Tuition Grant Program, which provides approximately $1,100

per year to a Kansas student attending private college within —_

the state.

Consortium with Southwestern

Located five blocks from St. John’s campus is Southwestern
College, a privately owned. church-related baccalaureate insti-
tution. Cooperative efforts between the two institutions have
resulted in the sharing of library resources, cross registration
of students, and shared computer resources. Therefore, over-
head costs for maintaining a four-year institution have been
moderately reduced.

Physical Facilities

The college campus consists of approximately 29 acres of
land on which are located 12 major buildings and 14 houses.
The present buildings handle existing students and program
requirements well. There has been no need to add residence
halls or educational structures in the past 15 years. During the
past year St. John’s College has completed two major projects
which enhance the physical plant. The first, virtually trans-
parent to a campus visitor, involves expenditures of over
$500,000 in deferred maintenance to four buildings on campus
(Meyer Hall, Academy Hall, Baden Hall, and the gymnasium).
Extensive roof repairs, tuckpointing. installation of air locks
and insulation. retrofitting of boilers. and related work have
made these buildings more energy efficient.

The second project, highly visible. is the construction of the
Dr. Obert Kruger Plaza and the Alumni Memorial] Trinity
Tower directly in front of Mever Hall. Together with the new
keyhole drive and extensive landscaping, these elements pro-
vide a much-needed central entrance and a focus to the campus
which heretofore have been missing.

Conclusion

St. John's College, Winfield, Kans. enters the 1980s confi-
dent that it will continue to experience a bright and glorious
future. While reports in private higher education indicate a
decreasing enrollment for many institutions, St. John’s college
plans to be one of the few institutions to experience increasing
enrollments. We plan to maintain our Christian distictiveness