Building a Better University

This fall, George Fox articulated three commitments in our strategic plan to help us transform our university as we seek to more effectively equip our students for exceptional life outcomes, noting that we will “do whatever it takes to create a brighter future ... for the students we serve.”

We outlined these three pillars that drive our pursuits of longevity and impact:

1. Stay Rooted in Christ. Christ in everything. This is the foundation of everything we have done and everything we will do moving forward. We seek to graduate dedicated disciples of Jesus Christ who are called and equipped for vocational ministry in the world.
2. Be Affordable. Addressing affordability means reducing the time it takes to complete a degree and lowering our costs while increasing value to students. A streamlined education allows students to graduate faster, which both decreases the loans they need to fund their education and accelerates their timeline to earning a salary.
3. Get Flexible. Higher education exists for the sake of students, and that means we need to become learner-centric. We need to craft our educational experiences around the needs and desires of students and offer the modalities that serve them best.

This year, we have committed ourselves to addressing affordability by returning over $3 million in CARES Act and stimulus funding to students and announcing a zero percent tuition increase for traditional undergraduate students in 2021-22. We have realigned academic departments so they can partner together on streamlining the pathways to graduation. We will continue to invest in George Fox Digital to expand the footprint of our online offerings at a reduced price point.

We have committed ourselves to flexibility for students and have seen great results including the recent success of George Fox Digital: First Year Online, which was created and launched in a span of weeks. And we’ve successfully enrolled 45 students in the program’s fully remote and robust courses. That follows an increased commitment to our summer online program, a reimagining of our THEO courses, and so much more. As you’ll read below, our new general education package will be a significant driver in our streamlined pathways to graduation.

And through all of this, we have stayed rooted in our faith in Christ. Above all, it is our hope that students will experience the call of God in their lives – that they will understand their humanity by understanding the gift of his redemption, and will be equipped at George Fox to bring his light into their families, workplaces and communities. We are committed to our Be Known promise and committed to bringing the transformational power of Christ into our classrooms, our residence halls and our co-curricular spaces.

A General Education Package for the Modern Era

Perhaps the most significant change is the complete reworking of our general education (GE) package, now called The Cornerstone Core Curriculum. Beginning fall of 2021, new students will engage in a variety of academic disciplines as their character is cultivated in the Christian context through the Great Commandment: how to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, as well as love their neighbor as themselves (Matthew 22:37-40). These foundational courses can be delivered both in-person and online, and the Be Known promise will be a central component regardless of the modality.

Our core curriculum is rooted in the liberal arts and invites students to take 13 courses that develop the virtues of wisdom, patience, creativity, and intellectual humility among others. This streamlines efficiency while ensuring a common and Christ-centered academic foundation as students transition to coursework in their academic majors and focus on building their professional competence, where they can fulfill the Great Commission by “going into all the world” as we are called in Matthew 28.

Reducing Credits and Time to Graduation

In addition to modifying the general education graduation requirement, we are also adjusting the number of required credit hours for graduation from 126 to 120, beginning in the fall of 2021. This will offer two major benefits to our students. First, it accelerates their timeline to enter major-specific courses. And second, it accelerates the timeline to complete their degree, which offers cost savings. The graduation requirement of 120 credits is the norm nationally, and this brings us into alignment with the industry standard.

It is important to note the future is not simply about affordability. It is also about value. Across higher education, we hear parents and students express tuition price points are too high for the value they receive. Indeed, our world is increasingly focused on outcomes and value in educational settings, and the changes we outline here will enhance the learning experiences of our students in ways that will impact their lives far beyond their time in the classroom.

Academic Portfolio Changes

This past semester, all academic programs were asked to take a critical look at their offerings in order to streamline the path to graduation, improve the student experience, and eliminate unnecessary courses. Several academic departments have significantly reworked and streamlined their programs to better align student interests with industry needs.

• In the undergraduate College of Business, the seven majors have been reimagined into two majors with seven concentrations, including the addition of a new certificate in business analytics. Moving forward, the business administration major will offer concentrations in management, marketing, finance and economics, while the financial services major will offer concentrations in financial planning and accounting.
  
  The department’s numerous minors will be replaced by one general business minor for the purpose of equipping students in other majors to receive foundational business knowledge and skills.
• The Spanish program will offer a minor only, making it more accessible to a broader audience of students and removing the study-abroad requirement, which was prohibitive for those who would otherwise want to join the program (though we still encourage studying abroad for students who are able to participate!).
• The music major will be reimagined with emphases in music industry and worship arts, which will transform our already-vibrant music department into a program that focuses on outcomes and employability by connecting students who love music with compelling vocational opportunities. We maintain our commitment to the co-curricular performance opportunities within this program and eagerly anticipate concerts and performances in the future!
• The history major will now include a robust concentration in political science as an option for students. Understanding political context, ideologies and action as drivers throughout time is essential for truly understanding the history of our nation and world from ancient times through today and into the future. As a result, our politics major will now be offered as a minor or a concentration.

Retired Programs

In the course of review, several programs were found to no longer be viable due to low student interest and will not enroll new students moving forward; however, those students currently enrolled will be able to graduate in these majors:

• Health and human performance will be retired, and we will continue to invest and emphasize the exercise science major as a great option for students who want to pursue careers and graduate education in the health sciences.
• Our popular co-curricular theatre program will continue to be offered to all students at George Fox, and we look forward to many future performances. However, our theatre major will be converted to a minor for incoming students.
• Sociology will retire as a major; however, the subject matter will be integrated into our core curriculum so every student will gain competency in understanding human behavior in groups and how that impacts all realms of society and culture.
• Chemistry courses will remain, as they are foundational for all health sciences; however, the major of chemistry will be retired and an emphasis will be placed on our existing biochemistry major. This will better serve our students who hope to work in careers in health science, pharmaceutical science, environmental science, forensic science and biochemical research. Our students have increasingly chosen to major in biochemistry, which follows national trends.
• The formal majors for information systems and music education will be discontinued; however, courses from these areas will continue to be offered.

The changes to our academic portfolio and general education requirements will impact adjunct teaching assignments. We will be evaluating the full impact of staffing changes in the next few weeks and will communicate any additional changes at the time they are made.

Expanded Opportunities in Graduate Healthcare Programs

We are thrilled to formally announce the future launch of an occupational therapy graduate program in 2024 as we continue to expand our healthcare-focused graduate degrees. After careful evaluation the past few months, which included dialogue with local partners including Providence and extensive market research, we are certain this new master’s degree will address a critical need for the region and provide additional opportunities for new graduate students within our Wellness Enterprise. We are confident this program will articulate well with existing undergraduate offerings to provide a new pathway toward health professions. 

Additional program offerings, both degrees and certifications, are being assessed for future addition as we respond to the regional market and support the broader community. We are actively engaged in conversations with regional industry organizations in order to determine new partnerships to facilitate future growth. This work will solidify our position as the premier Christian university in the Pacific Northwest with the strongest commitment to high quality and diverse healthcare offerings.

Opportunities Beyond Traditional Degrees

We continue to invest in George Fox Digital and the successful ventures it has launched. Last year, faculty and staff mobilized quickly in the face of the pandemic to create a first-year option for students that is completely online and does not compromise the integrity of the academic experience or our Be Known promise. That effort demonstrated not only the collective commitment of our community to student success, but our need to be responsive to learners who want to access our offerings virtually.

The George Fox Digital: First Year Online program will persist in the year ahead, since it offers the flexibility many students are looking for and aligns with our strategic mission toward greater affordability. George Fox Digital will also continue the widely successful Summer Online Program. Both of these programs would not be successful without the engagement of many faculty and administrators across the campus, and we are grateful for their contributions to power these efforts.

This past week, we moved our Adult Degree Programs run by the School of Professional Studies from the Cultural Enterprise into George Fox Digital (except for elementary education). Our Adult Degree Programs will now move completely online, and over the next few months will add additional programs to serve adults at lower overall tuition rates than in years past. We invite your insights on this front, with particular emphasis on supporting those adults whose careers have been upended by the pandemic.

Beyond George Fox Digital, the university will also deliver the Be Known promise through new technological solutions to improve the faculty and student experience. This fall, we plan to launch a new campus mobile app that will enhance interactivity and engagement. We will also move to a more user-friendly learning management system on the Canvas platform.

All told, our digital horizon is vast and we are encouraged by the ingenuity of our staff to harness new technologies in the face of incredible change.

In Closing

We must and will continue to look critically at our offerings in order to meet the ever-changing needs of our students and the industry landscape they will graduate into. We made the challenging decisions to retire these academic programs while also recognizing the success they’ve had through the years and the many alumni they have equipped for professional achievement. These decisions do not dim the success of the past, but they do acknowledge that as the world changes, so will our academic offerings.

What we have outlined here is another step toward increasing the value of the educational experience for our students, and it will not be the last. Change will be the constant companion to the higher education institutions that choose to pursue longevity.

We are fortunate that George Fox is in a strong financial position and these changes – including the investment in new programs – are designed to keep us financially healthy. What will remain unchanged is our focus on our purpose – to educate and inspire students to pursue God's calling. It is our pleasure to do this important work together.