Editors Note: This is the first, in a series, of profiles of the colleges and universities participating in the National Collegiate Dialogue.
Meeting the needs of a very diverse student body with high-quality educational programs has defined Park University since its inception. This non-traditional trail-blazing institution is set apart from many of its contemporaries, and is prepared to meet the future demands of higher education like few others.
President Michael Droge will tell you in a quiet, but resolute voice, “Park University’s success is based on a long-standing commitment to having a high-quality system of educational services that meet the needs of the people. That belief is entrenched in everything we do.” According to President Droge, meeting the higher educational needs of people where they are in their life’s journey, with quality services, has been a defining practice that has set the university apart.
Quality & Service Rule The Day
This combination commitment, of delivering high-quality educational programs that meet the needs of students where they are, is evident in many ways.
- Degrees are not only provided in traditional academic areas but in new cutting-edge specialties as well, whether in the ever-changing area of technology, criminal justice, healthcare or some other emerging field. These degrees are offered by a faculty that is second to none. The Chronicle of Higher Education in October 2010 ranked Park University as a top producer of Fulbright Scholars. (Park can also boast of having a student selected as a Fulbright Scholar for the first time.)
- Courses are provided when students can access them, during the day, evenings, week-ends and online. Each year more than 24,000 students, across 40 campus centers in 21 states, take advantage of Park’s undergraduate and graduate programs.
- Park University has a national and global footprint because of its large number of online programs, international student population, and international cyber presence on military bases across the world.
Of particular note, Park was one of the first institutions in the world to develop fully-accredited, totally online learning programs. The faculty must go through a rigorous training and evaluation program to learn how to teach effectively online. Park is a model of “best practices” in online learning since it was one of the first institutions of higher education to develop online programs with stringent in-house quality controls. What could better accommodate the needs of students — today and in the future — who have hectic schedules, demanding family obligations, and are located all across the nation and around the globe?
No place is Park’s commitment to meet the needs of students, where they are, more evident than its long-standing history of providing undergraduate degrees to the U.S. military. Park is recognized as one of the largest providers of online undergraduate education to the armed forces.
Not only does Park provide undergraduate education to all branches of the armed forces, there is also humanitarian support in other ways. Over the past three years, Park students have shipped about one ton of supplies and clothing for school children near Bagram Air Base in eastern Afghanistan. The supplies are distributed in Afghanistan by Command Sgt. Maj. "Rob," a Park online student who is a senior majoring in social psychology. You can see Sgt. Maj. “Rob” at work below.
Furthermore, it must also be noted that the high-quality educational programs provided by Park are still delivered at a cost that students can afford as the cost of educational programs offered by so many other institutions are spiraling out of reach.
In 2010, Park University was ranked #1 in Best Value among private colleges and universities. According to Parents & Colleges, institutions that made the list offer a diversity of degrees, have affordable tuition, and report the highest SAT and ACT scores for incoming classes.
Diversity & Inclusiveness Is A Part Of Park University’s DNA
What does diversity and inclusive
ness mean at Park? Let us count the ways.
While many institutions of higher education still struggle with issues of diversity and inclusiveness, Park can boast of a history of serving a very diverse student population. Since its founding in 1875, Park University has provided a quality, innovative liberal arts education to students of different racial and ethnic groups from all walks of life.
In the early days, Park graduated more women than men in its first graduating class in 1879, and opened its doors to its first international students in 1880. But that was just the beginning, Park has continued to value and promote diversity throughout its history. Today, Park is the epitome of diversity in the fullest sense of its meaning. Building on a non-tradition and trail-blazing culture, Park can boast of several major accomplishments:
- In U.S. News and World Report — Best Colleges 2010 issue, Park University earned a distinction as one of the top colleges and universities in the nation for having a racially diverse student body population. More than forty-two percent (42%) of Park’s students is racially and ethnically diverse. Park has been honored by Diverse magazine for its outstanding graduation rate of black students. Park has also been honored by Hispanic Outlook for its successful graduation rate of Hispanic students.
- More than 600 international students from 110 countries attend Park today. Park students learn to think and communicate with a global awareness and perspective whether it is through their World Student Union events or extracurricular activities such as the Model United Nations program where Park won the Overall Delegation Award among 300 competing colleges and universities.
- The demographics of Park’s student body are multi-generational, including working adults, where the average age is 33 years old. Park is uniquely positioned to continue to meet the needs of changing population trends, as there is a current decrease in the 18-year-old population and that trend is expected to only increase through 2020.
An Extraordinary Track Record Positions Park To Meet The Needs Of The Future
Grounded in a commitment to quality and service in meeting the higher educational needs of an ever- increasing diverse and dispersed population, Park is in an enviable position to meet the future challenges in delivering educational program at an affordable price.
President Droge, upon becoming President of Park College in June of 2009, immediately saw the need for short-term and long-range strategic planning. Engaging faculty and student teams, a Two-Year Action Plan was completed by October of 2009. The focus was on an impending accreditation visit, strengthening the university’s financial stability, and planning its future direction. The short-term plan has yielded great results. The university had an outstanding accreditation visit, had one of the best financial years in its history with enrollment exceeding projections, and is now poised to complete a long-term strategic plan.
President Droge emphasizes the need for transparency, inclusiveness, and collaboration in completing this plan. He speaks passionately about the “collective vision of possibilities” and the importance of faculty and students knowing “We are all in this together.”
As outlined in this profile, with a commitment to quality, service, and diversity interwoven in its mission and how it delivers educational programs, Park University is in the forefront in being prepared to advance higher education to multiple generations in a local, national and global community.
Park University — a great institution meeting the educational need of a changing world.