A month ago today, I posed the question, “Are Three Catholic Universities Too Many for San Antonio?” It’s a question still without an answer as word spreads this morning of the decision by the board of trustees at Our Lady of he Lake University to end the 11-year presidency of Dr. Tessa Martinez Pollack.
It’s safe to say that Pollack wanted to stand and fight for the school’s legacy – as well as her own. After the Rivard Report published the article as part of a larger look at the future, Pollack responded with her own article, in effect, a statement of commitment on behalf of the school and its leadership.
A lengthy statement by OLLU board chairman Roy Terracina contained in today’s press release indicates the University remains committed to a new strategic plan adopted in October and made public last month, even if divided trustees ultimately concluded that Pollack is not the president to oversee its implementation.
Terracina’s statements:
“Dr. Pollack has helped guide the University through a time of great change, and her many contributions are appreciated by the Board and the University family.
“With Tessa’s leadership, a new strategic plan was developed and the Board fully intends to follow it as we go forward. OLLU must improve its financial position and needs more collaboration to successfully implement the strategic plan.
“We are certain that the foundation exists for this university, with the support of the Congregation of Divine Providence and through the efforts of the faculty, administration, staff, alumni and Board working as a team, to continue its work – and provide its service – far into the future.
“Higher education is changing around the country, with many factors affecting all American universities. Both competition and costs are increasing, and the value proposition for students and their families has never been more important. Since 1895 when it was founded by the Sisters of Divine Providence, OLLU has provided extraordinary educational experiences for students and produced generations of leaders in business, education, humanities and both the social and natural sciences.
“Moreover, the ‘service-to-community’ ethic which is imbued in our graduates is unsurpassed. We are especially proud to be a Catholic institution with a strong record of taking first-in-family college students and helping them to develop and graduate with degrees which lead to good careers and fulfilled lives.”
Trustees face huge challenges in maintaining the university’s viability, and thus had little choice in pursuing a change of leadership. The OLLU community remains polarized over recent changes at the school, including the elimination of 12 degree programs. Without a change, the focus likely would remain on decisions already made rather than the future.
Tyler Tully, who also wrote an article for the Rivard Report, embodies the student dissent with the University’s decision to adopt a more market-oriented curricula and moving away from some traditional liberal arts studies toward more STEM majors. He recently posted on Facebook a challenge to OLLU’s decision to eliminate the liberal arts programs, noting that the top ten Catholic universities in the country all offer a robust liberal arts education.
Beyond those disagreements, however, lay the larger challenges: building enrollment, improving retention and graduation rates, boosting endowment, and providing something not available at the city’s two other Catholic universities, St. Mary’s University and the University of Incarnate Word.
“I think Tessa played the hand she was dealt as well as anybody could have played it,” said one of her fellow university leaders in San Antonio. “A change was probably inevitable, but it won’t postpone hard decisions.”
University presidents aren’t hired off Craig’s List, but if they were, the employment ad might read like this:
“Wanted: Dynamic Catholic university president who can raise tens of millions of dollars in endowment funds, and inspire a fractured community of trustees, administration, faculty, students and alumni. Must be an effective communicator comfortable with transparency and making all stakeholders part of the conversation before decisions are taken.
“Warning: University with long history in San Antonio is beset by enrollment challenges, low graduation rates, high tuition and fees, intense disagreement over recently eliminated degree programs, and strong competition for students and dollars from two other local Catholic universities. New president must be able to successfully implement new strategic plan that does not enjoy broad support within ‘The Lake’ community. Failure to succeed could place the future of the university in jeopardy.”
I wish Pollack well. I think any objective measure of her tenure will show she was a committed higher education leader who did her best to meet challenges that only extraordinary leadership can address. I don’t envy her successor, who not only will face these enormous challenges, but will undoubtedly inherit the current rancor and debate enveloping “The Lake.” The only certainty is that Catholic education here and elsewhere faces great challenges. Nothing about that changed with today’s news.
Follow Robert Rivard on Twitter @rivardreport or on Facebook.
Related Stories on the Rivard Report:
The Uncertain Future of San Antonio’s Inner City Catholic Schools January 2013
Are Three Catholic Universities Too Many for San Antonio? January 2013
OLLU President: ‘The Lake’ is Strong and Strategic January 2013
Advice From an OLLU Student: Ditch the Market, Follow Your Catholic Values January 2013
Amid a Host of Parents, a Catholic School Thrives January 2013
Good to hear!
Mr. Rivard, your “Wanted/Warning” paragraphs are so very true! I also wish Pollack well and agree that she was a committed higher education leader.
To answer the still unanswered question – No. Three is just the right number of catholic universities in San Antonio. Each has it’s own core philosophy and set of attributes that makes it stand out.
St Mary’s University has a powerful and well known school of law, a good business program and a good research base. UIW has strong relationships with Mexico and China, interesting and multidisciplinary programs and well known schools for optometry and pharmacy. They reinvented themselves before and I’m sure when things get rough that they’ll reinvent themselves again. OLLU might need help though.
Our Lady of the Lake seems like it’s in a good position for a reorganization and house cleaning. The first thing that needs to happen is a reversal of its decision to clear out those degree programs and instead create new ones that will assist the new cybercommand. Thousands of jobs are coming to San Antonio that will be invaluable to the community and the core colleges that stand to reap the benefits are in the vicinity – OLLU and St. Mary’s. Rackspace has already joined forces with ACCD to develop programs so why can’t OLLU do this with Joint Base Lackland. This is very possible and strategically viable.
Good Luck OLLU.
I do believe Tessa Martinez-Pollack needed to leave. Bypassing the Faculty Assembly in eliminating the majors showed a total lack of respect for the faculty and for the processes set in place by the Board of Trustees. She was also unresponsive to students who tried to contact her regarding serious issues, such as the future of their program and Financial Aid concerns which affected many students.
I was on campus Thursday afternoon. Virtually everyone I spoke to agreed this is a positive change. I’m looking forward to good things happening at OLLU.
Finally, this is about far more than the STEM/Liberal Arts issue. However, given that that is what is being focused on, consider this: many universities are embracing STREAM, which stands for Science, Technology, Reading, Arts, & Math. Science and the Arts can stand together (OLLU has the “College of Arts & Sciences”). As an MA student in a Liberal Arts program, I understand that the Cistene Chapel is beautiful, but that it wouldn’t be anywhere near as incredible if Michaelangelo hadn’t understood human anatomy and physiology. While I admire Brunelleschi’s Dome as a work of art, I understand it is an amazing feat of engineering, especially when you consider the simple machine’s he had to work with. Thus, I believe we need to include both areas in the curriculum if we want to produce well-rounded students.
I think well-rounded students are awesome but the workforce needs specialists. Also, I believe it’s STEAM not STREAM.