Trusteeship - May/June 2020 - 34

THE 2019-2020 NASON AWARD WINNERS

and responsibilities, and maximizing their impact within that more
clearly defined scope."
Viviano stressed the importance of a "respectful boundary"
between the board's work and that of management. "There are
many times where I've said in the board room, 'I'm sure President
Snyder appreciates the input, but at the end of the day, it's his call.
His decision. We make sure he has the resources to support that
decision.'" Trouble awaits "where that boundary gets blurry."
Despite the demands of running one of the nation's top pediatric hospitals and a workday that begins at 6 a.m. ("to beat the LA
traffic"), Viviano carves out ample time for his board duties. "I'm
there a lot, probably 12 times in the last month. Not all day, but for
meetings and various activities," he said. "You make the time for
things that are important to you."

McDaniel College Board of Trustees

McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland, has a proud history.
The liberal arts college was founded in 1867 as Western Maryland
College. It is featured in the influential guide, Colleges That Change
Lives, places a strong emphasis on experiential learning and study
abroad, and has a branch campus in Budapest, Hungary. It has
1,600 undergraduate and 1,400 graduate students.
But like many liberal arts campuses, McDaniel has faced difficult decisions about its course for the future. Last year, with the full
support of its 43-member Board of Trustees, it made the wrenching decision to eliminate a half-dozen majors while launching eight

and eventually nine new ones. There were demonstrations and
impassioned debates, and at one point students raised a racket
during a board meeting by going to the floor above and stomping
their feet. But early evidence suggests President Roger N. Casey,
the faculty, and board steered McDaniel in the right direction. Last
fall the college welcomed the largest freshman class in its history,
580 students or 100 above its previous high.
Casey, who chairs the National Association of Independent
College and Universities and sits on the American Council on
Education board, said, "What our students wanted out of college
10 years ago is not what prospective students are looking for now.
Our board recognized the changing market and that we needed to
change, too, if we were going to remain competitive."
The process started in 2018 with the board, under its then-longtime chair Martin Hill, setting forth a charge to the administration
to "complete a thorough and immediate assessment of our curriculum to identify and highlight successful programs, restructure or
eliminate weaker and/or unsustainable offerings, and investigate
and implement new curricula which could lead to enrollment and/
or net-revenue growth."
A faculty-led "Strategic Thinking Group on Pedagogical Values" spearheaded the evaluation. It amassed 1,000 pages of data
to evaluate programs, conferred with department chairs, and
made their curricular recommendations. Casey and Provost and
Dean of the Faculty Julia Jasken then met with each department
identified for restructuring or elimination, listened to their concerns, and gave them 30 days to develop a plan to revitalize their
department before the president and provost took their proposals
to the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees,
where they passed muster.

McDaniel College

34 TRUSTEESHIP MAY. JUN. 2020

PHOTO COURTESY OF McDANIEL COLLEGE

Trusteeship - May/June 2020

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