By Ethan Higa

Ethan: What are we trying to improve?

Dr. Katip: There are so many ways to answer this! We hope to improve the affordability of college for our students and their parents, always trying to attract the finest faculty and provide the best academic offerings to stay cutting edge. For the past couple years we have had a few retirements that have caused us to search for faculty who have a passion for students and excellence in their fields.

You may know that we are entering a major capital fund campaign, which is now in what we call the “silent phase.” In the year 2016, you will hear that we hope to raise more than $20 million, most of which will go into campus improvements. We are working on acquiring a student commons cafeteria that will eventually turn into a student union center. Already our improvements to the soccer field, the new science and technology equipment, and the acquisition of our seminary and graduate counseling building are advances that all can enjoy.

In every area—academics, grounds and facilities, food service, staff support, student affairs, athletics—I believe our Grace community truly strives for excellence and wants to glorify God by doing our best.

Ethan: What do we do well?

Dr. Katip: Around three years ago we placed 10^th in the country out of 800 schools for students hoping to become Certified Public Accountants. Many of our teaching students have excelled on the Praxis test. Talking about excellence, when the chemical fire happened in Warsaw last academic year, Dr. Bosch went out with students taking water samples on site.

An important thing we do like no one else is integrate academics and student affairs together. I think our student life program, the dorm life with Growth Groups, leads to higher retention and graduation rates. We have 80-85% of our freshmen return as sophomores. Our comparison schools only retain about 65-68% of their freshmen. It’s all due to the connection between student life and academic life, our complete package.

You ask what do we do well? Bottom line, I think we do well at educating young people for the future by demonstrating that character development followed by achieving competency in skill areas is important, and that reaching out in service is the only way to live a truly selfless, fulfilling life.

Your Fellow Lancer,

Bill Katip