A year ago, the Augsburg College Board of Regents affirmed our strategic plan, , with its bold vision that we will be “a new kind of student-centered urban university, small to our students and big for the world.” And then they charged the Augsburg community—faculty, staff, students, and alumni—with the work of making our vision a reality. That is the meaningful and urgent work we are now pursuing on campus and in the world.

As we undertake this important work, we are keeping the gift of semper reformanda firmly in mind as a lens for deciding how we will achieve our vision. Across campus and beyond, we are thinking about how we can be innovative and entrepreneurial. Three simple ideas are guiding our thinking and action:

• We innovate out of abundance, the belief that we can do more together than we can do alone. We share our individual gifts so that the good of all might be served.
• We innovate in community, the sense that there is wisdom and experience within our community that needs to be engaged to ensure a vibrant future for Augsburg.
• We innovate for the world, affirming that what we do as a college ultimately serves our call to serve the neighbor.

In these three ideas—innovation out of abundance, in community, and for the world—we have the markers of our daily life at Augsburg.

In this issue of Augsburg Now, you see glimpses of this innovation in all corners of our community. Start with the remarkable work of staff photographer, Stephen Geffre, whose photo-documentary of 24 hours in the life of Augsburg reminds us of all the gifts we enjoy as a community. Celebrate with us the various recognitions and awards we have received as a college—research and cultural grants, top rankings for our academic and co-curricular programs, 40 years of music therapy, 30 years of the Augsburg Associates, and fundraising success on many fronts! And then listen to the voices of Auggies on campus and around the world—young alumni, Auggie football players, our 2014 Homecoming alumni award recipients, and alumni from our global education programs; you’ll hear the poetry of a college community boldly moving toward its 150th anniversary, faithful to its heritage and at the same time relevant to the needs of the world.

Finally, please take a moment to review our annual report to alumni and donors—as well as our results from the November 13 Give to the Max Day. I am deeply grateful for all of you who have joined with us to support the important work of our college. May semper reformanda be our rallying cry as we live into our ambitious vision.

Faithfully yours,

PAUL C. PRIBBENOW, PRESIDENT

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I hope you find in this vision statement a glimpse of the Augsburg we all know and love—and that we all want to support and help strengthen for the future.

The Augsburg that we all know is a college where students are central to our daily lives; where personal relationships and a sense of community combine to provide rare opportunities to learn and serve; and where academic, civic, and faith commitments are explored and strengthened. A college that is small to our students.

At the same time, we are a college that makes a remarkable impact on the world—as a community and through our thousands of graduates pursuing their vocations in various settings around the globe. A college that is big for the world.

When reviewing the editorial plan for this issue of Augsburg Now, I was struck with how this vision of “big for the world” is evident in so many different ways. And at the risk of violating what my predecessor, President Bill Frame, called Augsburg’s “militant modesty,” allow me to brag a bit about this very special college…

• About one of the largest first-year classes in Augsburg’s history this fall—more than 460 first-year students—and the effect they already are having on campus with their spirit and activism.
• About the fact that our science faculty have generated unprecedented funding from the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies, ranking Augsburg third in the state among all higher education institutions, behind only the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
• About the fact that we were named this past fall as one of the top 25 colleges in the country for service learning programs, exemplifying how our commitment to education for service is imbedded in the curriculum and recognized by others as a high-impact way of learning.
• About the fact that we are partnering with more than a dozen colleges and health care institutions in the Twin Cities to combine our human and fiscal resources in support of neighborhoods along the new Central Corridor Light Rail Line between downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul.
• About the fact that we raised more than $19 million in gifts and pledges during the 2012-13 academic year from alumni, parents, friends, corporations, and foundations—another record year in fundraising for Augsburg, our third record year in a row—and that we have now raised more than $25 million for the planned Center for Science, Business, and Religion.
• About the fact that we continue to develop innovative academic programs, including our new Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, which was launched this past summer with a first cohort of 16 students, and a partnership with the Minneapolis Community and Technical College to offer the first fast-track RN/Bachelor of Science in Nursing professional program in Minnesota between a two-year public institution and a four-year private college.

And I could go on. There’s more in the pages that follow and even more in the daily life of the Augsburg community. Come and visit, as Minnesota State Senator Terri Bonoff, chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, did recently, and see for yourself what she described this way: “This is a special college—one where being small to students and big for the world is really true.” I couldn’t have said it better.

Faithfully yours,

PAUL C. PRIBBENOW, PRESIDENT

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