| Academic excellence has been the hallmark
of Manhattan College for 150 years. This particular mark of distinction has
required continual attention to all of the important components of the academic
enterprise. Academic excellence is not achieved by accident. It is purposeful
and requires an almost perpetual "transformation" of the key constituent parts
of the College. The completion of the Mary Alice and Tom O'Malley Library
coupled with the new faculty workload standard comprise two very significant
transforming agents. The O'Malley Library has provided a renewed intellectual
stimulus for the College and has served to reposition Manhattan for the learning
and scholarship demands of its faculty and students. The Library has transformed
the academic space of the College and now serves as the intellectual epicenter
of the campus. Information is the stuff of the academic enterprise; the Library
now provides access to the information sources that constitute the scholarly
landscape of the world.
In today's highly competitive college world,
academic excellence is not sufficient; it is also necessary to be recognized for
academic excellence. The second significant transformation, begun in the 4R
Strategy, is to transform the College from being a "well-kept secret" into being
a widely Recognized and highly respected college. Substantial progress has been
made thanks to the vastly improved quality and placement of self-generated
public relations pieces and quick and effective response to the news media's
request for interviews. This has been guided by several alumni, who are expert
in the field of public relations and advertising. It certainly has reached an
apex in the celebration of the College's Sesquicentennial. Two other factors
have played important roles in this transformation. The first is former New York
City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who helped promote his alma mater on many occasions
and who, toward the end of his mayoral tenure, was widely known to be an alumnus
of Manhattan College. As his renown surged, Manhattan was a beneficiary. The
second is the planned improvement of the College's athletic teams, especially
basketball with its widespread coverage in the newspapers, radio and TV in the
metropolitan area. Unarguably, great progress has been made; however, it has
not reached the level of recognition and respect to which it aspires. |
