Passion for the Climb

• Message from the president
  
• Colgate opens new home for Shaw Wellness Institute 
• New media lab adds to Colgate’s tech toolkit 
• Campaign-end announcement generates broad interest
  President Herbst opens the New York Stock Exchange
• Class of 2012 sets class gift record
• Q&A on financial aid
• Aveni receives Balmuth Teaching Award
• Colgate inaugurates Dunlap coaching chair
• University dedicates Raab House
• Behind the sticker price
• Colgate dedicates Buttitta Varsity Weight Room
• Virgin Group founder is next Global Leaders speaker
• Structures of knowledge
• President Herbst offers clear vision for need-blind future
• Everyone sweating it out at Trudy Fitness Center
• University dedicates Trudy Fitness Center
• Colgate Inn reopens after extensive renovations
• Senior class gift boosts Maroon Advantage
• Dick Hyman headlines Gould Memorial Concert
• Seen and "herd" at the Trudy Fitness Center opening
• A fit opening for Colgate's new fitness center

• A circle of healing by Lee McConaughy Woodruff ’82
• A Patriot's Travelogue by Jim Carrier ’84
• Answering the call by Rev. Abby A. Henrich ’98
• As good as gold by Kathryn (Kate) Bertine ’97
• Algae love by Tara Meyer ’07
• Did you feel that? by Lauren Mangione ’08
• Dinner and a movie (and so much more) by Chuck Fox ’70
• Dragonfly safari by Amanda Mitchell ’08
• Driving toward hope by Kristin (McCarthy) Macchi ’08
• Eyes opened by Natalie Breitbach ’07
• Finding meaning in Blagoveshchensk by Lara Hueth Cilwik ’00 
• From West to East by Ernie Bower ’86
• I remember by Frank Frey
• Improbable Politician: A Wyoming Story by Gary Trauner ’80
• Letters from helenka by Jennifer Brice
• Memory of a lullaby by Kate Gallagher ’03
• My boogie stop shuffle by Michael Coyle
• My sketchbook by Antonio Barrera
• Not if, but how by Lisa Bernier Dubreuil ’89
• Not My Last Apologia for Poetry by Jasmine Bailey ’05
• Nothing human is foreign to me by Jake Kleinman ’07
• On Insomnia ... the Good Kind by Reid Blackman
• On serendipity and science by Tony Aveni
• Prairie identity by Dustin Gillanders ’08
• Reevaluating "women's work" by Dan Carsen ’93
• Stepping into another's shoes by Aisha Lubega ’08
• The greatest piece of your heart is the piece you give away by Taylor Buonocore ’08
• The profound grace of deep time by Paul Pinet
• The strength of faith by Henoch Derbew ’07
• Twitch by Lucas Meeker ’07

The Office of Admission has shown that being able to offer more financial aid packages to promising students has a direct impact on the overall quality, selectivity, and diversity of the student body, making Colgate more competitive.  Another major accomplishment  in enhancing Colgate’s competitiveness has been the attainment of a 9:1 student-faculty ratio.

The Colgate experience, while adhering to its core, has developed and adapted considerably over the past 20 years, with the hiring of acclaimed new faculty, the expansion of  new international and entrepreneurial experiences, and significant investments in new technologies, along with the experts to manage them.  

Some alumni have recently expressed concern that the number of employees on campus has grown dramatically. However, careful and conservative management of resources has kept the student-to-employee ratio in check. The ratio in fiscal year 2011-2012 was 3.38 to 1, as compared to 1991, when it was 4.11 to 1.

Despite the addition of important new facilities, including the Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology, the Robert H.N. Ho Science Center, Little Hall, Persson Hall, and the Trudy Fitness Center — and the more than doubling of the number of alumni in the past 20 years, to over 32,000 — Colgate  continues to be thoughtful about adding personnel.

“Fine liberal arts schools like Colgate, which focus on personal interaction and attention, are, by their very nature, highly labor-intensive enterprises, but we very closely scrutinize the need for every incremental expenditure,” said David Hale ’84, vice president for finance and administration. “Over the past 20 years, our resource allocation has remained remarkably consistent. Academic programs, administrative support, student services, and housing and dining all have maintained their percentages of the operating budget — despite the fact that we nearly doubled our financial aid expenditures since 2003 from $24.3 million to $42.4 million today.”

According to Hale, Colgate’s conservative fiscal policy, resulting in 49 consecutive years of balanced budgets, serves the university well when it comes to attracting talented students and retaining top faculty and staff.