Recognizing her leadership, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District VIII recently presented University of Puget Sound President Susan Resneck Pierce with its Distinguished Leadership Award for 2003.
The award is presented each year to a CASE District VIII member institutions president or CEO for their outstanding efforts to promote the understanding and support of education.
To be considered, nominees must be visionary, inspirational, and exhibit courageous leadership.
Under Pierces leadership, Puget Sound has taken a counter-cyclical path, getting smaller by design; adding 13 new tenure-line faculty positions; and, as part of its deliberate focus on establishing itself as a national residential liberal arts college, transferring its law school to another institution and phasing out athletic scholarships and joining NCAA Division III.
As a result, the college has gained markedly in academic quality and financial strength.
SAT scores for incoming freshmen have increased during that time from 1067 to 1253.
During the last seven years the physical campus has been transformed with more than $85 million of capital projects, including a new humanities building, a new residence hall for upper division students, new recreational fields, a fitness center, and a concert hall and significant renovations to the library, student center, the theatre, and two classroom-office buildings.
CASE District VIII is represented by colleges and universities throughout the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada, including Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, and Yukon. The awards ceremony was held in Coeur dAlene, Idaho, on Monday.
