ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 9, 1995 TAG: 9512110046
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
LIKE MANY small, private, liberal-arts institutions, Hollins College must work hard to raise money to sustain its programs and physical plant, and to recruit students in the face of the relatively high tuition that must be charged by schools not enjoying substantial public subsidies.
But unlike some of its counterparts, Hollins is no candidate for the higher-education intensive-care unit. Indeed, judging by the basic yardsticks of monetary support and student quality, Hollins is getting stronger.
For that, Jane Margaret O'Brien can claim a share of credit. The energetic Hollins president this week announced she'll be leaving June 30, the end of her fifth year at the college. O'Brien - or Maggie, as she is generally known - is leaving to take the helm of St. Mary's College, a "public honors" institution in Maryland not far from her hometown of Annapolis.
Under O'Brien's leadership, the Hollins endowment rose from $35 million to $61 million. A $41 million capital campaign is under way, with $32 million already raised. Centerpiece of campus-improvement plans is construction of an $11 million library.
More significant, but partly as a consequence of strengthened institutional finances, the college's annual spending on financial aid has been boosted to $4 million annually, a quarter of the annual operating budget. The boost has contributed to the rise in both the size and academic quality of this year's freshman class.
There have been rumblings, to be sure, among faculty and staff about some of O'Brien's decisions and ways. The first duty of virtually any college president today, though, is to ensure the viability of the institution in a higher-education world where the pace of change is accelerating. Without financial health, a school like Hollins can't maintain the flexibility to attract students. Without students, it loses its reason for being.
Hollins, which has a few coeducational master's-degree programs but whose primary emphasis continues to be on undergraduate education for women, seems to be finding a niche for itself in an increasingly competitive market. If so, O'Brien's popularity with students - and the college's success at casting not only a wider economic but also a wider geographic net in recruiting - have helped.
At the same time, O'Brien has built on the work of her predecessor, Paula Brownlee, in continuing to strengthen local ties, historically not very close, between the college and the wider Roanoke Valley community.
What now for the college?
Hollins is in good enough shape that the search for O'Brien's successor need not be a rush job. Hollins made a thorough search before settling on O'Brien five years ago, and while looking was well-served by the interim presidency of retired Davidson College President Sam Spencer. There's no reason to think a similar arrangement wouldn't work now.
O'Brien, meantime, can be proud that the Hollins she's leaving is stronger both in money and in students.
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