Public Affairs Office
15 July 2005
Common themes cited by respondents
in suggesting priorities for the next president
CHARACTER – Continue the emphasis on character development and the teaching of
ethics; uphold the honor system.
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Emphasis must be placed on the integrity of the honor system.
Reinforce the leadership and ethics mission of the college.
Strive to produce dynamic leaders who have been instilled with venerable values such as honor,
duty and loyalty.
Have required courses in leadership and ethics.
In this time of corporate scandals, the instilment of ethics in our graduates should be a top
priority.
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE – Continue to raise the bar for academic achievement and make
The Citadel competitive with the best colleges in the country.
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Teach cadets that academics are important and help them learn to balance academic and military
requirements.
Recruit and retain the top academic minds in the country to teach our cadets.
Obtain Phi Beta Kappa recognition.
Put a greater emphasis on the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, making it more
rigorous.
Improve the college’s engineering and computer curriculum
Increase admissions standards so that The Citadel can become as academically renowned as the
service academies.
Find a way for non-contracted ROTC cadets to meet their course requirements without watering
down the ROTC department with students who don’t care about the courses.
LEADERSHIP TRAINING – Let the Corps run the Corps so that they will learn leadership
through experience.
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Teach cadets how to demonstrate leadership and achieve greatness.
Work on Corps morale and instill within cadets a sense of pride in The Citadel, the uniform, the
tradition and the rules.
Give the Corps more control over day-to-day operations.
Make knob year more disciplined
Preserve and enhance the fourth class system to promote the ideas of firm discipline, leadership
development, accountability, ethics and the notion of full responsibility for one’s actions.
Continue the growth of leadership and ethics in the curriculum.
171 Moultrie Street, Charleston SC 29409
(843) 953-6779 Fax: (843) 953-6767 www.citadel.edu
FUNDRAISING AND FINANCES – The Citadel needs to broaden its base of financial
support and not be so dependent on state funding.
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Strengthen fundraising and endowments.
Fundraising is a special concern with the rebuilding of barracks and the needs of the athletic
department.
The president should be as good at fundraising as Furman.
Reach beyond Charleston and focus on fundraising.
Fundraising is inextricably linked to having nationally-ranked academic programs and a Corps of
Cadets that is the envy of the nation.
Seek out money from more corporate donors.
COMMUNICATIONS – The Citadel needs to increase efforts to communicate with different
audiences, particularly major news media and groups outside of South Carolina.
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Market The Citadel on a national level. This will increase competition for entry and create more
wealth for the college.
The president should be more involved in the Charleston community.
Work on getting more positive PR for the college.
Keep alumni informed on issues concerning all aspects of their alma mater.
Conduct strategic communications initiatives when traveling to reach out to media in other places
and reinforce the national reputation of The Citadel.
Build a stronger network of alumni to aid the school, its mission and its graduates rather than just
contacting them for money.
FAIRNESS AND EQUITY – Many respondents made comments about the perceived
inequities between they way the discipline and promotion systems are
administered for men and women.
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Eliminate double standards and perceptions of preferential treatment for women.
Adopt the Marine Corps female training program that allows for total separation of women from
men except for classes and duty assignments.
Be consistent and non-discriminatory in enforcing the rules.
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS
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Stop letting the fear of possible lawsuits affect decisions.
Hire administrators with energy, vision and drive
Provide more career guidance for cadets and make the alumni network more effective for
graduating cadets seeking jobs.
Make all facilities more “handicap accessible.”
Build the football stadium.
Encourage more cadets to accept commissions in the Armed Services.
Get football players to do more with the Corps and the Corps to do more with players.
Acquire property for future growth.
Continue making improvements to campus infrastructure.
171 Moultrie Street, Charleston SC 29409
(843) 953-6779 Fax: (843) 953-6767 www.citadel.edu
Responses to presidential priorities survey
At the April 23 meeting, The Citadel Board of Visitors requested that all constituents of the college be
asked the following question: “What should the top priorities for the next president be?” An email to all
alumni, faculty and staff, cadets and CGPS students requested that people respond by filling out the survey
on the website or by sending an email or a letter.
Below is a compilation of the people who responded. Note that most who wrote emails did not identify
themselves by class or constituency.
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Of the 514 responses to the request for comments, the overwhelming majority of
comments came from alumni of the Corps of Cadets.
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83% of respondents completed the form on the website
Breakdown of respondents
Website form
Email
76
Letter
11
Total
514
427
Breakdown of responses on website
(We asked people filling out the web form to
identify their affiliation and class year, if applicable.
There was no systematic way to collect this
information for those who responded by email or
letter.)
Alumnus, Corps of Cadets
Alumnus, CGPS
Alumnus, Active Duty Student
326
7
10
Breakdown by class years:
1940-1949 – 2
1950-1959 – 28
1960-1969 – 46
1970-1979 – 65
1980-1989 – 59
1990-1999 – 72
2000-2005 – 54
Currently enrolled respondents 50
Cadet
44
Active Duty Student
3
CGPS Student
3
Faculty
Friend
Staff
Parent/past parent
Total website respondents
171 Moultrie Street, Charleston SC 29409
(843) 953-6779 Fax: (843) 953-6767 www.citadel.edu
15
11
5
3
427