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*Updated annually (last update 1/25/08)
Fort Lewis College Institutional Overview:
History & Mission
Fort Lewis College is named for Fort Lewis, a U.S. Army Post established in 1878 at Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Two years later, the military post was moved to Hesperus, Colorado, a location more central to Indian settlements and pioneer communities in the early 1890’s. The College’s creation was part of a treaty agreement in which the region’s tribes ceded land to the federal government. In exchange for the land, the government promised that Fort Lewis College would offer qualified Native Americans tuition-free education in perpetuity. In 1911, Congress deeded the Hesperus site to the State of Colorado, which then established a high school of agriculture under the supervision of the State Board of Agriculture. The school began to offer some college-level courses in 1925; by 1933, Fort Lewis College offered higher education courses exclusively.
Fort Lewis College moved to the Durango campus in 1956. The first baccalaureate degrees were granted in 1964. Today, Fort Lewis College is a public liberal arts college, located in the rural Southwestern corner of Colorado. The College is located within 150 miles of 25 Indian Reservations. Fort Lewis College continues to honor its historic commitment to Native Americans by offering tuition scholarships to Native Americans of all tribes who meet admission requirements. It is one of only two, public four-year colleges in the nation to grant tuition waivers to qualified Native American students and has done so for more than 100 years. In fall 2007, Native Americans comprised 19% (735) of the College’s 3,935 enrolled students and represented 105 different tribes and Alaskan Villiages. Nine hundred forty six Native American students have graduated from Fort Lewis College in the last ten years including over 300 Navajo students.
The mission of Fort Lewis College is that it offers accessible, high quality, baccalaureate liberal arts education to a diverse student population, preparing citizens for the common good in an increasingly complex world. The experiences students have at the College will help them learn to live wisely and make significant differences in their futures by enabling them to pursue their educational goals. Students will be able to demonstrate thoughtful scholarship in pursuing and weighing knowledge, as well as communicate and cooperate with others. The College also plays an active role in the community and the region as a multifaceted learning resource.
Fort Lewis College has chosen to pursue its mission via its historic role as an undergraduate, public, four-year liberal arts college. With a liberal arts focus, the College requires common general education courses, which include the fine arts, humanities, social sciences, and the natural sciences in addition to more specialized junior and senior courses offered through the twenty-nine majors. The curriculum is designed both to ensure that students understand the values and assumptions implicit in their major fields of study and to prepare them for a rapidly changing world.
It is essential to Fort Lewis College’s mission that it contributes to the cultural diversity and economic development of the Four Corners Region. To play an active role in the community, state, and region, the College must ensure that its programs fulfill the needs of the student population and the residents. The ethnic and regional heritage must be reflected in the make-up of the student body, in special programs, and in Fort Lewis College’s curriculum. The College will continue to enhance educational opportunities for other minority groups, especially those originating in the Southwest.
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Governance and Accreditation
Until June 2002, Fort Lewis College was part of the Colorado State University System and governed by the State Board of Agriculture, which governs the University of Southern Colorado (Pueblo) and Colorado State University (Fort Collins). Colorado House Bill 1419 granted independence to the College, effective as of July 1, 2002. A Board of Trustees appointed by the Governor of Colorado governs the College. The new Board of Trustees is moving aggressively to achieve an unique vision and objectives for the College that capitalizes on its independence, its new mandate, its heritage in the region, and its national recognition. The Colorado Commission on Higher Education is the central policy and coordinating board for all Colorado public institutions of higher education that interprets legislative mandate, academic, and fiscal matters.
The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools accredits Fort Lewis College. In addition, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accredits the School of Business Administration. The Chemistry Department offers a Bachelor of Science degree that is accredited by the American Chemical Society; and the National Association of Schools of Music accredits the Music Department. The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) accredits the Engineering/Physics program. Fort Lewis College is also a member of the American Council of Learned Societies and the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. |
Student Characteristics
The total fall 2007 headcount was 3,935. In fall 2007, 29% of the fall students are of minority ethnic origin, of which the largest portion (19%) is Native American and the second largest portion (6%) is Hispanic. The gender distribution in the fall 2007 enrollment is 48% females and 52% males.
According to the American Council on Education, Status Report on Minorities in Higher Education 22nd Annual Status Report: 2007 Supplement, minoirty student enrollment at 4-year public institutions rose 51% from the ten year period between 1994-2004. At Fort Lewis College, Native American student enrollment has made dramatic gains in the past 19 years, from 8% (340/3,894) in 1988 to 19% (753/3,935) in 2007, which represents a percentage change of 121% during this time period. The number of Native American freshmen has grown from 79 in fall 1994 to 184 in fall 2007, a 133% increase in enrollment. Hispanic student enrollment at FLC has increased 11% in the past five years from 209 in 2003 to 233 in 2007. In spite of gains in minority student enrollment national trends show that minority students only compirse 22% of the Bachelor's degrees obtained annually, of which American Indian students are less then 1% (.07%) and Hispanic students are 6%.
About one half of Native American students at the College are from the Navajo Nation, which encompasses three surrounding southwestern states: New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. Because of Fort Lewis College’s unique location within the Four Corner’s Region, one third of its enrollment is from states other than Colorado. |
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Faculty Characteristics
The total number of full-time faculty members is 176 of whom 79% (139/176) hold a doctorate of an appropriate terminal degree in their field. Sixty-nine percent of the faculty have tenured appointments. There are 63 adjunct faculty without tenure. The diversity of the FLC campus is also reflected in its faculty, as 10% are of minority ethnic origin and 45% of the faculty are women. The College has a low faculty to student ratio of 17:1.
Fort Lewis College faculty members have developed national reputations for excellence in teaching, research, and curriculum development. National recognition includes the Human Heritage program that is used by the National Endowment for Humanities as a model for multi-cultural education, and the Teacher Education program that received the American Association of State Colleges and University’s Christa McAuliffe Showcase Award for Excellence and two Certificates of Appreciation from the Navajo Nation Title V program (Naaltoos Bee Aheehwiindzin). Fort Lewis College has been a recipient of the Colorado Commission of Higher Education’s Program of Excellence Awards for the Center of Southwest Studies; the Chemistry Department, Biology Department, Teacher Education Department, and the Anthropology Department. These awards exemplify recognition of exemplary faculty efforts at the state level. The College is home to four Colorado Professors of the Year and is one of only twenty institutions nationwide with four or more faculty members who have won a state Professor of the Year Award, as noted by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). According to Quality Indicator System data, Fort Lewis College faculty members exceed the national benchmarks for time spent teaching. |
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