IWC will become IWU

By BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Now a college, soon a university.

Steve Titus, president of Iowa Wesleyan College, announced in a letter this week to college alumni that IWC will become IWU, effective Aug. 10.

In essence, the college is taking a step back in time ? name-wise, that is ? as it was a university from 1855-1912 before returning to its college status.

Titus said the college?s board of trustees unanimously approved the name change during a meeting in May.

The impetus for the change, Titus told alumni, began last year when the Commission on the Future of Wesleyan embarked on a new collaborative strategic planning process. ?The guiding vision of the planning process was Iowa Wesleyan as the regional, comprehensive university for southeast Iowa. The change to university was an organic outcome of the planning process,? the president said in his letter.

In related action, the board of trustees directed the appointing of a ?university? task force to continue to engage alumni, students, faculty, staff, friends, volunteers and community leaders through town hall meetings, focus groups, conversations, alumni events around the country and through electronic surveys.

Approximately 5,000 surveys were sent, Titus said, and nearly 1,000 responded. Of that 1,000, 80 percent both agreed or strongly agreed that the time was right for Iowa Wesleyan to again become Iowa Wesleyan University, he noted.

?Please rest assured that as we move to university, Iowa Wesleyan will continue to be a student-centered institution where small classes, service learning and one-on-one contact with faculty are cherished and nurtured,? Titus pledged.