Explore
WWC Home PageStrategic Long-Range Plan
PreambleMission Statement
Strategic Theme Goals
Quality Enhancement Plan
Prospectus - May 2003Plan - August 2004
Plan Update - February 2005
Timeline - February 2005
Strategic Long-Range Plan
Preamble
Warren Wilson College was founded as the Asheville Farm School in 1894 by the Presbyterian Board of National Missions and, to this day, has been a value-centered community and institution. A mission distinctive in American higher education emphasizes an abiding commitment to the liberal arts, work, service, environmental stewardship, cross-cultural experiences, social justice and community. A strikingly beautiful setting in the Swannanoa Valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains became the campus site that today has grown to 1,132 acres.
From those beginnings, the College has evolved through several phases, including a name change (1942), elevation from a junior college to a four-year baccalaureate institution (1965) and subsequent growth and development into a nationally recognized and unique college, drawing students from throughout the nation and the world. Warren Wilson maintains a covenant relationship with its founder, the Presbyterian Church (USA), while at the same time including students, faculty and staff from a wide diversity of backgrounds, religions and nationalities.
Since the last strategic planning/Self-Study process for reaffirmation of accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) [1990-94], Warren Wilson has experienced significant change: an enrollment growth from 455 to 780 students, 6 new academic majors, 10 new concentrations in existing majors and 7 new minors, an increase in faculty and staff from 90 to 153, 16 new or totally renovated facilities, development of the Warren Wilson WorldWide Program, the Environmental Leadership Center, and a full summer conference schedule anchored by the Swannanoa Gathering and Swannanoa Chamber Players music program. The College's single graduate program, the MFA in Creative Writing, has become one of the nation's best. Meanwhile, partnerships have been established with the Mountain Area Child and Family Center, the North Carolina Outward Bound School, the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, the Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival, the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival and others.
Today, the Warren Wilson mission has a special place and relevance within the multi-faceted American higher education system and the rapidly changing society it serves. The twin forces of globalism and technology bring opportunity but also accelerated change and dislocation to the planet and its fragile environment. Cultural divides often foster mistrust and violence. At the same time, there is a disquiet over the loss of a sense of place and community. Since September 11, 2001, a nation and world have been forever changed and made more vulnerable. And yet, a growing sense of common destiny and spiritual awakening has been manifested with a rising interest in service to others, volunteerism, cross-cultural understanding, sensitivity to the fragility of life and the environment and a renewal of the bonds of community.
It is into this new century and world dynamic that Warren Wilson brings enduring values, more relevant than ever, that help shape the lives of young people who, in turn, make a difference in serving their communities all over the world.