It has been a bit more than a week since Covenant’s Board of Trustees officially accepted my resignation from the presidency of the College as of June 30, 2012. (You can see online a letter from the chairman of the board and an article in the student newspaper.) I am very grateful for the many conversations of the last several days, including expressions of both appreciation for these past nine years and also encouragement for God’s calling which lies ahead.

As important as it was to move forward with the announcement so that the College could have sufficient time for a presidential search, fifteen months is a long time to be a “lame duck!” After briefly answering questions about the Maclellan Center for Global Christian Education, I have been quick to clarify that I am now committed to focusing on the work of the College during this next year so that, in God’s providence, I might finish well and the College would be stronger in June 2012 than it is today.

Toward that end, I want to provide a broad summary of the areas which will have my attention, certainly in cooperation with others at the College whose work will carry on as the next president begins his service.

First and foremost, I will continue to attend to the most crucial area of focus: the continuing fidelity of the College to its mission and the biblical/theological commitments which define and energize that mission. As we interview to fill open faculty and staff positions and begin the next round of long-term strategic planning, staying joyfully true to our founding convictions will be our highest priority, leaning hard against the broader cultural current that, in every age, has tempted God’s people to listen more to other voices than his.

I am very excited about the opportunities we have to expand the academic program of the College, especially during tough economic times. These opportunities are testimony, I believe, to the providence of God and to the mission-centered vision that has always guided Covenant to seek out ways to serve students, the church, and the world. In this next year we are laying final plans for introducing a political and international studies program and a film studies program in 2012-2013; we are strengthening our pre-engineering program; and we will witness the full roll-out of our new Master of Arts in Teaching program. These new programs, and the faculty to develop and lead them, represent a strong and hope-filled expectation for the years ahead.

While I am describing these new academic developments, I want to take the opportunity to commend yet again the excellent work of Covenant’s faculty, as well as our staff. Not only as president but also as the father of two Covenant alumni, I am much encouraged about the future of the College, as these highly gifted and faithful folks carry on in their respective callings, under the oversight of the board of trustees and for the service of the church.

Second, we are coming to the final year of our current strategic plan, and we will soon begin to lay out the process for developing the next strategic plan. At this point we don’t yet know what the term of the next plan will be (the current one covers three years), but we can certainly take stock of progress and problems over these last years, start defining needs and opportunities in light of internal and external realities, and establish parameters and priorities for goals and action items that will continue to move the College along the worthy trajectories which, I believe, God has been pleased to bless.

An important element of the overall strategic plan is the campus plan, describing how the campus will develop over the next fifteen years or so, in support of academic and co-curricular programs and student life. The recently-completed first draft of the campus plan was presented earlier this month to the College’s Board of Trustees, who gave it their enthusiastic and unanimous endorsement and urged the administration to proceed with settling all aspects of feasibility, priorities, and funding. By next June, I hope to have a good beginning on the first projects of the plan – one of the most important of which is the projected relocation of Scenic Highway, bringing almost eight acres onto the “college side” of the highway and providing for the eventual transformation of the south end of our campus.

With strategic and campus planning underway, another crucial focus for these next months is fund-raising, and the completion of our current BUILD campaign. The campaign runs through June 30, 2013, but we have hopes to reach the $53 million goal well ahead of that end date. Specifically we are seeking to raise $3.7 million for Carter Hall, the College’s iconic flagship building, which would complete Phase 1 of the overall renovation plan. And we will continue to pursue our annual fund goal of $2.2 million for the College’s operating budget.

Covenant’s fund-raising efforts are an important part of the larger advancement enterprise of the College, which includes relationship-building with alumni, parents, individual donors, churches, and foundations, For example, this next year will include continuation of the President’s Council, a relatively new initiative that brings together a group of interested folks from around the country and from different vocations to serve the College through the wisdom and resources that are so important to furthering the mission.

Two years of provisional status remain for our transition to full intercollegiate athletics membership in the NCAA Division III. We are making good progress toward completing the transition, and this, along with settling on the appropriate Division III athletic conference, will establish firm foundations for the future of Covenant’s teams. At the same time, we are developing an athletic strategic plan, and by this time next year we should be well into the first stages of implementation.

All this, in addition to my daily duties, will certainly keep me busy and focused over the fifteen months until my job change actually occurs. I look forward to these responsibilities, as well as to the Lord’s blessing on the presidential search process and the installation of my successor.