Trinity College Becomes Trinity

President McGuire's Letter to the Trinity Community, Alumnae & Alumni, Families & Friends

With pride and enthusiasm, Trinity College today adopts the name "Trinity" to describe the full scope of Trinity's educational enterprise. As Trinity we will continue to pursue Trinity's strategic initiatives to meet the full range of public demand for 21st Century higher education opportunities. This action is the capstone of a decade of strategic initiatives that have transformed Trinity into a multi-dimensional institution responding in creative ways to global educational challenges in keeping with the social justice mandate of our mission through the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and our Catholic faith tradition.

Trinity's Board of Trustees adopted the enterprise name "Trinity" after a year of study that included surveys of students, alumnae and alumni and other key constituencies, the majority of whom embraced the use of the University name with enthusiasm. Reflecting Trinity's commitment to women's educational advancement and leadership through our historic liberal arts college for women, which continues as the core of the academic enterprise, the name "Trinity College" will still refer to the women's college at Trinity, which is part of Trinity along with our coeducational School of Education and School of Professional Studies.

More than a decade ago, in 1993, Trinity was classified as a Master's Comprehensive I institution according to the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education because of the growth of graduate education at Trinity. In 2004, Trinity awarded 220 master's degrees, compared to 135 baccalaureate degrees. Trinity's identity as a comprehensive university gained increased acceptance on campus through the strategic plan adopted in the Year 2000, Beyond Trinity 2000, which included the "comprehensive university" language in Trinity's mission statement. Beyond language, however, Beyond Trinity 2000 also called for specific strategic initiatives that enlarged Trinity's programmatic reach and strengthened its ability to function in a university organizational model, including:

• Creation of three distinct academic schools: the College of Arts and Sciences, which is the century-old historic undergraduate women's college; the coeducational School of Education, built upon the 40-year history of graduate-level education for teachers, principals and guidance counselors for area schools; and the coeducational School of Professional studies, building upon Trinity's highly successful Weekend College, now offering a full range of undergraduate and graduate programs for women and men in the workforce.
• Upgrade and expansion of all campus technologies to support a more diversified enterprise, including development of the Educational Technology Leadership Institution with major grants from America Online and the Kimsey Foundation.
• Development of a highly successful M.B.A. program whose first graduates received their degrees in May 2004.
• Development of the renowned Trinity Center for Women and Girls in Sports as a first class athletic and recreational complex serving the needs of Trinity's campus as well as the Washington region.

In adopting Trinity as an enterprise name, Trinity will continue to create new programs that manifest the true diversity of Trinity's academic reach and the intellectual range of university status, including:

• Building on our tradition of excellence in the sciences and pre-med preparation, and in cooperation with MedStar Health and area hospitals whose workforce needs are great, Trinity will develop programs in the Health Professions including Nursing, Athletic Training, and other allied health professions, with some programs starting in Fall 2005.
• Through the School of Professional Studies, Trinity programs will be available online through Trinity's e-learning initiative starting in the Fall of 2005.
• Through the School of Education, Trinity will explore the feasibility of creating an education doctorate program with the Fall of 2007 as the first target date.
• Trinity will reach out to new populations of students through opening new Trinity academic locations in the District of Columbia and Virginia, where Trinity is already approved to operate, and will seek approval to operate in other locations as well.
• To accommodate the more diversified range of programs expected of a university, and the level of research and scholarship that the name signifies, Trinity plans to develop the Trinity Academic Center on the west side of the campus, including renovation and expansion of the current library and science facilities, additional classrooms and related spaces for increased academic support services.

Currently enrolling 1,700 degree-seeking students in all three schools, Trinity plans to enlarge its student body through online and off-site degree and continuing education offerings. Trinity's current strategic plan has a goal of 2,700 students in degree programs.

Reflecting a strongly-stated preference among all constituencies, as Trinity develops its university profile and programs, Trinity remains committed to the advancement of women in education and in leadership positions throughout society. Trinity's programs at all levels will continue to reflect the Trinity's historic characteristics: a rigorous academic climate, direct faculty access and close personal attention to student learning needs, important traditions that promote lifelong friendships and loyalty, and the essential values reflected in Trinity's Honor System and Catholic faith tradition as conveyed through the charism of the founding congregation, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

We are launching Trinity with a comprehensive marketing and advertising campaign, and one of the new ads is featured in this newsletter. You will be reading more about Trinity in the next issue of the TRINITY magazine, and you are of course, always welcome to visit campus and meet the new generations of students who are benefiting from a Trinity education.