Carol Bamford compares some of the development at Grand View College today to what she witnessed there in the early 1970s when the college was changing from a junior college to a four-year school.

“During that time, there was lots of expansion happening and all kinds of changes that had to do with the future of the college,” Bamford said. “It was a terribly exciting time.”

Back then, Bamford’s father, Harry Jensen, served as the college’s chief financial and administrative officer. It was 1975 when the college started offering bachelor’s degrees.

Now, during another time of major changes at Grand View, including plans to add graduate programs, Bamford is the college’s vice president of marketing.

“What’s going on right now feels very much like the next generation of progress – that kind of huge, explosive transition to another level,” Bamford said.

In February, Grand View College’s board of trustees approved a recommendation from the college’s planning committee to pursue accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools to offer master’s degrees.

Grand View College President Kent Henning said the types of graduate programs the college plans to offer are “professional master’s degrees,” intended to help working professionals advance in their careers. Henning said Grand View faculty members are now starting to develop curriculum, and the application process is expected to take 16 to 18 months.

“The board’s approval sets the planning in motion,” Henning said.

Grand View also is adding new athletic programs, building new academic buildings and residence halls, carrying out its largest capital campaign in history and working on additional ways to enhance the college experience for its growing enrollment.

Bamford credits Henning with putting in motion many of the campus improvements.

“Kent has a compelling vision for Grand View, and he knows how to move that vision forward,” Bamford said.

Strong leadership

Henning became Grand View’s president in January 2000. His background included 20 years in fundraising, alumni relations and college relations. One of his first priorities when he came to campus was to help the college grow.

Seven years later, enrollment has grown to 1,800, a 40 percent increase. As enrollment has grown, the college invested its increased revenues in hiring new faculty and staff, raising teacher pay, adding nine new academic majors, funding new athletic programs and updating infrastructure and technology. Here’s a rundown of some of the recent projects on campus:

In 2002, the college opened a new wellness center and athletic complex.

In 2003, the college added a student residence hall with the purchase and renovation of a housing complex for the elderly.

Construction is expected to be complete this fall on a 32,000-square-foot suite-style residence hall.

On April 27, the college broke ground on a new academic building at the corner of East 14th Street   and Grandview Avenue, the Center   for Community Advancement Professions.

Projects such as these are capital-intensive. When Henning’s hiring was announced in a college press release in late 1999, the chairman of the college’s board of trustees cited Henning’s strength for fundraising among the qualities that made him a good candidate for the job.

“Institutions like Grand View cannot survive, let alone thrive, without strong philanthropic support,” Henning said.

Grand View announced its current capital campaign last fall. In February, one of the members of the board of trustees, Richard Jacobson, pledged a $4 million challenge grant for the campaign. Jacobson’s gift is the largest single donation the college has ever received.

In response to the challenge grant, Grand View raised its fundraising goal for the campaign from $15 to $18 million. The college has secured $10 million toward its goal, not counting Jacobson’s pledge. Money raised through the campaign will support new facilities, scholarships and the college’s endowment.

“Everything that I have done adds up to zero dollars,” Henning said. “It’s the decisions that our alumni and board have made that add up to the $10 million we have raised.”

Sense of community

Henning said creating a stronger sense of campus community is a driving force in his work.

In the fall of 2002, Grand View changed its policy to require all full-time students to live on campus for their first two years. This helped the residential student population to grow to 450 by the fall of 2006, a 125 percent increase.

Athletics are another important factor in boosting the energy level on campus, Henning said, and since 2000, the number of intercollegiate sports at Grand View has risen from seven to 14. Plans are also in the works to add football and possibly wrestling. The number of student athletes at the college has risen 38 percent since 2000.

“I’m a strong believer that student athletes can be better students because they have additional motivation to remain eligible,” Henning said.

Christopher McDonald, a local attorney and a 1997 graduate of Grand View, notices changes on campus when he attends meetings for the college’s national alumni council.

“When I go back to campus, I sense a certain energy that was lacking before,” McDonald said. “It seems like it has more of the feel of a liberal arts college now, instead of the ‘sleepy’ campus it used to be. More students are living on campus, and it seems like they are more connected to the college.”

McDonald also said his alma mater is doing more to promote and integrate itself into the community, and he expects that brand strengthening to benefit students when theybegin their job searches after graduating from the college.

Many of Grand View’s students stay in Iowa after graduation, according to Henning, who estimates the percentage to be as high as 90 percent.

“Grand View is a significant supplier of talent for our community,” he said.

Grand View leverages its location in Des Moines to its advantage by employing a number of local professionals as faculty, such as in its real estate program. The college also requires students in nearly all of its academic programs to complete internships prior to graduation. Connecting the students with these opportunities is more easily accomplished in Des Moines compared with the small-town settings of many of Grand View’s competitors, Henning said.

Grand View also promotes its proximity to arts, entertainment and culture.

“Many colleges spend a lot of money to try to bring arts and culture to the students, but we have that naturally,” Henning said.

Results

Steve Winzenburg, a Grand View professor of communications, said that students and the broader community are benefiting from the investments the college has made in his department. This spring, Grand View launched a new radio station, KGVC 94.1 FM, which has a focus on multicultural programming. Also during this school year, Grand View invested in its TV station by purchasing digital editing workstations and digital video cameras. The new equipment is being used to support a new weekly news broadcast produced by students, which is shown on Mediacom Channel 16. The broadcasts are also available online at a new Web site, www.grandviewtv.com.

Some of the money for these projects was allotted from a $210 annual technology fee that each student pays.

Winzenburg said the goal with the new radio station, TV broadcast and Web site is to improve the college’s visibility in the community and attract more students by giving them a sense of what happens on campus.

“The students are really excited about all of this,” Winzenburg said. “I think the college is happy because there is a lot of good material on TV and the Web site.”

Winzenburg, who joined the college in 1989, has seen four Grand View presidents during his years. Winzenburg said Henning’s leadership has been a driving force for progress on campus.

“Improvements in our department are just part of what’s happened overall at the college,” Winzenburg said. “I’d say that when President Henning came, he started the momentum, and the ball has been rolling since.”

Bamford agrees. “Kent frequently talks about how he has hired really good people, and we do have a strong executive team, but what’s important is that he is very collaborative,” she said. “He is the one who leads the charge and infuses it all with energy. “