OA-Spring 2023

ANOTHER MILESTONE A note from President Dottie L. King, Ph.D.

Taken in 2012, Jeanne Knoerle, SP, ’49 , twelfth president of SMWC, with Dottie L. King, Ph.D., sixteenth president of SMWC.

The entrepreneurial history of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College is quite impressive. From 1840 until now, the ideas brought forward that were ahead of their time are numerous. The innovative spirit of our College, I believe, comes from a need to persevere when times are challenging along with a sincere commitment to mission that compels us to meet the needs of the ever-evolving society that we serve. The Women’s External Degree (WED) program was launched as the second distance education program in the nation. It was quickly recognized as a high-quality program that met the educational needs of students who could not attend full-time, face-to-face classes. While controversy accompanied the addition of WED, it eventually found a home along side of our traditional campus program. Students who earned their degree in this program were included in well-loved traditions of SMWC, such as Ring Day. As the world continued to evolve and other colleges and universities discovered the possibilities of remote learning, our program evolved as well. In 2005, men were admitted as degree-seeking students and the name was changed to Woods External Degree program. Soon after, the moniker of “external degree” was no longer recognizable for students looking for online degrees. I was blessed to discuss the name change from Woods External Degree to Woods Online with the foundress of our program, Emerita President Jeanne Knoerle, SP, ’49 . She told me that the name was perfect in 1974, but it was okay that it was no longer perfect. With her blessing, our new name is now reflective of the realities of today. We continue to add programs that are relevant to the needs of adult learners in Indiana and beyond. SMWC has been delivering distance education for 50 years! That is a milestone about which to take pride. Thousands of students have found personal fulfillment and success in their careers through this innovative program. We have much to celebrate!

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