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Millennial Musings

Annual Report to the Harvard Extension
Alumni Association

Dean Michael Shinagel

As we approach the end of the twentieth century, it is perhaps an opportune time to take stock of the Harvard Extension School. As you well know, our distinctive academic program was founded nine decades ago, in 1909, by the newly appointed President of Harvard, A. Lawrence Lowell. In its first full year of operation, the Harvard Extension School sponsored 16 courses and enrolled 863 men and women from the Greater Boston community.

Dean Michael Shinagel

Out of these small beginnings, the Harvard Extension School has grown over the years into a major Harvard School, this year enrolling nearly 14,000 women and men in 580 courses taught mostly by Harvard faculty. To date the Harvard Extension School has provided collegiate and graduate instruction to more than 400,000 students of all ages, and 6,000 have graduated from our programs with Harvard degrees (Associate in Arts, Bachelor of Liberal Arts, Master of Liberal Arts) and graduate certificates (Certificate in Special Studies in Administration and Management, Certificate in Public Health, Certificate in Applied Sciences, Certificate in Museum Studies, Certificate in Publishing and Communications).

The end of a millennium makes us all more sensitive to the significance of the calendar. In my welcoming remarks to the more than 150 members of the Harvard Extension Alumni Association and guests at the annual pre-Commencement banquet held in the Quincy House dining hall on June 8, I noted that this year marked my 13th as Master of Quincy House and my 24th as Dean of the Harvard Extension School. The latter date had special significance to me because my distinguished predecessor, Dean Reginald Phelps, assumed his post in 1949 (two score years after the founding) and served until 1975, when I had the honor of succeeding him. This year marks the 50th anniversary of our joint tenure: Dean Phelps having served for 26 years and I having just completed my 24th year. This record of longevity may not be that impressive in an era of Cal Ripkin, Jr. in baseball, for example, but in the transient world of Harvard deans it carries a certain cachet.

I am pleased to report that the HEAA banquet was the largest gathering we have ever had, and my only regret was that we had to refuse requests from some late applicants because we had run out of available seats. It was gratifying to see so many familiar faces of loyal HEAA members as well as to see so many new faces of soon-to-be alumni of our degree and certificate programs.

The class of '99 constituted an academically distinguished and numerically historic addition to the HEAA. In 1998-99 we graduated 137 undergraduate degree recipients, a record 92 graduate degree recipients, and a record 293 graduate certificate recipients--an overall record total of 522 new members joined the ranks of the HEAA. Many of these new alumni were from more than 36 countries around the world and they added an international dimension to our graduates of recent years. The HEAA membership has now reached the 6,000 member mark. Watching the HEAA soar in numbers has been as exhilarating as watching the stock market soar to new heights. As you can infer, I am absolutely "bullish" on the future of the Harvard Extension School and the HEAA.

Perhaps a word or two about this year's graduating class is in order. We had 19 students graduating with an AA degree this year and 118 with an ALB. Of the ALB recipients, more than 80 percent graduated with honors. The age range for undergraduate degree recipients was from 20-61 years--a span of 41 years. Fifteen of the undergraduate degrees were awarded to Harvard staff members. Ninety percent of the ALB graduates transferred from other colleges: from local, national, and international institutions.

The ALM Program began in 1980 and had a lone graduate. This year's 92 graduates was a record number, and included Harvard alumni, Air Force officers, medical researchers, diplomats, federal agents, businessmen, librarians, etc. The age range spanned a half-century, from the mid-twenties to the mid-seventies. Geographically, they came from all parts of the US and from many countries abroad, such as Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Iran, and Japan. Finally, five ALM recipients were Harvard staff colleagues.

For most of its history, the Harvard Extension School has been a local institution, serving adult women and men from the Boston area. Today, with our graduate certificate and master's programs, we increasingly are becoming a regional, national, and international institution. For example, more than three-fifths of the 244 members of the CSS Class of '99 came from 36 foreign countries. In fact, over the past three years CSS candidates have represented a total of 68 countries. The "local" Harvard Extension School of the past has become "internationalized," bringing together adult learners from many areas of this country and abroad who study together at Harvard in the evenings.

As you can see, the mission of the Harvard Extension School, which originally was to provide educational opportunities to the citizens of Boston, has grown to serve people of all ages from all parts of the US and countries around the world. With the introduction of six distance learning courses this year, and more such courses planned for next year, we expect to expand our educational reach to yet more students nationally and internationally.

In closing, let me congratulate this year's graduates and salute the many alumni and alumnae on behalf of my Extension staff colleagues. Best wishes for continued success, health, happiness, and a dedication to the proposition that "learning never ends."

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