On July 1, 2018, Bluffton University will welcome its new president, Dr. Jane Wood, who is coming from a community with multiple similarities to Bluffton.
Wood is currently the vice president for academic affairs and dean at Mount
Bluffton’s 10th president, Dr. Jane Wood. Photo courtesy Bluffton University
Marty College in Yankton, S.D., where she is responsible for the strategic direction, assessment and planning of the academic affairs at the college, including the administration and development of academic programs and policies relating to instruction, curriculum and learning outcomes. Wood is also responsible for implementing major priorities in Mount Marty College’s strategic plan. As Bluffton’s tenth president, Wood will join a campus community that shares some similarities to the one she currently inhabits.
According to U.S. News and World Report, Mount Marty College was tied at 115 in Regional Universities Midwest. Bluffton University was ranked 27 in Regional Colleges Midwest, and was also ranked 22 in the publication’s list of Best Value Schools.
Mount Marty College is a Catholic liberal arts school. It is said to be one of the best Catholic liberal arts schools. The school’s core values are hospitality, awareness of God, community and life-long learning. Mount Marty also puts stress on Benedictine values. Those values are justice, truthfulness, service to others, hospitality, respect, and dignity — all centered on the awareness of God. Bluffton University is a Mennonite liberal arts university with core values of discovery, community, respect and service. Bluffton is one of six institutions of higher education associated with Mennonite Church USA.
Mount Marty College had an acceptance rate of 65 percent in the year 2016. In 2016, Bluffton Universities acceptance rate was 50 percent.
Mount Marty has an undergraduate enrollment of 739 students, and Bluffton’s undergraduate enrollment is about 800 students. Both schools are small, private institutions, and both emphasize student involvement. Mount Marty College has more than 40 student clubs and organizations, and Bluffton has 60 clubs and student organizations. Mount Marty has over 28 undergraduate and graduate degrees, and Bluffton has more than 90 majors, minors and programs.
Like Bluffton, Mount Marty has many sports for students to be involved in. Mount Marty has mostly the same sports offered that Bluffton does. Some differences though are, Mount Marty does not have a football team. But, they do offer Men’s and Women’s tennis, as well as Co-ed archery and club trap shooting.
Both Mount Marty College and Bluffton University have small class sizes. The percentage of classes that have fewer than 20 students in them at Mount Marty College is 81 percent. The percentage of classes that have fewer than 20 students in them at Bluffton is 67 percent. The student faculty ratio is the same at both Mount Marty and at Bluffton. The ratio is 11:1.
In addition to Mount Marty College, Wood has worked at three other post-secondary institutions including Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa., Park University in Kansas City, Mo., and University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Wood is coming from Yankton, S.D., with a population of 15,000 (which is more than three times larger than the Village of Bluffton) and is ranked one of the top places to live in South Dakota.
