SPECIAL REPORT: Luther College Task Group 150 looks at new learning methods

37 percent of Luther College's annual operating budget of $110 million is made up of salary expenses. Another 35 percent of the budget consists of financial aid costs.  That means 72 percent of the college's costs are in two items directly related to teaching students.

Task Group 150--a study group of nine people, including one student and eight staff or faculty members--has recommended to the Luther College Board of Regents that $2.2 million in costs be cut over the next three years.  Some of those cuts will come from academic programs that will no longer be offered by the college because not enough students are majoring in them.

But the Task Group also recommended that Luther should look at different ways to deliver learning opportunities to its students.  Luther President Rick Torgerson tell decorahnews.com that doesn't mean the college will change its character--it wants to remain a residential four-year college with strong interactions between its teachers and students.

But Torgerson can also see the school using a few new technologies, when appropriate.  He says one possibility is to increase the use of e-learning technology.  For instance, Luther professors could teach summer classes on-line--so students could pick up credits for classes they need but were unable to take during the regular school year.

Torgerson says the task force study pointed out "how fragile and tenuous a business model" a four-year college like Luther is based on.  But he's not discouraged. He says he's excited about the conclusion of the Task Group 150 study because it created some benchmarks that can be used by college offiicials to determine what's working and what needs to be dropped or changed.  "All institutions are doing this," he notes.  It's a way to make sure that the college's resources are being spent wisely and that Luther remains strong during its next 150 years.

(Note: On Monday our series will conclude with a look at one issue that concerns Luther officials about the future of the college)