Dominican President Dr. Joseph R. Fink earns PacWest Presidential Achievement Award

HONOLULU, HI – Retiring Dominican University of California President Dr. Joseph R. Fink has been presented with the Pacific West Conference Presidential Achievement Award.

The honor is bestowed upon presidents of PacWest institutions for their outstanding service to their college or university, and for their commitment to collegiate athletics.

Fink, who is one of two presidents to earn the honor this year, received the award during the annual PacWest meetings in Honolulu June 6-8. Retiring Hawai‘i Pacific University President Chatt G. Wright also was presented with the award.

About Dr. Joseph R. Fink (Courtesy Dominican University of California)

Retiring Dominican University of California President Dr. Joseph R. Fink has been a longtime champion for athletics.

He has proof.

On the wall in the north end of the Conlan Recreation Center on the Dominican campus, a life-size photo of Fink playing touch football at Rutgers University hangs next to photographs of the five charter members of the Dominican Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008. The caption under Fink’s photo and name identifies him as Athletics Champion.

It was Fink, a decent elbow-throwing, rebound-grabbing basketball player in his younger days, who was the visionary and the champion for Dominican’s decision in 2008 to move from the NAIA to NCAA Division II competition and accept the Pacific West Conference’s invitation to become the ninth member of its league beginning in the fall of 2009.

Fink then hired San Francisco 49ers executive Terry Tumey, a former All-Pacific 10 Conference nose tackle at UCLA, to become Dominican’s new athletics director.

In May, Fink stuck a golden shovel into the ground to commemorate ground-breaking ceremonies for Dominican’s new all-weather synthetic turf athletics field, which will see construction begin later this summer.

Last summer, Dominican received notification from the NCAA that it had been granted provisional status by the Division II Committee.

 “We are very pleased and excited that the NCAA has recognized and rewarded our athletics program with this certification,” Fink said. “The NCAA’s commitment to athletics, academics and its core values is in line with Dominican’s. It has been a team effort as so many individuals on campus assisted in this process. It also reflects the growth in this university and an integration of our athletics program and its values into the true mission of Dominican.”

This summer, Dominican hopes to receive full-fledged certification status from the NCAA, one of many crowning moments in Fink’s 23-year tenure as the institution’s president.

When he arrived at Dominican in 1988 as the eighth president in the 121-year history of the college, there were no sidewalks or streetlights. Total assets were $15 million and revenue was only slightly above $7.2 million, and the physical campus was in dire need of renovation and modernization.

Fink led Dominican’s transformation from a small independent college of 650 students into a robust and vibrant university that reached record enrollment in the fall and spring. In the spring of 2011, enrollment – 2,119 – climbed 103 students from the previous spring and the freshman fall-to-spring retention rate was 96 percent.

The university’s assets are now more than $100 million, revenue exceeds $58 million, and recent campus enhancements include a state-of-the art recreation center, a new residential village and a $21 million science research facility.

In the fall of 2010, the university dedicated the $8 million renovation of the 122-year-old Edgehill Mansion into the Dominican Heritage and Alumni House, and this fall the university hopes to compete on a new multi-million dollar, multi-purpose athletics field as Dominican completes the final stages of NCAA Division II certification.

Dominican also has greatly improved its IT infrastructure and has added state-of-the-art technology throughout the campus for its faculty and staff.

Last October the university became the smallest college ever in California to host the state’s gubernatorial debate. The debate between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman was moderated by NBC’s Tom Brokaw and televised live statewide and covered by nearly 300 media members including reporters from the Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

In April, the Commission on Presidential Debates placed Dominican on its list of 12 potential sites to host a presidential or vice presidential debate in 2012.

One of Fink’s inaugural promises was to open up the campus and make it more accessible to people who normally couldn’t afford to come to Dominican.

With Fink’s vision and leadership, Dominican’s student body reflects the diverse population of California. About 40 percent of Dominican’s undergraduates are African American, Hispanic, Asian American and Native American. Last fall Dominican’s record freshman enrollment reached 342 students – with 194 of those students representing minorities.

Now more than 80 percent of Dominican students receive financial aid, while fundraising has resulted in numerous scholarship opportunities.

When Fink and Dominican started a capital campaign in 1995, a feasibility study concluded that the institution would not be able to raise more than $15 million. By 2000, Dominican had raised $22 million. By the end of the campaign, the university had reached the $60 million mark.

Fink has guided Dominican in progressive academic programming, introducing the Pathways program for working adults, the Honors Program, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Dominican University of California for people over 50, and innovative majors such as the BFA in dance with Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, and the Green MBA.

He has promoted and supported undergraduate research and academic excellence among students, and has brought visibility to Dominican by attracting internationally known speakers to campus, including Al Gore and Caroline Kennedy.

For the last seven years, Dominican has been ranked in the top tier of Master’s Universities in the West by U.S. News & World Report.

During Fink’s tenure, Dominican’s campus has been transformed, enrollment has quadrupled, applications for admission have skyrocketed, and revenues have increased eight-fold.

He is a champion.