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| State of the University
2003 - Page 1 State
of the University Speech We’ll be talking about what I believe are some important things today. But we would do well to keep these things in perspective. And in the weeks and months ahead we would do well to keep our students who have been called to arms – and their comrades and all innocents – in our thoughts or our prayers or both. * * * I always feel faintly embarrassed hearing this presentation described as the “State of the University Address.” It hints of inflated pretensions. The title comes from Article II of the United States Constitution, which commands that the President “from time to time . . . give information of the State of the Union” – a message that was traditionally delivered in writing until Woodrow Wilson (a college professor) called Congress into session, convinced that it would uplift them to be lectured. In recent years it seems that just about everyone with any title of responsibility is moved to orate on the “state” of their state or city or school or township or whatever – whether there is anything to report or to say or not. The standard goals for these elocutions are to instill confidence in the trustworthiness and competence of the office-holder, to impress listeners with the gravity of the challenges ahead, and then to so inspire the audience that they leave with spirits soaring. It should not be surprising that these events so often disappoint instead. Of all such speeches that I have read or heard, I most admire the one by a Vermont village councilperson who aroused his constituents with a startling bit of candor. He looked out at his assembled neighbors and uttered these immortal words: “Friends, eyeaingonnaliet’ya . . . we’re in deep doo-doo.” SVSU has faced better times, but I’m pleased to report to you that things are not that bad. The “state” of our University does indeed present us with some challenges for the next few years. One of the principal challenges will be to preserve and protect our University’s considerable strengths and prepare it for the opportunities that will surely arise in the not-too-distant future. * * * Let me share with you some pertinent facts and figures to put this in context.
This fall’s entering class included many well-prepared students. There were seventy-six Presidential Scholars – those who were either the valedictorian or salutatorian of their secondary school classes – in our Fall 2002 entering class, a number that has increased dramatically over the past decade. For the first time in several years, the number of international students on campus declined from the previous year. This was clearly due to events that need no further explanation from me. Yet we continue to believe that the involvement of international students on this campus is enormously healthy for cultural understanding, and we look forward to resuming the growth of our international enrollments in the years ahead. This requires some explanation. This University has a long history of growth – for all but one of the past forty fall semesters, enrollment has exceeded that of the previous year. But clearly, there is a stable size for SVSU as a mature institution, and it is the conclusion of the Task Force that this size will be approached soon.
Several factors enter into this conclusion. First, the number of high school graduates nationwide will peak about 2008, and thereafter begin a gradual decline. Second, the population of our surrounding region has been virtually constant for the past three decades – and the majority of our students still come to SVSU from a four-to-five-county region. Circumstances in future years may warrant a re-examination of these recommendations. But for now, we believe it is wise to avoid the risk of additional debt for enrollment growth beyond what might be a sustainable size for our University.
* * *
These facilities are quite spectacular, and I am confident you will be proud to work and learn in them. In all, this is clearly the largest physical growth-spurt in the University’s history. With the completion of these projects, more than 64% of our total campus space will have been completed over just a relatively brief fifteen-year span – a remarkable period of growth.
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Last
Friday evening I received a phone message from a student in my class,
Sarah Brandon. She said that her unit had been activated and that
she was being “shipped out” on Monday – yesterday
– but that she had enjoyed the class and hoped to re-enroll
sometime. Listening to her I felt like crying.
Fall
semester enrollment once again evidenced SVSU’s strength in
attracting not just increasing numbers of students but also students
with increasingly improved preparation. We remain on course –
3% annual growth – to bring total enrollments to about 10,000
students by 2005.
Our
current institutional plan calls for continued overall enrollment
growth through the year 2005. Soon, we will have to consider the
obvious question of “what then?” A Task Force will be
reporting to the Board of Control later this semester with a recommendation
that the University not undertake those aggressive efforts which
would be necessary to grow enrollments beyond that 10,000 student
goal. 
Almost
all of our University’s growth in the past five years has
come from outside our immediate region – primarily from students
who come here to live on campus or from those who have enrolled
in our Macomb graduate education program. If continued growth were
to be pursued, it would require borrowing funds to make additional
investments in campus housing and in other facilities beyond those
currently under construction. This would seem to be an incautious
move at this time. The enrollment projection at the 10,000 student
level is not a hard ceiling or a firm cap, but the decision to forego
borrowing for capital expansion will likely have the effect of limiting
growth beyond this level.
The
capital expansion currently underway is scheduled for completion
by this summer and will provide adequate campus space for the 10,000
student institution we expect to be in a few years. Most of this
has now taken shape and is clearly visible. The new facility for
our Macomb graduate program was formally dedicated yesterday and
classes are being held there as I speak. The Fredericks Sculpture
Museum addition is essentially complete. The Student Center, the
new housing facility, and the Ryder Center recreation addition are
on schedule, as are the Regional Education Center and the Library
expansion.
