2008 State of the University Address
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Eric R. Gilbertson, President
Saginaw Valley State University
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It seems that each year on this occasion I announce to you that the "state" of our University is healthy but fragile. And so it is in 2008.
Its health is the product of all your ideas, your efforts, your care. And its fragility is the consequence of its utter dependence on those ideas, those efforts, that continued care - and, of course, its vulnerability to political and economic forces around us.
Let me begin with a rendering of our University's condition, as it might first be described in terms of those things that can be seen and counted and compared - students, colleagues, money and facilities.
Given the primacy of our teaching mission, it's fairly important that we have students - and we do, lots of them. But we dare not take that good fortune for granted.
We measure enrollments two ways: headcounts, the number of homo sapiens enrolled in courses; and credit hours, the total numbers of credits taught and taken in a particular term. This year, enrollments in both counts were higher than a year ago and higher than ever before in SVSU's 44-year history.
The 
growth in headcount was less than the growth in credit hours. (For fall semester, +1.25% vs. + 2.55%) We have experienced a loss of part-time graduate and teacher certification students, but a steady gain in the number of undergraduates. Undergraduates tend to take more classes, which explains why the growth in credit hours was more robust than in headcount.
Looking more closely, there are a few additional trends worth noting and pondering.
First, most of our growth has come from increases in the entering freshman class - what we call FTICs, or "first time in college" students. This is the result of not just skillful recruiting efforts but of everything we do - especially what our current students experience in the classrooms and offices and other venues of the campus.
Our current students are our most effective recruiters; they can also be our most credible critics.
Increasingly, our FTICs have come from a wider geographic range. And increasingly, they come initially to live on campus. This past fall, some 66% of our FTICs moved into campus housing.
The recent years' growth in campus housing was absolutely necessary both to our University's enrollment health and to its capacity to become a more vital and interesting institution.
Many of you remember when this was almost exclusively a "commuter campus," drawing almost all of its students from a close geographic proximity. But a few years ago SVSU passed the point where a majority of its students came from Saginaw, Bay, Midland and Tuscola counties. This semester, more than 53% of our students originate from outside this four-county region - including some 352 students from other nations around the globe.
In fact, virtually all of SVSU's growth in the past decade has come from outside the region of our historic origin. This does not mean, of course, that the University's commitment to serve our immediate geographic region has diminished. But we have broadened our reach and in-so-doing have made this a richer, more diverse and livelier place - both for the people of this region and for others.
We have also added a number of features to the academic and the extra-curricular life of the University: more student clubs and organizations; more involvement with public service programs - such as the wonderfully altruistic work of students in the "alternative break" programs; more full-time committed students to participate in research and honors opportunities; higher quality student performances in our theater and musical and athletic programs; more students who take the leap and study abroad; more things that define a University with energy and potential.
We can all be proud of the health of our enrollments - both in terms of raw numbers and even more in terms of the quality of students with whom we learn together.
But, again, we take this health for granted only at great peril.
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Just a few other points to mention in this regard. I'm especially encouraged that the numbers of our students participating in international study opportunities has increased. The most popular vehicle for international experiences is still faculty-led study tours. Last year, faculty led groups of students to China, Taiwan, Japan, England, Costa Rica, Senegal and Australia. And there are other exciting opportunities for them this year.
It is also good news that the enrollment of international students on campus is trending upward after several years of struggling to recover from the effects of the "9/11" tragedy. International enrollments have been particularly important for our graduate programs - especially the MBA program - as domestic enrollments dwindle in a soft local job market.
It should also be noted that enrollment shifts among disciplines continue, as they always have and will, in response to constantly changing student interests and tentative career aspirations. Not surprisingly, student interest in teacher education programs is in a gradual decline - this, after a decade of dramatic growth in the ‘90's - and interest in the health professions is experiencing rapid growth. There are also some encouraging signs of growth in some other programs which have been under-enrolled for several years, including Business and Engineering.
As with any such shift, pressures have been created on some courses and some colleagues. We appreciate their willingness to help us through these transitions.
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Money matters, in that the lack of it can limit what we do. But money is not what matters most; and it cannot be allowed to limit what we try to do.
I have regularly and tediously complained to you about the State Budget and the unfairness of it all. That hasn't done much good. So without dwelling needlessly on that, let me just say a few things to put the matter in some perspective.
The State of Michigan's tax structure is antiquated and inadequate, and this condition is exacerbated by an economic transformation that has been underway for at least three decades now and is yet still incomplete.
That being the case, we shall need to chart our University's future without the expectation of significant additional support from the State of Michigan. Whatever the expressions of lofty goals and good intentions coming from Lansing, we had better not bank on much help coming up the road.
The share of our General Fund Budget coming from the State has shrunk dramatically; and the support SVSU receives per student is less than it was even a few years ago. And so it goes.
The sad truth is that even as a "public" institution we have become largely tuition dependent - which underscores the importance of enrollments to our fiscal health as well as our basic mission. And the reality is that the University's budget will be adequate - if not robust - for so long as enrollments are healthy. Given the vicissitudes of State funding - our State funding has been cut mid-year in three of the past five years - we would do well to project revenues and manage our financial resources very conservatively.
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SVSU has become a fairly complex enterprise. In addition to our base operations - teaching and learning and supporting students - we also operate several self-supporting businesses. We are the largest landlord in the region, with some 2,200 residents in campus housing. We host conferences and meetings and cultural and athletic events that bring tens of thousands of people to the campus each year. We serve more meals per week than any restaurant in the area. And now we even have a Starbucks Café.
These and other "businesses" are, again, self-supporting, and do not draw upon tuition revenue or State support. But taken together with the General Fund and various capital funds, they have grown this University into a $140 million per-year operation, with more than 722 full-time and 462 part-time employees. We have police officers and sports coaches, architects and accountants, counselors and tutors, custodians and electricians and locksmiths, office professionals and admissions recruiters, and people with doctoral degrees in disciplines from Art to Zoology.
It is a wondrously fascinating and complicated human organization. And its finances reflect that complexity.
But there are, again, two very important factors to bear in mind as we each cash our 26 paychecks per year: to the extent the financial health of this University is in our hands, it depends upon the strength of our enrollments and the prudent management of our funds.
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Encouragement can be taken from the generosity of friends and supporters from throughout our region. We have seen growth in both our annual fund campaign as well as continued progress in our endowment campaign.
To remind you, endowments are important in that they allow the University to create and sustain opportunities that we otherwise could not. A variety of scholarships for good and needy students are endowed - including several that support special opportunities, such as study abroad and honors projects. Endowed chairs and fellowship programs, such as the Roberts Fellows, the Gerstacker Fellows and the Braun Fellowships, and cultural programming, such as the Dow Visiting Scholars and Artists Program and the Rhea Miller Concert Series, have all been made possible by endowed funds.
Our current endowments total some $46 million, on our way to a short term goal of at least $50 million. And our current campaign has raised more than $19 million towards its goal of $20 million.
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The expansion and improvement of the physical campus continues. The campus, and the care with which it is kept, remains one of our most important assets.
The housing expansion on the North Campus will be completed in time for the start of classes this coming fall. This will provide an opportunity for students to live in groups based upon shared interests - imagine, for example, an "international living house," or a club formed from academic or recreational interests. We hope students will imagine and create living opportunities that will enrich their experiences at the University; and we hope some of you will help them in that process of imagining and creating.
We are also more hopeful than ever before that we can soon begin work with architects on the development of a new academic facility: a health and human services building. While the State has little operating money to offer, there are capital funds available for appropriation. We have been encouraged to believe that this project will be supported by both the Governor and Legislature in the session just underway.
We've been talking about this facility for a few years now and have needed it even longer. But bear in mind that none of the facilities previously completed - not the Regional Education Center, not the Pioneer Hall expansion, not the Science East expansion, not the Library expansion, not this Performing Arts Center - came in response to our first suggestion or first request.
The tentative site for this facility is in the North Campus, adjacent to the Regional Education Center. Again, with a little luck and a lot of support from our friends, work on this project could begin in a matter of months rather than years. Stay tuned.
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The academic health of the University depends more, of course, on our human capital than on money or bricks and mortar. This fall, we added some 12 new full-time faculty positions and two new endowed chairs.
We are now in the process of recruiting some 18 new full-time faculty and two more endowed academic positions for the fall ahead. Eighteen of our departments are involved in this recruiting process.
It is a pleasure that, after a national search, we can formally congratulate our own Mary Hedberg on her appointment as Dean of the College of Arts and Behavioral Sciences. Way to go, Mary.
And I'd also like to introduce Coach Jim Collins, who has joined us as the Cardinal-in-Chief of our football program. Welcome, Coach. I also want to introduce Jack Van Hoorelbeke to you. Jack is our new Director of Staff Relations. Welcome him, please.
Sustaining our "culture of good teaching," as one faculty colleague once called it, will require careful and purposeful decisions - especially in the hiring processes over the months and years ahead. Given the accelerated rate of turnovers that we anticipate, these hiring decisions will be even more crucial - not just to specific courses and programs and services, but to our institutional culture as well.
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This year, we will be reviewed by one of the eight separate accrediting agencies that evaluate our academic programs - The American Chemical Society. We always approach these reviews with confidence and an eagerness to learn from visiting colleagues.
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And so, once again, the current "state" of our University is comfortingly healthy and uncomfortably fragile. So . . . let's all "keep our eyes on the ball" and keep working.
And so, too, let's keep on imagining what we might be and should become. Which brings me to the subject of planning.
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Some people seem genuinely surprised that much if not most of what has happened in the development of this University has not been the result of random and haphazard occurrence but rather has been carefully planned. Over our history, there have been a series of plans developed that have, to varying degrees, guided the directions if not the specific actions the institution has taken.
Most of our campus facilities came about in response to needs assessments; they didn't just fall from the sky or spring forth from a bountiful earth. Our academic programs didn't just emerge by accident; they were created and developed by thoughtful people in response to needs or opportunities; the very mission and character of our University came from an original plan developed in the mid-1960s and has been reaffirmed in a succession of plans ever since.
The current institutional plan, "Continuing Excellence," has guided a good deal of what has happened over the past four years: for example, the response to our accreditors with respect to program assessment; the continued growth in student enrollments and housing; the improvement in facilities for Engineering programs and the increase in endowed support; the creation of the Student Research and Creativity Institute and enhancements in the Music and Theater programs.
It has been amusing, and in some ways frustrating, to hear candidates in the presidential primaries clambering to garner the mantle as the one and only true "agent of change." Apparently the electorate is so fundamentally unhappy that they are willing to assume any change is a good thing - which it might be, or might not be.
History teaches never to assume that things couldn't be worse than they are - they always can be.
Change, of course, can be for the better or for the worse. And because change is inexorable and inevitable, the trick is not just to embrace it or expedite it but rather to guide it in the right direction.
Our University will change - whether we like it or not. And each of you is in your own way an agent of that change - whether you want to be or not. None of us can hold back change; but each of us can help guide it. And if we do that together, pushing and pulling in basically the same direction towards a preferred future, we can continue to do remarkable things.
We are now in the process of another planning effort - one which should inform and guide the progress of this University over the next several years. I appointed a Task Force to work on this project, and you will be invited to participate in this effort during the months ahead.
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We began this process with certain guiding assumptions. These may seem obvious, but it is often useful to reiterate the obvious. . . . often things are not as obvious as we may think.
The University approaches the next decade with certain key advantages: well-qualified faculty and staff committed to quality teaching and supporting students; steady enrollment growth despite uncertain State funding; a modern and attractive physical plant with modern technology; a growing reputation as a university of choice, as a regional resource, and as a cultural center.
SVSU must also address several important challenges: population in the State and in the region around us is declining in key demographic categories; competition for students has intensified; State funding both for capital projects and for operations is limited; an already competitive hiring market, especially for minority faculty and faculty in key disciplines, is complicated by State economic woes.
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The work of this Task Force will be organized - at least preliminarily - into five general areas: academic improvement; program distinctiveness; enrollment management; campus culture; and regional relationships.
An academic improvement group will consider issues such as new program development, strengthening teaching and scholarship, changing academic needs and opportunities.
A program distinctiveness group will look for opportunities to develop creative initiatives or unique qualities that set SVSU apart from other institutions.
An enrollment management group will project trends - both by program and level as well as for the University as a whole - and will recommend enrollment goals and the means necessary to accomplish them.
A campus culture group will think about the things we do that define our "community" and the qualities we wish to promote or protect that would strengthen our identity and our sense of shared purpose.
And finally, a regional relationships group will seek ways both to serve and to draw support from the region that gave our institution birth and sustained its development into the vital asset it has become.
From these discussions, and with advice and ideas from others, including many of you, we hope then to shape our ideas into a coherent set of recommendations for the Board of Control. Please watch for open meetings in which you may participate, offering your ideas and your concerns. And look, too, for early drafts of these recommendations that will be offered for your comments and suggestions.
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As mentioned, we begin this process in a position of considerable strength: we are not preoccupied with recovering from crisis or salvaging deteriorating assets or repairing dysfunctional systems. That is not to say all is peachy keen and that there are not major challenges ahead. And that is not to say that we need not rethink important questions and re-imagine what is possible for our University and for ourselves. But this plan can focus on building institutional strengths, sustaining institutional successes, improving what we are and can become.
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While the initial work of this Task Force may seem fractured into subcategories, there are clearly a few overarching questions that this planning process must address.
First, we should begin with a re-examination of the University's basic mission and goals. Our primary mission was largely set in place at the time of the creation of what was then "SVSC," in a 1965 plan titled "Design for a College." We were to be an engine of opportunity, focusing on a strong undergraduate teaching mission with a liberal arts core and with professional programs built upon that base. While times and circumstances have changed, this basic mission has been reaffirmed by each of our subsequent plans and mission statements and by the continuous development of our institution.
But should we become - or attempt to become - something else?
Other universities, for example, seem to have taken it almost as an evolutionary imperative to develop doctoral and research pretensions. And in Michigan, there are now eight public universities attempting to offer doctoral programs - though there is clearly reason to question whether there are the resources, financial or intellectual, to proliferate doctoral programs so extensively in this or any other state.
And whether or not we pursue advanced degree offerings, what is or should be the role of research and creativity and service in a regional public university? In fact, what exactly is a regional university? Does the name of a region or a region itself define us? Does it necessarily limit us?
Second, there is an overarching question about institutional growth. SVSU has been in a "growth spurt" for some 43 years now. This has been both a source of pride and identity throughout our history.
But when should growth - enrollment growth or physical growth - be contained? Clearly, we do not want to grow our University beyond a long-term sustainable size.
As indicated before, all of our recent enrollment growth has come from building student housing and expanding our geographic recruitment reach. But this housing has come at a price; we have borrowed the money and it must be paid back.
Looking ahead, we can predict that the number of high school graduates in Michigan will peak this year and then decline. This drop is not precipitous - unless out-migration from our State continues - but clearly the competition for fewer students will become more intense.
SVSU has become an attractive destination for prospective students - applications for next fall are up considerably over a year ago, and last fall brought yet another record entering class. And we are, obviously, adding more housing for the fall of ‘08. But how far do we push our enrollments in a time of predicted demographic decline?
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Third, another overarching question that affects everything else in our planning concerns how to fund a public university at a time when State funding continues to dwindle.
Clearly, Michigan's budget problems are not over. And this reality will require us to think both conservatively and creatively about how to finance our plans. Dollars cannot be squandered, and there are limits to what our students can be expected to pay.
But these realities also cannot unduly limit our aspirations or our efforts.
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And finally, there is always an overarching question of what kind of human organization, what kind of "community," we wish to be . . . or to become. We dare not take our culture for granted - as with everything else we plan, our culture should be a product of purposeful creation and promotion and protection.
As SVSU has grown in size and complexity - and has sprawled physically - it has necessarily become something of a confederation of subcultures. There is an arts subculture in the Arbury Center and a theatre and music subculture in this corner of the campus. There is an athletic subculture in the environs of the Ryder Center, and an engineering subculture in Pioneer Hall. There is a subculture in the College of Education that uses the vocabulary of K-12 schools as much as the vocabulary of other academic departments; and in the Health Science programs they often speak in the dialect of the professions they serve more than in standard "academese." There is a distinct subculture among the staff in the grounds department, and a different subculture in the freshman dorms than there is in the Pine Grove Apartments. And the list could go on, department by department, building by building.
But what is it, what characteristics or qualities, hold all of this together as a whole, a coherent institution, a UNI-versity?
Some of us would like to think that we are held together by a shared commitment to our teaching mission - that is, to our students. And we work to maintain in our varied set of subcultures the common qualities of a work ethic, informality in relationships, vitality in our intellectual life and civility in those disagreements that are inevitable among people who care for their work but may think differently about how to do it.
But, again, these and other characteristics and qualities of culture are not something to be taken for granted; our culture is either something we create and sustain intentionally or it will develop haphazardly and in ways that we might come to regret.
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You are all invited to participate in this strategic planning process - to "speak or forever hold your peace." And please stay tuned.
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Another overarching question is, of course, the "why" of it all. Does any of what we plan for and worry about really matter?
A few weeks ago the fourth edition of "This Is SVSU" was published and distributed. I hope you have all seen a copy.
Most colleges and universities publish some sort of annual report - you have doubtless seen them from the places you attended - and these usually contain a variety of pufferies: carefully constructed statistics and self-serving accounts of institutional progress and accomplishments. We really don't do that, though we, too, could certainly post some impressive numbers and compose some inspiring rhetoric about measurable and visible evidences of SVSU's growth and development.
Instead, we have chosen to describe the University to those who may not know it well - and to some who only think they do - by recounting a series of narratives about people. Some of them you know; some you may only think you know. All of them are extraordinary, and we expect never to run out of material for future editions - there are so many extraordinary people around and among us.
Numbers are in some ways useful in describing the University - and I've just given you a lot of them. The pretty buildings and decorative features speak for themselves. But what matters in the end are individuals. That is why this publication is called "This Is SVSU" - these people and all of you and all those we touch are SVSU.
In this year's edition, you can read about faculty who have given the University decades of dedicated service and others who have injected new ideas and new energy into what we do and how we do it. There are stories about staff who have gone above and beyond the call of duty and about students and graduates who have come here and have left to do and become more than they imagined they could.
So . . . do the things we worry about and plan for matter? Just read it, please. It's all in those stories. The meaning will also be told in the as yet unwritten stories of other faculty and staff, of thousands of students, and of uncounted and countless students yet to come to this place.
So . . . does any of this matter? You bet it does.
Thank you.