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I am pleased to be here again with you this year to share some
highlights of the “State of the University.” I have quickly come to
enjoy the process that goes in to creating this annual presentation,
as it affords me – and you – an opportunity to reflect on the past
year. These last twelve months have been a very active period for
the Villanova community. It has been a year filled with
achievements, milestones, challenges, and opportunities – both on
campus and in the places Villanovans have visited and served.
It would be nearly impossible to touch upon all the wonderful
initiatives that have taken place this year, so I would like to use
this time to reflect on a few items that demonstrate the collective
“Power of Villanova” and to call attention to some of the things we
need to address in order to advance our Catholic, Augustinian, and
educational mission.
With our mission as a focus, I thought an appropriate starting
point would be to acknowledge the exceptional service efforts of our
community. I continue to take great pride in the widespread
dedication of Villanovans everywhere to responding to the needs of
others. This dedication was put into focus in September as we took a
new direction in observing our heritage through a revised St. Thomas
of Villanova celebration. This new annual tradition of dialog,
service, and fellowship adds life to our mission and reinforces our
shared commitment to global responsibility.
Of course any reference to our mission must include a discussion
of our focus as an educational community. There have been a number
of academic initiatives and honors of recent note, and I would like
to select just a few to highlight today. The College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences continues to lead the University in establishing
interdisciplinary academic programs, exemplified by the formation of
the new Department of Geography and The Environment and The
Institute for Global Interdisciplinary Studies. For a second
straight year, the College of Nursing has been named a Center of
Excellence in Nursing Education and they are working to establish
The Center for the Study of Global Health. The College of
Engineering again has been ranked one of the top ten undergraduate
programs by U.S. News and World Report, and they are establishing
The Center for Engineering Education. The Villanova School of
Business continues to receive high rankings and national recognition
for its undergraduate, EMBA, and MBA programs. In addition The Clay
Center was inaugurated to enhance undergraduate programming and, as
you saw from today’s announcements, The Center for Real Estate is
being established. This month, the Law School received accreditation
for its Foreign Summer Program with St. Thomas School of Law in
Rome. And finally, Villanova’s International Studies Program ranks
fifth nationally among master's schools in the number of students it
sends to study abroad, and eighth in that group for the number of
students studying abroad for a semester.
These programs can’t operate or gain distinction without the
dedicated leadership of exceptional faculty. Our faculty are the
backbone of this University and deserve to be recognized for their
innovation, collaboration, and research. To that end, I am pleased
to announce that last week funds were secured to increase the number
of annual faculty awards. Beginning with this academic year, four to
five smaller awards will be granted in addition to the Lindback, the
Gallen, and the Faculty Research Awards. I have asked the Faculty
Congress to develop a process for selection and titles for these
newly established awards, two of which will be designated for
adjunct teaching excellence.
The work of our faculty continues to be recognized and draw
investment from beyond campus. Last year Villanova faculty reached
an all-time record in externally funded research and sponsored
projects. There were 80 awards totaling $8.5 million, bringing in an
indirect cost recovery of more than $1.5 million. Three-fourths of
these dollars goes back to the colleges, institutes, centers,
programs, and principal investigators. The entire Villanova
community is benefiting from unprecedented levels of investment, in
fact. I am pleased to report that as of this morning, Transforming
Minds and Hearts: The Campaign for Villanova has officially exceeded
its $300 million goal! We will still be counting through the end of
December – so there is still time to get your gifts in - and the
success of this effort will be celebrated December 7th at a gala in
New York City. This capital campaign began in January 2001 with an
initial goal of $200 million. Three years ago, the goal was raised
by $100 million and the timeline extended by one year – an
indication of the confidence that Father Dobbin, as well as the
Steering Committee and the Board of Trustees, had in the ability of
the Villanova community to increase their support. That increased
goal of $300 million has been exceeded thanks to the hard work of
the Steering Committee, the Development staff, and many faculty and
administrators.
Alumni, parents, and friends have come forward with record levels
of giving that have impacted every aspect of campus life. Among its
achievements, the Campaign has attracted commitments for thirteen
endowed faculty positions, four of which have been fully funded and
inaugurated so-far; secured nearly $30 million in scholarships and
student funds; and supported the construction of four new campus
facilities. These include the Law School parking structure and the
newly opened Davis Center for Athletics and Fitness, an $18 million
facility with a $4 million operating endowment, all of which was
raised independent of any University funding.
The Campaign also is supporting the construction of new buildings
for the College of Nursing and the School of Law, which are
anticipated to be ready for the Fall 2008 and the Fall of 2009
semesters, respectively. These structures will enhance the academic
offerings and strengthen the outstanding reputations of our Nursing
and Law programs. With the completion of these projects, we will
have the opportunity to further expand our undergraduate facilities
through the renovation of St. Mary’s and Garey Halls. These projects
will provide needed classrooms, faculty offices, and program space
while also potentially serving as crucial “swing space” for future
renovation or construction projects.
These building initiatives are all part of the ongoing Campus
Master Plan process being managed by consultants Venturi Scott Brown
and Associates. The plan’s mission and goals are designed to:
- Consider the needs of the entire University community;
- Make the campus more pedestrian-friendly, accessible to
people of all ages and abilities, and welcoming to visitors;
- Identify opportunities to move the campus toward our
commitment to carbon neutrality, and
- Carefully consider and create functional spaces that
facilitate efficiency, collaboration and a greater sense of
community.
Phase One of the Campus Master Plan process has been
completed and five subcommittees have been established, each
comprised of representatives from throughout campus. Phase Two
of the process, comprised of an interim report, has just been
submitted for review to these five committees, a committee of
the Board of Trustees, and the President’s Council. Meetings
began this week to discuss reactions to the report, options, and
directions that merit further study. Based upon these responses,
Venturi, Scott Brown will focus on developing alternative
organizing concepts, with pros and cons, for a round of meetings
that will begin in January. Shortly, these reports will be
available on the web for review and comment.
Related to this plan and to our current building projects,
this past summer I signed the American College and University
Presidents' Climate Commitment. More than 430 educational
institutions are now part of the commitment, and I attended the
formal signing ceremony on June 12, 2007 in Washington, DC. The
commitment states that each institution must “create
institutional structures to guide the development and
implementation of the plan.” In order to achieve this at
Villanova, I have established The President’s Sustainability
Committee. Formerly known as the VQI Environmental team, they
have been charged with overseeing a variety of activities that
include:
- Conduct an Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on
Campus
- Develop a Climate Neutrality Action Plan
- Promote Energy Conservation and Develop Renewable and
Carbon-neutral Energy Sources
- Transition to More Efficient Campus Vehicle Fleets and
Implement Transportation Management Strategies
- Promote Procurement and Purchasing of Sustainable Goods
and Services
- Implement Green Building Design practices which are
being incorporated in all the new building projects which I
outlined
The group is meeting each month, and is conducting some
additional work to collect and analyze data related to the
charge of the committee.
And now to transition from a discussion on global climate
to a review of the climate on campus. We continue to review
outcomes and implement initiatives stemming from the
community climate survey administered last year. One of
these initiatives is a comprehensive look at the
University’s staff compensation levels and job grading being
conducted this semester by Sibson Consulting. The review is
coming to completion and the firm will present their
findings to the President’s Council in the next few weeks.
The recommendations will be evaluated in time to begin
implementing them into our budget practices beginning with
the 2008-2009 Budget. It is my aim to undergo the same
process with the University’s Benefits Program next year.
As you know, the Mission and Social Justice Committee of
the Senate has expressed a strong interest in the issue of
Child Care for faculty and staff. As I began my tenure as
president, this committee presented me with an account of
the discussions that have occurred around this issue over
the past three decades. My office reviewed these discussions
and conducted research into the practices of other
universities and corporations, the results of which were
discussed with the President’s Council. Ken Valosky and Mary
Burke brought the discussion before the University’s
Benefits Committee which drafted a proposal with a series of
suggested childcare benefits for my review. I have accepted
the proposal and will bring it before the Board of Trustees.
The proposal includes three important elements for full-time
permanent faculty and staff:
- A 750 dollar pre-tax subsidy that would be available
through a Flexible Spending Account type program,
- A 250 dollar maximum benefit to provide short-term
back-up child care,
- And for employees who wish to have their children in
a care facility close to Villanova, a 1,000 dollar
discount at Ken-Crest Services in Rosemont.
After three decades of discussion, the implementation
of these benefits represents significant progress in
this area. I realize that not everyone will be satisfied
with all the elements of this enhancement, but I believe
that many members of our community will benefit from
these new levels of support. I thank the Senate’s
Mission and Social Justice Committee, the University
Benefits committee, as well as the staff of the Human
Resources department, for their efforts in advancing
this issue.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank
our office of University Information Technologies,
affectionately referred to as UNIT. Just one look at
your phone or your computer is a reminder that the UNIT
staff has had a very busy year. In collaboration with
Academic Affairs, Student Life, other areas of
University Administration and the Student Government
Association, UNIT staff this year have led the
installation of the new phone system and new email &
calendar platforms, created new Smart Classrooms in
Mendel 154 and Bartley 1011, oversaw the expansion of
the EPortfolio program, expanded wireless in the
residence halls, implemented the new basketball lottery
system via the web with wildcard ticketless entry to
games, and enhanced the v-laundry wildcard and web based
laundry registration system. UNIT also played a major
role in establishing the University’s new emergency
alert system and the staff continues to invest in
improvements to technology across campus.
Speaking of the emergency alert system, I would like
to use this occasion to formally welcome our new
Director of Public Safety, David Tedjeske. He comes to
us with many years of experience and has already made
some valuable contributions to Public Safety and the
University. I would like to take this opportunity to
publically thank Dave and his staff for the incredible
way they responded to recent gun shots we experienced on
campus. While this was not the way we wanted to
inaugurate the new emergency alert system, it did what
it was intended to do and allowed our Public Safety
staff to keep the community notified and safe.
2007 has been a year of transition among the senior
leadership of the University. With the departure of
Father William McGuire from the University, I have
eliminated the position of Senior Vice President and the
Board of Trustee has confirmed Ken Valosky as the Vice
President for Administration and Finance. Due to the
resulting increase in his responsibilities, a
reorganization of the Administration and Finance
departments is underway. This will mean a change in
responsibilities for some senior staff members and the
creation of two new positions, Associate Vice President
for Human Resources and Budget Director. We have engaged
the help of a search firm to fill these positions.
In addition to these searches, we are undergoing a
national search for a new Vice President for University
Advancement. As you know from a recent announcement,
John Elizandro will be leaving the University on
December 30th. John has served Villanova for eighteen
years and I know the University joins with me in
thanking him for his service and wishing him success in
his future endeavors. It is my hope that a new Vice
President will be in place within the next few months,
and I ask for everyone’s patience as we go through this
process.
Recently, I addressed the VQI Enhancement Team group
about the future of VQI as well as the future of the
Enhancement Team Leaders group. I am grateful for the
contributions of VQI and acknowledge its contributions
which have had significant impact upon the University.
However, it is time for VQI to move on. As we progress,
many positive VQI initiatives and programs will
continue, some will be elevated, and others will be
eliminated. Despite this transition, I firmly believe
that it is important I continue to hear the voice of the
staff in an organized and clear way. While evaluating
VQI, it was clear that the Enhancement Team represents
all the department and colleges at the University. I
have asked the group to reinvent itself as a body which
will help me to hear the voice of the University staff.
This group will have expanded duties and increased
responsibilities. I have asked them to write guidelines,
a charter, terms of office, create a name for the group,
and other related tasks by the end of this academic
year. A small planning group of the committee with OPTIR
staff will take main responsibility for drafting the new
charter and present it to for approval to the entire
group. They will make final revisions and present the
document to me and the President’s Council.
A review of the year would not be complete without an
update on the admissions process, which is quickly
picking up steam. Applications from Early Action
candidates interested in enrolling in the fall of 2008
are at a record number of 5,500. This is a twenty
percent increase in early action applicants from this
time last year. Regular decision applications for
admission are twenty-two percent ahead of last year's
record pace which ultimately yielded nearly 14,000
candidates for about 1,600 places in the freshman class.
This is a strong indication that Villanova continues to
be a top choice for gifted and diverse prospective
students throughout the United States and the world.
This is a wonderful thing to hear and is something in
which each of us can take pride.
Our graduate programs continue to appeal to students
seeking an advanced education. This Fall, nearly 2,500
graduate school students, not including the law school,
enrolled in courses at the University. While this number
is approximately 3.4 percent smaller than in Fall 2006,
our graduate programs remain vibrant, popular and well
respected. As we move closer to taking a place in a
National arena, it is important to grow the enrollment
in our graduate programs to ensure that the University
remains an attractive choice for students seeking
advanced education. Moving forward, we must find ways in
which we can build upon our strengths to improve in this
area.
I have shared with you updates on our faculty, our
staff and our students. A common thread that runs
through each of these elements of our community is the
issue of diversity. I recently received the first report
regarding the Diversity Blueprint and it reveals a
number of compelling trends. Most exciting are the
increases in the number of multicultural students and
faculty. There has been a steady rise in the number of
full time undergraduate students from 13.4 percent in
2004 to 16.2 percent in 2006. Faculty numbers grew most
noticeably in the past two years, with African Americans
growing from 13 to 17, Hispanics growing from 16 to 19,
and Asian from 33 to 40.
However the same success cannot be said for
recruiting and retaining multicultural senior
administrative staff. Other areas of the staff are
relatively stable with slight increases among technical,
para-professional, and clerical staff and minor
decreases among service and maintenance staff.
The report emphasizes that diversity is not just
numbers. It is not simply adherence to a stated law nor
can it be viewed as the responsibility of one office or
one segment of the University. It must be a community
concern. As an educational institution, diversity and
multicultural education must be understood as the
fundamental way in which we educate our students for the
future. The report raises areas of concern and offers
strategies for the community to advance diversity. In
the coming weeks, I will begin addressing both the
concerns and recommendations with senior leaders
throughout the campus.
As 2007 winds down and we prepare to move forward
through 2008, I believe that it is time for the
University to begin an evaluation of its Strategic Plan.
Our present plan has a timeline that takes us through
2010. It is hard to believe that is just a couple, short
years away, but as we approach this date, it is
important for the Villanova community to examine what we
have accomplished and develop strategies to move us
forward. I have asked four people who have expertise in
the area of strategic planning to begin formulating the
process and screen potential consulting firms with
experience in Higher Educational Strategic Planning.
They are Steve Fugale, Chief Information Officer, John
Kelly and Jim Trainer of OPTIR, and Matt Liberatore, the
John F. Connelly Chair in Management. It is important
that every sector of our community embraces this process
and supports the plan - it will help guide our community
successfully into the future.
I spoke at the beginning of my speech about the Power
of Villanova. This phrase will be the central message of
a new commercial which will be airing during this
basketball season. When this phrase was first suggested,
I was immediately struck by how well it captures our
spirit of veritas, unitas, caritas. It represents our
commitment to the pursuit of innovation and discovery
that inspires excellence in our community and draws us
together to share our gifts through service. The Power
of Villanova is alive and well, and I’m excited to
showcase it through this new commercial.
We are blessed as a community to have shared many
achievements this year, some that I have mentioned and
some that I have not. While this speech doesn’t touch on
all that we have experienced together, I do think it is
representative of what we can take pride in as
Villanovans as well as what we collectively have to
address as we work to move the University forward.
Thank you for your time. I look forward to keeping
you updated throughout the year on these and other
Villanova initiatives and milestones. |
