As I begin my fourth year, I am proud of what we have accomplished together, and I am even more excited – even more optimistic – about our future…
Since my appointment, I have had an opportunity to speak on several occasions, including my introduction as president here in Greaves Hall and my installation ceremony at what we now call the BB&T Arena. On a few of these occasions, I have spoken about the personal pledges I make to you and to our University community.
I have pledged to honor the transformative power of education, and I have pledged to cherish the fundamental, human value of education.
As an academic administrator, though, I have a tendency to become preoccupied with numbers and performance metrics. Numbers are important, and I will talk today about how we are performing on some key metrics.
More important than my personal pledges are the commitments that we collectively make to our students.
In a tangible way, those commitments are articulated in the strategic plan we developed nearly two years ago. Those commitments are reflected in our mission statement, and our aspirations are articulated in the five goals that we have defined…
Our progress towards those goals can be measured. Our progress is also readily apparent in the ongoing expansion and physical transformation of our campus.. .
We promise is to put our students first.
This promise is not new. . .
Each Fall, we welcome a new class of freshmen. They come from across the region, the Commonwealth, and around the world for a life-changing experience.. .
We are working to make it easier than ever for students from all backgrounds to attend and succeed here…
Freshmen applications for this Fall increased by 18 percent compared to last year. Over the last four years, applications have increased by 36 percent. I anticipate new freshman enrollment this year to increase by two percent compared to last year.
And the quality of our new students continues to grow. This year’s incoming class will once again be the most academically qualified class in our history. A decade ago, when we implemented admissions standards for the first time, the median ACT score of the incoming class was 20.7. This Fall, it will be 24, up considerably from last year’s median of 23.1.
I am also pleased to report that we are expanding our recruiting reach. Last Fall, we visited high schools across Kentucky on our Road to NKU. We traveled 3,000 miles from Pikeville to Paducah – from Ashland to Owensboro. I personally met with more than 3,000 Kentucky high school students, introducing them to our University in a whole new way.
Applications from the schools we visited increased 43 percent compared to 2014, and admissions from these schools has increased by 22 percent. I am looking forward to traveling the state again beginning next month, and we will be adding a number of more schools from across our region this year.
There are a number of other initiatives that will enable us to continue to improve our enrollment.
Next summer, we will welcome the Governor’s Scholars Program back to our campus for the first time since 2003. This six-week summer residential program will bring outstanding high school students from across Kentucky to our campus before they enter their senior year. . .
I am sure our Governor’s Scholars will enjoy the Campus Recreation Center. This renovated and expanded facility will feature more weight training and cardio fitness space, six basketball courts, an indoor soccer facility, and a running track. There is also a new aquatic center with eight 25-meter competition lanes, a dive well, and a shallow-water area. There is a bouldering wall, enhanced locker rooms, and several study and collaboration spaces. This facility will soon be an exceptional campus destination for our students, our faculty, our staff, and our alumni.
Over the next few years (the new health innovations center will be constructed) . . it will include the complete renovation of Founders Hall, will help us to meet the growing need for qualified health care workers. A study conducted by our Center for Economic Analysis and Development recently concluded that our region will need more than 50,000 new qualified health care workers by 2020. . .
Another important strategy to recruit students who will succeed at our University is our expanding partnership with Gateway Community and Technical College. Together, we have designed more than 40 degree pathways that begin with enrollment at Gateway and culminate with a bachelor’s degree from our University. These pathway programs allow us to tailor academic advising and support to our students’ educational and career goals.
. . .This fall, more than 1,000 of Northern Kentucky’s best and brightest high school students will take nearly 1,500 NKU classes while still in high school. We have agreements with 26 schools in Northern Kentucky to provide classes to their students.
We are also developing programs to enhance our undergraduate and graduate enrollment.
For example, this fall, Chase law school will launch two innovative programs. The first is a 3+3 program that allows our high-performing undergraduate students to earn both a bachelor’s degree and a law degree in just six years. Students who participate in this program will save tuition, and they will be able to begin their legal careers a year sooner.
Chase will also enroll its first students in a new Master of Legal Studies program. The MLS degree does not enable a graduate to sit for the bar and practice law. Rather, the MLS degree is designed for working professionals in industries that require a thorough understanding of the American legal system, such as human resources, health care administration, or finance. It is another example of our responsive, innovative academic culture.
Our PACE Program is another good example of how we put our students first. PACE continues to offer adult learners a structured, yet flexible pathway to earn a college degree while balancing the responsibilities of work, family, and community. We will have approximately 340 students enrolled in PACE this Fall.. .
We also put our students first by creating a campus culture that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusiveness. Leo Calderon, Bonnie Meyer, Dannie Moore, Kathleen Roberts, Tracy Stokes, and so many others, are working together to ensure that each one of our students is valued and supported and safe.
This year, the number of African American freshmen will increase by more than 10 percent compared to last Fall. Over the last 10 years, the total number of African American students enrolled at our University has increased by 53 percent. During that same ten-year period, the total number of Latino students enrolled here has increased by more than 200 percent.. .
We also have more work to do to stabilize and grow our enrollment. As you have heard, we have a larger freshman class this year. And our retention rates are improving, as well.
But last year, we graduated a record number of students – more than 3,000 students earned a degree or some other credential. That is great news.
Now, we have to replace those graduating students with even more freshmen, more transfer students, and more graduate students. . .
But in an increasingly dynamic and competitive world, the success of our students requires us to fulfill a second promise – to lead with excellence.
Students come here to learn, and they learn to lead. ..
Another example of leading with excellence comes from our athletics program.
As you may have heard, we are now part of the Horizon League. This transition to a new conference will be beneficial in many ways. Our fans will be able to travel to many more away games. And the shorter travel distances will reduce expenses. The Horizon League, though, is a more competitive conference, so our student-athletes and our coaches will have to work even harder to continue our long tradition of athletic achievement.
Last spring, our student-athletes across all sports programs earned a collective total GPA of greater than 3.0 – that is the eighth consecutive semester they have achieved that level of excellence. . .
This Fall, we will have a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the grand-reopening of our campus recreation center, and we will have another ceremony to celebrate the ground-breaking for our new health innovation center.
We will also celebrate the release of Northern Kentucky University: A Panoramic Photographic History. The book showcases the evolution of our University – the history, the events, and the people that have been integral in our transformation.
It is a beautiful story of humble beginnings and great promise. The book features archival photographs together with full-color panoramic images taken by Tom Schiff. The book documents our past – and it provides further proof that we are poised for an even brighter future.
This book also memorializes the contributions of the men and women who work so hard every day to make our campus beautiful. From our campus gardens to the green lawns to our pristine hallways, they make a lasting impact by keeping our campus clean and beautiful inside and out. That is no small task. They work around the clock in sunshine and in snow storms so that we can do our work in a safe and nurturing environment…
. . .since I joined this community three years ago, I have become increasingly concerned that there is one external force that is constraining our capacity to serve more students – that is limiting our ability to enhance the economic and civic vitality of our community and our Commonwealth. That powerful headwind is declining and disproportionate state support.
In the past, more than 50 percent of our University’s budget was provided by the state. Last year, only 26 percent was provided by the state. That is the smallest percentage of any of the comprehensive universities in the Commonwealth. If we received comparable funding on a per student basis, we would receive an additional $10 to $15 million more per year.
In the past few years, this lack of adequate and proportionate state support has been compounded by an extraordinary increase in the size of our KERS pension contribution. In 2010, our University’s KERS pension cost was $3.9 million. This year, our University’s KERS pension cost will be $14.9 million. That is an increase of $11 million in just six years.
Notwithstanding these extraordinary financial challenges, from 1999 to 2014, our University still managed to grow the number of bachelor’s degrees we awarded by more than 84 percent – an increase much, much larger than any other public university in the state. And, as I mentioned a few minutes ago, last year, we awarded more degrees and credentials than in any year in our history.
But this growth cannot continue without adequate and proportionate financial support from the state. Unless we receive the funding we need to attract and retain outstanding faculty and dedicated staff – people like you – we cannot serve our students as effectively as they need and as well as they deserve.
We have reduced expenses as much as we can. And I know that you and your families have sacrificed a great deal.
Enough is enough.
So, for two years, I have been advocating for a fundamental change in the way state support for higher education is allocated to the public universities in our Commonwealth.
The current approach defies logic and common sense. There is no relationship between enrollment and outcomes. If we were to decide not to enroll 2,000 new freshmen this year, we would still receive the same level of state support. And, notwithstanding our significant growth in degrees conferred, we have not received any proportional increase in state support. This approach makes no sense. That is why I have argued that we need a rational, strategic funding model that aligns the state’s investment with the outcomes that we seek.
Over the last year, it is apparent that our position is attracting a lot of attention. Our arguments are getting some real traction, and our cause is gaining significant support.
But, there are some folks who are fighting to preserve the status quo. They defend the current system, because it benefits their respective institutions. They use the political process to preserve an antiquated funding approach – to preserve an historic relic.
In the next six months, notwithstanding this opposition, I believe we have a window of opportunity to jettison this antiquated approach and implement a new model – one that rewards objective performance, not politics. A new model that puts students first.
As we continue this campaign, we will enlist a small army of supporters.
Over the past three months, I have met with virtually every member of the Northern Kentucky legislative delegation. Republicans and Democrats. House and Senate. To a person, I believe they appreciate the importance of this effort to their constituents and to our community.
I will ask you – our faculty, our staff, our students, our alumni, and our friends – to reinforce this message. In the days ahead, we will tell you how to become involved – how to communicate with our elected officials.
I have also been meeting privately with legislative leaders from other areas of the state. In the next few months, we will urge our students from outside our region to get involved.
We will urge them and their families to call their elected representatives. We will wage this advocacy campaign from Pikeville to Paducah.
This effort will not be easy. And, as I have learned over the past two years, this effort will not always be pleasant.
But I know this: the change that we are seeking is in the best interests of all students and families and taxpayers in our Commonwealth. Not just our students. It is right and it is just for all of the people of Kentucky.
And I believe this: when a cause is right and just, we can and we will prevail.
So, let me conclude with this personal pledge to you – to all of our students, our faculty, and our staff: I will continue to demand that we receive the financial resources that we need to serve our students – to support their ambitions, to help them achieve their dreams.
I cannot guarantee that I will succeed.
But I can promise you this – I will not stop. I will do all in my power to deliver a result that you deserve.. .