Convocation 2009
State of the University
Dr. (Hank) Bounds, thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with us. We look forward to your leadership and your vision even as we move through these difficult economic times. It has been a pleasure to have you visit our campus in your official capacity as Commissioner, but we all hope you will always feel at home at Southern Miss. Please return as often as you can.
Pablo Picasso once said: "Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success."
Southern Miss has a plan. As a result of the campus dialogues held in the fall of 2007, four strategic goals clearly emerged. It was obvious that our faculty, staff, and alumni did fervently believe that Southern Miss should foster a climate for academic success, connect better with community, promote our image nationally and develop a culture of healthy minds, bodies and campuses.
Then during the 2008-09 academic year, the University Strategic Planning Committee concentrated on refining those overarching goals and defining metrics that would allow us to measure our current standing and to monitor the progress we are making each year. Those metrics serve as our annual report card as we clearly define our strengths and highlight the areas that need improvement.
So how are we doing?
First, as we measure our climate for academic success I note that last year we awarded 2,374 undergraduate degrees and 863 graduate degrees. This reflects an increase over the previous year.
As we expected, our 2009 six-year graduation rate shows a 4% decrease. This is an unhappy result from the effects of Hurricane Katrina on this cohort group. Still, completion to graduation is an important measure of our ability to educate our students, and we will look to our retention efforts to turn those numbers around--and retention numbers look promising.
Our first year retention rates are up 2% since last fall--and that's good news. We are turning freshmen into sophomores. This figure reflects the importance of nurturing and guiding our students as we teach.
Another metric we are using to evaluate our climate for academic success is the student satisfaction inventory results. As we evaluate our students' satisfaction with instructional effectiveness, campus climate, student centeredness, and safety and security, we look at the difference between the level of satisfaction in these areas and the level of importance our students place on them. Our students are reporting an increase in satisfaction in all these categories over last year, and there is a strong correlation between our students' satisfaction and their perceived importance of each area. Can we do even better? I feel certain that we can.
As we measure our connections with community, I see that student volunteer hours have jumped dramatically--from 35,000 to 42,000 last year. According to Department of Labor figures, that translates into approximately $750,000 in equivalent contributions to our community. We continue to attract people to our campus for various events. Overall ticket sales are up for Arts & Athletics events.
As we embrace a culture of healthy minds, bodies and campuses, I was pleased to note increased use of the Payne Center by our faculty and staff. The Eagle bikes are still on the road, with more on the way to meet the high demand. Our electrical usage is down, and our new recycling program has taken off with an increase of 1,500 recycled units.
As we attempt to capture good measures of visibility, it was rewarding to note the national attention we have received from our visit to Omaha for the College World Series, our "mystery gift," and the remarkable work of our National Center for Spectator Sport Safety & Security and our Polymer Science and Engineering Program, to name only a few.
While our overall strategic goals and metrics have been defined for the entire University, we are now ready for each division within the University to develop division-related goals within each appropriate area of strategic focus. I hope that you are already hearing about this planning in your divisions and that you will be involved and committed in defining those goals that your division wishes to attain by 2015.
Our strategic goals must rest on the solid foundations of enrollment planning, fiscal integrity, facilities and resource allocation. We are working hard to incorporate transparent and sound principles in each of these areas. Many of you have worked long and hard on our strategic enrollment, strategic budgeting and campus master plan groups, and your work is already beginning to show results. Please know these are not closed processes. Anyone who would like to participate in this type of planning can have a voice.
Even as we have struggled to find areas to reduce our budget, we have done so with an eye toward building models that will make us stronger financially. I have asked the Provost to champion the cause by appointing a University Budget Planning Group to move forward on the recommendations of our Strategic Budget Planning Task Force.
The vital signs of the university are good, and we are doing everything we can to keep it that way. The key to our current and future success is the good work--not of the president or executive cabinet--but of you. Schools across the country with a lot more money than we have are not enjoying record enrollment--but we are.
Our external research dollars are up. I have heard Dr. (Cecil) Burge say that his goal is to go out like Corky Palmer. He wants to win the "world series" of research funding this fall before he retires. He tells me the first quarter of this year alone promises a 27% increase over the first quarter of last year. He told me earlier today that as of that moment, they have booked $33 million for the quarter. His hard-working staff will be processing all day, and the number will grow.
Schools with many more resources than we have are not boasting increases in research--but we are.
Our private giving is up 176%. That figure includes the $6 million dollar gift we received last year, but even if you remove that, we are still up 22% over the previous year. In a bad economy, that speaks well of the devotion of our friends. In a bad year, schools with more established development units are not seeing any increases in private giving--but we are.
And … we're still building buildings. The recent ribbon-cutting of the Ogletree House was especially rewarding because it reflected all that is good about Southern Miss … a true labor of love. We'll be opening both the Trent Lott Center and the first phase of The Garden, our Innovation & Commercialization Park, soon, and that will kick start a renewed commitment to economic development. Our Master Plan reflects strategies to meet our space needs as quickly and efficiently as possible.
In reflecting on these things … just for today … congratulate yourselves on all that we have accomplished together over the past year.
Now hear me well … we are going to get through these present troubles, and we are going to be a stronger university for it. But we are facing a new reality. The economic pressures we are feeling are unlike any we have ever experienced. We will not just get past them and go back to business as usual. We will be changed by them, and, if we are smart, we will be changed for the better.
Looking Ahead
And what will that look like, you may ask. I'm reminded of a story I once heard about the great sculptor Michelangelo, who was asked to explain how he made his statue of the Biblical King David, one of the world's most remarkable works of art. "It's easy," Michelangelo is reported to have said. "You just chip away all the stone that doesn't look like David."
I think that may be an apt analogy to our current processes. We are shaping Southern Miss for its next 100 years … and we are doing it thoughtfully, carefully and with great love.
None of us has a crystal ball, but I'm pretty sure the new Southern Miss will include more projects like:
- The Speaking and Writing Centers
- More top rankings for graduating successful athletes
- More recognition, through high pass rates, for our professional programs
- More Goldwater, Marshall, Truman, and maybe even Rhodes Scholars
- More global outreach through our International Education Program and activities through programs like the newly formed Center for Logistics, Trade and Transportation.
- More NSF Career Awards
- More positive national visibility
- More service to the community through volunteering our time and sharing our knowledge and our wealth
- More recognition for our long-established programs like the Governor's Award for Leadership in the Arts
- More healthy minds and bodies enjoying an environmentally sustainable campus
We have visionary leadership at the department and college level. With that, if we continue on the course we have set for ourselves, we will have:
- Increased enrollment of the highest achieving students in the state
- The best music education program in the region
- The largest array of nursing programs in the region
- The distinction of preparing most of the new teachers in the state
- Domination of research on the Gulf of Mexico
- The state's designated business college
- A faculty and staff who are paid market-worthy salaries
… And the list goes on. We can do this … and we are closer than you may think.
In closing, let me tell you how very proud I am to work alongside you every day. The success of this university is a credit to your dedication and hard work. Even when we don't communicate as well as we might and even when we don't agree, I appreciate your willingness to come to the table and discuss the issues of the day and resolve our issues together.
As we adjourn after the singing of our alma mater, let me thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you do for our students, for our university, and for each other.
