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Earl D. Brooks, II, Tri-State University
August 14, 2002
Good Morning – Welcome back to the start of the 2002-2003 academic
year. Another summer and another year has quickly expired on us. Yet today,
we cannot help but be filled with the excitement of the start of another
school year – students filing into the empty rooms and parking spaces
on campus, the start of classes, intramural activities, athletic practices
and competition, cafeteria lines and the list goes on. Students bring
the institution to life; the sole reason for our very existence as an
institution and it is their involvement and our interaction with them
that gives us direction in determining and planning for our future.
The image of a college may be as simple and solitary as an individual
student walking across the campus or as complex and diverse as a crowded
dining hall. Sometimes, like our campus, it is tranquil, pensive, serene,
and beautiful. At other times, it is active, energetic and dynamic, like
any number of classroom discussions every day every semester. Each image
of Tri-State University we call to mind reveals something about the University,
about its past and present, about our campus and facilities, about out
mission and goals, and most importantly, about our people. This is what
we should seek to discern about our institution, to communicate to our
constituents, and to shape a vision for our University and its future.
None of us has a crystal ball. None of us can foresee the future. We cannot
predict what will happen tomorrow, let alone several years into the future.
So, what we must accomplish without the benefit of prescience or fortune
telling, is do our best to analyze the challenges of today, prepare for
developments we anticipate for tomorrow, and prepare for the future years.
In spite of our successes, we cannot postpone decisions today on the
assumption that they will take care of themselves tomorrow. We have made
tremendous strides in strategic planning, assessment, improving our enrollment
management processes, developing a tenure document for review, initiating
the movement of Tri-State from an undergraduate to graduate degree granting
institution, initiating the plans for a new capital campaign, entering
the NCAA exploratory year and continuing to expand our partnership/affiliations
such as those with the Plastics Technology Center, Glen Oaks Community
College, Bethel College, Northeast Indiana Innovation Center and others.
There are additional opportunities posed to us in a potential affiliation
with the University of Indianapolis and the new broadban initiative supported
by the Cole Foundation that gives us interactive capability with all the
high schools in Steuben County. We must continue to expand and take full
advantage of these and other external opportunities to fully realize our
purpose, mission and to fulfill our service and obligation to the tri-state
region. Our greatest opportunities for growth and expansion will come
as a result of our reaction to the market and expanding our capabilities
to serve outside of the walls of our main campus.
Yet we cannot rest on the laurels of our success. Put in the words of
Will Rogers, "Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll
get run over if you just sit there." Postponement is the essence
and legacy of many problems in American higher education regarding low
salaries, insufficient faculty and staff development, deferred maintenance,
small endowments, and insufficient resources for scholarships and operating
expenses. We could spend hours complaining about problems in higher education,
or more specifically what we perceive as problems at TSU. Or, (and preferably)
we can take a more productive course and suggest some solutions to the
challenges we face today. As John F. Kennedy once said: "There are
risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the
long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction." Or in the words
of John Paul Jones: "He who will not risk, cannot win."
We need to do more than just act on the problems and challenges we face
today. We also must look at the challenges of higher education today through
the prism of tomorrow. We need to design solutions to challenges that
help us meet present needs. But we also must anticipate the needs and
requirements of the future. We need to expand our willingness to think
ahead of the curve, outside of the box and into the future.
We must take pride in and embrace our history and accomplishments as
an institution. We must accentuate our positive attributes, we must not
accept mediocrity, we must raise the bar on our expectations and our own
personal expectations, we must work with a sense of urgency, we must make
tougher decisions, we must provide strong leadership as well as management
and use much more discipline and control in the process. If we all take
these principles seriously, our desired future and opportunities will
be realized.
We need to collectively invest in, implement and market the plans of
our institution. Based on our strategic planning and other new initiatives
we must turn our time and attention during this upcoming year to the attainment
of the following goals:
1. We must plan, develop and implement a thorough campus wide retention
effort immediately. I applaud the efforts of Drs. Dolores Tichenor and
Jean Deller who over the summer have jump-started this process. Our retention
plan should have been developed and implemented YESTERDAY. Retention is
all of our responsibility and I ask that each office and every department
develop goals, strategies and solutions that contribute to an overall
improved institutional retention effort that will be presented to the
Student Life Committee of the board of trustees in October.
2. "A Vision for the Future" – Tri-State University’s
new capital campaign plans are well underway. There has been over $10.1
million worth of activity toward the campaign since June 1 of last year
in pledges, gifts, estate plans and federal support. I also want to express
my sincere "thank you" and my appreciation for your efforts
and support. Last year the participation from you, the faculty and staff,
increased from 38% to 70%. Thank You! Now and for the next 16 months,
we have a golden opportunity thanks to the generosity and support of the
Lilly Endowment. They will match dollar for dollar up to $250,000 from
our faculty and staff (current and former). $250,000 can become $500,000.
Your personal contribution will have a tremendous impact in the campaign
and give you an opportunity to express your commitment to the vitality
and success of Tri-State University. The Lilly initiative is a unique,
rare opportunity that TSU must take full advantage of. We can realize
up to $4.5 million in match money from our constituencies – board,
alumni, friends, parents, faculty and staff. You know where our efforts
and energies must be directed.
3. Our Enrollment Management plans continue to progress
The number of new students is right on pace with last fall’s class
which is quite an accomplishment given the state of the economy, and the
fact that nearly 300 applications were withdrawn or denied admission because
we raised the bar on the minimum SAT score (850) and given the fact that
our athletic staff has survived the first year of the NCAA III impact
by recruiting new students without the benefit of athletic scholarship.
A special "thanks" also to those involved in the enrollment
efforts of our evening program and branch centers which continue to experience
modest growth. We appreciate your efforts.
4. As a good business practice, earlier this year, I with the cooperation
of the Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees asked an independent
consultant to evaluate Tri-State’s financial controls, business
policies and practices, and information flows to higher management and
the Board. The University has also appointed a new audit firm, BKD, LLC
of Fort Wayne to complete the requirements for the annual Certified Financial
Statements. BKD’s assignment began at the end of this past fiscal
year ending, May 31, 2002. We have also appointed John Lynch as the Vice
President for Finance and Jody Greer as our new Controller.
As a result of the combined efforts of the consultant, the University
staff and the audit team certain practices related to the classification
of assets have been changed to match contemporary accounting standards.
Such classification practices do not impact the overall financial condition
of the University.
These changes in policy, processes and procedures do not affect the financial
capability of the University. The University remains strong and resourceful
and will continue to build a solid future by serving the educational needs
of the greater tri-state area that it has been successfully serving for
over one hundred eighteen years. The intent of these changes is to bring
about a clearer understanding of our institutional finances and put into
place a plan of action to reduce our indebtedness and better secure our
future.
I ask for your continued effort, support and patience as we revise format,
policy and process to address and improve our financial standing and reduce
our indebtedness. In the words of United States Senator Even Bayh who
I met and heard speak yesterday morning in relation to consumer spending
and budget matters, "fiscal responsibility matters".
5. We have now been accepted and enter into the NCAA Exploratory year
as part of our continued transition and pursuit of NCAA Division III.
I "thank" Sheila Kovalchik for accepting the challenge and taking
the reigns of our athletic department to lead this transition and the
department to new heights. This time next fall we will be entering into
a full slate of competition in all sports with the Michigan Intercollegiate
Athletic Association.
6. This fall for the first time in our 118-year history, Tri-State University
will offer graduate level courses applicable to the Master of Science
degree in Engineering Technology. I am proud of the fact that the Higher
Learning Commission of the North Central Association recently elevated
Tri-State from an undergraduate to a graduate-degree granting institution.
Our plans are underway to hire another full-time, doctorally-prepared
faculty member as soon as possible with the expectation to receive full
program approval by the end of the fall semester.
This fall until we are fully staffed we have NCA approval to offer up
to 12 hours of graduate level courses. Special thanks to Dr. Tom Enneking,
Dr. David Finley, Ed Nagle, Dave Wagner and Dr. Alice Frantz for all of
their hard work and support to bring this to fruition. This is a significant
step for Tri-State University.
7. I am pleased to announce the elevation of Student Life within the
organizational structure and "thank" Dr. Jean Deller for her
willingness to assume the role as Vice President for Student Life. This
moves us one step closer to completing the organizational structure I
desired upon my arrival but most importantly, it places the emphasis and
attention on student life that it so richly deserves on this campus. The
Student Life Team will be reviewing policy, procedure, process, retention,
residential life, commuter life, Greek life, and fully integrating student
life with academic life, intercollegiate athletics and other activities
across our institution.
Also, as we open next week – take the opportunity to tour our residence
halls. Residence halls on this campus look the best they have in years.
All rooms in all residence halls have been painted, doors/locks repaired,
replaced window screens, new stair treads, new entrance overhangs with
lighting and lettering and each lounge recarpeted with new furnishings
and decorations due to the generosity of Ralph and Sheri Trine along with
barbeque grills and picnic tables installed in the lawn areas behind each
residence hall.
I would like to express a special thanks to our campus operations staff
(maintenance, custodial and grounds) for all of their hard work and preparation
that allows us to put our best foot forward to meet parents and students
this weekend.
8. I also would like to announce the appointment of two very important
faculty committees this morning – each being challenged to review
the current status and format of a specific academic area over the course
of this year. Those committees are:
1.) Ad Hoc Accelerated Learning Committee (chaired by Dr. Alice Frantz)
– being asked to review and make recommendations regarding the current
format and programs offered in our adult and evening program. We need
to take a serious look at the potential of accelerating our delivery in
these programs in order to remain competitive. In addition, Dennis Banas,
David Brown, Cliff Gjertson, Dan Matthews, John Morin and Jeff Sherlock
have agreed to serve. Thank you for your commitment to this effort and
review.
2.) General Education/Studies Committee (chaired by Dr. Dolores Tichenor)
– being asked to review and make recommendation regarding the current
general studies requirements taken by all students at Tri-State University.
Quite frankly, (and I have felt this way for some time), our general studies/education
need review and immediate attention – they are minimal. We should
consider a language requirement, a health/wellness requirement, a global
requirement, a full year of English composition and be more specific in
our offerings with fewer options and less flexibility. We should develop
a true liberal art/general education core.
Finally, I would say, this is a time for celebration at Tri-State University.
This year we celebrate 100 years of Excellence in Engineering –
our theme for homecoming and really our theme for the year. We have much
to celebrate and much to be thankful for at Tri-State University. As we
celebrate this year, let us be mindful of our accomplishments and what
got us here – a vision/plan, implementation, hard work, determination,
leadership, a sense of urgency, discipline, control, tough decisions,
raising the bar on our expectations and not accepting mediocrity.
These are the same work ethics that will continue to cause reason for
celebration and that will help us in meeting our challenges for the future.
My hope and desire is for each of you to have an outstanding year!
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