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Introduction
The Executive Editor of The Sun Herald in Biloxi, Mississippi, wrote words that were reprinted in The Charlotte Observer last Sunday: “There was a gas station on Highway 49 where dozens of cars lined up for gasoline. Separately, there was a line at the front door. Like others, I stopped for gas. After a while, I asked someone if there was gas. They told me no, and furthermore that the next closest gas station with gasoline was in Jackson. The line at the front door was not moving, and indeed I do not believe the station was actually open. When asked ‘Why are we in line?’ the man at the end of the line said, ‘I don’t know.’” (Stan Tiner)
We have all been captured by our television sets as we watch the human agony and turmoil created by Hurricane Katrina and the flooding that followed. Other than the obvious and direct threat to life, the “not knowing” what was happening and when help would arrive was apparently the most damaging factor to the resolve of those fighting for survival.
In no way do I compare the challenges facing Greensboro College with those facing reconstruction in the Gulf Coast region. But I do agree so very much with the sentiments expressed by the editor of the Biloxi newspaper that “not knowing” is the most disruptive force to maintaining morale and determination. Our purpose when we began this State of the College presentation 10 years ago was to be sure we all knew the same things. That remains our purpose.
Students
Our enrollment at the end of drop/add was 1246, compared with 1244 last year. The new student recruitment this year was similar to last year, yet with different outcomes. Travel season produced strong interest in the College, resulting in more than 17,000 inquiries. For the 5th consecutive year, Greensboro College had a growing applicant pool. Applications for admission increased 3 percent over last year, a 50 percent increase in the past 5 years to a record high of 1328. We had more acceptances this year than we had applications in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
Although interest in Greensboro College was at its peak this year, the competition for our most desired students became increasingly difficult. Students who were accepted at first-choice schools resulted in many of our applicants leaving our process early, during February and March, for other schools. This is a new problem for us and will require new solutions. Attracting our desired students earlier in the admissions process requires a more competitive scholarship program and programs at all levels that generate interest. This will be the charge to our campus community this year, even as we begin the process of converting to the 4 x 4 class format.
Most colleges would like to be able to be more selective in admitting students. Two years ago we accepted 79 percent of those who applied. This fall we accepted only 68 percent. The direction of this trend is positive. We have denied admission to 118 students, which is 18 percent more than last year. It is a stronger class academically, but there are also budget implications to the increasing selectivity.
Let’s consider how strong academically this new class is. Eleven percent of the freshman class has been invited to be in the George Center for Honors Studies Program. That is up from 7 percent last year who qualified for the Honors Program. The average academic profile of our honor students remains extremely strong with a 4.20 GPA and an average SAT of 1232. The academic profile for regular admits represents a slight increase over last year – the average high school grade point average was 3.3 with an average SAT of 1011. (This is up from last year’s 3.1 GPA and 1009 SAT.)
The male-to-female ratio of this entering class is 51 percent male and 49 percent female. Minority students make up 11 percent of the class. In the entering class, 20 percent are Baptist, 19 percent are Methodist and 16 percent are Catholic.
The top 10 schools in our cross application pool this year included three private colleges and seven public universities. The competition for our students came in this order: UNCG, East Carolina, Guilford, Elon, Appalachian, High Point, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Wilmington, NC A&T, Western Carolina and UNC-Chapel Hill.
Geographically, the entering class comes from 28 states, the District of Columbia and 13 nations. The top five states in number of students are North Carolina: 926; Virginia: 70; Maryland: 58; New Jersey: 31; and New York: 18. The percentage of students from out of state remained the same as in 2004 at 38 percent.
Adult Education grew from 368 to 375 as of the end of drop/add. The Executive Bachelor’s Program has an increase from 22 students last fall to 38 students this fall. Our graduate programs have had an increase from 56 last fall to 99 this fall. These graduate students include 65 Master of Education or A plus candidates and 34 Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
The 2005 graduating senior survey results have been compiled. Eighty-four percent of the class said they would attend Greensboro College if they had to do it all over again; 54 percent were employed as of graduation day; 12 percent are attending graduate school; 47 percent plan to stay in the Triad area; and, 55 percent completed an internship during their time at the College.
Sixty-six percent of last year’s freshmen returned as sophomores – slightly more than our 10-year average of 65 percent. There are 536 residents living on campus this fall. This is a decrease from last year and has budget implications for us.
Three new Success Centers are being established in the residence halls. Residential students will be able to access academic support “on their time” instead of on our time. Academic resources, tutors, study groups and academic success related programs and services will be housed in these areas.
Faculty
We have four new individuals on our faculty this year — two visiting professors in math and computer science, and one professor in English and TESOL. We added a new professional librarian position who also holds faculty status.
With the addition of new faculty this year, our full-time faculty now hold degrees from 101 different institutions. This is an exceptional statistic to celebrate. To think that opinions and perspectives from 101 different centers of higher education, with all the diversity that represents, can be brought to one small liberal arts college with only 65 full-time faculty.
We are happy to welcome back to service three faculty who were away on sabbatical last year: Dr. Charles Hebert, Professor Ray Martin and Dr. Marcia Reinholtz.
We also celebrate the promotions of Dr. Jonathan Brotherton to Professor of Music; Dr. Cheryl Brown to Professor of Sociology; Dr. Stuart Davidson to Professor of Mathematics; Professor David Fox to Associate Professor of Music; Dr. Lisa Gunther-LaVergne to Professor of Psychology; Dr. Wayne Harrison to Professor of Chemistry; Dr. Kathleen Keating to Professor of English and Communication Studies; and Professor Robin Monteith to Associate Professor of Theatre.
Prime Minister Tony Blair has said, in this new economy, “Talent is the 21st-century wealth.” I agree with Mr. Blair and recognize that with the talent we have on this faculty and staff we are truly a wealthy institution.
Academic Affairs
Summer enrollment in 2005 continued a trend of increasing numbers of students and an even greater increase in the total number of credit hours taken. From 2003 to 2005, the number of traditional students taking classes in the summer went from 93 to 132. The number of adult education students went from 198 to 216. Graduate students went from 63 to 116. The total headcount went from 385 to 489, a 27 percent increase. The total hours taken went from 2784 to 4164, almost a 50 percent increase.
The State Library of North Carolina has awarded Greensboro College a grant in the amount of $10,000 through its “Strengthening Public and Academic Library Collections Grant.” The grant is funded by the Library Services and Technology Act, which distributes federal money to libraries and museums. We will use the money to buy more print books for the Curriculum Materials Center, a library collection that focuses on teacher education.
In a highly competitive program, Greensboro College was one of 78 institutions out of 145 applicants to be selected to participate in one of three Transformation of the College Library Workshops. The workshops are being offered by the Council of Independent Colleges in collaboration with the National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education. The three-day workshop will focus on the dramatic changes now occurring in college libraries and are intended to help small and mid-sized colleges and universities deal successfully with those changes. The programs will address such critical issues as advancing information literacy as an element of liberal education; the role of the library in teaching and learning through collaboration between librarians and faculty members; the changing use and conception of physical space of the library; and the challenges of using technology in improving students learning, among other things.
Dr. Shirley Smith, Professor of Education, working with several faculty from UNC-G, received $5,000 in funding from USTEP (University School Teacher Education Partnership) for a project that will provide mini-grants for National Board Certified Teachers (NBCT) in the Piedmont Triad to conduct action research in their classrooms. Some of these teachers will also be piloting an online action research-training module. The project will culminate with an end-of-year symposium to showcase the results of NBCT action research projects, which will be held at Greensboro College on April 25, 2006.
Financial Affairs
The total operating budget of the college last year was $24.3 million. Our budget for this year is up 7.3 percent — $26.1 million. This year’s budget was based upon an average of 760 FTE students for the academic year. Historically, our spring enrollment has been 91 percent of the fall enrollment. We did not meet our target fall enrollment. We were approximately 25 students short. So we must do all we can to retain more than 91 percent in the spring and thus offset the fall shortfall. The potential impact of this on the budget is $840,000, based on preliminary projections.
We have identified ways to meet that challenge. The firm declaration I have made to the Chief Financial Officer is that I do not want us to affect those savings by across the board cuts in academic programs or by eliminating the salary increase planned for January 1, 2006. We cannot cut any more from our programs and our people need to have this planned increase. Our variance analysis has given us other ways to meet this challenge.
Institutional Advancement
The Campaign for Greensboro College: A Promise to Keep continues to move out to other people and other locations. So far we have kicked off campaigns in 10 cities. Everywhere I go, as we talk about this campaign and what it will do for us, I tell the people what you, the faculty and staff, have done for the college. I tell them that you have exceeded your goal of $300,000 and raised $311,296. They are impressed. I hope those of you who have not pledged will want to impress them some more.
Except for a few promising prospects, our campaigns in the original 10 cities are complete. As of Sept. 2, the total pledged to the campaign is $58.2 million. This year we are preparing to kick off campaigns in Northern Virginia, Tidewater, Virginia, Sandhills, North Carolina and Charlotte. This capital campaign must raise at least $1,250,000 to cover the debt service required by the campus expansion.
In addition to the Campaign for Greensboro College, our annual College Fund continues. We must raise at least $500,000 this year to cover ongoing operating expenses. It is necessary for both of these campaigns to run simultaneously along with a systematic program of Planned Giving.
At New Student Convocation you heard the announcement of a $4 million challenge opportunity for our Theatre Department. This effort will be called “Standing Ovation!” and it will be part of our larger “Promises” campaign. I am happy to tell you that Stephanie Holladay, a cum laude graduate of Greensboro College in 2003, will lead this campaign effort. Since graduation, Stephanie has been employed as an Equity actor by the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia. She attributes that instant job following graduation to the experiences she had here as an undergraduate and is enthusiastic about telling potential donors about the quality education she received here. She will begin with us in October. The Institutional Advancement office will have a busy year, indeed.
Conclusion
This State of the College report began with a poignant reminder of the importance of communication and the importance for all of us to be transparent in our business dealings. It is also important to be generous, loving and giving in our relationships with one another. I am very proud of the response we have initiated to the Katrina disaster by not only raising funds to be contributed to that cause, but also in giving the most precious thing we as a College can give: academic opportunity. As many of you know we have publicly announced that we will allow any undergraduate student affected by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast region to enroll tuition free for the 2005 Fall Semester, as space is available. These students will only be charged room and board — $3, 895. (Incidentally, I am happy to tell you that just this morning we received word that two sisters who had been pre-med students at Xavier University of Louisiana will be joining us tomorrow for classes. We will all want to welcome Lakisha and Lakita Entzmenger.)
In addition, contributions are being collected and will be sent to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief). These collections involve efforts by our Women’s softball team as well as other athletic teams both here and throughout our Conference, the office of Religious Life, Village 401 and our October 1 Souper Bowl football game with Guilford College. All across campus people continue looking for ways to provide aid and comfort to those affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Thank you for being part of Greensboro College 2005-2006. We will have a good year; we will deal with our challenges and we will open our doors to those who need what we can provide. May God bless our College and our cause.
Craven E. Williams
President
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