Dec. 15, 2015
Dear Colleagues and Students:
In recent weeks our community has enjoyed many wonderful Christmas concerts, traditions and celebrations. Yet, in the midst of these celebrations, our hearts have also been heavy as we witnessed continued turbulence, violence and injustice in our nation and our world. As a community of faith we look to the miracle of the incarnation during this Advent season―the coming of the Prince of Peace―and we are reminded to pray for and work toward peace and reconciliation on a daily basis. God calls us to be vessels of kindness and compassion and extend hospitality to all people at all times. May we be found to be faithful to that calling both with each other and with all of our neighbors.
Before we leave campus for Christmas break, I want to share with you an update of the College’s progress related to enrollment, master planning, giving and other campus-related news.
Enrollment snapshot
Undergraduate enrollment fall 2016: The undergraduate recruitment cycle for fall 2016 continues to be very positive for Messiah College. Student interest has been strong and we have had excellent attendance for individual and overnight campus visits, open houses and spotlight days. In fact, we have experienced a 5 percent increase in the overall number of prospective students visiting campus this fall. Additionally, applications and acceptances have been running ahead by approximately 8 percent. The chart below indicates where we are to-date compared to last year in the admissions cycle:
| Dec. 9, 2015 | Dec. 9, 2014 | |||||
| First-year Students | Fall 2016 | % to goal | Goal | Fall 2015 | % to final | Final |
| Inquiries | 26,662 | 95% | 28,000 | 26,425 | 94% | 28,037 |
| Applications | 2,022 | 75% | 2,700 | 1,858 | 75% | 2,469 |
| Acceptances | 1,324 | 66% | 2,000 | 1,218 | 62% | 1,950 |
| Active Deposits | 122 | 18% | 675 | 113 | 16% | 691 |
| Transfer Applications |
72 | 23% | 311 | 67 | 25% | 265 |
| Acceptances | 24 | 15% | 165 | 20 | 11% | 185 |
| Active Deposits | 0 | 0% | 85 | 0 | 0% | 83 |
Thank you to all who are working together to enthusiastically share the distinctives of a Messiah College education with prospective students and their families!
Graduate enrollment: We have achieved 75 percent of the credit hours budgeted for the current academic year. At this time, we are on target to meet the overall graduate credit hour goal for FY16. Compared to this time last year we have: 32 fewer new students (173 this year versus 205 last year) due to enrollment patterns in a few programs that are tracking differently than last year; but we are ahead 27 more unduplicated students across all programs (540 this year versus 513 last year); and we are ahead by 842 more credit hours (6,048 this year versus 5,206 last year).
The new Winding Hill facility for graduate programs
The College has entered a formal lease agreement with Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates to lease space at 401 E. Winding Hill Road in Mechanicsburg, located just off Route 15 near the PA Turnpike exchange. This space is being renovated to serve as the new home of several of our graduate programs. Graduate faculty from counseling, nutrition and dietetics, physical therapy and occupational therapy will have offices in this facility, and the academic and laboratory classes for the new physical and occupational therapy programs will be held at this site.
The design plans for renovations were recently completed and the construction work has been “put out for bid”. Renovations should begin on Feb. 1, 2016. In June 2016 the graduate faculty (from the programs listed above) will move into renovated office space. Plans are progressing well for the occupational therapy program to enroll their first class for coursework in the fall of 2017. During the 2016-2017 academic year, tours of the teaching and laboratory spaces in the building will serve as an important component of marketing the occupational and physical therapy programs.
Moving forward with campus master planning
We continue to make good progress with the College’s master planning initiative and the campus steering team has been actively participating in various sessions with Derck & Edson (the external consultant team leading the process). A campus space audit has been completed and the preliminary report was discussed with the steering team in early December. This information, along with the feedback from various campus groups, is contributing to a foundational understanding of future campus space needs for the upcoming decade. In January 2016, the steering team will continue its analysis and there will be a second opportunity for the campus community to provide feedback to the master planning process during the spring semester.
Giving update
This is the busiest time of the calendar year for the College related to institutional giving. We have raised more than $900,000 for the Messiah Fund (63 percent of June 30 goal) and over $5 million in total (71 percent of the June 30 goal). Not included in the current Messiah Fund total is a recent generous unrestricted property bequest.
Overall Giving
| Dec. 12, 2015 | Dec. 12, 2014 | Dec. 12, 2013 |
| $5,026,629 | $3,305,033 | $3,450,529 |
| 71% of June 30 goal | 55% of June 30 goal | 57% of June 30 goal |
Messiah Fund/Operating
| Dec. 12, 2015 | Dec. 12, 2014 | Dec. 12, 2013 |
| $902,539 | $944,478 | $567,520 |
| 63% of June 30 goal | 67% of June 30 goal | 42% of June 30 goal |
In addition to the Messiah Fund, recent updates on other priority projects include:
- Campaign for Wellness: As noted in previous updates, we have been diligently working to raise funds for the proposed fitness center and renovations to our current practice and competition gymnasiums. Our fundraising goal for the Campaign for Wellness is $6 million. Currently, we are at $5.2 million with a campaign deadline of May 2016. We continue to cultivate and nurture leadership gifts for this essential project. Just this past week we received a new $50,000 commitment for the campaign. The generosity of our donors is truly a blessing to our campus community!
- Endowment matching challenge: Based on the success of recent endowment matching challenges, the College’s board of trustees has authorized a new challenge for FY2016. For every new scholarship endowment commitment secured before June 30, 2016, unrestricted funds have been set aside to match the new endowment “dollar-for-dollar” up to $250,000. A gift of $25,000 is typically required to launch a new Messiah scholarship endowment. This challenge enables a donor to establish a new scholarship endowment for $12,500 (because the remaining $12,500 is contributed by the matching endowment funds).
Recently, the development office met with a retired employee who plans to establish a new scholarship endowment here at Messiah College. She commented that she deeply believes in our mission and values even 20 years after her retirement. Whether it is former employees, current employees, alumni, parents, grandparents, community leaders or friends, we are grateful for all who seek to advance our efforts through meaningful and significant charitable gifts.
Good news about Messiah College
Here is a sample of some recent highlights about the success and recognition of Messiah College’s programs and people. For more details visit messiah.edu/news, Messiah’s official Facebook page at facebook.com/MessiahCollege and the Bridge magazine www.messiah.edu/the_Bridge (the source sites for many of the below news items).
- Messiah College is one of only 27 colleges and universities in the U.S. selected to receive grant funding from the Department of Justice that will be used to enhance victim services and develop programs to prevent, investigate and respond to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking on campus. Messiah will use the nearly $300,000 in grant funding over the course of the next three years to conduct mandatory prevention and education programming for all incoming students and to train campus law enforcement and all members of campus disciplinary boards to respond effectively to these issues. Thank you to Amanda Coffey, vice president for human resources; Cindy Burger director of safety; Victoria Johnson, human resources coordinator; and Erin Beck, grants manager, for their diligent effort to secure these significant resources that will help enhance the safety and wellbeing of our campus community.
- Thank you to those who voted for Messiah alum Kay See Tan in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) Young Alumni Award. The Messiah community’s support advanced Kay See to the final round and, as a finalist, her story will be featured in an upcoming issue of the CCCU’s Advance magazine. “We launched this award specifically to recognize the good work Christian colleges and universities are doing in preparing men and women to make an impact in the world right after they graduate, and it’s an honor to recognize Kay See Tan in this way. … Having Messiah’s enthusiastic support for this initial launch of the award has really helped make it a success, and we look forward to continuing to recognize the world-changing things CCCU alumni are doing in the name of Christ through this award for years to come,” writes Shirley Hoogstra, J.D., President, Council For Christian Colleges & Universities.
- Messiah is pleased be ranked #9 on the list of Top 50 Christian Colleges and Universities Exceeding Expectations for 2016. This ranking highlights schools which have proven to go above and beyond when it comes to students’ academic achievements. Each school on this list has significantly surpassed its predicted graduation rate, showing that care has been taken to enhance their students’ academic careers from acceptance through graduation.
Athletics highlights
Below are some recent postseason highlights from Messiah Athletics. Visit www.GoMessiah.com – the source for the stories below and for the Falcons’ most current scores, announcements and team-specific news.
- Messiah women’s soccer completed their incredible season with a run into the National Semifinal. The Falcons tied Washington University 1-1 before dropping a narrow shootout decision, 3-2. This marked the Falcons’ 11th trip to the NCAA Final Four, and they finished with a MAC Commonwealth title and an unbeaten record of 22-0-3 for the second-straight season. Congratulations on a fantastic season!
- Messiah field hockey completed their season with a MAC Commonwealth title and a run into the NCAA Elite 8 where they lost to TCNJ by a 4-2 score. This marked Messiah’s 15th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance (29th overall).
- Jared Schatz became the first Messiah Falcon in five years to represent the Cross Country program at the NCAA Championships. He traveled to Wisconsin where he placed 85th among the field of 278 runners.
- The following Falcons earned All-American distinction during the fall athletic season:
- Nikki Elsaesser, Women’s Soccer
- Macaulay Soto, Women’s Soccer
- Jacob Bender, Men’s Soccer
- Danny Rowe, Men’s Soccer
- Carissa Gehman, Field Hockey
- Jane Underman, Volleyball
- Kristen Douglas, Volleyball
- Brooke Gallagher, Volleyball
- Emily Zellers, Volleyball
- Messiah wrestling is currently No. 7 in Division III as a team, and four different Falcons are ranked within the top-10 of their respective weight classes: Lucas Malmberg (No. 1, 125), Derek Beitz (No. 6, 174), Josh Thomson (No. 3, 184), and Kyle Koser (No. 8, 197).
- Messiah women’s swimming earned a No. 32 ranking in November’s College Swimming Top 50 listing―the highest-ever ranking for the Falcons.
In closing
Kelly and I wish you a blessed Christmas season filled with opportunities to celebrate the birth of the Christ child―the Lord of Lords and the Prince of Peace. May each of you experience time for rest, reflection and renewal in the company of your family and loved ones.
Merry Christmas and a very happy new year,
Kim S. Phipps, President