Sept. 23, 2016

Dear Colleagues:

I have received many positive comments from students, parents and employees about the warm, hospitable spirit and successful start of the new academic year. I am grateful for the way you embody community as you work together to welcome our new and returning students. Although it is early in the semester, I am pleased to provide this update regarding enrollment, giving and other campus news.

Annual Plan for 2016-17

At Community Day, I highlighted the key themes and priorities of Messiah College’s Strategic Plan for 2016-2010 “Embracing Change as Opportunity.” Attached you will find the College’s Annual Plan that outlines the specific timelines and action plans that we will be implementing during the 2016-17 academic year to accomplish strategic goals.

Enrollment snapshot

We are grateful for strong undergraduate and graduate enrollment as we initiate the new academic year. Fall “snapshot day” on Sept. 13 reported that Messiah College’s total fall undergraduate and graduate enrollment headcount is 3,305 students (holding steady from last year with a positive increase of three students).

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2016: Undergraduate headcount for the fall semester was finalized at 2,788 students with.

  • 685 new, first-time students versus goal of 675 (+10)
  • 80 transfer students versus goal of 82 (-2)
  • 2,673 fall financial full-time equivalent (FFTE) versus goal of 2,692 (-19)

Some encouraging statistics about our fall 2016 undergraduate enrollment include the following:

  • A 14 percent ratio of underrepresented students (96 students) entered as new students.
  • A 5.5 percent ratio of international students (38 students) newly enrolled this fall.
    • Key partnerships we recently established in Malaysia and Vietnam, outreach efforts in China and the implementation of our Academic English Program have helped us increase the global diversity among our incoming class.
  • A 12.8 percent ratio of underrepresented (358 students) undergraduate students are enrolled (this is our highest rate on record since 1975!)
  • A 4.6 percent ratio of international (128 students) undergraduate students are enrolled (this is our highest rate on record since 1975!)
  • 86.7 percent fall 2015 transfer cohort retention to second year (this is Messiah’s highest rate on record since 1989!)

Graduate enrollment: Fall snapshot day reported graduate enrollment at 517, compared to 483 students a year ago (+34). Additionally, we have reached 48 percent of the credit hours budgeted for the current fiscal year, and are on target to meet the overall graduate enrollment goal for FY17. Compared to last year at this time, we have:

  • 19 more new students (162 this year versus 143 last year);
  • 52 more unduplicated students (559 this year versus 507 last year);
  • 319 more credit hours (3,393 this year versus 3,620 last year).

Speaking of graduate programs, Darlene Perez-Brown, director of the Graduate Program in Occupational Therapy, and Valerie Olson, director of the Graduate Program in Physical Therapy, and their teams have been diligently working to submit all the necessary documents related to accreditation for Messiah’s occupational therapy program (scheduled to begin in fall 2017) and physical therapy program respectively (slated to begin in fall 2018). We look forward to offering graduate students our mission-focused educational program in these important allied health professions.

Giving update

I am pleased to report that our current fundraising year continues the positive giving trends of FY16:

Overall Giving Messiah Fund / Operating
Sept. 15, 2016 Sept. 15, 2016
$ 2,208,557 $ 141,044
31% of June 30, 2017 goal 10% of June 30, 2017 goal

Messiah’s current fundraising priorities include:

 Campaign for Wellness: As we approach the conclusion of the fundraising campaign for the new fitness/wellness center, we are pleased to report that we have reached $5.9 million toward our $6.0 million goal (98 percent). We are confident that we will exceed our goal prior to the end of the campaign, which we hope to close at the October 2016 meeting of the Messiah College Board of Trustees. More than 250 trustees, alumni, parents and friends have invested in these highly anticipated new indoor athletics facilities; we are grateful for their generosity.

 Endowment Challenge: Over the past three years, the board of trustees has issued periodic challenges to the Office of Development to help raise additional endowment dollars, a key component of the College’s strategic plan. The purpose of these initiatives is to encourage donors to establish new scholarship funds for half of the fully vested dollar amount (i.e., a $12,500 gift creates a fully funded $25,000 named endowment because the matching challenge dollars make up the remaining half). After successfully completing the past three endowment campaigns, the board once again presented the challenge to raise another $250,000 in new endowment dollars by May 2017—and we are already nearing $50,000 in new commitments!

 The Messiah Fund: Each year, we seek to raise significant dollars for the Messiah Fund, which helps bridge the gap in the College’s operational budget—funding needs such as scholarship aid, academic equipment and other aspects of vital student programming—after tuition revenue and restricted gifts have been depleted. This year, we are launching a Messiah Fund initiative with the tagline “Generosity furthering Generations” toward a FY17 goal of $1.48 million. We are thankful for the generations of donors who faithfully give to our College through the Messiah Fund.

Introducing an outstanding High Center Season

Messiah is staging another exceptional High Center Season—including fall 2016 keynote lectures by filmmaker Ken Burns and Earl Lewis, president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Contemporary musical favorites Sleepy Man and Snarky Puppy perform in September and October—with a special performance of Faure Requiem in November by the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, joined by the Susquehanna Chorale and the Messiah College Concert Choir.

Spring 2017 highlights include Mezzo Soprano Kate Aldrich, the Humanities Symposium keynote lecture by author and legal scholar Michelle Alexander, and a special Holy Week performance of Franz Joseph Haydn’s “The Seven Last Words of Christ” for string quartet that includes musicians from the Mendelssohn Piano Trio. Both the fall and spring seasons include several performances by Messiah’s own artists- and ensembles-in-residence and our celebrated student and faculty ensembles. To view the entire 2016-2017 High Center Season schedule visit http://www.messiah.edu/highcenterseason.

While many of the High Center Season events are sponsored by the School of the Arts, students and faculty in that school also perform and exhibit a broader calendar of stellar music, theatre, dance and visual arts events which can be viewed at www.messiah.edu/arts-events.

Fitness center construction update

Since breaking ground in March, work is progressing steadily on the construction of the new fitness center addition and the renovations to the existing Sollenberger Sports Center. During the summer months, contractors moved forward with the foundation work and the installation of a portion of the steel for the new structure. This fall, work will include completing the erection of steel, enclosing the building and focusing on the area of the new gymnasium. While the schedule is slightly behind, Wohlsen Construction and the subcontractors continue to identify ways get the project back on schedule.

Good news about Messiah College

For more details about the special recognitions of Messiah College’s programs and people, visit messiah.edu/news, Messiah’s official Facebook page at facebook.com/MessiahCollege and the Bridge magazine www.messiah.edu/the_Bridge and the Intercom http://intercom.messiah.edu/ (the source sites for many of the below news items).

  •  U.S. News and World Report released its 2017 college rankings on Sept. 13, and Messiah College is proud to announce its placement on several lists:
    • Messiah is ranked #4 as the Best Regional College in the North.
    • We were ranked #3 on the list for Great School, Great Price (among regional colleges in the north).
      • #55 Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs in the U.S. –This is the highest position Messiah has obtained to date. We have been included on this list for the past four years; first appearing in the 2013 rankings.
    • Messiah is recognized as a “Programs to Look For” in the categories of “Internships/Co-ops” and “Study Abroad.”
    • Messiah also appears on the lists for:
      • Most International Students—Regional Colleges North
      • Most Students Studying Abroad
      • Highest Freshman Retention Rate—Regional Colleges North
      • Highest 6-Year Graduation Rate—Regional Colleges North
      • Highest Proportion of Classes with Fewer than 20 Students
      • Lowest Acceptance Rate—Regional Colleges North
    • To learn more about the full U.S. News and World Report’s college rankings, see here.
  • Raeann Hamon, professor of family science and gerontology, has been selected to receive the National Council on Family Relations’ 2016 Felix Berardo Mentoring Award in recognition of “the excellent mentorship you have provided to your students, your colleagues, and the field as a whole.” A committee of her professional peers selected Raeann to receive this award in recognition of her “outstanding leadership and excellence in mentoring.” She will receive her award later this year at the 2016 NCFR conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
  • A film produced by Messiah alumni entitled “There Were Giants” is being recognized at two film festivals—at both the regional and national levels. The film has been selected to be shown at the National Baseball Hall of Fame Festival in Cooperstown, New York, on Sept. 23-25. The week prior, the film will be featured at the Harrisburg-Hershey Film Festival on Sept. 17 at Midtown Cinema in Harrisburg. The film documents the profound story of The Harrisburg Giants, the first Eastern Negro League baseball team to integrate in 1954. Produced in conjunction with the Center for Public Humanities Student Fellows Program, the documentary features interviews with former players and local historians that reveal the Giant’s true history of racial reconciliation in an era of segregation. The film was produced by students in film, English, history and ethnic and area studies under the guidance of Assistant Professor of Film and Digital Media Nathan Skulstad.
  • Christian Universities Online recently named Messiah College the #6 best Christian college visual arts program. This ranking highlights institutions that are fully accredited and offer programs with unique features that causes it to stand out among other Christian colleges in terms the quality, value, and overall educational experience they have to offer.
  • This week Christian Universities Online also named Messiah College as a “10 Most Beautiful Colleges and Universities in the North 2017,” a listing which ranks CCCU schools on a variety of categories including continuity of campus, architectural style, signature buildings, and natural setting.

Athletics highlights

  • Messiah Athletics finished 29th among all NCAA Division III colleges and universities in the annual Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup. The ranking measures each institution’s performance in up to 18 different sports. This marked the 16th-straight season Messiah was among the top 35, and we were once again the leader among all institutions located within Pennsylvania.
  • Messiah women’s soccer is currently ranked No. 19 in Division III and Messiah men’s soccer is receiving votes in their respective Top 25 poll.
  • Riding a six-game winning streak, Messiah field hockey is now ranked No. 2 in Division III after defeating four other top 10 teams.
  • Messiah Athletics recently launched a new weekly feature entitled #WhyMessiah that seeks to highlight the personal stories and experiences of Falcon student-athletes, coaches, and community members. Fans are encouraged to follow the feature at GoMessiah.com/WhyMessiah.

In closing

Thank you for your commitment to Messiah’s mission. During these fall months, be sure to take time to cheer on the Falcons, attend an artistic performance, enjoy a guest lecture, or take a walk along the Yellow Breeches Creek. We are blessed to be working alongside each other as together we educate our students to serve, lead and reconcile.

Warm regards,

Kim S. Phipps

President