Sept. 27, 2017

Dear Colleagues:

We already have much to be thankful for in the past month since launching the new academic year. We have welcomed and moved-in our new and returning students, celebrated Family Weekend, and opened new facilities including the Falcon Fitness Center, the Larsen Finance Lab and the Frey Commuter Lounge. Classes, guest lectures, chapel, performances, athletic events, service projects and all of campus life is back in full swing! Thank you for all of the detailed preparation and effort you have invested into making the start of our new academic year a successful and hospitable one for our students. I’d like to take this opportunity to share with you some relevant updates on enrollment, giving, academic programs and other campus happenings.

 Enrollment snapshot

We are grateful for strong undergraduate and graduate enrollment as we initiate the new academic year. Fall “snapshot day” on Sept. 12 reported that Messiah College’s total fall undergraduate and graduate enrollment headcount is 3,331 students (holding steady from last year with a positive increase of 26 students).

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2017: Undergraduate headcount for the fall semester was finalized at 2,759 students with:

  • 665 new, first-time students versus goal of 675 (-10)
  • 93 transfer students versus goal of 86 (7)
  • 2,667 fall financial full-time equivalent (FFTE) versus goal of 2,668 (-1)

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

  • A 15 percent ratio of underrepresented students (100 students) entered as new students.
  • A 2.7 percent ratio of international students (18 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 13.2 percent ratio of underrepresented (364 students) undergraduate students are enrolled (this is our highest rate on record since 1975!)
  • A 4.7 percent ratio of international (131 students) undergraduate students are enrolled (this is our highest rate on record since 1975!)
  • 88 percent fall 2016 first-year cohort retention to second year—this was versus a goal of 87 percent (last year was 85.4 percent, last three-year average was 87 percent)
  • 80 percent fall 2016 transfer cohort retention to second year—this was versus a goal of 77 percent (last year was 86.7 percent, last three-year average was 80.8 percent)

Graduate enrollment: Fall snapshot day reported graduate enrollment at 572, compared to 517 students a year ago (+55). Additionally, we have reached 47 percent of the credit hours budgeted for the current fiscal year, and are on target to meet the overall graduate enrollment goal for FY18. Compared to last year at this time, we have:

  •  17 more new students (179 this year versus 162 last year);
  • 54 more unduplicated students (613 this year versus 559 last year);
  • 749 more credit hours (4,688 this year versus 3,939 last year).

FY18 Annual Plan status review

Linked below you will find documents which summarize a review of the strategic plan and the progress we made last academic year, and the annual plan document for the current academic year. Thank you for your commitment to achieving the strategic goals we have outlined for our college.

Annual Plan status update 2016-2017

Annual Plan  2017-2018

Prioritization and FY18 budget planning

The Prioritization Steering Committee and related task forces continue to meet to identify potential cost savings. I am grateful for their commitment of time to this important process. The net tuition revenue for FY18 is $300,000 under budget, so we are reviewing the prioritization goal (previously announced as $1.5 million) and the FY19 budget parameters in order to meet our FY18 and future targets of balanced budgets.

 News from the School of Graduate Studies

Doctor of Physical Therapy: In July, the College began publicly marketing and accepting applications for its Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree—a post-baccalaureate 110-credit, 3-year program curriculum that will launch its first annual cohort of students in August 2018. Early recruitment efforts are going well. Currently, the College has received 40 applications towards its enrollment goal of up to 36 students.

In late August, the College received notification that our regional accreditor, Middle States Commission on Higher Education, has approved our application to offer the DPT program. Continuing on our pathway to accreditation, in November 2017 we will submit the Application for Candidacy Status to the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, culminating in an onsite review to be scheduled for early 2018.

 Giving update

We completed FY17 on a positive fundraising note. We exceeded our overall FY17 fundraising goal of $7 million by reaching nearly $7.4 million. Further, FY18 is off to a strong start. This year, we are tracking both gifts in the door (as we always have) plus pledges donors are making to new projects and those they are making in their estate plans. While pledges in estate plans can be changed, donors typically do not alter their wills, etc., particularly when they have gone public with their intentions. All of the pledges we are tracking for estate plans have been documented with a form signed by the donors. As of Sept. 22, this total level of gifts is just over $2 million (see chart below).

Cash Gifts “In the Door”             Messiah Fund / Operating                         Cash Gifts and New Pledges

Sept. 22, 2017                                Sept. 22, 2017                                               Sept. 22, 2017

$ 2,001,096                                     $ 229,773                                                      $5,911,096

33% of June 30, 2018 goal           15% of June 30, 2018 goal                         54% of June 30, 2018 goal

Endowment challenge: Over the past four years, the board of trustees has issued periodic challenges 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). These challenges have yielded 62 new scholarship funds and a combined total of nearly $7 million in endowment. The board has again presented a new challenge to development staff to raise another $500,000 in endowment dollars by June 2018—and we are already nearing $200,000 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 vital aspects of student programming—after tuition revenue and restricted gifts have been depleted. Our FY18 goal is $1.5 million. Several activities are focused on helping to raise Messiah Fund dollars, including our annual Fall Phonathon and the annual Advent mailing, something that has become a meaningful tradition because of the involvement of several community members who provide the weekly meditations for the Advent season.

Create a Legacy 2018: In our continued efforts at encouraging trustees, former trustees, alumni, parents, and friends to include Messiah College in their wills or other related estate documents, we have added 48 individuals toward our goal of 100 new Heritage Society members by December 2018. Total membership in the Heritage Society currently stands at 591. Over the years, estate gifts have had a significant impact on the financial health of Messiah College and we are grateful for the way this form of giving helps better secure Messiah’s financial future.

 Upcoming facility dedications: Dedication events of new facilities are an important part of the College’s expression of gratitude to our donors. On Oct. 11, we will dedicate the Charles Frey Commuter Lounge followed by the Oct. 19th dedication of the Ralph S. Larsen Finance Lab and the Falcon Fitness Center and associated new and renovated indoor athletics facilities that comprised our successful Campaign for Wellness.

 Introducing an outstanding High Center Season

Messiah is staging another exceptional High Center Season—including fall 2017 keynote lectures by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham and historian and author Taylor Branch, winner of the 1999 National Humanities Medal. The distinctive Orpheus Chamber Orchestra performs in October—in addition to a special combined performance of the Mendelssohn Piano Trio and the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.

Spring 2018 highlights include operatic soprano Kathryn Lewek, the Humanities Symposium keynote lecture by celebrated author and activist Edwidge Danticat, and a special performance by the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra of Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms” and Bloch’s “Avodath Hakodesh” (Sacred Service), with the Messiah College Concert Choir, Messiah College Choral Arts Society and the Susquehanna Chorale.  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 2017-2018 High Center Season schedule visit 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 arts.messiah.edu.

Good news about Messiah College

Here is a sample of some recent highlights about the success 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 Dining Services is a six-time winner of the Annual Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association’s Excellence in Food Safety Award, which recognizes outstanding efforts in food safety and sanitation. The department will be recognized at an awards gala held in Pittsburgh on being held on Oct. 23. Congratulations to Director of Dining Services Mark Wirtz and his entire team!

Gladys Robalino, chair of the Department of Modern Languages and associate professor of Spanish, has authored a chapter of a new book, “Diversity Matters: Race, Ethnicity, and the Future of Christian Higher Education,” published this summer by Abilene Christian University Press and Leafwood Publishers. Dr. Robalino’s chapter explores “Navigating the Transition to Administrative Leadership.”

U.S. News and World Report released its 2018 college rankings on Sept. 5, 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).
  • Messiah is ranked #57 Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs in the U.S. We have been included on this list for the past five years, first appearing in the 2013 rankings.
  • Messiah is recognized as a “Programs to Look For” in the categories of “Internships” and “Study Abroad.”

 Athletics highlights

Below are some highlights since my last update from Messiah Athletics. Visit www.GoMessiah.com the source for the stories below and for the Falcons’ latest scores, announcements and the full slate of team-specific news.

  • Messiah field hockey holds a perfect 7-0 record and is currently ranked No. 1 in the NFHCA Division III Top 20 Poll. The Falcons most recently opened MAC Commonwealth play with a 5-0 shutout of Alvernia University.
  • Messiah men’s soccer is 7-1 overall and is currently ranked No. 7 in the USC Division III Top 25 Poll. On Saturday, Sept. 23, in front of a Family Weekend crowd of more than 3,000 people, the Falcons won 1-0 in overtime over Misericordia.
  • Messiah women’s soccer is 5-1-2 overall and is currently ranked No. 11 in the USC Division III Top 25 Poll. The Falcons most recently earned a 2-0 win on the road at Misericordia.
  • Messiah men’s and women’s cross country each took first-place in their annual Messiah Invitational, held on Saturday, Sept. 23.
  • Messiah finished No. 22 in the annual Learfield Sports/Directors’ Cup Standings, an annual report that ranks Division III athletic departments based on a value system for team success. This was the highest finish for Messiah since 2010.
  • Messiah women’s soccer graduate Kayla Deckert ’17 was nominated for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
  • Seven Messiah student-athletes were named CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2016-17, including a program-record three student-athletes from the “At Large” sports category: field hockey midfielder Lindsay Bower, wrestler Ben Swarr, and women’s swim standout Kaitlin Wingert.
  • The Falcons finished 2016-17 with 11 team conference championships, the most-ever for Messiah in a single year.

In closing

The beauty of autumn on our campus is a powerful visual reminder of God’s majesty and His faithfulness to the Messiah community. Thank you for all that you do to serve and equip our students so that they are prepared to go into the world to serve others.

Warm regards,

Kim S. Phipps, President