March 12, 2018

Dear Colleagues:

I was deeply honored and humbled by the board of trustees’ surprise announcement of the naming and fundraising support for the proposed admissions and welcome center. This facility was identified as a priority need during the 2016-2017 campus master planning process, and it will be an asset to our student recruitment and campus hospitality efforts. Sharing the evening with Kelly and Brooke made it extra special for me! Later this week, Kathie Shafer, vice president for operations, and Barry Goodling, vice president for advancement, will be sending a communique to all employees with more details and FAQs about the new center.

I would like to share with you the outcomes of our key conversations with trustees at their annual winter board meeting, and provide information about enrollment, giving, campus news and an update on the status of our campus’ FY18 annual operating plan.

Summary of January board of trustees meeting

Messiah’s board of trustees held their annual winter meeting on Jan. 28-30. During its first general session, the board received and discussed strategic plan updates regarding the work of the university status task force, the College’s next fundraising priorities and related projects, and an assessment of current enrollment strategies and student housing policies and protocols. The trustees concluded their final business session with reports and action items from the board’s various committees.

Key actions from the board meeting included:

 From the Executive Committee and the Committees on Advancement and Operations:

  • The board approved continued fundraising and construction planning for a new admissions and welcome center as the next facility fundraising priority for the College—a new venue that will welcome prospective students and their families to our campus.

 From the Assurance Committee:

  • The board approved the College’s auditor selection for the next fiscal year.

 From the Committee on Education:

  • The board reviewed and approved term tenure status of faculty members as presented based on the recommendation of the Term-Tenure and Promotion Committee, the provost and the president. The provost’s office will communicate these decisions to the campus community via COENet and the Intercom.

 From the Committee on Finance:

  • The board approved the designation of $38,876 of unrestricted funds that will be added to the Adrian Wilson Fund for sustainability learning opportunities.

Enrollment snapshot

Fall 2018 undergraduate admissions update:

  • With more than 415 deposits received, we are tracking closely with last year. With that, deposit season has been extended due to the earlier FAFSA and financial aid awarding process. We are in our second season under this new decision timeline and will follow up with students fervently as we approach May 1.
  • Recruitment activity for underrepresented students continues to be strong, with applications and admits running ahead of last year and early deposits at 49 (compared to 41 deposits last year). With 11 deposits from international students, it is too early to know if this year will rebound. Applications are down, but admits are up by 14 percent (88 compared to 77 one year ago).
  • Honors scholarship offers were finalized in late February. Multicultural scholarships are being determined in early March, with arts and humanities scholarships to follow.
  • Our first Accepted Student Preview Day (ASPD) was held on Feb. 23. The emphasis at this event was on students who are interested in pursuing majors in the School of Science, Engineering and Health, which yielded 21 new deposits. A second ASPD event for the remaining schools will be held on March 23.
  • The current academic profile of the incoming class is comparable to fall 2017.
March 6, 2018  
First-year Students Fall 2018 % to goal Goal Previous four-year average to date Fall 2018 Variance vs 4 YTD Average 
Inquiries 36,289 121% 30,000 29,614 6675
Applications 2,407 93% 2,600 2,398 9
Acceptances 1,844 92% 2,000 1,837 7
Active Deposits 417 62% 676 430 (13)
Transfer
Applications		 160 56% 288 162 (2)
Acceptances 93 49% 191 83 10
Active Deposits 24 28% 90 15 9

Graduate enrollment:  Graduate enrollment is currently at 711, compared to 662 students a year ago (+49).  Additionally, we have reached 99 percent of the credit hours budgeted for the current fiscal year, and are on target to meet the overall graduate credit hour goal for FY18. Compared to last year at this time, we have:

  • 9 more new students (263 this year versus 254 last year);
  • 49 more unduplicated students (711 this year versus 662 last year);
  • 1,295 more credit hours (9,790 this year versus 8,495 last year).

Giving update

Fundraising for FY18 continues on a strong trajectory.

Gifts Received:  March 6, 2018 Messiah Fund/Operating:  March 6, 2018 Gifts Received and New Pledges: March 6, 2018
$7,371,783 $1,112,643 $13,895,036
123% of 6/30/18 goal of $6 million 74% of 6/30/18  goal of $1.5 million 126% of 6/30/18 goal of $11 million

As we continue into the latter half the fiscal year, we will be focused on reaching the Messiah Fund/Operating goal, including the “Give ’em a Break” fundraising initiative and the fiscal year-end appeal, both of which support the Messiah Fund. In addition, I am pleased to report on the progress of the following fundraising projects, thanks to the fine efforts of the development team:

Giving Day 2018: On Feb. 13, Messiah College launched its second annual Giving Day event. Last year our goal was to raise $100,000 in 24 hours to support the Messiah Fund, missions, athletics, and the Collaboratory, and we were able to raise over $116,000. This year, we set a stretch goal of $125,000; and because of the generosity of Falcon Nation, we reached $125,355! We are grateful to everyone who made our second Giving Day such a success!

Endowment matching challenge: We continue our focus on raising endowment matching dollars as part of ongoing endowment challenges issued by the board of trustees. Endowment Challenge #6 (the most recent) will match every new scholarship endowment commitment we secure before June 30, 2018 “dollar-for-dollar” up to $500,000. Currently, we have raised over $400,000 toward our goal.

FY18 and year-end spending

Spring snapshot day, which occurred on Feb. 20, showed we achieved a 2017-2018 enrollment of 2,592 undergraduate FFTE (financial full-time equivalents), as opposed to our goal of 2,598 (-6). In addition, both our first-year and new-transfer student discount averages were slightly higher than anticipated, given the financial need of our students. The overall net revenue shortfall for FY18 is projected to be $1.3 million, as follows:

  • $1 million net tuition revenue variance as a result of increases in need-based financial aid across all four classes and six fewer undergraduate FFTE as referenced above.
  • $300,000 variance in housing revenue due to significantly lower housing revenue at the Harrisburg Institute and a budget methodology for on-campus housing revenue that has proven to be overly optimistic. (The budget model is being revised for future planning.)

To ensure that we conclude FY18 in a strong financial position, the following protocols are being implemented:

  • Vacant positions will be reviewed by President Phipps and Amanda Coffey, vice president for human resources and compliance, and only high priority vacancies will be filled prior to June 30th.
  • Office furniture purchase requests will be reviewed and prioritized by division heads or school deans, and will only be purchased with the president’s or provost’s approval.
  • Painting, carpeting and other renovation projects will no longer be approved for FY18.
  • Budget-to-actual operating expenditures on a fiscal year to date basis will be reviewed by the President’s and Provost’s Cabinets to identify areas for savings in FY18, and these reports will be reviewed with budget managers over the next few weeks.

Commencement speakers

Undergraduate Commencement Speaker (May 19, 2018)—David Kim, Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra

Violinist David Kim was named Concertmaster of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1999. Born in Carbondale, Illinois in 1963, he started playing the violin at the age of three, began studies with the famed pedagogue Dorothy DeLay at the age of eight, and later received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School. Mr. Kim appears as soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra each season as well as with numerous orchestras around the world. He also appears internationally at festivals such as Brevard, MasterWorks (USA), and Pacific (Japan). ​He frequently serves as an adjudicator at international violin competitions such as the Menuhin and Sarasate. ​Read David Kim’s full profile at https://www.messiah.edu/info/20303/commencement_speaker.

 School of Graduate Studies Commencement Speaker (May 12, 2018)—Ryan Keith ’02, founder and president of Forgotten Voices

Ryan Keith founded Forgotten Voices to address the many needs of orphaned children in Zimbabwe. Ryan met with many local pastors who knew what to do, but their needs were not being heard. Their stories compelled him to take action, and Forgotten Voices was established as a nonprofit in 2006 and continues today in innovating orphan care through the local church. Previously, Ryan led innovative, job-creating economic development programs in Central Pennsylvania. He is a Praxis Labs Fellow and he earned his Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School, where he was a Pforzheimer Fellow in the Hauser Center. Ryan is also a proud Falcon, graduating from Messiah College in 2002 with a B.A. in politics. In 2008, he was recognized with Messiah College’s Young Alumnus Award, recognizing a Messiah graduate who within his/her first 15 years of graduation has made significant contribution to church, vocation and community. Read Ryan Keith’s full profile at https://www.messiah.edu/info/22703/commencement_school_of_graduate_studies/3769/commencement_speaker.

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).

  • Michael S. Jones, senior lecturer in counseling, recently received the Rosenthal Award, given by the Arkansas Association of Counselor Education and Supervision (ArACES) to a counselor educator who contributions to the counseling profession and who exemplifies the highest standards in the counseling discipline. Jones, the president of ArACES received the award based on his exemplary leadership of the association and his outstanding creative teaching. The youngest recipient to receive this honor, Jones is also the first person of color to receive the award. A Licensed Professional Counselor and Clinical Supervisor, he is a Nationally Certified Counselor and Distance Credentialed Counselor, and a current doctoral candidate in Counselor Education and Supervision at Regent University (VA).
  • Three faculty members (Professors of Chemistry Anne Reeve, Roseann Sachs and Rick Schaeffer) and six students (Dan Haas, Mark Lauria, Daniel Lemen, Sarah O’Boyle, Micah Ohlhausen, and Kelly Striker) from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry will be attending the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans, March 18-22, presenting posters of their scientific research.
  • Three of Messiah’s English students, Katie Wingert, Katy Trice and Carly Laird, recently had papers accepted at the Wilson College Humanities Conference, the only undergraduate students whose papers were selected.
  • Jan Dormer, associate professor of TESOL, recently co-authored “Teaching English for Reconciliation: Pursuing Peace through Transformed Relationships in Language Learning and Teaching” (co-authored with Cheryl Woelk, a language instructor and peace educator and head teacher at Connexus language institute). This book is available from the William Carey Library and addresses how English classrooms can become places where relationships and communication can transform people. This text encourages those engaged in the teaching of English as a second or foreign language to first consider why they might strive to teach English for reconciliation, and then addresses the contexts, individuals, and resources which are involved in the process.
  • Peter Powers, dean of the School of the Humanities, has published a new book, Goodbye Christ?: Christianity, Masculinity, and the New Negro Renaissance (University of Tennessee Press, 2018), exploring “how the intersection of race, religion, and gender during the Harlem Renaissance impacted the rhetoric and imagination of prominent African American writers of the early twentieth century.”
  • Professor of Politics John Harles recently published a new book, “Seeking Equality:  The Political Economy of the Common Good in the United States and Canada” (University of Toronto Press, 2017), comparing economic inequality in the United States and Canada.

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.

  • Several of Messiah’s teams are ranked nationally in the top 20:
    • Messiah women’s basketball – No. 12 (WBCA)
    • Messiah wrestling – No. 15 (NWCA)
    • Messiah women’s lacrosse – No. 18 (IWLCA)
  • Messiah women’s basketball reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Basketball Tournament this past weekend. Messiah fell to Tufts in the Scranton sectional on Friday.
    • Falcons finish the year 27-3 and a perfect 15-0 on the brand-new Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena, including two NCAA Tournament opening round victories at the beginning of the month.
    • In his 32nd season at the helm, head coach Mike Miller earned his 600th career win back in November and was recently named the MAC Commonwealth Coach of the Year for the seventh time in his career.
    • Senior Kaitlyn Hoff reached the 1,000-point mark for her career in a win over Alvernia on Feb. 3.
    • Hoff, Alecia Rohrer, Maci Thornton, and Leah Springer each earned All-MAC Commonwealth honors.
  • Messiah wrestling qualified a program-record eight wrestlers to the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships on Mar. 9-10 in Cleveland, Ohio.
    • The Falcons placed 8th overall as a team, with three All-Americans: Ben Swarr (5th, 174), Jeff Hojnacki (6th, 165), and Kevin Edwards (6th, 157).
    • Five of the eight wrestlers are repeat qualifiers – Ben Swarr (174, third time), Kyle Koser (197, third time), Jeff Hojnacki (165, second time), Derek Beitz (184, second time), and Hunter Harris (133, second time).
    • Rounding out the Falcon contingent will be sophomores Sean Redington (125) and Stephen Maloney (149) along with freshman Kevin Edwards (157).
    • Head coach Bryan Brunk earned his 200th career victory (most in Messiah program history) and was named the Division III Southeast Region Coach of the Year.
  • Messiah women’s swimming won their fifth-straight MAC Championship on Feb. 15-18 and has qualified two student-athletes, Katie Wingert and Cassie Cotton, to the NCAA Division III National Championships on Mar. 21-24 in Indianapolis, Ind.
    • At the MAC Championships, Wingert was named Swimmer of the Year, Kaylee Hollenbach was named Rookie of the Year, and Katie McComb was named Coach of the year in her first campaign.
    • At the NCAA Championships, Wingert will be competing for the second-straight year after making the cut in both the 100 Free and 50 Free.
    • Cotton has reached the Championships for the first time in her career, qualifying in both the 100 Free and 100 Butterfly.
  • Messiah women’s indoor track and field sophomore Taylor Wiederrecht qualified for the Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships on Mar. 9-10 in Birmingham, Ala.
    • Friday, Wiederrecht competed at the National Championships, finishing 14th overall in the pentathlon with 3,125 total points.
    • Wiederrecht made the cut in the pentathlon (high jump, shot put, long jump, 800-meter run, and 60-meter hurdles) after taking the MAC title with a total of 3,311 points, a mark that is seeded 13th for the National Championships.
    • Wiederrecht is the first member of the Messiah women’s indoor track & field program to qualify for nationals since Kristen Bates in 2010.
  • Other notable news from the 2017-18 winter sports season:
    • Messiah men’s basketball reached the MAC Commonwealth Tournament as the 4-seed after finishing the regular season with a record of 8-8 in conference and 14-11 overall.
    • Messiah men’s swimming placed third at the MAC Championships behind strong showings from sophomore Drew Wolfe (gold in the 200 Free, bronze in the 100 Free) and senior Nolan McArdle (silver in the 100 Back, bronze in the 200 Breast, and bronze in the 200 Individual Medley).
  • Spring sports updates:
    • In their inaugural NCAA Division III season, Messiah men’s volleyball is currently 10-4 overall and in second-place in the MAC Commonwealth with a mark of 6-1.
    • Messiah women’s lacrosse is currently 2-2, having faced extremely tough competition in the early going, dropping games to No. 1-ranked Gettysburg and No. 10 Franklin & Marshall but upsetting No. 6 York last Friday.
    • Messiah men’s lacrosse is off to a 2-3 start, with all three losses coming in narrow fashion to No. 5 Gettysburg, No. 12 F&M, and No. 18 Ohio Wesleyan.
    • Messiah baseball is 3-2 on the young season, and claimed a momentous, come-from-behind 4-3 upset of No. 7 Johns Hopkins on the road on Mar. 5.
    • Messiah softball is currently 6-6 after facing tough competition in the prestigious NFCA Leadoff Classic in Tucson, Ariz. from Mar. 2-4.

 In closing

As we reach the mid-term of the spring semester, my hope is that you remain energized by the knowledge that you are actively contributing to Messiah’s promise to help students see themselves, their faith and their world in new and exciting ways.

Warm regards,

 Kim S. Phipps, President