May 24, 2018

Dear Colleagues:

As the spring semester comes to close and we have celebrated Commencement for both the undergraduate and graduate classes of 2018—I want to thank you for your good work and commitment to our students. The last few months have been full of exciting scholarship, creative innovation and stewardship, and meaningful interactions with students and colleagues.

The Messiah College Board of Trustees were on campus May 9-11 for their annual spring meeting, and I would like to share with you the outcomes of our key conversations with trustees, and provide additional information about enrollment, giving and campus news.

 Summary of board of trustees meeting

During its first general session, the board received an informational presentation on the excellent work of Messiah’s nationally recognized internship program and the launch of a new pilot financial aid program for Income Share Agreements (ISAs), designed to help students fund a portion of their educational costs. (Read the FAQ for the undergraduate ISA program model. Note: During this first year of the program, there is a limited amount of funds and number of eligible students.  The ISA eligibility criteria is being formalized, but selected students will be invited to apply. Messiah College is hopeful the ISA program will grow and develop over several years to help more students reduce their loan debt.)

The board also received updates on the work of the university status task force, the College’s next fundraising priorities and related projects, and the annual update from the Rider-Musser Development Corporation. 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:

  • The board approved editorial changes and updates that reflect current practices for the Church-College Covenant with the Brethren in Christ Church.

 From the Assurance Committee:

  • FY19-FY21Audit:  The board approved to engage Baker Tilly Virchow Krause LLC to perform the financial audit of the College’s fiscal 2019-2021 financial statements and the Institutional Assistance Grant Program.
  • Calendar 2018-2020 Retirement Plan Audit:  The board approved engaging CapinCrouse LLP to conduct the 2018-2020 calendar year Retirement Plan 403(b) audit.

From the Committee on Education:

  • The board reviewed and approved new hires and promotions of faculty members as presented based on the recommendation of the Committee on Education. 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 FY19 financial plan, as previously approved by campus governance groups, permitting the Executive Committee of the Board to take final action on the financial plan in mid-June when enrollment information will be more complete, if necessary.
  • The board approved $500,000 to fund the Endowment Matching Initiative #7 for the new Income Share Agreement program.

From the Committee on Governance:

  • Term appointments: The board approved the appointment of the following individuals as a trustee in the class of 2022, effective July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2022:
    • First term: Honorable Sherrie Bailey, Garrett Larsen
    • Second Term: Barbara Avery
    • Third term: Rick Jordan, Dr. Emerson Lesher                        
  • Chair appointment: The board approved the renewal of George Parmer as chair of the board of trustees for a three-year term to be effective July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2021.
  • Officer appointments: The board approved the appointment of the following slate of officers of the Board of Trustees for a one year term to be effective July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019.
    • Vice Chair: Craig Sider
    • Secretary: Heidi Bingaman
    • Treasurer: Rim Hinckley
    • Assistant Secretary: Barry Goodling
    • Assistant Treasurer: David Walker

University Status Task Force update

I provided the board of trustees with the draft recommendation from the University Status Task Force and a summary of the questions and comments that were articulated during the recent campus forums. The task force will meet in June to finalize their recommendation, which will be brought forward to COE Senate and College Council for action in September 2018. The final decision will be acted upon by the board at the October 2018 trustee meeting.

 Rider Musser update

Oakwood Hills is now moving from the pages of plans and proposals to an actual shovel-in-dirt project. Over the next few weeks, the site work will begin for the apartment buildings and roads. The entrance to the Oakwood Hills residential development will be at the front of Orchard Hill, the College’s presidential residence. Thus, the driveway, parking and entrance to Orchard Hill will be altered to reflect the new road that will be installed. Also, a roundabout is scheduled to be constructed on Lisburn Road at the entrance to Oakwood Hills and Messiah College’s campus, and this will necessitate the closure of the Lisburn Road campus entrance for much of the summer months. (The Division of Operations communicated specifics related to the road closure to the campus community via a mass email on May 23.) You can keep up with the latest news regarding Oakwood Hills by visiting the website, www.RiderMusser.com.

Enrollment snapshot

Fall 2018 undergraduate admissions update:  It has been another challenging year for the admissions team. After enjoying leads in early deposits through February, we experienced a slow-down as we approached the May 1 national deposit timeline. While the pool of applicants is comparable to previous years, we are currently running about 12 deposits behind last year, but we are on target to meet our revised student tuition budgeted goal. The admissions team continues to work diligently to secure commitments from remaining accepted students. Early transfer student activity is encouraging, and we anticipate gaining increased momentum with this population over the summer months.

May 15, 2018        
Fall 2018 % to goal Goal Previous four-year avg. to date
First-year Students      
Inquiries 36,369 121% 30,000 29,957
Applications 2,501 96% 2,600 2,494
Acceptances 1,971 99% 2,000 1,961
Active Deposits 649 96% 675 680
Transfers        
Applications 231 80% 288 228
Acceptances 144 75% 191 136
Active Deposits 57 63% 90 54

Graduate enrollment:  Graduate enrollment continues to be strong. As of May 14, and including early summer registration, we have reached 10,433 registered credit hours (105 percent to our FY18 goal). Comparing where we are this year to where we were last year:

  •  Ahead 46 new students (323 this year versus 277 last year)
  • Ahead 86 unduplicated students (773 this year versus 687 last year)
  • Ahead 1,854 credit hours (10,433 this year versus 8,579 last year, 105 percent to goal this year versus 106 percent to goal last year)

Update on physical therapy: On May 16, we were notified that the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) took action at their April 2018 meeting to deny candidacy for our developing Doctor of Physical Therapy Program. This is a very disappointing decision, and we have taken the necessary steps to apply for Reconsideration, which is the next step in the CAPTE due process, and our case will be heard at the October 2018 meeting. It is important to note that this recent CAPTE action is not the final decision, and we will have an updated response from CAPTE prior to December 2018. Therefore, we are delayed in enrolling the first cohort of students until we are granted candidacy, with the earliest start date being the fall of 2019.

Giving update

Overall giving: We are pleased and encouraged by the College’s overall giving numbers for FY18, which reflect one of the most successful fundraising years in the College’s history. Not only have we exceeded our total goal (as noted below), but we have also exceeded our goal for total giving and pledges. That being said, we are still working to reach the Messiah Fund goal, which is a critical revenue stream for the College’s operations.

As of May 14, 2018:

  •  Total Giving: $8 million (134 percent of the $6 million June 30, 2018 goal)
  • Messiah Fund: $1.26 million (84 percent of the $1.5 million June 30, 2018 goal)
  • Total giving and pledges (including revocable): $20.4 million (185 percent of the $11 million June 30, 2018 goal)

Kim S. Phipps Admissions and Welcome Center: I am grateful and honored by the leadership of the Board of Trustees to raise support for the new admissions and welcome center. The Development team has prioritized a series of proposals to meet with donors in order to successfully reach the $10 million goal. We plan to launch a more public phase for general donations in the summer months. For more details on this project, please visit https://www.messiah.edu/welcomecenter.

As of May 15, 2018:

  •  Total of $8.4 million raised (84 percent of goal)
  • Total additional of over $2 million in pending proposals and planned solicitations

Endowment Challenge Update: The endowment matching challenges continue to be a very successful strategy for supporting students and building our endowment. Since the beginning of issuing these challenges in 2013, over $4.5 million has been raised in new dollars and matching funds for scholarships.

  •  Endowment Challenge #5 ($583,000) approved in May 2016, is completed except for $8,000 that is remaining from $100,000 that had been set aside for student/faculty research as noted in the College’s strategic plan.
  • Endowment Challenge #6 ($500,000) approved in May 2017, has reached the goal of $500,000 in new gifts and pledges.

Fiscal Year End Challenge: A group of generous alumni have pledged a total of $20,000 in Messiah Fund dollars to help us reach a total of 400 new donors by the end of June. These fiscal year-end challenges have been very helpful in recent years in creating a sense of urgency at a time when donors are not typically thinking about charitable giving. For every new donor regardless of gift size, $50 will be released from the matching dollars.

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).

  • Following an extensive search that attracted a large international pool of applicants, the Board of Directors of the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras (AYPO) recently announced the appointment of Professor of Music Timothy Dixon as conductor of the American Youth Philharmonic (AYP) for the 2018-2019 season. In addition to his Messiah roles of director of orchestral studies and educator in the graduate program in music conducting, he is also the conductor laureate of the West Shore Symphony Orchestra (PA) and has been a regular conductor of the Harrisburg Opera Association and has conducted numerous all-state and other festival orchestras, as well as professional orchestras in the United States, Germany and Ukraine.
  • Messiah alumna Maria Vita, currently an educator in the Penn Manor School District, was named as one of the 12 finalists for the honor of 2019 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year. Nominations were submitted by students, parents, peers and community members wishing to honor and recognize educator achievements both inside and outside the classroom. The 2019 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year will be announced in December 2018 in Hershey at the SAS Institute, PDE’s annual professional development conference for educators.
  • Linda L. Tedford, the artistic director, founder and conductor of the Susquehanna Chorale, was presented a citation from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to recognize her retirement as director of choral activities at Messiah College, as well as her overall contributions to the choral art throughout her distinguished career. Tedford will retire from Messiah in May, after 24 years of service. During that time, she conducted the Messiah Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, Men’s Ensemble, and Choral Arts Society. The citation was sponsored by The Hon. Francis X. Ryan, who represents Lebanon County, and was presented during a recent joint performance of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Susquehanna Chorale, and Messiah College Concert Choir and Choral Arts Society.
  • Students from Messiah College’s capstone marketing class, Marketing Management and Strategy (MRKT 438), won third place in a semester-long case competition sponsored by the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA). The focus of the “live” case was MedExpress, the nation’s leading urgent care company, which wants to increase brand engagement with Generation Z.  The competition culminated on April 13, at Chatham University.  Eight marketing executives judged 12 teams on their written marketing plans, posters and oral presentations. In just its second year in the competition, Messiah College won third place, ahead of the University of Pittsburgh, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, California University of Pennsylvania and West Virginia University. Congratulations to Alicia Stoltzfus, Brittany Balmer, Megan Booher and Stephanie Walton, along with their faculty advisor Professor of Marketing David Hagenbuch.
  • In April, Messiah College was recognized as a 2017 Tree Campus USA, which honors colleges and universities and their leaders for promoting healthy trees and engaging students and staff in the spirit of conservation. To obtain this distinction, Messiah College has met the five core standards for sustainable campus forestry required by Tree Campus USA, including: establishment of a tree advisory committee; evidence of a campus tree-care plan; dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program; an Arbor Day observance; and the sponsorship of student service-learning projects.
  • Congratulations to the editorial and design team of the Bridge magazine in the Office of Marketing and Communications for winning a merit award from the Society of Publication Designers for the winter 2017 issue of the Bridge’s “Fear the Falcon” cover. With thousands of entries worldwide, this annual editorial design competition is the largest in the world. Judged by a jury of leading designers, the show produces a unique overview of the year’s best work across print, web, mobile and video mediums. 
  • Congratulation to Two Bridges Catering, the catering division of Messiah College Dining Services. Their team won the “Best Dessert” honor at the Taste of Mechanicsburg competition on April 21, and was just one point away from winning “Best in Show.”

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.

  • At Messiah’s undergraduate commencement ceremony on May 19, Messiah swimmer Kaitlin Wingert was named the outstanding senior of the Class of 2018, receiving the Donald and Anna Zook Alumni Merit Award. She was also just named a recipient of the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship to further her postgraduate study. She will begin Harvard University’s Masters of Literacy and Language program in the fall. Wingert, an English major with a secondary education teaching certificate, carries a 4.0 cumulative grade point average (GPA). She has had a tremendous year helping Messiah collect their fifth-straight MAC Championship and was again named MAC Swimmer of the Year, and competed for the second year in a row in the NCAA championship finals.
  • Three Messiah student-athletes were named Middle Atlantic Conference Spring Scholar-Athletes for their respective sports:
    • Men’s volleyball: Travis Hoover, biology major, 3.94 GPA
    • Women’s tennis: Carly Dove, nursing major, 3.62 GPA
    • Men’s tennis: Tim Dunn, philosophy major, 3.65 GPA
  • Messiah women’s lacrosse finished the year with a record of 15-4 and a perfect 8-0 run in conference play as they participated in their fourth-straight NCAA Tournament after defeating Lebanon Valley in the MAC Commonwealth Championship game.
  • Messiah softball finished the year with a record of 27-18 overall and 12-4 in the MAC Commonwealth. The Falcons breezed through the conference tournament undefeated to capture the MAC Commonwealth Championship and reach their third-straight NCAA tournament.
  • Messiah men’s tennis finished the year with a record of 10-8 overall and a perfect 7-0 in the MAC Commonwealth as they won their fifth-straight conference championship.
  • Messiah women’s track and field won their second-straight MAC Championship on May 5, and Leanne Weaver was named the MAC Female Track Athlete of the Year and Dale Fogelsanger received the MAC Coach of the Year honor.
  • Messiah men’s volleyball finished their inaugural season 15-10 overall and 9-3 in the MAC, falling in the conference semifinal to Arcadia. Head coach Justin Beachy was named MAC Coach of the Year, and five student-athletes were named to All-Conference teams: Logan Hunsberger; Travis Hoover; Caleb Weaver; Brendan Warren; and Brad Nase.

 In closing

We have many reasons to celebrate and to be thankful regarding our spring semester. I also realize, however, that all of you have been running hard to balance professional and personal challenges and opportunities. We are blessed to be a part of a campus community that willingly shares each other’s burdens and triumphs.

 Warm regards,

 Kim S. Phipps, President