Dear Colleagues:

As we end our first official week of autumn, I’d like to thank you for making the fall semester launch such a positive experience for students and their families. In recent weeks we have enjoyed the fellowship of Community Day, Fall Educator’s Retreat, New Educator Orientation, Welcome Week, Family Weekend—all while preparing for the responsibilities of a new academic year. Many new students and their families, as well as new employees, have shared stories with me about the warm welcome they have received from you. Thank you for embracing them and extending hospitality. Now that we are four weeks into the new semester, I would like to share with you some updated information about enrollment, giving and other institutional news.

Enrollment snapshot

We are grateful for solid undergraduate and graduate enrollment as we initiate the new academic year. Fall “snapshot day” on Sept. 18 reported that Messiah College’s total fall undergraduate and graduate enrollment headcount is 3,375 students (a positive increase from last year of 44 students).

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2018: Undergraduate headcount for the fall semester was finalized at 2,734 students with:

  • 647 new, first-time students versus revised goal of 645 (+2)
  • 96 transfer students versus revised goal of 87 (+9)
  • 2,624 fall financial full-time equivalent (FFTE) versus revised goal of 2,604 (+20)

Some encouraging statistics about our fall 2018 undergraduate enrollment include the following:

  • In our incoming class of new students, we have 99 domestic underrepresented students and 22 international students (18.7% of our student body)
  • Overall a 13.7 percent ratio of domestic underrepresented (374 students) undergraduate students are enrolled (this remains our highest rate on record since 1975).
  • We have a healthy 87 percent fall 2017 first-year cohort retention to sophomore year.

Graduate enrollment: Fall snapshot day reported graduate enrollment at 641, compared to 572 students a year ago (+69). Additionally, we have reached 49 percent of the credit hours budgeted for the current fiscal year, and are on target to meet the overall graduate enrollment goal for FY19. Compared to last year at this time, we have:

  • 62 more unduplicated students (675 this year versus 613 last year);
  • 801 more credit hours (5,489 this year versus 4,688 last year).

University Status Task Force update

The University Status Task Force met in June to finalize their recommendation regarding whether Messiah College should pursue university status. After considering the feedback received at the open campus forums held in late spring and input from the board of trustees in May, the task force finalized a recommendation that Messiah College should move to university status by July 1, 2020. The recommendation was processed and affirmed by COE Senate on Sept. 17, and will be forwarded to College Council for action on Oct. 4. The board of trustees will consider the feedback and action of campus governance groups and make a final decision at the October 2018 trustee meeting. I will keep the campus community informed of the deliberations via my campus updates.

Giving update

FY18 was a very strong fundraising year for Messiah College. We exceeded our overall fundraising goal of $6 million by reaching $8.37 million (139 percent of goal). FY19 is off to a good start as well. As of Sept. 25, giving totals are as follows:

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

Sept. 25, 2018                                Sept. 25, 2018                                    Sept. 25, 2018

$ 1,479,340                                    $ 210,038                                           $ 3,327,369

23% of 6/30 goal                          13% of 6/30 goal                             30% of 6/30 goal

  • Endowment challenges: As reported previously, 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 71 new scholarship funds. Additionally, when coupled with endowment gifts not part of the matching challenge initiatives, nearly $12.5 million has been raised for scholarship endowment since 2013. The board has presented a new challenge to development staff to raise another $500,000 in endowment dollars by June 2019 to support the newly established Income Share Agreement program.
  • Admissions and Welcome Center and Scholarship Aid: Because of fundraising efforts focused on the proposed Kim S. Phipps Admissions and Welcome Center, we have a special opportunity to include scholarship aid as part of our annual fall appeal. Gifts for the fall appeal are supporting both the new admissions and welcome center as well as scholarship aid. In this way, we are truly supporting students “from start to finish.” Our efforts are not only focused on welcoming all prospective students, but also on making certain that we keep a Messiah education within reach throughout their four-year education. To date, we have raised nearly $8.5 million toward the $10 million goal for the admissions and welcome center project.
  • 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 74 individuals toward our goal of 100 new Heritage Society members by December 2018. As reported in past updates, 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.

 Promoting the Common Good

On Community Day I introduced Messiah’s campus wide theme for the 2018-19 academic year, “Promoting the Common Good,” which is part of the College’s strategic plan; theme 1, goal 3, related to making a compelling case for the numerous ways Messiah College makes a positive impact in this region and beyond. An important way we are sharing this story is through the Promoting the Common Good website at www.messiah.edu/commongood and through a yearlong schedule of events that integrates the common good theme. I invite you to learn more about these events on the website and make it a priority to attend one or more of these lectures, concerts, symposiums and other special events in the year ahead.

The website’s content also demonstrates the numerous ways that Messiah College supports the economic, educational, cultural, community service and environmental good of the local, state and surrounding regions. For example, you may not know that:

  • Messiah College annually contributes more than $310 million to Pennsylvania’s economy.
  • Last year Messiah students completed 661 internships and practicums across the U.S.
  • Seventy-nine percent of Messiah College employees participate in voluntary service for their local communities for an average of 12 hours per month.
  • The energy panels from Messiah’s 100+ solar panels equals planting 3,600 trees per year.
  • The Calvin and Janet High Center hosts 100+ public cultural events each year.

I encourage you to visit the common good website for a wealth of infographics and statistics like these, along with related stories of employees, students and alumni—and share them in your own conversations and communications.

Introducing an outstanding High Center Season

Messiah is staging another exceptional High Center Season—including keynote lectures by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Thomas Friedman (Nov. 1) and Humanities Symposium speaker Marian Wright Edelman (Feb. 21), founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund. November brings performances by Tenor Ben Bliss and Theatre Messiah’s rendition of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Spring 2019 highlights include the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia, Chanticleer, and the inaugural concert of the Messiah College Concert Choir conducted by Joy Meade. 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 2018-2019 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 outstanding 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’s Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in finance has been accepted by CFA Institute as part of its University Affiliation Program. This status is only given to schools whose degree programs cover at least 70 percent of the material that appears on the rigorous Chartered Financial Analyst exams. Messiah is the ninth institution in the state of Pennsylvania to achieve this prestigious designation at the undergraduate level. As a CFA-affiliated institution, Messiah’s finance program is allotted a certain number of scholarships for students to sit for the CFA exams in their senior year. It also gives students access to CFA Institute curriculums, journals, webcasts and other educational resources. Congratulations to the Department of Business and appreciation to the principal contact for this program, Dwayne Safer, CFA, assistant professor of finance.
  • Messiah College has received preliminary notification that the first-time NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) pass rate for its May 2018 nursing graduates is 97.4 percent! The Department of Nursing expects to receive the official report from the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing later this month. Congratulations to the graduates, faculty and staff in the Department of Nursing on the hard work and academic preparation that led to this outstanding achievement and student success!
  • Nathaniel Jenkins, a 2011 exercise science alumnus, has been selected by The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) as the Terry J. Housh Outstanding Young Investigator of the Year for 2018. Winners are selected based on their contributions to the NSCA, their community and the noteworthy contributions to the field of applied exercise and sport science. Following Messiah, Jenkins received a Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in exercise physiology and nutrition from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is currently an assistant professor at Oklahoma State University. His main research interests include the non-invasive assessment of neuromuscular function and motor unit behavior, acute and chronic neuromuscular responses to resistance training, the effects of age on neuromuscular function and the effects of nutrition and dietary supplementation on health and human performance across the lifespan.
  • The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Central Pennsylvania have awarded Messiah College and Gannett Fleming with the Climate Champion Honorable Mention award for their work together on several student enhancement projects including: the combined cooling, heat, and power (CCHP) plant; the Falcon Fitness Center and Sollenberger Sports Center renovations; and the Martin Commons addition. The awards recognize the accomplishments of people and projects that advance sustainable buildings through unique design solutions. Gannett Fleming and Messiah College will receive recognition at the USGBC Central Pennsylvania’s Forever Green ceremony on Nov. 1 at The Civic Club of Harrisburg.
  • U.S. News and World Report released its 2019 college rankings on Sept. 10, and Messiah College is proud to announce its placement on several lists:
    • Messiah is ranked #5 as the Best Regional College in the North.
    • We were ranked #4 on the list for Best Value among regional colleges in the north.

Other recent rankings for Messiah include:

  • Colleges of Distinction recognized Messiah as a “National College of Distinction,” a “Christian College of Distinction,” and program-specific recognition for its majors in business, education, engineering and nursing.
  • “Best Regional College in the Northeast,” by the Princeton Review
  • “Best College in its Region,” by Money magazine
  • “America’s Top Colleges,” by Forbes magazine
  • For the first time, Messiah College was recognized as a “Cool School” by the Sierra Club, a highly sought-after recognition due to its rigorous process and high standards for sustainability education and practice.
  • Visit messiah.edu/recognitions for the most recent and comprehensive listing of the College’s third-party recognitions and rankings.

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 9-0 record and has two wins over top-five teams. The Falcons are currently ranked No. 2 in the country and opened MAC Commonwealth play with a pair of victories over Widener (4-1) and Stevenson (3-2) last week.
  • Messiah men’s soccer is 8-0-1 on the season and currently holds the top spot in the USC Division III Top 25 Poll. With 15 goals scored on the season, Nick West is tied for the national lead in goals scored this season.
  • Messiah women’s soccer is 8-1-0 this season and is currently ranked No. 4 in the USC Division III Top 25 Poll. The Falcons earned a 9-0 victory over Hood College on Saturday night with Jessie Fisher netting a hat trick for the first three goals of her career.
  • Messiah men’s and women’s cross country are off to strong starts in the 2018 season. On Sept. 22, the men took first and the women finished second as the Falcons hosted the annual Messiah Invitational.
  • Messiah women’s swimming alumna Kaitlin Wingert ’18 was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award and was selected as the representative for the Middle Atlantic Conference.
  • The Falcons finished the 2017-18 year with 13 different teams represented in the NCAA championships or postseason play.
  • Messiah finished 28th in the Learfield Sports/Director’s Cup Standings, an annual report that ranks Division III athletic departments based on a value system for team success. Messiah has been the top-finishing Division III college/university in Pennsylvania for 18 straight years.

In closing

Soon the leaves will change, the air will turn crisp, and it will be one of the most beautiful times of the year to be on the Messiah College campus. Amid the demands of your fall schedule, enjoy some time to go for a walk, eat lunch on Alumni Plaza, enjoy an athletics contest, concert, lecture or play—spend time with students and colleagues—and appreciate the gift of being a part of this community.

Warm regards,

 Kim S. Phipps, President