Dear Colleagues:
I hope that you and your loved ones are enjoying these beautiful, warm summer months, and are taking some much-deserved respite where you can from the demands of your daily routines. Summer is a fleeting season on a college campus, and we will soon be welcoming students to begin a new academic year! I look forward to being with you at Community Day, when I will seek to cast a shared vision for the course that lies ahead for Messiah. In the interim, I’d like to share some the work and planning that has been occurring this summer related to enrollment, institutional prioritization, program development, and campus master planning projects.
Mark your calendars for Community Day, Aug. 27
Our Community Day gathering is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 27. This year’s ceremonial launch of the new academic year offers the privilege of worshipping together in the Calvin and Janet High Center for Worship and Performing Arts. All employees are invited and encouraged to attend the morning service from 9-10:30 a.m. in Parmer Hall, which includes the opportunity to hear the “State of the College” address. Following the service, refreshments will be available from 10:30-11:30 a.m. on the High Center patio. All offices and departments (with the exception of dispatch) will close from 8:45 to 11:30 a.m. to enable employees to enjoy the Community Day experience. If you have questions, please contact Karin Bisbee, executive coordinator for the president’s office and board of trustees, at kbisbee@messiah.edu.
Enrollment snapshot
Undergraduate enrollment: Fall 2019―Continuing student registrations for fall 2019 are solid as we quickly approach the start of a new academic year. We are using a revised annualized target FFTE for FY20 of 2,493, and current projections indicate we will reach this target. Additionally, net-tuition revenue projections show us meeting our adjusted targets. The chart below summarizes admissions metrics as of July 25, compared to last year on this date:
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July 25, 2019 |
||||
| Fall 2019 | % to goal | Goal | Fall 2018 | |
| First-year Students | ||||
| Applications | 2,638 | 103% | 2,550 | 2,519 |
| Acceptances | 2,000 | 100% | 2,000 | 1,987 |
| Active Deposits | 626 | 95% | 660* | 653 |
| Transfer Students | ||||
| Applications | 295 | 102% | 288 | 276 |
| Acceptances | 190 | 99% | 191 | 194 |
| Active Deposits | 79 | 91% | 87 | 91 |
*During spring 2019, the fall deposit goal was revised from 660 to 619.
- To date, fall 2019 SURECP deposits are 17.3 percent and international deposits are 2.6 percent, totaling just under 20 percent (124 students) of this incoming class.
- We introduced a new summer prospective student visit event this year hosting three Falcon Fridays in June, July and August. June and July brought us 138 students (331 total guests), and more than 93 students (272 total guests) registered for the final Falcon Friday on Aug. 2. We appreciate all the support from faculty and staff as we offer this summer experience to our prospective students and their families.
- Looking ahead to fall 2020―Due to optimized utilization of our Slate CRM (customer relationship management system) and enhanced communication to rising high school seniors, we already have 177 fall 2020 applicants, compared to 69 from fall 2019 on the same date. This will also be our inaugural year participating with The Common Application, which went live on Aug. 1. Used annually by more than 3 million applicants, teachers, and counselors across the U.S. and internationally, the Common App platform streamlines the college application process for students at participating colleges and connects them to additional support resources, including financial aid and scholarship opportunities.
Graduate enrollment: Messiah had another strong and encouraging year of enrollment in its graduate programs, and on Aug. 25, we will welcome our inaugural cohort of 36 students into our Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program, which was granted Candidate for Accreditation status by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education in fall 2018.
FY19—Messiah’s graduate programs concluded FY19 by exceeding its credit hour goals. The FY19 budgeted credit hour goal was 11,160; we reached 12,147 registered credit hours (109 percent of goal).
FY20―The budgeted FY20 credit hour goal is 12,641. Currently, including early summer registration, we have reached 5,699 registered credit hours (45 percent to goal).
Comparing where we are this year to where we were last year on Aug. 7, 2018:
- Ahead 11 new students (148 this year versus 137 last year)
- Ahead 38 unduplicated students (672 this year versus 634 last year)
- Ahead 459 credit hours (5,699 this year versus 5,240 last year, 45 percent to goal this year versus 47 percent to goal last year)
Summer planning re: prioritization process
Throughout the summer months, members of the President’s Cabinet and Provost’s Cabinet have been working to design a comprehensive prioritization review process which will lead to $5 million in cost reductions by FY24, of which $1.8 million must be implemented by FY21.
We have been developing tools to monitor financial and enrollment trends, gathering important institutional data and developing essential guiding questions and approaches for reaching our savings target. CREDO, the higher education consulting firm that partners with us in strategic planning, will also assist in further reviewing key questions and assumptions, data collection/analysis, presenting comparative data and offering recommendations. More information regarding specific guidelines and financial targets will be communicated following these summer planning efforts on Sept. 16 (following fall enrollment snapshot day), when I will send out a campus update followed by open campus forums which will be scheduled for that same week. A report on the progress of our prioritization efforts is due to the board of trustees in May 2020.
Admissions and welcome center construction begins
In May I announced that the trustees and the College’s Development Office have raised the necessary $10 million to fund the full construction costs of the admissions and welcome center, with more than 900 donors contributing to this priority project. Identified during the campus master planning process as a significant need, this new space has been designed to warmly welcome and effectively recruit prospective students and their families. Recruitment research, including our own internal enrollment management data, reinforces the critical role that a positive campus visit experience plays in a student’s college decision-making process. So even while Messiah is identifying permanent operating budget reductions in response to our current financial challenges—we will continue to strategically invest in student recruitment initiatives and facilities in order to be competitive.
The campus master plan also determined that, in addition to admissions, other offices that work collaboratively to recruit and retain students should also be located in the new building. When construction of the AWC is completed, all of admissions, financial aid and student financial services, the registrar’s office and the office of alumni and parent relations will be relocated to the new facility. The project additionally includes the creation of a new central campus green space that will be accessible from the back of the AWC to serve as a scenic starting point for campus tours—allowing visiting students and their families to participate in the activity and energy of our academic center. Currently, this area is a parking lot (in front of Boyer, Hostetter Chapel, Murray Library and Hoffman) where students, staff and visitors are forced to walk through vehicle traffic to get from one building to another. The new campus green creates a pedestrian-only space where all Messiah community members and guests will be able to safely walk, converse and interact with one another.
Construction update: The College has received the necessary approvals to begin construction, and the contractor is finalizing related costs. In the next weeks, before students return, construction fence will be installed, new walking areas will be designated, and employees that are assigned to the parking in the center of campus will receive new parking assignments from the Department of Safety before the new academic year begins. The contractor expects to start site work in August and construction to be fully underway by September. Because it is located in central campus, this project will impact access and mobility on campus. Thank you in advance for your patience!
On July 31, Vice President of Operations Kathie Shafer sent an email communique to all employees that provides a more in-depth project history, construction details, and a project timeline. Employees are encouraged to read this online at https://www.messiah.edu/homepage/3817/kim_s_phipps_admissions_and_welcome_center, and all future updates, that come out from Vice President of Operations Kathie Shafer or Director of Facility Services Brad Markley with current information on how to navigate safely around the construction site and follow progress of the project.
Student success and engagement
The concept of student success is a vitally important one for Messiah College. As a campus, we have intentionally focused on formalized retention efforts, (beginning in 2009) and the provision of essential offices/support for student learning including the Office of Disability Services, study skills and supplementary learning. Last year, I appointed John Chopka, vice president for enrollment management, to oversee retention efforts and these offices on a one-year interim basis following the transition of Jim Sotherden, former registrar. In keeping with one of the Theme 3 goals outlined in the College’s current strategic plan, a task force on student success was formed and they researched the best practices, analyzed current practices and structures at Messiah and offered recommendations.
Provost Basinger and I are pleased to announce that Kris Hansen-Kieffer’s position has been renamed as vice provost for student success and engagement. The Learning Center, Office of Disability Services and the new Office of Student Success will report directly to Kris. Kevin Villegas has been promoted to the role of dean of students and will provide oversight to student involvement and leadership programs, residence life, student conduct, the Engle Center and international and multicultural student programs. In keeping with our provost/community of educators, this new structure will facilitate holistic, cooperative and coordinated connections between the curriculum and co-curriculum in the area of student success. It is important to note that this restructuring was budget neutral.
Giving update
Current giving: The College concluded FY19 achieving two of our three main fundraising goals. Gifts received totaled just under $6.3 million, or 99.6 percent of goal. And gifts received, plus new pledges, totaled just under $12 million or 101.1 percent of goal. The Messiah Fund totaled just over $1 million, which includes an unrestricted bequest of more than $106,000 received at the end of the fiscal year.
Overall, we received gifts from 7,814 donors, which is a 20 percent increase over FY18. Further, our donor retention rate of 51.4 percent also represents an increase over FY18 when donor retention was 46.9 percent. Retaining donors from year to year is an important part of strategy for reaching our annual giving goals.
FY19 Giving Final Progress Report
As of June 30, 2019
| Gifts Received | Messiah Fund / Operating | Gifts Received and New Pledges |
| $ 6,281,764 | $ 1,013,681 | $ 11,942,202 |
| June 30 Goals: | ||
| $ 6,308,000 99.6% of goal |
$ 1,578,000 64.2% of goal |
$ 11,808,000 101.1% of goal |
Endowment Challenge #7: We successfully completed our seventh Endowment Challenge, which provides matching dollars to gifts designated for student scholarship support. Over $5.5 million in scholarship monies have been raised since the beginning of the Endowment Challenge program in 2013. When counting scholarships that have not be a part of the Endowment Challenge program, nearly $16 million has been raised in scholarship support over this same time period. These dollars represent 96 new scholarships for our students, which brings our total number of named scholarship funds to nearly 320. We have already begun raising funds for Endowment Challenge #8, which will seek to raise $500,000 in new scholarship endowment monies by June 30, 2020, to be matched dollar-for-dollar.
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 my May update, two Messiah athletes became the Falcons’ newest national champions! On May 25, Benjamin Schott won the 3,000 meter steeplechase (8:59.89) and Esther Seeland claimed the top spot in the 800 meter (2:05.24).The championships from Schott and Seeland are the 11th and 12th individual national championships in Messiah Athletics history. Messiah now has 30 national championships, including seven individual championships from the men’s and women’s track and field program (two men’s titles and five women’s titles).
- This spring, the National Council on Teacher Quality reviewed more than 872 undergraduate programs to name the top 120 teacher prep programs in the nation for their new guidebook, “Start Here to Become a Teacher.” Congratulations to the faculty and staff in Messiah’s teacher education program, which was recognized as one of these top national programs!
- Messiah’s bakery team and Two Bridges catering team have won the “best dessert” category of the Taste of Mechanicsburg competition two years in a row! The annual spring event, sponsored by the Mechanicsburg Rotary Club, showcases regional culinary talent while raising funds for local student scholarships.
- The graphic design team in the Office of Marketing and Communications (OMC) has won three 2019 American Inhouse Design awards from Graphic Design USA (GDUSA)— the premier showcase for outstanding work by inhouse designers. OMC was recognized among more than 6,000 entrants for its design of the following pieces:
- The Office of Development Partner’s Dinner 2018 invitation package, designed by Cindy Agoncillo
- The Office of Undergraduate Admission’s travel piece, designed by Cindy Agoncillo
- Welcome Week 2018, designed by Kristy Tunnell
- Congratulations to 2014 Messiah music graduate Josh Kerr, who co-wrote For King & Country’s top hit, “God Only Knows?” which was named Song of the Year at K-Love’s Fan Awards earlier this summer at the Grand Ole Opry. The CMA-nominated producer also co-wrote and co-produced Keith Urban’s Top 20 hit, “Never Comin’ Down” and Kelsea Ballerini’s “Love Me Like You Mean It” and “Dibs.”
In closing
Whether you are working on or off campus this summer, I encourage you to make the most of these remaining summer days. Before we know it, it will be time to welcome our incoming first-year and returning students! May God guide us and give us wisdom as we join together to fulfill our mission of educating men and women toward maturity of intellect, character and Christian faith in the upcoming academic year.
Warm regards,
Kim S. Phipps, president