Dear Colleagues:

While there has been abundant campus communication in the past several weeks, this is my first President’s Campus Update since we announced our adjusted spring semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic. My last update, which I sent on March 11, occurred prior to our undergraduate spring break and at the end of our graduate calendar spring break. Much has certainly changed since then for our world and our Messiah community!

I am deeply grateful for the significant and swift adjustments that you made for the benefit of our students and for the health and safety of our community. You have demonstrated that it is the people of Messiah that make this institution strong—quickly revising pedagogy and courses to move our entire spring and summer curriculum online— coming to campus to care for our remaining residential students—finding alternative placements for student teaching or clinical assignments at both the undergraduate and graduate levels—and successfully adjusting to working from home. An additional thank you to those who have been managing the move-out process for our residential undergraduate students (and will continue to do so through June!) and for those who worked together to make our Class of 2020 graduates feel honored and celebrated during the past week.

As we approach Memorial Day weekend (which is difficult to believe!) I want to share with you a summary of the May board meeting, planning for Messiah’s fall session, updates on enrollment, giving and institutional finances, and campus news, including our upcoming transition to Messiah University.

Summary of the May board of trustees meeting

Due to social distancing directives, Messiah’s trustees held their first-ever, full-board video conference meeting on May 7, with the various committees of the board hosting individual sessions earlier throughout the week. The board’s key topics of conversation related to Messiah’s institutional response and fall planning related to COVID-19 and our preparations for becoming Messiah University.

Below is a summary of the board’s key decisions and action items:

From the Committee on Education: The board reviewed and approved term tenure renewal and promotion of faculty members as presented based on the recommendation of the Term-Tenure and Promotion Committee, the provost and the president.

From the Committee on Finance:

  • The board approved the FY21 financial plan as presented. However, due to the uncertainty of the impact of COVID-19 on anticipated revenue, the board agreed to wait until October 2020 (following fall snapshot day) to review the likely need to increase the $7.5 million FY24 prioritization target.
  • The board approved the resolution that the vice president for finance and planning, with the written consent of the president or the chairman of the board of trustees, be authorized to borrow under two lines of credit up to a total of $15 million for working capital purposes during the period July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.
  • The board approved $2.1 million to fund Endowment Matching Initiative #9 to support the College’s fundraising efforts for the existing financial aid budget or existing programs.

From the Committee on Governance:

  • The board approved the appointment of the following individuals as a trustee in the class of 2024, effective July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2024: (first-term) Larry Bashore, Anthony Schiano; (second-term) Wendy Cole, Ed Nevin and Kimberly Thornbury; (third-term) Richard Godshall.
  • The board approved the appointment of the following slate of officers for a one-year term to be effective July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021: Chair, George Parmer; Vice Chair, Jerry Wenger; Secretary, Heidi Bingaman; Treasurer, Anthony Schiano; Chair Elect, Craig Sider.
    • Our next chair of the board, Dr. Craig Sider, has meaningful engagement with Messiah, including 12 years of service on the board, and as a parent of three Messiah College graduates. He serves as president and CEO of MOVEMENT.ORG (then, The New York City Leadership Center), an organization that brings Christian leaders (church, nonprofit, business) together to address the acute spiritual and social needs of their city and is in relationship with over 200 cities around the world. In previous ministry he served as founding pastor of The Meeting House in Oakville, Ontario, where he and his wife, Laura, worked to build a vibrant community committed to sharing Christ’s message. Beginning in 1996, Craig served as bishop in the Brethren in Christ U.S., a post he held until early 2009. Prior to joining MOVEMENT.ORG, Craig launched a leadership development center in Pennsylvania as well as serving as a team leader in BIC Canada, where he was responsible for new brand and new church development. Craig is known as a visionary and someone capable of identifying, developing and maximizing leadership skills in others, and we are fortunate to have the benefit of his service, leadership and insight on our board of trustees.

 From the Executive Committee:

  • The executive committee endorsed the president’s recommendations regarding prioritization for FY 21-24 (as presented to the campus community on April 21) and acknowledges that she and campus leadership will continue efforts towards further prioritization.

Messiah’s financial strength

Through the diligent efforts of campus leadership and task forces, we made excellent progress on institutional prioritization (www.messiah.edu/prioritization) which has produced a firm financial foundation for the College. Now, we have been forced to address a myriad of revenue issues directly related to the advent of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Even in the midst of these unprecedented challenging times, Standard & Poor’s (S&P)  recently reaffirmed Messiah’s A- bond rating, citing strengths such as market niche, graduate enrollment, longevity and stability of leadership and the fact that approximately 70 percent of the institutional endowment ($131 million) is unrestricted (strong liquidity). However, given declining undergraduate enrollment numbers and minimal year-end surpluses, S&P did change Messiah’s outlook from stable to negative. (By way of context, S&P also changed the overall outlook for higher education in the U.S. to negative.) The innovative efforts we are making to enroll a sufficient number of undergraduates, while simultaneously adjusting program and personnel support to be consistent with student interest and demand, is part of the reality we must embrace as we strengthen and move Messiah University forward.

Planning for Messiah’s fall session

On April 28, I announced that I had commissioned three teams of campus administrators and educators to research and respond to potential fall 2020 scenarios for in-person and remote learning solutions at Messiah College (soon to be university!) I have been leading weekly meetings of the team leaders and President’s Cabinet to ensure coordination as we move toward a June 1 announcement of a fall 2020 plan that allows us to fulfill our unique mission while simultaneously caring for the health and safety of students and employees. The teams are as follows:

Finance/Enrollment Team

  • Chaired by: John Chopka and David Walker
  • Members: Barry Goodling, Laura Miller, Sarah Wade, Dwayne Safer, Tony Wyland, Allan Matthew, Rebekah Ostby and Leslie Bencivenga (administrative support)

Education Team

  • Chaired by: Randall Basinger
  • Steering Committee: Kris Hansen-Kieffer (co-curriculum and student success), Todd Allen (access and equity), Alison Noble (curriculum), Rob Pepper (graduate programs)
  • Undergraduate team members: Pete Powers, Angela Hare, Richard Roberson, Bill Strausbaugh, Kate Oswald Wilkins, Brian Swartz, Christy Hanson, Kevin Villegas, and Dan Custer
  • Graduate team members: Rebekah Ostby, Julie Gomboc-Hellam, Val Olson, Leanne Rutt, Michelle Sanford

Operations Team

  • Chaired by: Amanda Coffey and Kathie Shafer
  • Members: Jonathan Bert, Bryce Watkins, David Walker, Mark Wirtz, Heather Negley (administrative support)

While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused much uncertainty and disruption in higher education over the past several months—I am grateful for my dedicated colleagues on these teams who are considering the safety and wellbeing of our campus community as the priority for planning. I will continue to communicate throughout the summer as our planning and decisions progress.

Enrollment snapshot

Undergraduate admissions: To give families more decision-making time during the pandemic, colleges across the country have moved the deposit decision timeline from May 1 to June 1. Messiah is participating in this movement, and will do all we can to exhibit flexibility for students and families during these uncertain times. While this recruitment cycle was sluggish prior to stay-at-home orders and remote working conditions, the current circumstances have further complicated predictive models and traditional methods of building projections and forecasts. April deposit activity was 70-80 behind last year, but the response to the Messiah Cares Initiative (the Trustees grants for prospective students and emergency financial aid grants for current students announced by President Phipps on April 28) has helped bridge the gap in May.

Here are the fall 2020 undergraduate admissions statistics against goals and previous years on May 19:

May 19, 2020
Fall 2020 % to goal Goal Fall 2019 Previous three-year average to date
First-year Students          
Applications 2,516 95% 2,650 2,618 2,551
Acceptances 1,952 97% 2,005 1,983 1,965
Active Deposits 589 94% 629 614 643
Transfer Students          
Applications 238 82% 290 251 251
Acceptances 131 63% 207 148 148
Active Deposits 65 75% 87 47 58
  • We are running ahead in transfer student deposits compared to fall 2019 and the prior three-year average (see above chart). We are hopeful that we will be able to sustain this trend through the coming summer months.
  • Applications from students of color are slightly ahead of last year’s number, and first-year and transfer deposits are similar (109 for fall 2020 vs 105 in fall 2019). The Multicultural Scholarship days in February were well received, and with our expanded scholarship parameters, we had an increase of 37 students of color participate in the Multicultural Scholarship Days vs. last year.
  • The challenges of recruiting international students are significant and have gotten even more difficult in the current environment. However, we continue to benefit from the relationship with Methodist College in Kuala Lumpur (MCKL). Their American Degree Transfer Program provides a steady stream of transfer students – we currently have 8 transfer deposits from MCKL. As the U.S. embassies are currently closed and not processing student visas, we are unsure of what to expect for the fall 2020 semester.

The spring semester required nimble responses from the Enrollment Management team. In the span of a few short weeks, in collaboration with the Marketing and Communications team, they have developed new application processes, events and communications to support the rapidly changing and fluid recruitment environment that emerged during the pandemic. Messiah’s Slate customer relationship management (CRM) tool has played a pivotal role in the College’s ability to speedily adapt to the changing environment. Team members have harnessed new and existing modules in the CRM to rapidly produce and support several virtual visit initiatives for prospective and accepted students including virtual one-on-one meetings with counselors, group information sessions, virtual Q&As and a variety of academic options for accepted students.

Graduate enrollment:  A mini-snapshot of graduate enrollment was taken May 4. The attached summary shows the end of spring and early summer registrations to date; the fiscal year on this summary includes late summer, fall, spring, and early summer registrations. As of these numbers, we have enrolled a total of 915 graduate students (when including a look at early summer registration), and have reached 13,630 registered credit hours (108 percent to goal!).

The College continues to add new in-demand graduate programs. Recent program launches include a new post-baccalaureate PDE teaching certification, a post-master’s DNP program (nursing leadership), a new MBA concentration in healthcare management, an M.A. in healthcare leadership, and a nursing administration dual MSN-MBA degree program.

Program New Students Unduplicated Headcount Credit Hours % to Credit Hour Goal
Business & Leadership 31 81 896 104
Conducting 41 149 1347 128
Counseling 128 344 4854 105
Dietetic Internship 12 12 228 105
Education 37 88 693 103
Higher Education 24 54 834 130
Nursing 10 59 817 84
Occupational Therapy 34 92 2377 112
Physical Therapy 36 36 1584 108
Totals 353 915 13630 108

Admissions and welcome center update

Construction on the Kim S. Phipps Admissions and Welcome Center resumed on May 4.  All contractors and subcontractors have returned and are following CDC health and safety guidelines. Work within the building includes the roughing in of electric and HVAC units. The walls are framed out and drywall is expected to start soon. The outside of the building is being prepared for the installation of the brick and outdoor finishes. With the cancelation of summer events and activities, the schedule shifted to focus on major work outside of Boyer Hall, Hostetter Chapel and Murray Library. There is a significant amount of demolition and change needed to connect those buildings to the new green space. The plan is to complete these areas and the connections to as much of the green space as possible before early August (and reducing the related fencing!). With the time lost due to the required shutdown of construction, the College is currently waiting for an updated project schedule, but completion of the new building will likely be late October. The College will announce an adjusted move-in schedule after that time.

Giving update

Giving for FY20: Gifts received so far this year are nearly $5.1 million, which is 85 percent of our June 30 goal. When counting both gifts received and new pledges, we are almost at $10 million, which is 83 percent of our June 30 goal. I am pleased to report that the gifts and pledges amount is about $1 million ahead of last year at this time.

We have also raised over $950,000 for the Messiah Fund, which is over $100,000 ahead of last year at this time. Part of our planning to support the College’s goal of finishing FY20 with a balanced budget, is to raise at least $1million for the Messiah Fund. The fact that we are over $950,000 towards that revised goal is very encouraging.

See the below table for a summary of FY20 giving progress as of May 19, 2020:

Gifts received Messiah Fund/Operating Gifts Received and New Pledges
$ 5,095,775 $ 952,122 $ 9,922,271
June 30 Goals:
$ 6,030,00085% of goal $ 1,300,00073% of goal $ 12,030,00083% of goal

Giving Day: On April 30 we held our annual Giving Day. Unlike past years, all raised funds were directed to COVID relief, both for students and institutional support. The Good Samaritan Fund, which has been a key part of our strategy to help students particularly impacted by the COVID crisis, has received over $60,000 since March. We remain deeply grateful for the faithful support of our donors during these challenging times.

Messiah’s next strategic plan

In addition to guiding the work of our campus prioritization task forces, Credo consulting has been a valuable partner in leading our broader campus audit as an important foundational step in informing  our upcoming strategic planning process, which will begin with an August 2020 strategic planning team retreat. Employees and student leaders will be invited to participate in virtual planning sessions in September 2020, and the board will participate in October 2020—with the goal of finalizing a new strategic plan for Messiah University by May 2021!

Messiah University update

The University Implementation Team continues to work to prepare Messiah for its transition from college to university on July 1, 2020. Preparations are underway for the transition of operational aspects such as campus signage and displays, print and web communications, merchandise, and other physical transitions.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, has altered by necessity, our previously announced plans for Community Day 2020, which was to serve as our celebratory “launch” event for employees and students. I will proceed with delivering a virtual State of the University address on Tuesday, Aug. 25, but we will not be meeting together as a community on that day.

The University Implementation Team meets at the end of the month and will consider how some of the festivities that required delay due to COVID-19 (i.e., our August launch picnic and the card stunt video that was scheduled for early April) may potentially be rescheduled for other times throughout the year—perhaps even into the spring of 2021. Watch for more detailed communication on all of these events and other transitions in the months ahead. In the interim, you can find the most recent information at www.messiah.edu/mu-transition. We will celebrate Messiah’s journey to university throughout all of the 2020-21 academic year!

Class of 2020 Commencement rescheduled to Oct. 23,24

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and our unexpected spring semester, Messiah’s Commencement celebrations for both its Undergraduate and Graduate Class of 2020 needed to take on a new form this year. On May 1, I announced to our graduates that Messiah will be celebrating them—with an in-person Commencement ceremony during fall break on Friday, Oct. 23 (graduate ceremony) and Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020 (undergraduate ceremony)* Members of the Community of Educators should already have received this announcement, along with expectation for attendance, from the Office of the Provost. Both the Graduate and Undergraduate Commencement Committees are currently working on the planning for the October ceremonies and additional details as they are confirmed will be posted at messiah.edu/GRADcommencement and messiah.edu/UGcommencement.

*Please note that plans may be subject to change based on evolving public health directives related to COVID-19. Messiah is committed to providing graduates with the very best commencement experience, focused on the safety and wellbeing for our grads, their guests and the Messiah community

Good news about Messiah College

Here is a sample of some recent highlights about the quality of Messiah College’s programs and the accomplishments of Messiah’s 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).

  • The National Endowment for the Humanities recently announced Sarah Myers, assistant professor of history at Messiah College, as one of the recipients of the National Endowment for the Humanities Dialogues on the Experience of War Grant for her outstanding work with female veterans. Just 17 percent of proposals received funding this year. Myers’ program, “We are Veterans Too: Women’s Experiences in the U.S. Military,” will organize and hold discussion groups that generate conversations with female veterans and service members over cultural issues within the military. As the director of this project, Myers will also lead discussion workshops with female veterans at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial (WIMSA) in Arlington, Virginia over the course of the 2020-2021 year.
  • Marissa Donlevie ’20 (major in Spanish with teaching certification; minors in TESOL and speech and language pathology) has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Award in Ecuador by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Her 9-month grant assignment will allow her to research, teach English, and integrate with the local community under the larger context of representing America and strengthening international relations. Fulbright is the world’s largest and most diverse international educational exchange program, and the award is a reflection of Donlevie’s leadership and contributions to society. Learn more about the Fulbright U.S. Student Program at http://us.fulbrightonline.org/.
  • Senior Rebecca Lauver was selected by NEASEA (Northeast Association of Student Employment Administrators) as Pennsylvania’s Student Employee of the Year! In her role as biodiversity coordinator with the Sustainability Office, she helped manage communication, events and projects for the office, and served as the student representative for the Sustainability Committee. NEASEA selected the state winners from all the nominations that they received from each college within that state.  To learn more visit https://www.neasea.org/.
  • Two Messiah engineering students won first and second place in the Society for Women Engineers regional undergraduate research competition, held March 28. As a result of the pandemic, the students had to pivot to a virtual competition on short notice. Bekah Forshey (clubfoot team) won first place and Kay Laura Sindabizera (prosthetic knee team), won second place. Lauren Seubert, a first-year student on the ROCK team, also entered and won third place in a similar West Coast SWE competition earlier this year. Entrants had to submit abstracts, complete a live “lightning talk” webinar in front of judges, and submit a poster that was judged virtually.
  • Tim Schoettle was accepted to be part of the CIC Institute on New Currents in Teaching Philosophy (which was rescheduled from this summer to July 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) Additionally, the college will receive $1,000 to help Tim and the department implement new ideas in teaching that can be developed at the institute. The institute describes itself as “bringing together the most dedicated philosophy instructors from CIC member institutions and introducing them to a group of highly innovative, field-tested philosophy courses, through intensive, collaborative sessions led by the original course designers. …” More information about the institute can be found here:  https://www.cic.edu/programs/teaching-philosophy.

In closing

Over the past few weeks I have witnessed the dedication, resilience, creativity and faithfulness of the Messiah community. No matter what further challenges we may experience in the weeks and months ahead, I have great confidence and hope in the mission, the people and the future of Messiah University.  I look forward to us all being together again soon.

Warm regards,

Kim S. Phipps

President