Campus Update

May 28, 2021

Dear Colleagues:

We have achieved many accomplishments together since my March update! As a campus community, we successfully kept our university open and in-person to complete our entire academic year despite the challenges of a global pandemic. In the past two weeks, we hosted back-to-back Commencement weekends for both the undergraduate and graduate classes of 2020 and 2021—sending a multitude of new Messiah graduates to lead and serve in church and society. Thank you for the steadfast commitment, perseverance and hard work that you invested into these celebratory events, but, even more importantly, into the education, care and support of our students during the historic circumstances of the past year. “Together at Messiah” is much more than a slogan!

Highlights from the April 2021 board of trustees meeting

Messiah’s board of trustees held their annual spring meeting via Zoom on April 29-30. The board focused attention on the proposed draft of “University Rising, the Strategic Plan for Messiah 2022-2024.” Small group discussion sessions provided opportunities for thoughtful debate and consideration. In late June, the executive committee will convene to vote on the final draft which will include metrics for assessment. The board was supportive of the plan’s goals, but strongly encouraged senior administration to make new program development (with strong potential for new revenue) a clear priority in 2021-2022. The meeting concluded with reports and action items from the board’s various committees, which are summarized below.

 From the Committee on Education:

The board reviewed and approved term tenure and promotion status of faculty members as presented based on the recommendation of the Term-Tenure and Promotion Committee, the provost and the president. The board additionally approved the hire of new undergraduate and graduate educators, effective Aug. 1, 2021, as recommended by the Committee. The provost’s office will communicate the specifics of these decisions to the campus community via COENet and the Intercom.

 From the Committee on Finance:

FY22 financial plan: The board approved the FY22 financial plan, as affirmed by campus governance groups, permitting the Executive Committee of the Board, or the Committee on Finance, to take final action on the financial plan in October when enrollment information will be more complete.

From the Committee on Governance:

• Term appointments: the board approved the appointment of the following individuals as a trustee in the class of 2025, effective July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2025: Rim Hinckley, Jessica D. Thomas, and Todd Witmer (first term) and Linda Eremita (second term).
• Officer appointments: the board approved the appointment of the following slate of officers of the Board of Trustees for a term length as indicated below, effective July 1, 2021:
  • Chair: Dr. Craig Sider (2021-2024)
  • Vice Chair: Heidi Bingaman (2021-2022)
  • Secretary: David Millary (2021-2022)
  • Treasurer: Anthony Schiano (2021-2022)

From the Executive Committee:

As I announced in my May 5 employee email, the board of trustees approved the recommendation from President’s Cabinet to designate $750,000 from the FY20 surplus for a one-time 2 percent employee stipend (payable June 30, 2021) in recognition of the outstanding contributions of Messiah employees for the past 14 months. The board is grateful, as am I, for your diligence in caring for our students during this unprecedented academic year.

Update on School structure and Student Success and Engagement reorganization

The academic school structure has been revised for FY22 to include three schools: the School of Graduate Studies, led by Rob Pepper; the School of Science, Engineering and Health, led by Angela Hare; and a third school, which will combine the current schools of humanities, arts, business, education and social sciences, and be led by Peter Powers. Dean Powers will be aided by three assistant deans, Emerson Powery, Valerie Lemmon and Tim Dixon. The name of this third school is in the process of being finalized. The following academic disciplines have been combined into four new departments:

• Biblical, Religious and Philosophical Studies
• History, Politics and International Relations
• Language, Literature and Writing
• Psychology, Criminal Justice and Sociology

The Division of Student Success and Engagement has also been reorganized. Please see attachment for additional details.

Enrollment update

Undergraduate enrollment fall 2021: Undergraduate enrollment for fall continues to be below expectations. While applications and acceptances lag by three to five percent, deposits are approximately 10 percent behind last year. Current melt rates among deposits are fairly stable at 5.5 percent to date. We are pleased to report that enrollment of under-represented students is currently at an all-time high with 118 students, compared to 105 one year ago. The chart below reports first-year and transfer admissions, as of May 25, against goals.

Summer 2021: In the next three months, the Undergraduate Admissions team will continue to focus on intensive follow-up with this fall’s class to increase engagement and minimize melt. That includes helping to prepare students for course registration, as well as a series of hosting virtual “Prepare for Landing” events for accepted students and College Toolkit sessions throughout summer to assist new students in making the transition. We are excited to offer insight on financial aid, faith formation and career preparation; and provide sessions for first-generation students and parents, complete with student and parent panels. Finally, the vice president for enrollment management reports that his team is thrilled to open the doors of the Kim S. Phipps Admissions and Welcome Center a little wider this summer to host three Falcon Friday (first look @Messiah!) events on June 18, July 16 and August 13. There is also some good news on our summer online initiatives: registration looks very strong! With a 40 percent increase in credit hours thus far, we plan to exceed revenue targets for summer online courses.

	Fall 2021	% to goal	Goal
First-year Students as of May 25, 2021
Applications	2,400	94%	2,550
Acceptances	1,878	96%	1,950
Active Deposits	534	92%	580 (budgeted goal 545)
Transfer Students as of May 25, 2021
Applications	239	82%	290
Acceptances	142	68%	210
Active Deposits	55	61%	90

Graduate enrollment FY21: Graduate student enrollment continues to outpace expectations. The FY21 fiscal year budgeted credit hour goal is 14,811. With 16,283 registered credit hours, we have realized 110 percent of our goal—with additional enrollment to occur between now and June 2021. Comparing where we are this year to where we were last year on May 20, 2020, we are:

• Ahead 18 new students (381 this year versus 363 last year)
• Ahead 54 unduplicated students (980 this year versus 926 last year)
• Ahead 2,488 credit hours (16,283 this year versus 13,795 last year; 110 percent to goal this year versus 109 percent to goal last year)

Giving update

Overall giving FY21: As we approach the final weeks of the fiscal year, we are profoundly grateful for the sustained generosity of those who contribute financially to Messiah University. We have already exceeded our June 30 overall giving goal having received $6,135,612 in new gifts, which is 102 percent of our goal. Total gifts and new pledges are at $9,754,540, which is 81 percent of our June 30 goal. The Development team is focused on closing and documenting pending pledges to ensure we reach the total gifts and pledges goal.

	FY21 Giving Update as of May 25, 2021
Gifts Received	Messiah Fund / Operating	Gifts Received and New Pledges
$ 6,135,612	$ 871,226	$ 9,754,540
June 30, 2021 Goals:
$ 6,030,000 102 % of goal	$ 1,300,000 67 % of goal	$ 12,030,000 81 % of goal

The Messiah Fund: The Messiah Fund and Operating Giving is at $871,226 or 67 percent of goal. Messiah Fund giving is behind FY20 but ahead of FY19 at this date. Unrestricted giving continues to be a challenge as more and more donors prefer to designate their gifts to a particular area of interest. Restricted gifts are deeply appreciated (and necessary) but only unrestricted gifts and a select number of similar types of donations, i.e., operating support, count toward meeting our Messiah Fund goal. A record-setting Giving Day in April 22 was very helpful effort in attracting new dollars to the Messiah Fund.

Learning for Life, Transforming the World: The Campaign for Messiah University: The Campaign for Messiah University will be officially launched via a virtual event in September 2021. The $75 million capital campaign has been a major fundraising effort over the past few years, and we look forward to sharing the progress we have made toward our achieving our $75 million goal. The previously mentioned campaign kick-off event has been postponed to fall of 2022 and will be reframed as a celebratory evening that highlights the accomplishments of the campaign, which will conclude in December 2022.

Campus green update

Finally, we can all celebrate that the construction fence in central campus is coming down! The demolition work on Hoffman Hall has been completed, and the green space is expected to be finished early this summer. In the next few weeks, the concrete walkways will be poured, landscaping will be completed and the grass area will be protected and roped off for the remainder of the summer. We look forward to the green space—including lighting, banners and lawn furnishings—being finished prior to welcoming students back to the campus in mid-August.

Good news about Messiah

Here is a sample of some recent highlights about the success of Messiah University’s programs and people. For more details visit messiah.edu/news, Messiah’s official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MessiahUniversity/ and the Bridge magazine www.messiah.edu/the_Bridge (the source sites for many of the below news items).

• Kendra Sommers has been awarded a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) for 2021. A politics and international relations major from the Class of 2020, Kendra will do an intensive study over the next few months of Bangla, an Indo-Aryan language of South Asia, under the tutelage of the US Department of State. CLS is part of a U.S. government initiative to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering foreign languages critical to national security (https://clscholarship.org/).
• For the second time in three years, Messiah University’s capstone marketing class, Marketing Management and Strategy, taught by Professor of Marketing David Hagenbuch, won first place in the annual Collegiate Marketing Plan Competition sponsored by the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA). Other schools that often participate in the semester-long competition, which is judged by accomplished marketing professionals, include the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, Robert Morris University and West Virginia University.  Messiah University’s marketing program is the only one to place in the top three each of the past four years. Congratulations!
• Congratulations to Ryan Althoff ’21 on recently winning the Pennsylvania Financial Plan Competition! More than 200 college students created personal financial plans during the 2020-201 school year. Then, a team of 22 reviewers narrowed 25 finalists to a top ten, and independently ranked the top ten plans. Ryan was advised by Dwayne Safer, assistant professor of finance.
• Congratulations to Messiah Women’s Lacrosse for advancing to their first-ever Elite Eight game! The No. 10 Messiah women’s lacrosse team was unable to break the defensive effort from the St. John Fisher Cardinals, falling 9-5. However, the loss was Messiah’s first of the year and ended the Falcons’ deepest NCAA Tournament run in program history. The Falcons ended their outstanding season with an overall record of 18-1. Congratulations to Coach Heather McKay, the coaching staff and all of our student athletes on this incredible achievement! For more on this story and other spring Messiah Athletics highlights visit www.gomessiah.com .
• Congratulations to Michael Stefanchik, Messiah’s Student Employee of the Year, who was also selected by the NEASEA as Pennsylvania’s Student Employee of the Year. Stefanchik works for Messiah University Conference and Event Services as a member of the tech crew team with the Sound and Lighting Department, and serves campus diligently by assisting with classroom technology. Thank you for all of your hard work, Michael!
• Highmark Blue Shield recently awarded Messiah University a Frontline Worker Grant to support current nursing students. Through a $5,000 grant to the Messiah University Department of Nursing, the department-sponsored “Wellness Centers” will be able to upgrade technology to equip the facility with several new computer devices, a WiFi-accessible printer and copier and basic first aid supplies. Read more.
• Rachel Cornacchio, director of the Graduate Program in Music at Messiah University, was invited to direct the 2021 Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) All-State Chorus in-person. But when the April event moved to a virtual format, Cornacchio fortunately has plenty of experience conducting online! Read more.
• The Messiah University Concert Choir, directed by Joy Meade, assistant professor of music, performed Jake Runestad’s “I Will Lift Mine Eyes” at the Cathedral of St. Patrick in Harrisburg, during its “pandemic empty cathedrals” tour in April 2021. View the video of their inspiring performance.

In closing

I trust that the summer schedule will allow for much-needed physical and spiritual rest and refreshment for all Messiah employees. Take time to vacation and spend time with friends and loved ones. May we all pause to reflect on God’s goodness, grace and faithfulness to our community during the past year. Psalm 126:3 reminds us, “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” Together at Messiah– let’s nurture a spirit of gratitude and joy during these beautiful summer days.

Warm regards,

Kim S. Phipps, President