Oct. 28, 2021

Dear Colleagues:

We’ve certainly been experiencing an eventful fall since my last update in July! Since then: we’ve launched a new academic year with Community Day, Welcome Week and Convocation; welcomed parents and alumni to campus for Homecoming and Family Weekend (complete with the first fireworks display in Messiah’s history!); hosted our first on-campus board of trustees in two years—and most importantly, we are successfully nine weeks (more than half-way) through our fully in-person semester. I hear repeatedly from students how much they value being back together for a full campus life experience—not only in the classroom—but in worship, arts and humanities events, athletics and other cocurricular activities, and enjoying personal interactions with peers and all of you. This is made possible because of your hardworking commitment to our students in service to Messiah’s institutional mission. I am so proud of the unwavering resilience and dedication with which you serve our students, and I remain grateful for God’s continued faithfulness to our Messiah community.

I hope that you all had the opportunity to enjoy some well-deserved time off during fall break. Now, as we enter the second half of the fall semester, I’d like to provide you with an update on the October board of trustees meeting, enrollment, giving and other campus news.

Highlights from the October 2021 board of trustees meeting

On Oct. 14-15, Messiah’s board of trustees held their first on-campus, in-person meeting in two years. Our trustees are a special, dedicated group of individuals who faithfully and voluntarily serve Messiah by contributing their experience, leadership and resources—and they were delighted to be back together again, not only with each other, but with our students and employees.

During the first full board session, I shared with trustees the progress we are making on pursuing the action steps and goals of our new strategic plan, “University Rising: the Strategic Plan for Messiah 2022-2024,” including the cultivation of potential new partnerships that would advance our institutional mission and priorities. The final board session concluded with reports and action items from the board’s various committees, which are summarized below.

 From the Committee on Finance:

  • The University experienced an FY21 operating cash flow surplus of $1,486,000 as a result of significant savings in operating expenditures (primarily in areas that were under-spent due to pandemic-related circumstances, i.e., travel, utilities, supplies, printing, hospitality, etc.) The board approved the entirety of this nearly $1.5 million surplus be retained as institutional surplus/contingency reserves.
  • The board reviewed the FY22 financial plan as presented to and affirmed by campus governance groups. The financial plan was approved with a very positive change related to employee salaries. Salaries were adjusted upward by an additional 1 percent resulting in a 2 percent increase to the administrative and staff salary pool and a 3 percent increase to the faculty salary pool. These raises take effect on Nov. 1, 2021, for employees hired prior to Sept. 1, 2021.
  • Above and beyond this salary increase within the FY22 financial plan, in recognition of employees’ diligent work and fiscal management, the board additionally authorized a 1 percent one-time stipend to be paid on Dec. 15, 2021, to full-time faculty and administrative and staff employees in non-temporary assignments. The stipend was allocated by the board as an expression of appreciation to employees for their good work throughout the past 18 months.
  • Trustees also approved Messiah’s tuition, fees and room and board rates for FY23 as presented and as approved by campus governance groups. Per Messiah’s usual practice, the approved FY23 tuition and fee schedule will be publicly announced to students and their families in early 2022.

From the Committee on Assurance: The board approved the University’s FY21 audited financial statements by BakerTilly LLC and approved the calendar 2020 403(b) benefits audit by CapinCrouse LLP.

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.

Dedication of the new Kim S. Phipps Admissions and Welcome Center and Campus Commons:  Trustee meetings concluded with a wonderful dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony for Messiah’s new Admissions and Welcome Center. This much-needed facility provides enhanced hospitality for prospective students and other visitors, as well as housing essential services for our current students such as the registrar’s office and student financial services. Our entire community has also been enjoying the bustling, beautiful Campus Commons (the official name for our stunning new campus green space). I am grateful to our trustees for their generous fundraising for this facility that will bless and serve prospective and current students at Messiah for years to come.

Enrollment snapshot

Overall FY21 undergraduate enrollment:  Fall 2021 proved to be a challenging year for undergraduate enrollment for most higher education institutions. (The Chronicle of Higher Education reported a national decline of 500,000 students). After adjusting our budget model in the spring to accommodate a smaller first year undergraduate class, we are pleased to report a projected balanced budget for FY22. The fall snapshot taken on Sept. 7 reports a total undergraduate headcount of 2,495 students. This translates to a projected annualized FFTE of 2,328 versus our revised budget goal of 2,339 undergraduate students (-11).

 Fall 2021 undergraduate student enrollment statistics

  • 550 new, first-time students versus revised operating plan goal of 545 (+5)
  • 76 transfer students versus revised goal of 87 (-11)
  • Incoming (new, first-year and transfer combined) undergraduate domestic under- represented and international student diversity:
    • 140 (22.4 percent) domestic under-represented students versus last year’s 115 (16.8 percent)
    • 18 (2.9 percent) international students versus last year’s 16 (2.3 percent)
    • All in all, 158 students, approximately 25 percent, of the incoming class (first- year and transfers) are domestic students of color or international versus last year’s 131 (19 percent)

While we are aware of many institutions experiencing sharp declines in retention (4-10 percent) due to the pandemic, we are pleased that our first-to-second year retention rate landed at 85.3 percent compared to last year’s 86.5 percent. This result is a testimony to all of the efforts that were made to provide students with an excellent educational experience in the midst of all the difficult challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 Graduate enrollment fall 2021:  As of fall snapshot, graduate headcount was at 781 for fall, compared to last year’s 756 students (+25). With total credit hours to date of 7,800, we are ahead of last year by 403 credit hours and have achieved 51 percent of our goal for this fiscal year. We are on target to meet the overall graduate enrollment goal for FY22.

 Undergraduate enrollment fall 2022: We are well on our way to recruiting new and transfer students for fall 2022. With a full slate of visits and events on the calendar, we are pleased to be hosting students and their families for in-person experiences. Thank you to our campus community for the many ways you exhibit hospitality to our students and their families!

Additionally, we are pleased to introduce the opportunity for faculty from across the disciplines to engage and interview admitted students for our new $1,000 renewable Dean’s Scholarships. With this initiative, the undergraduate admissions team will be scheduling meetings with admitted students to facilitate meaningful interactions with faculty from the student’s intended major. Undeclared students will engage with educators from our Career and Professional Development Center. As a result, we hope to generate higher campus visit counts, more engagement with educators and higher yield rates.

Application traffic to date is comparable to last fall at this time and we are pleased to be running ahead in early acceptances and deposits (see chart below). Enrollment consultants are predicting a late application season as students continue to navigate the educational complexities associated with the pandemic.

Our “Fall in Love with Messiah” visit campaign was launched in late October and encourages students to visit in November to qualify for fun prizes. Our final fall open house is scheduled for Friday, Nov.12, just ahead of our free-application deadline of Nov. 15. We look forward to an action-packed month!

Oct. 26, 2021
Fall 2022 % to goal Goal Fall 2021 3-year average

First-year Students
Applications 786 31% 2,575 806 873
Acceptances 475 24% 2,000 423 480
Active Deposits 51 9% 557 43 44

Transfer Students
Applications 26 9% 290 36 38
Acceptances 15 7% 210 17 17
Active Deposits 3 3% 87 11 6

Graduate enrollment FY22:  The 2021-2022 fiscal year budgeted credit hour goal is 15,237. Currently, we have reached 7,840 registered credit hours (51 percent to goal). Comparing where we are this year to where we were last year on Oct. 27, 2020:

  • Behind 37 new students (189 this year versus 226 last year)
  • Ahead 9 unduplicated students (819 this year versus 810 last year)
  • Ahead 400.5 credit hours (7,839.5 this year versus 7,439 last year; 51 percent to goal this year versus 50 percent to goal last year)

Giving update

Giving Numbers for FY22 (see chart below): We are well ahead of last year in terms of the Messiah Fund (over $400,000). While we are a bit behind last year in total giving, we anticipate meeting our June 30 goals.

Gifts Received Messiah Fund /Operating

Gifts Received & New Pledges
$ 1,266,132 $ 727,633 $ 2,233,493

June 30 Goals:
$ 6,000,000

21% of goal

 $ 1,300,000

56% of goal

 $ 12,000,000

19% of goal

The Campaign for Messiah University
$72 million of $75 million raised 96% of goal

The Campaign for Messiah University: Learning for Life, Transforming the World: We had a successful virtual announcement of the public phase of the Campaign for Messiah University on Sept. 16, including the launch of the campaign video and website and media coverage from the Central Penn Business Journal about the Campaign. The University announced that we were $70 million towards our $75 million goal. We are pleased to report that, since the public launch, we are now at $72 million or 96 percent of our goal! We feel very confident about a successful completion of this campaign by December 2022. A key aspect of the Campaign was the completion of the Kim S. Phipps Admissions and Welcome Center. It was a special day on Oct. 15 when we were able to (finally!) dedicate this outstanding facility. Our focus during the final phase of the Campaign will be to gain support for the Messiah Fund, scholarship aid and endowment, estate planning conversations, and fundraising for new campus entrance and Starry Athletic Complex hospitality and concessions facilities.

Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) Software Implementation: The Office of Development continues its implementation of Ellucian’s CRM Advance, which is a state-of-the-art constituent management system. One of the key features is the “moves management,” i.e., donor cultivation process. A CRM automates contacts similarly to the way admissions representatives track and engage with their student prospect pools; for development representatives, the CRM manages regular contacts and engagement with donors. The Development Office expects to go live in January 2022.

Middle States Accreditation Self-study underway

Associate Provost Alison Noble and Director of Institutional Research Laura Miller continue to capably lead the Middle States Commission on Higher Education self-study. I am thankful for their leadership. The design plan has been submitted and a virtual preparation “site visit” was held with MSCHE liaisons on Sept. 27. Board members Craig Sider and Kimberly Thornbury participated in the virtual site visit. We were recently notified that our self-study design has been approved. The remainder of the year will be spent working on our self-study for submission to MSCHE in the summer of 2022, with the site visit occurring in spring 2023. The details and progress of Messiah’s self-study are publicly available for review and comment at www.messiah.edu/middlestates.

Update from the Office of Diversity Affairs

On July 1, 2021, The Offices of Multicultural and International Student Programs became part of the Office of Diversity Affairs and report directly to Todd Allen, vice president for diversity affairs. Multicultural and International Student Programs hosted an array of Welcome Week events in mid-August, and we are pleased to have 140 new domestic under-represented students (22.4 percent of the incoming class) and 36 new international, third culture and missionary students joining the Messiah community. The 2021-22 revised diversity strategic plan, “Journeying Toward Reconciliation Together,” is nearing completion and will soon be distributed. I am grateful for Todd Allen and Vice Provost for Student Success and Engagement Kris Hansen-Kieffer’s good work in leading the Year of Reconciliation task force, including the launch of a website dedicated to the year’s events.

Good news about Messiah

Here is a sample of some recent highlights about the success of Messiah University’s programs and people which I shared with the board of trustees.

  • Messiah has launched a multi-year cybersecurity initiative, including developing programs, services and infrastructure to pave the way for the designation of the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C). In collaboration with federal agency partnerships, the NCAE-C program creates and manages a collaborative cybersecurity educational program with colleges and universities across the U.S. The goal is increased student enrollment and external partnerships that will generate new revenue. I am grateful to Professor Vinny Sakore and trustee David Millary for their visionary leadership and expertise.
  • Under the direction of Carrie Gorman, the Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) program is making final preparations for a cross-cultural medical mission trip in early 2022 to Rio Missions, Panama, to serve with A Heart’s Cry Children’s This is a special-needs orphanage and therapy center. In addition, the MOT program continues to intentionally partner with local nonprofits (for example the YWCA in Harrisburg and LOGOS Academy in York) to explore how occupational therapy can support faith-based education and human services in Central Pennsylvania.
  • There has been significant transition occurring in Messiah’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Congratulations to Karl Bergmann who recently transitioned to the role of program director. Under his leadership, in collaboration with Dean of the School of Graduate Studies Rob Pepper, the program has hired two additional faculty as we prepare for the CAPTE accreditation site visit in late October. Vanessa Lee from Philadelphia is a board-certified cardiopulmonary clinical specialist with experience in in-patient clinical practice and as an adjunct instructor. Michael Lehr joins us from Lebanon Valley College where he was a core faculty member. He is an expert in orthopedic and sports physical therapy and movement and musculoskeletal injury prevention strategies, as well as a well-regarded national and international scholar. Welcome to our newest DPT educators!
  • Associate Dean of Nursing Kim Fenstermacher was recently featured on abc27 News’ “Good Day PA” to highlight Messiah’s nursing programs, particularly Messiah’s flexible online RN to BSN program for working nurses who wish to further advance their degree. Watch the interview.
  • Last week Messiah publicly announced a partnership with UPMC that will accelerate the nursing expertise in the region and meet the continued demands of better patient outcomes. As part of this partnership, nurses at UPMC will have the opportunity to participate in Messiah University’s online nursing degree programs (RN to BSN, master’s and doctoral) at a discounted rate and receive additional funding toward course books. UPMC, one of the leading healthcare providers in Pennsylvania, employs more than 18,000 nurses and owns and operates 40 hospitals and 800 physician offices across the Commonwealth. Earlier this semester, to help cultivate this partnership, Messiah leadership and educators from the department of nursing were pleased to host UPMC Central Pennsylvania’s chief nursing officers on campus. The CNOs met with Messiah faculty and staff and took tours of the University’s state-of-the-art nursing simulation labs. Read more.
  • Congratulations to Messiah Press and Postal Services for winning the 2021 IPMA award for promotional excellence. The award was in recognition of their communication, signage and re-branded forms and materials that they designed and produced to communicate their transition of becoming Messiah Press (formerly College Press) when Messiah became a university last year.

In closing

I recently participated in a Zoom session with the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP were assessing Messiah’s business programs for accreditation renewal). After the appointment, our business department chair, Andrew Babyak, shared an email message from a senior marketing major who had also participated in the accreditation review process. This student expressed gratitude for his faculty and the impact they have had had on him and his classmates.

Here is part of his note outlining what some business students told the accreditors: “We shared about real-world applicable skills, networking opportunities, successful internships/jobs, accessible professors, campus involvement, and exceptional facilities, and…more. I think of my own experiences in marketing/finance and I am so glad I came to Messiah. You all go above and beyond in your mission, and I (and my classmates) are very grateful.”

 I know you join me in sharing the conviction that the world needs Messiah graduates to be Christ-centered servants, leaders and reconcilers, and I’m grateful for your faithful partnership in fulfilling Messiah’s mission.

Warm regards,

Kim S. Phipps

President