Aug. 1, 2023

Dear Colleagues:

Summer flies by so quickly on a university campus! Whether you’ve spent the last few months engaging in scholarship and research, teaching intensives and online summer coursework, or supporting a robust camps and conferences schedule—I hope that you are finding time to enjoy these warm (even hot) summer days by spending time with your family and friends. I look forward to seeing you soon when we welcome our new and returning students to campus for the fall semester. Now, as the new academic year approaches, allow me to share a brief update on enrollment, giving and other campus news.

Connect with colleagues at Community Day

All employees are invited to attend Community Day on Tuesday, Aug. 15, from 9-10:30 a.m. in the Calvin and Janet High Center for Worship and Performing Arts. This annual Messiah tradition serves as the ceremonial launch of the new academic year for employees as we gather together for corporate worship and fellowship, including my presentation of the 2023 State of the University address. Light refreshments (and Community Day t-shirt distribution!) will take place from 10:30-11:30 a.m. in front of the High Center immediately following the morning gathering. All offices and departments (apart from Dispatch) will close from 8:45-11:30 a.m. to allow employees to participate in the Community Day experience. If you have any questions, please contact Karin Bisbee at ext. 5220 or KBisbee@messiah.edu.

Summer at Messiah

I am pleased to share that this year, Messiah’s number of summer camp and conferences returned to its pre-pandemic level—welcoming guests from 65 camps and conferences and 10+ other large external events. These numbers included our own academic and athletic camps as well as off-campus conference groups. The conference of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, for which we have served as a longstanding host site, continued to be our largest conference with more than 1,000 guests! Thank you to the Office of Conference and Event Services, Dining Services, and all others from the operations, academic and administrative teams who support our summer camp and conference programming. In addition to generating a critical source of external revenue—these programs provide outstanding service and hospitality to our off-campus guests and create important connections for our campus community.

Enrollment snapshot

Undergraduate Admissions: We are pleased to report that overall new student enrollment for fall is on track to goals. First-year enrollment has been running slightly ahead of last year and ahead of annual targets. Transfer student traffic is running slightly behind, and the admissions team continues to serve applicants with hopes that we can bridge the gap and maintain minimal summer melt. The following chart shows where we are compared to last year as well as fall 2023 goals as of July 26:

July 26, 2023
 

Fall 2023

% to goal

Goal

Fall 2022

3-year average

First-year Students

Applications

2,371

92%

2,575

2,430

2,478

Acceptances

1,860

93%

2,000

1,928

1,933

Active Deposits

608

105%

580

600

592

Transfer Students

Applications

247

85%

290

230

262

Acceptances

146

70%

210

157

162

Active Deposits

62

71%

87

74

76

Additionally, we continue to track a few other notable undergraduate trends, including:

  • SURECP deposits are up 24, a 19.8% increase over last year for a total of 23.8% of the first-year class. 
  • We welcomed nearly 4,000 campus visits through the admissions for FY23, which is 600 more than the previous fiscal year—an 18% increase.
  • Enrollment continues to increase from our strategic institutional focus on dual enrollment. This fall will bring approximately 200 high schoolers taking face-to-face and online courses, compared to last fall’s 140. We are pleased that 52 of our currently deposited first-year students previously took a course through dual enrollment offerings.

Graduate Enrollment: The University captured a graduate enrollment snapshot at the end of June. The 2022-2023 fiscal year budgeted credit hour goal was 14,790. Our snapshot confirmed we have reached 15,698.5 registered credit hours (106% of goal!).

Comparing where we ended this year to our budget goals:

  • 5 fewer new students (335 versus goal of 340)
  • 43 additional unduplicated students (955 versus goal of 912)
  • 909 additional credit hours (15,698.5 versus goal of 14,790)

Comparing where we ended this year to where we ended last year:

  • 335 new students (99% to goal) this year compared to 313 (87% to goal) last year
  • 955 unduplicated students (105% to goal) this year compared to 962 (103% to goal) last year
  • 15,698.5 credit hours (106% to goal) this year compared to 16,708.5 (110% to goal) last year

Thank you to all administrators, educators and staff who labor so diligently to recruit and retain our students.

Giving update

 FY23 giving final results: We finished very strong in our giving to close out FY23. In fact, when combining new gifts in-the-door plus new pledges (gifts to be paid in future years), we are at nearly $12.6 million, which is our highest overall level of giving commitments in the past five years. Further, FY23 was also the year of the largest total number of donors of the past four years.

  • Total giving: $6,518,898 (100.3% of June 30 goal)
  • Messiah Fund/operating: $986,306 (76% of June 30 goal)
  • Total giving and new pledges: $12,589,847 (105% of June 30 goal)

Looking to the year ahead, our giving for FY24 is tracking similar to last year at this time, which is a very positive trend.

Current projects: In addition to our perennial priorities of The Messiah Fund, scholarship aid, and scholarship endowment, we continue to focus on various facilities projects, including:

  • Warmer Welcome Campaign for Athletics: With more than $4.6 million raised (63% of goal) we are now able to move forward with the construction of the East Hospitality Facility and lacrosse stadium seating later this fall. Softball/baseball enhancements (dugouts, softball stands and press boxes) will be launched as a second phase of the overall project when the remaining dollars are raised. In May, Mowery Construction was hired to be the contractor for the first phase of the Warmer Welcome campaign (for the construction of the East Hospitality Facility and lacrosse stadium).  Throughout the summer, work has continued on the design phase. In late July, the final plans will be submitted to the township for approval, with an anticipation of approvals in place in late October. Construction is expected to start late December 2023 or January 2024, with expected completion by the start of the fall 2024 athletic season.
  • Engle Center for Counseling and Health Services: Work on the Engle Center renovations and addition is wrapping up in early August, with the Engle Center staff moving back in prior to the start of classes. This addition and renovated space will be a welcome addition and serve the needs of our students well into the future. In the coming weeks, we will continue to focus on raising the remaining $130,000 needed in order to reach the fundraising goal. A dedication for the facility is planned for the fall board of trustees meetings.
  • Resurface of indoor track: Fundraising progress to resurface the indoor track located on the upper level of the Hitchcock Arena is now at $161,000, which is 64% to goal.
  • Science equipment and space: We continue to explore needs in both science equipment and space. Specific fundraising goals have not yet been established, but we believe there is an opportunity to engage donors in the fields of science, health and allied health that require important upgrades.

As always, we remain so very grateful for those who invest philanthropic dollars in the mission of Messiah University. Such investments ensure that we can provide the highest quality of Christian higher education for our students.

Good news about Messiah

Here are some of the recent achievements and good news stories of members of the Messiah community. For more details visit messiah.edu/news, Messiah’s official Facebook page and the Bridge magazine (the source sites for many of the below news items).

  • Messiah’s student team, advised by Dwayne Safer, associate professor of finance, placed third in the nationwide 2023 Conference of State Banking Supervisors (CSBS) Community Bank Case Study Competition. The competition partners student teams with local community banks to conduct original case studies. Messiah University students partnered with LINKBANK to learn about how management and the board of directors are recruiting, training and retaining talent; approaching succession planning and demographic changes in their area; and using technology to advance their operations.  This is the ninth year of the competition and included 34 teams from across the country. Each student on the Messiah University team will receive a $500 CSBS scholarship and have their case studies published by CSBS.
  • In late July, the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) announced their Academic Honor Squads and Honor Roll for the 2023 season. The Falcons were one of 290 programs across NCAA Division I, II, and III as well as NAIA to earn the team Academic Honor Squad honor while seven Falcons nabbed spots on the individual Honor Roll. As a team, the Falcons carried a grade-point average (GPA) of 3.52 this academic year to be named one of the 290 programs on the IWLCA Academic Honor Squad. All programs included must have posted a team GPA of 3.2 or higher for the entire academic year. Messiah has earned a spot on the Academic Honor Squad in each of the last 14 seasons that the award has been presented.
  • Messiah alumna and assistant professor of nutrition and dietetics Kaitlin Gill, MS, RDN, LDN, CDCES, received the Pennsylvania Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (PAND) Recognized Young Dietitian Award for the Central District “in recognition of supporting the promotion of optimal health and nutritional status of the public through leadership in the profession.” She is also the president-elect of PAND for 2023-24. Kaitlin is from Shamokin Dam, Pa., where she is the Geisinger Fresh Food Farmacy Diabetes Educator. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics at Messiah University, her master’s degree at West Chester University, and completed her dietetic internship through Geisinger.
  • Local and professional trade media, including ABC27 and McKnight’s Senior Living, have recently highlighted Messiah University’s new partnership with Messiah Lifeways to create a Students-in-Residence Fellowship, a program that provides nursing students with valuable professional experience in a long-term care setting while living and working as a certified nursing assistant at Messiah Lifeways. Kelly Anderson ’25, was selected as Messiah’s inaugural student-in-residence fellow. Read more about this new university partnership.
  • The In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) selected Dwayne Magee, director of Messiah Press and Postal Services, to receive an IPMA Outstanding Contributor Award. He was honored at IPMA’s 2023 Educational Conference in June in Bonita Springs, Fla. “Dwayne Magee has been a solid contributor to IPMA for many years, including serving as President. …The Board proudly honors Dwayne for all his contributions to our organization,” said Christopher Donlon, IPMA International President.

In closing

 There is much promise in the new academic year for Messiah University, and I am grateful for your dedication to our mission!

 Warm regards,

Kim S. Phipps, president