Remarks delivered on 8/28/2024
Good afternoon! It is wonderful to see so many of you with us in Schneebeck Concert Hall as we embark on another academic year at Puget Sound! Welcome also to those members of our community who are joining us via livestream. Please note that a transcript of my remarks will be made available on the university website following this address for those who are not able to join us in-person or online.
Before we begin, I first want to acknowledge that University of Puget Sound is located on the traditional homelands of the Puyallup Tribe. The Puyallup people have lived on and stewarded these lands since the beginning of time, and continue to do so today. We recognize that this land acknowledgement is only the first step toward true allyship, and we remain committed to uplifting the voices, experiences, and histories of the Indigenous people of this land and beyond.
Where does the time go? It seems as though only yesterday we were celebrating our graduates at Commencement and yet here we are at the start of the fall semester. I know you have all been busy preparing for the start of classes and I appreciate you taking some time out of your day to be present as a community.
I would like to begin my remarks by looking back at the 2023–24 academic year, and all that we accomplished together. It was an exciting and dynamic year. We celebrated major institutional milestones, including the 50th anniversaries of the PacRim program and the Computer Science program, and the adoption of our new Grow core curriculum, which will provide a streamlined and flexible path to graduation. We continued to build community and collaboration within our graduate programs, both among students through the new Graduate Student Council and Graduate Commons, and by strengthening collaborations among staff in Academic Affairs, the Division of Enrollment and the leadership of our graduate programs. And we awarded the first bachelor’s degrees to ten extraordinary graduates of the FEPPS program, which provides a transformational college education to those incarcerated at the Washington Corrections Center for Women.
Our fundraising efforts delivered impressive commitments to advance Puget Sound’s mission and our strategic plan. This past year, we brought in $31.18 million…which represents the second-highest fundraising year in the history of the university…will allow us to make notable investments in our Crime, Law & Justice Studies program and in our student-athletes, major gifts to fund new and existing scholarships, support to expand access to experiential learning opportunities, and support work to develop resources for higher education programs in prisons across the country.
Our student-athletes made us proud, including Lily Godwin’s history-making tackle on the football field, Alex Rhodes placing third in the 400-meter dash at the USA Track & Field Under-20 Championships, the women’s basketball team’s stunning NCAA championship run, the women’s crew team’s seventh place finish at nationals, and the student-athletes who earned Northwest Conference honors for their accomplishments in the field and in the classroom. What a time to be a Logger.
Over this past year and especially during the summer months, our Facilities Services team has been hard at work on several improvements to campus, including a beautiful and functional refresh of Wheelock Dining Hall and Upper Marshall Hall, an upgrade to the contactless building access system, the installation of conduits for a cleaner and more efficient electrical system, a complete refresh of Regester Hall, and energy-efficient window replacements in Howarth Hall.
Through careful and thoughtful financial management, we are projected to close out Fiscal Year 2024 with an operating loss of 6.5M. The planned loss, which is funded through a withdrawal from our board designated endowment, was slightly less than the Board approved budgeted deficit.
That list of achievements is impressive, and it barely scratches the surface of what we accomplished together last year. Thanks to you, we are realizing the goals of our Leadership for a Changing World strategic plan to advance institutional excellence, enrich our learning environment through increased diversity and access, enhance our engagement with the community, and pursue revenue-generating opportunities… along with implementing the strategies outlined in A Sound Future: Response, Recovery and Renewal to drive us to financial equilibrium and annual surpluses to reinvest in the university.
We are here today, in the profession of higher education and on this campus, because we know that the work of educating the next generation – as well as providing pathways to careers in education and the health sciences through our graduate programs – is imperative. At a time when the value of higher education itself is being questioned, Puget Sound proves that a liberal arts education remains a solid investment in the future. Through the foundations of a Puget Sound education—critical thinking, clear communication, and a respect for commonality and difference—we prepare our graduates with skills that cannot be automated by artificial intelligence and equip them to succeed in any endeavor they choose to pursue.
That being said, we still face many challenges. I want to acknowledge that this is an anxious time for many, but know that Puget Sound stands resolute in our mission, dedicated in our service, and prepared for the future.
As is the case at many universities across the country, enrollment continues to be diminished, an ongoing trend in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that has been exacerbated by the delays associated with the rollout of the revised FAFSA. Thankfully, we are well-prepared to weather this storm. By following the guiding principles of our strategic plan, we are in a better position than many institutions to adapt and find opportunities to be innovative in how we deliver on our mission. Even so, lower enrollment puts pressure on us to balance offering a robust curriculum and services for our students while operating within our means as a tuition-dependent institution. As you know, that is not an easy balance to strike, and I appreciate the ways you have adapted to this fiscal reality even as you consistently deliver on our promise to provide a world-class student experience. That is a remarkable achievement.
However, it is not enough to recruit students. We must retain our students throughout their college experience and provide an environment that reinforces their ability to succeed now and in the future. To this end, we have made great strides in our retention efforts, with our overall retention rate reaching 84 percent this year—compared to 80 percent in fall 2023. We are making good progress as we work to achieve our goal of 90 percent. Our retention rate is a direct reflection of the ways everyone at Puget Sound contributes to a culture of belonging. Thank you to our colleagues in Academic Affairs, Enrollment, Student Affairs, the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity, Dining & Event Services, Facilities, and everyone all across campus for all you to do to serve our students and make them feel at home.
To reach the 90 percent student retention threshold, part of our goal must be to ensure our students have a healthy mindset. This is a particular challenge right now as we continue to face a serious mental health crisis among college students nationally and here at Puget Sound. In the most recent Healthy Minds Survey, a national tool that Puget Sound utilizes, a record 44 percent of students reported symptoms of depression, 37 percent said they experienced anxiety, and a sobering 15 percent reported that they had thoughts of suicide. These numbers are a stark reminder of the importance of student support services, such as those offered by our colleagues in Counseling, Health, and Wellness Services, and the services we provide to give our students the support they need to succeed in a collegiate environment. I believe we are especially well-positioned to offer this support and extend my heartfelt thanks to all the staff and faculty who make it their mission to support students’ well-being.
It is also incumbent upon us to find productive ways to move forward together after a difficult spring semester. Like so many college campuses, our events and operations were impacted by protests over the war in Gaza—most notably the disruption and cancelation of the spring Pierce Lecture event featuring Congressman Derek Kilmer. I will soon share more information with the campus community regarding the university’s ongoing work in response to the Pierce Lecture cancellation and its after effects, but for now I want to acknowledge the events here and across the country revealed deep divisions, not only on campus, but in our society as a whole. Moving forward, we have work to do to heal as a community, rebuild trust, and find ways to better engage with those whose beliefs and opinions differ from our own.
As the presidential election approaches, I expect the political rhetoric will only intensify. But I have faith in this community to engage honestly and collegially on issues where we disagree, to work together where there is common ground, and to recognize that constructive dialogue is the key to a healthy democracy.
This will be a priority for us over the course of this next year. We will have plenty of opportunities to come together to engage in that kind of discourse on issues of local, national, and global significance. I am grateful that we will welcome Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer to campus on September 24th for our Fall Swope Lecture, where she will discuss how Indigenous knowledge can be used to advance ecological restoration efforts. Throughout the fall semester, we will also seek to offer healing opportunities for us to understand and acknowledge harms that members of our community have experienced, learn to listen more effectively to one another, and consider ongoing restorative approaches we can adopt when circumstances warrant it. Concurrent with this work, we will offer faculty, staff, and students chances to strengthen skills in constructive, respectful, and civil dialogue as well as ways we can weave these skills into our work and learning environments. These discussions will not be easy, but they are necessary. Moving forward, I encourage us to be open to different points of view and to recognize each other’s inherent humanity, even when we disagree.
Looking toward the fall semester, I am excited to see our new Department of Environmental Studies & Sciences up and running. This interdisciplinary program combining natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities will incorporate our existing major in Environmental Policy & Decision Making while adding two new majors: Earth & Environmental Sciences and Environmental Arts & Humanities. This expanded program builds upon and enhances our existing curriculum to allow students to examine issues related to the environment and climate change through many different lenses.
The addition of this program is just one way Puget Sound is adapting to meet the needs of our changing world. I am also pleased to see our revised core curriculum, Grow, going into effect this fall. The new core encourages students to make unexpected connections by weaving interdisciplinary coursework throughout the four-year undergraduate experience. It will also give students more flexibility to choose their path and follow their passions while gaining a solid foundation in the liberal arts.
We know that a diverse, inclusive campus community is of vital importance, not only for improving access to higher education, but to the future of Puget Sound. This year, we will continue to implement the strategies laid out in our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Strategic Plan. These ambitious goals include strengthening existing infrastructure, processes, and systems at every level of the university to improve recruitment and retention of a diverse student body and workforce; renew and repair relationships with diverse constituencies in our region; create and sustain a robust community of minoritized alumni; and increase transparency, communication, and accountability around the university’s DEIB initiatives. I am confident that this strategic plan offers a path to a community where everyone will feel a complete sense of belonging and a capacity for personal growth.
Another area where we are investing in the future of our community is our total compensation and benefits review. Coordinated by our dedicated colleagues in Human Resources, a working group of staff and faculty have been hard at work reviewing our compensation model, gathering input from across campus, and collaborating with consultants to ensure we continue to offer fair compensation that reflects the labor market and a benefits package that enables the university to recruit and retain a talented and dedicated workforce. Thank you to everyone engaged in this important project. I hope you will participate in the forthcoming TCB survey and attend one of the educational sessions scheduled for September.
Ensuring the long-term success of Puget Sound requires us to have a vision of where we are headed in the future. Earlier this year, we finalized our 20-year campus development plan, Advancing Excellence. This plan will guide the use of our physical space through the year 2043, including new construction and remodeling of existing spaces to best realize our mission and vision, promote inclusivity and belonging, minimize our environmental impact, and identify opportunities to create new revenue streams. I am pleased to say that we are already making strides toward realizing that vision thanks to work completed this summer.
On Friday, we welcomed 435 members of the Class of 2028 to campus as well as 65 transfer students— the largest cohort of transfer students since 2012. We’ll have more accurate data after the start of classes, but our summer melt rate, the measure of how many students make a deposit to attend the university but do not enroll, is at a historically low 3.6 percent, compared to 4.6 percent at this time last year and over 10 percent in years prior.
This incoming class represents 26 states, with the majority hailing from Washington, California, and Oregon. The Class of 2028 is primed to excel both in the classroom and on the field; they have an average high school GPA of 3.61 and 33 percent intend to participate in Logger Athletics. It is also a diverse class: 17 percent are first-generation college students and 34 percent identify as people of color. I am also pleased to report that we continue to make progress in lowering our admit rate, which is at 74 percent this fall…decreasing from 76 percent in fall 2023 and 82 percent in fall 2022.
Getting this class to campus was no small effort, especially in light of the difficulties getting financial aid data from the Department of Education following the slow rollout of the new FAFSA. I want to thank Student Financial Services, Technology Services, the Admissions Data team, Marketing & Communications, and our Admissions counselors for their tireless work to yield this incoming class.
We also look forward to welcoming our new graduate students to campus this week. We made strong enrollment gains in our counseling and physical therapy programs; however, we experienced softness and declines in others that we will need to address as we prepare for the fall 2025 enrollment cycle.
There is much to celebrate as we enter this new academic year. Together, we will continue to deliver on our mission to prepare our graduates to meet the highest tests of democratic citizenship. We will recommit ourselves to thoughtful and engaging discourse on the most pressing issues of our generation—from the ethical use of A.I. to our response to climate change. The wonderful thing about a rigorous liberal arts education is that it gives you the tools and perspective to find novel solutions to seemingly intractable problems. It is that tradition of life-changing education that gives me hope today—hope that when we give our best to our students, as all of you do each and every day without fail—our students will go out and give their best back to the world. We all have a part to play in that endeavor and there is no better place to explore big, consequential questions than right here at Puget Sound.
Before I close, I just want to recognize those who are new to the Logger community. If you’ve joined us in the past year, would you please stand? Welcome!
Thank you so much for being here. I deeply appreciate your commitment to this university, to each other, and to the well-being and success of our students. It is an honor to serve as the president of this great university and to see the contributions you all make every day to ensure we shine as the brightest gem in the Pacific Northwest. I know we will have a remarkable year together.
Now, please join me on Karlen Quad to reconnect and celebrate the start of another academic year. If you are joining us on the livestream and cannot be with us in person, I hope to see you on campus very soon.
Thank you very much!