State of the University
Curtis J. Tompkins, President
September 18, 2002
I ask that we begin with a moment of silence in memory of student Andy Maas who died in the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity house fire on August 13 and retired faculty members Dr. Robert Brown and Dr. Paul Shandley who passed away this summer.
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As we begin Michigan Tech’s 118th year and look forward to the University’s 125th anniversary in 2010, we also look back at the events of 2001-02 with emotions that range from horror, anger and despair about the terrible atrocities of September 11, 2001 to thankfulness, pride and joy about the many good things we can celebrate today.
A week ago, on September 11, 2002, we dedicated a memorial to the victims of the attacks that occurred exactly one year earlier. I applaud the leadership of our Air Force and Army ROTC cadets and staff in designing, constructing and funding the flagpole memorial which is located in front of the ROTC building.
Our mission is to prepare our students to create the future. During the past year we have had reasons to appreciate that our students need to understand world cultures and to be prepared to grow into leadership roles to move humankind toward harmony, even as they must understand why there is so much dissonance.
Once again this year, students from more than 70 nations are enrolled at Michigan Tech; our alumni live and work in nearly 100 nations. Michigan Tech is an international university of choice, widely known and respected around the world. Ours is one of the most cosmopolitan student bodies in the United States.
We should be thankful that we work together in harmony and mutual respect on this campus, even though virtually every religion, race, ethnicity and language are found among our students. Our graduates do play significant roles in creating the future of our world, indeed the entire world, and I am grateful that Michigan Tech is a place where harmony can be sustained while the larger world is experiencing conflict.
Compared to those larger world issues, our challenges at Michigan Tech seem pale even though they certainly are real. I am grateful for how we have worked together on tough budget challenges during the past year. I must tell you that we will have to do so again this year and probably the next year or two as well. Tuition increases will continue to be necessary though far greater than we want. The need for more private funds for scholarships will continue to grow to assure access to education for all who are qualified to attend Michigan Tech.
Most other public universities throughout the country are experiencing similar or worse circumstances. We have been fortunate to have in John Engler a governor who has done an admirable job of protecting higher education during a severe downturn in the state’s economy. We have been fortunate to have had the staunch support of Senator Don Koivisto and his colleague Senator Joe Schwarz and indeed all of the senators involved in appropriations for higher education. Likewise, Representative Rich Brown has been an able champion for Michigan Tech in the House of Representatives.
In a few weeks we will elect a new governor and many new legislators, and they will be faced with tough choices in dealing with the state’s budget. Michigan Tech and the other state universities have much at stake as the leadership of our state changes. We and our alumni and other supporters must impress upon our elected representatives and leaders that there is a drastic difference between advocating what is politically popular and doing what is right. It would be a huge mistake for state government to intervene in decisions that constitutionally belong to the governing boards of our universities.
What I am referring to is the politically popular hyperbole that even though state appropriations are diminished, tuition must not increase more than the Consumer Price Index. This popular rhetoric if implemented would be damaging to the quality of education not only here but at all state universities. Some politicians and commentators also charge that public universities are highly inefficient. We know that this is not true of Michigan Tech, and we are working to correct that erroneous perception. These are two of my chief concerns at the moment.
Points of Pride
Nevertheless, in the face of budget pressures and political rumblings, I am pleased to report to you that Michigan Tech has experienced progress on several fronts. I will share with you a brief sampling of the many accomplishments and points of pride for which we can be thankful.
Staff
It is because of what each employee does on a day-to-day basis that Michigan
Tech is such a remarkable place. I particularly appreciate the special efforts
made by individuals and groups within their own areas of responsibility and
expertise, and I offer one example that is indicative of the fine folks who
give loyal service to Michigan Tech.
This past year, faced with coming up with another way to reduce our operating
cost by five percent, Ed Dessellier came up with an idea; Al Olson and Chuck
Ouellette helped formulate the concept into reality. The result is a $150,000
annual general fund utility cost savings.
The Minerals & Materials Engineering Building was built when water and sewer were cheap, and as a result, a once-through cooling system was installed for the process cooling system for the electron microscopes and other equipment. For years, our Facilities Management Department had been looking at ways to replace that system with a closed-loop mechanical cooling system. The capital costs were always too high and the pay back too long.
This past year Ed Dessellier was struggling in the Dow Environmental Science and Engineering Building with a closed-loop mechanically cooled system with too small a load on it, providing significant operational problems. Ed, Al and Chuck got together and suggested connecting the two process cooling systems together and solving both problems.
The entire facilities operation crew has contributed to this solution. Facilities management held open two positions and provided the $70,000 in capital needed to fund the project which required pumping station controls and piping running between the two buildings. The work was all performed by Facilities Management personnel. The system was put on line in July 2002 thanks to our outstanding Facilities team, saving the University $150,000 per year.
It is all too easy to look across the fence and tell the neighbors how to do better. What we need are more initiatives in one’s own back yard such as Ed, Al and Chuck demonstrated. Would Ed, Al and Chuck please stand and be recognized?
Faculty
Our strategic plan states that Michigan Tech’s faculty will emphasize
scholarship, research and inspirational teaching. It goes on to say that our
faculty should be read and respected by leaders of science, industry, government,
policy groups and business. One of our best role models in this regard is Dr.
John Crittenden. His election to membership in the highly prestigious National
Academy of Engineering is one of our most prominent joys. This well deserved
honor is in recognition of Professor Crittenden’s engineering research
in water and wastewater treatment. His application of principles of similitude
to rapid small-scale column experiments involving adsorption of pollutants on
granular activated carbon shortened the experimental and design time from several
months to a few days. Dr. Crittenden is the first “home grown” (assistant
professor through professor) Michigan Tech faculty member elected to the National
Academy of Engineering. I am confident that he will not be the last.
The youngest person
to be elected a member of the Korean National Academy of Engineering is Dr.
Peck Cho, Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Among his many accomplishments,
Dr. Cho has advised the government of South Korea on engineering education and
developed an exchange program that has brought more than 100 Korean students
to Michigan Tech and allowed our faculty to conduct classes in Korea.
Emeritus Professor Dr. John Johnson has been selected to receive the 2002 Soichiro
Honda Medal which recognizes an individual for an outstanding achievement or
a series of significant engineering contributions in developing improvements
in the field of personal transportation. The award citation for Dr. Johnson
reads, “for advancing the understanding of vehicle cooling problems and
research investigations into the origin of diesel exhaust pollutants and their
impact on human health, particularly workers in confined spaces.”
On October 7, Dr. Kurt Pregitzer will receive the Society of American Foresters
Barrington Moore Memorial Award in recognition of outstanding achievement in
biological research leading to the advancement of forestry.
Also on October
7, Dr. David Reed will receive the Society of American Foresters Award in Forest
Science in recognition of distinguished research in quantitative, managerial,
and social sciences that has resulted in substantial advances in forestry.
One of the results of our recent capital campaign was the creation of the Richard
W. and Elizabeth A. Henes Chair in Mechanical Engineering. Selected to be the
first holder of the distinguished Henes Chair is Professor John Sutherland.
Since 1995, 12 members of our faculty have won National Science Foundation Career Awards, recognizing young faculty who excel in undergraduate and graduate education, research and scholarship. Dr. Brian Davis of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is the latest recipient of that important award.
Fellow awards recognize exceptional accomplishments in one’s field. I am aware of four faculty members who recently received Fellow awards. Dr. Mike Roggemann was elected Fellow of the Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineer and also Fellow of the Optical Society of America. Dr. Donald Beck was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society. Dr. Darrell Smith was inducted as a Fellow in the Association of Powder Metallurgy International. And Dean Bob Warrington was made a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Dr. Duane Abata was recently elected President-Elect of the American Society for Engineering Education and will serve as president during 2003-04. Dr. Abata is the third Michigan Tech person to serve as ASEE president. The first was President Fred McNair in 1904-05. (McNair Hall is named in his honor.) I was the second in 1990-91. And now Dr. Abata is the third.
Professor Tom Courtney is slated to receive the ASM Albert Easton White Distinguished Teacher Award for a sustained, productive academic career in teaching, research and administration throughout which he inspired students to achieve the highest levels of academic, and subsequently, professional career accomplishments.
Dr. Donna Michalek was selected as a 2002 American Society of Mechanical Engineering Federal Government Fellow working as a staff member in Washington, DC for U.S. Senator James Inhofe from Oklahoma.
Speaking of Washington,
Dr. Duane Abata continues to be on leave with the National Science Foundation
as Program Director for the second year, and Dr. Bruce Seely has just returned
from a two-year program directorship with the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Seely returns to become chair of our Department of Social Sciences succeeding
Dr. Terry Reynolds who served in that capacity for 12 years. Dr. Mike Mullins
is the new chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Dr. Ravi Pandey
is the new chair of the Department of Physics, and Dr. Brad Baltensperger is
now chair of the Department of Education having preceded Dr. Reynolds as chair
of Social Sciences.
The Association of Teachers of Advanced Composition decided that the lifetime
scholarly achievement of Dr. Beth Flynn was significant enough to name a permanent
award in her honor. The Elizabeth A. Flynn Award for the Most Outstanding Article
in Feminist Rhetoric and Composition will be presented for the first time at
the next Conference on College Composition and Communication.
Dr. Heidi Bostic recently won the prestigious American Society for Eighteenth
Century Studies Teaching Composition, a national teaching award.
Student
Success
The primary guiding principle in our strategic plan is that the success of our
students will always be the most important measure of the success of the institution.
There are virtually countless examples of student success at Michigan Tech.
I will cite just a few recent examples.
Michigan Tech’s Future Truck Team earned first place awards in emissions
and fastest acceleration and second place overall at the national level, Michigan
Tech’s best performance to date in Future Car and Future Truck competitions.
The faculty advisor of this project for the past several years deservedly received
the Best Advisor Award for Future Truck. Would advisor Dr. John Beard and members
of the Future Truck team please stand and be congratulated for bringing national
recognition to Michigan Tech?
Michigan Tech’s Chem-E-Car won first place in February in the regional
competition sponsored by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in which
a chemical reaction is used to power a model car. Professor Tony Pintar, who
just retired after 35 years of teaching at Michigan Tech, was the advisor for
this project.
And then there was the Michigan Tech Human Powered Vehicle Team known as “Super Yooper” which competed nationally in Reno, Nevada in May. Our team earned second place overall out of 21 schools in this American Society of Mechanical Engineers competition even though it was Michigan Tech’s first time to participate in this annual event.
Civil and Environmental Engineering student teams also won several awards in regional and national competitions this spring. At the 12th annual Environmental Design contest, in competition with 23 other universities in Las Cruces, New Mexico, the Michigan Tech team won first prize for one of the Tasks and the Competition Award for Best Design Paper. Faculty advisors were Drs. James Mihelcic, David Hand, John Gierke and Mary Durfee.
At the regional competition held in East Lansing, the Michigan Tech Concrete Canoe Team won second place overall and first place awards for best design paper, best presentation and best display. At the same competition, the Michigan Tech Steel Bridge Team won first place for the shortest construction time; the team assembled their bridge in under three minutes!
It took a bit
longer to construct the Mackinac Bridge, but the new chief engineer for the
bridge is Kimberly Nowack, Michigan Tech Class of 1985 in civil engineering.
Ms. Nowack is the first woman to hold that job in the 45-year history of the
Mackinac Bridge. And this is a significant point of pride for Michigan Tech.
As we think about the beautiful view from the great heights of the spectacular
Mackinac Bridge, we recognize another student team that reached great heights
in New York City when it opened the NASDAQ stock exchange and appeared on CNBC’s
"Squawk Box." The New York trip was part of the reward for winning
first place nationally in Applied Portfolio Management. Our undergraduate financial
investment team from the School of Business and Economics, in competition with
more than 60 other university teams including several comprised of graduate
students, did the best job of investing its portfolio and provided national
recognition for the quality of our finance program. Would the members of the
Applied Portfolio Management Team please stand, along with faculty advisor Dr.
Dean Johnson? Thank you for bringing national recognition to Michigan Tech!
In February, 512 students were invited to compete in the Sun Microsystems and TopCoder Collegiate Challenge. Michigan Tech Computer Science sophomore Joe Nievelt accepted the challenge and became one of sixteen semi-finalists and then one of four finalists invited to compete in the final round of the programming contest at MIT on April 20, 2002. The other three finalists were doctoral students from Stanford, Berkeley and CalTech. Congratulations to Joe Nievelt for bringing national recognition to Michigan Tech!
The Michigan Tech Lode received the 2002 College Media Advisors Apple Award for Best Four-Year Non-Daily Broadsheet in the United States! The award was presented at the National College Media Convention in New York City in March. In January 2002, the Lode won eleven awards in the Michigan Press Association’s College Newspaper Contest. And then in March 2002, the Michigan Tech Lode was judged best in the nation. For demonstrating continuous improvement and for bringing national recognition to Michigan Tech, would faculty advisor Dr. Craig Waddell and all members of the Lode staff please rise to receive our thanks for bringing national recognition to Michigan Tech?
Congratulations
to all members of Blue Key for being recognized in June by Blue Key National
as a Model Blue Key Chapter and for winning the Blue Key Award of Excellence.
Continuing a long string of successes, eleven members of Michigan Tech’s
Jazz Lab Band, JazTec and Momentum were selected as recipients of Outstanding
Musician Awards at the 28th Annual Aquinas College Jazz Festival. Thanks to
Professor Mike Irish and our jazz ensembles for continuing to give Michigan
Tech national recognition for outstanding musical talent.
By the way, while some students spent their spring break on the beaches, our Jazz Lab Band and JazTec toured downstate, the Echoes from Heaven Gospel Choir toured in California, and The Troupe presented a workshop at the American College Theatre Festival in Evansville, Indiana, serving as effective ambassadors for Michigan Tech and increasing our visibility and image regionally and nationally.
Not to be outdone, 55 members of Michigan Tech’s Concert Choir toured Brazil in August, performing in six cities and meeting with alumni in Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte, enhancing Michigan Tech’s visibility in South America.
Significant national recognition was generated for Michigan Tech by our chapter of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society when it was chosen as Chapter of the Year from among 183 chapters in North America. This well earned recognition was based in part on our exceptionally active AISES chapter hosting the regional conference of AISES chapters and organizing the Circle of Life essay contest which drew entries from Native youth from across North America. Congratulations to the members of AISES and their advisors, coaches and mentors Helene Hiner, Laurie Whitt, Jill Arola, Carole LaPointe, and Lori Sherman.
For the fourth
consecutive year, Michigan Tech’s undergraduate Student Orientation won
national awards. Most recently the awards from the National Orientation Directors
Association were for Outstanding Orientation Handbook and Outstanding Use of
Theme. This year’s Orientation was the best one yet, thanks to Bonnie
Gorman and her team.
Becoming an Academic All American means being smart, organized, diligent and
skilled academically and athletically. This past year Michigan Tech had three
Academic All Americans, the most in any single year in university history. They
are Sarah Ahnen (women’s volleyball), J.T. Luginski (men’s basketball)
and Lisa Graham (women’s tennis).
Our men’s basketball team finished 27-3, the best record in school history and advanced to the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in school history. Men’s basketball coach Kevin Luke was the State of Michigan’s College Coach of the Year for all divisions (Tom Izzo, eat your heart out!) and also GLIAC and Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year. Would Coach Luke, his staff and team please stand so we can look up to you!
Our women’s tennis team advanced to the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history, and Coach Mike Axford was named the GLIAC Men’s Tennis Coach of the Year.
This is my 12th year at Michigan Tech, and for the 12th consecutive year I can report that our student athletes continue to beat the University of Michigan, Michigan State, Stanford, Harvard, and just about every school in North America by continuing to excel in their academic work with a cumulative GPA of 3.18 compared to 3.01 for the overall undergraduate student body. If you can find another college or university where the athletes have a higher GPA than the overall student body, please let me know, and I’ll arrange seats in the press box for a game of your choice. I haven’t been able to find such a school, and I have been searching for nearly 12 years.
One of the most important innovations in Michigan Tech’s history has been the development of the Student Enterprise method of education. This past year the 12 student enterprises included 25 faculty members and 425 sophomores, juniors and seniors majoring in most of our engineering fields and business. A Student Enterprise is a team of students from varied disciplines organized to solve real engineering problems presented by industry sponsors.
This trend-setting approach to learning was highlighted by the very successful student-led “Undergraduate Expo 2002: Explorations and Entrepreneurship at Michigan Tech” on April 25. The Expo featured senior design and other undergraduate projects including Student Enterprise posters and presentations. The Chemical Engineering Department’s Consumer Product Manufacturing Enterprise won first place among the Student Enterprises at the Expo. With the sponsorship of the Kimberly-Clark Foundation, the Consumer Product Manufacturing Enterprise, which included students from business, accounting and chemical engineering, developed a disposable baby bib with several advantages over traditional bibs. When I visited Kimberly-Clark headquarters in May, I heard many enthusiastic comments from company representatives and got the impression that Kimberly-Clark may take our students’ product to commercialization soon. The faculty advisors for the Consumer Products Manufacturing Enterprise are Dr. Tony Rogers and Dr. Julia King.
I applaud all of the faculty, staff and students involved in the Student Enterprise program and appreciate the support of the sponsoring corporations.
It should not be too surprising that approximately one-third of the invention disclosures filed at Michigan Tech last year were submitted by undergraduate students. Our emphasis on student projects, senior design and student enterprises pays off for our students in many ways. Distinguishing Michigan Tech from many other institutions are the quality and creativity of our students, the innovation and ‘can do’ attitude Michigan Tech students are known for, and the impact of the student projects, senior design and enterprise programs on student entrepreneurship.
None of this would be possible without extraordinarily dedicated faculty and staff. Projects, senior design and enterprise programs are very labor intensive for faculty and staff as well as students. I say “Thank You” to all who have been willing to invest your expertise, energy and enthusiasm in these important distinguishing reasons why Michigan Tech is the best place to gain an education.
To enhance our ability to support student projects, senior design and especially student enterprises, we are fortunate to have received $2.4 million from the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce and $1 million from the Ford Motor Company Fund to construct the Advanced Technology Development Center which will include the Ford Student Enterprise Facility to house many of the student enterprises that will be developed in the next several years. This new facility will be constructed at the corner of Garnet and Sharon Avenues and will include accommodations for new businesses starting up in conjunction with Michigan Tech alumni, students, staff and faculty. This will also relate to the Michigan Tech Enterprise SmartZone being developed in partnership with Houghton, Hancock, the Keweenaw Industrial Council and the State of Michigan’s Economic Development Corporation. At a ceremony in the State Capitol this past spring, the State of Michigan recognized the Michigan Tech Enterprise SmartZone as the best of the 11 Smart Zones in the State.
Our partnerships with the local communities are exceptional and should not be taken for granted. I have been greatly impressed during the past eleven years with the consistently ongoing volunteerism exhibited by hundreds of our students, staff and faculty in a wide variety of community activities including dedicated service as members of school boards, United Way, Little Brothers, Big Brothers, Dial Help, Relay for Life, Bowl for Kids, the Keweenaw Heritage Center, the Quincy Mine Hoist Association, the Keweenaw National Historical Park, American Red Cross, Bridgefest, and dozens of others.
Our Air Force ROTC Squadron earned the Arnold Air Society Hagen Trophy for Most Outstanding Squadron in the nation for participating in over 2,150 hours of community service. It isn’t too surprising to learn that Michigan Tech’s Air Force ROTC was the only squadron in the Northwest Region to receive an overall “outstanding” rating from the Air Force this year and one of only four in the nation to receive this award. As a result, Michigan Tech was selected as the number one detachment out of 34 in our region and is currently one of four finalists for best in the nation. Likewise, our Army ROTC unit received “exceptional” ratings during the recent biannual command inspection.
International
The number of Michigan Tech students participating in study abroad programs
increased from 45 in 1999-2000 to 170 in 2001-02. We now have undergraduate
and graduate students participating in international programs in Australia,
Asia, South America, Africa and Europe. Of the more than 14 million U.S. citizens
enrolled in higher education, only about one percent or 144,000 study abroad.
By that measure, Michigan Tech is doing better than the national average but
I believe the proportion should continue to increase in this era when our graduates
will be thinking and working on a global basis. I encourage our students to
get passports and stop by our Center for International Education to make plans
to use them.
The Department of Mathematical Sciences has taken the lead in developing an exchange program with Heilongjiang University in Harbin, China with interests in joint degree programs in biology, business, chemistry, computer science, physics, electrical engineering and, of course, mathematics.
Alumni chapter events have been held in Norway, Brazil, China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Alumni have volunteered to develop alumni activities in Finland, Germany, Mexico, Bolivia and Columbia.
As a result of a competitive proposal process, Michigan Tech’s Department of Education hosted 40 Korean secondary school teachers for four weeks in July and August, focusing on continuing professional development in areas of particular strength at Michigan Tech.
K-12 Education
The Department of Education has also received external funding for development
of Internet-based, on-line professional development courses for secondary school
teachers.
A year ago the new Master’s Degree Program in Applied Science Education
began. The first students began their coursework on campus in Summer 2001, took
on-line courses during the academic year and returned to campus for additional
courses. The second group began the same process this summer. It appears that
this will be a very popular program.
Michigan Tech’s programs for secondary teachers are growing steadily and
will be increasingly important as our state and nation gain appreciation for
the distinctive quality and depth of our teacher preparation and continuing
development offerings.
Information
Technology
In our never-ending efforts to have our information technology be up-to-date,
Michigan Tech continues to be an active participant in Internet 2 Commons Initiative,
a framework for collaboration throughout the research and education community
that encourages large-scale deployment of tools for one-to-one, one-to-group
and group-to-group collaborations. These interactive communications include
meetings, conferences and activities related to teaching and learning.
Michigan Tech’s
Office of Information Technology received a National Science Foundation grant
of $360,000 to support participation in the 12/Educause NMI software development
initiative to help scientists and researchers use the Internet for inter-institutional
collaboration and the sharing of instruments, laboratories and information sources.
In response to national security concerns including the dramatic increase in
Internet attacks, significant steps have also been taken to improve the security,
reliability and performance of the Michigan Tech backbone and core network services.
Security
Special recognition is due Jon Ahola and the entire Public Safety staff, particularly
Officer Doug Jones who is receiving an award today, for their actions early
the morning of and during the day of November 5. Incendiary devices were discovered
by Officer Jones adjacent to the School of Forestry and USDA Forest Service
facilities at 3:30 a.m. Major damage to those buildings was averted, thanks
to Officer Jones’ keen eyes and timely actions.
Facilities
I am pleased to report that the Governor’s Office recommended to the Joint
Capital Outlay Committee of the state legislature the approval of $24,999,800
in capital outlay for Phase I of the proposed Center for Integrated Learning.
We expect legislative approval this Fall. Along with about $8,838,700 in private
gifts, Phase I will be approximately $33,838,700 for expansion of the library
and computer science facilities and the addition of several high-tech classrooms.
We must continue to develop the university’s infrastructure. Doing so will protect campus jobs, strengthen student recruitment, enhance research competitiveness, and increase attractiveness to corporate employers of our students. To maintain status quo in facilities and turn down capital outlay funds would be decisions to put Michigan Tech out of business. At the same time, we will continue to fight hard for appropriation increases to ameliorate tuition increases and provide enhanced employee compensation.
At the Board of Control meeting on October 3, we will recommend that high priority be placed on installing sprinkler systems in all undergraduate residence halls along with needed maintenance and other renovations and improvements to existing facilities and infrastructure.
Research
As a result of our outstanding faculty and staff efforts and our investment
in research infrastructure, Michigan Tech research and sponsored programs expenditures
amounted to approximately $30 million for the 2002 fiscal year. And in keeping
with our constitutional mission to be of service to industry, Michigan Tech
ranked 24th among the top 200 research universities in the proportion of our
research sponsored by industry. Michigan Tech had 1.5 times the national average
in technology disclosures and three times the national average in licenses (normalized
to research expenditures). By these measures, Michigan Tech exceeds Georgia
Tech, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, just to name
a few.
We will continue to build and strengthen our research as well as our educational activities. Each of us has a role to play in that regard.
Enrollment
I want to make a special point about reaching our enrollment targets of 6,000
undergraduate students and 1,000 graduate students within the next five years.
I thank Provost Kent Wray for being the architect of an action plan to achieve
these targets and the Board of Control for supporting the plan.
Our on-campus enrollments this Fall are 5,035 undergraduate students (up 18 from last fall) and 613 graduate students (up 47 from last year). Additionally, distance learning enrollment increased by 36 over the previous academic year to 708 students which amounts to 232 full-time-equivalent (FTE) distance learning students. In summary, our enrollment is 6,630 individuals and 5,880 full-time equivalent students. Our on-campus full-time-equivalent student enrollment is up 65 from this date a year ago.
Enrollments in both Army and Air Force ROTC have increased dramatically during the past year. This certainly helps Michigan Tech with retention and recruiting.
Enrollment has also been increasing in several other departments. For example, majors in social sciences have increased during the past 10 years from 15 to 65 and business majors increased 70 percent during the past five years. Graduate enrollment in the Department of Mathematical Sciences nearly doubled during the past three years from 17 to 33. The Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences had the largest influx of new Ph.D. students in its history; the seven new doctoral students included six women and one minority. Domestic applications to our graduate school increased 60 percent in the past 12 months. Forty-two Ph.D.s were awarded in 2001-02 compared to 21 the previous year. The number of international students enrolled last fall set a new record: 657 students from 70 countries worldwide, up from 570 the previous year, a 15 percent increase.
There is much about Michigan Tech that attracts outstanding students. Getting prospective students to visit campus is still the best way for a prospective student to understand what a special place this is.
Having programs that spark student interest is also important. In that regard, the new undergraduate degree program in Bioinformatics, one of the first in the nation, is expected to draw significant interest.
There are two ways to increase undergraduate enrollment, namely recruit more first-year and transfer students and retain more of those already enrolled. Retention is everyone’s job; every one of us has a role in making Michigan Tech a place that helps each and every student find success. Retention doesn’t involve lowering standards or expectations. It does mean that consistent effective academic and non-academic advising is provided to each student. It does mean that the quality of student life is important. Retention demands that each of us display sincere support of individual student success.
Retention rates improved slightly this year after having slipped in the past several years at Michigan Tech from 90 percent of freshmen returning as sophomores in 1989 to 75.5 percent in Fall 2001, up to 77.6 percent this Fall. We need to return freshman retention to at least 85 percent by 2006, and I would like to have a steady state rate of at least 92 percent. And we must do that without eroding quality. Retention means helping good students realize their potential and be successful, not keeping poor students.
We know that recruitment of committed, engaged and qualified students is a key to success. I applaud the fine work being done by Gary Neumann, Nancy Rehling, Rob Forget and the entire Enrollment Management team. And I thank all of the department chairs, faculty, staff, students and administrators who are making special efforts to recruit and retain undergraduate students. I particularly want to recognize our American Chemical Society chapter for winning awards for outreach and recruitment.
Having more Michigan
Tech graduates teaching high school certainly won’t hurt our undergraduate
student recruiting. We need more regular visibility in the secondary schools.
Michigan Tech alumni volunteers presented high school scholarship certificates
to over 300 incoming Michigan Tech freshmen at their local high school awards
programs from New York to California. That effort will grow each year.
The Office of Student Records and Registration and the Office of Admissions conducted an early on-line registration pilot project which enabled new students in technology, business and biology the opportunity to register for courses on the Internet from their homes, with advising and registration assistance prior to completion of their senior year in high school. The Office of Student Records and Registration also successfully implemented a new on-line registration prerequisite checking process.
All admitted students now receive Michigan Tech email addresses at the time of acceptance.
Our Admissions Office organized the very successful first university-wide Open House program this spring; over 670 prospective students and family members participated. Additionally, over 4,000 students, parents and family members visited Michigan Tech as part of the Campus Visit Program. Their visits included student-guided tours of campus, meeting with academic department representatives, and admissions and financial aid counselors.
When prospective students visit, many of them are positively impressed by the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts and the Student Development Complex. We are now focusing on enhancing the Michigan Tech Outdoor Recreation Area, the 550-acre multi-recreational use area that is managed by the Recreation Department of Auxiliary Services. Improvements to the Nordic trail system constitute phase one of a multi-phase plan to turn the outdoor recreation area into a more valuable asset that can assist us to attract and retain outdoor-minded students. The overall plan calls for sand volleyball courts, a Frisbee golf course, snowshoeing and skijoring trails, running and hiking trails, paintball areas and improved biking trails. As one of only four colleges and universities in the United States with a Nordic ski trail on campus, Michigan Tech is one of the few places where one can hit the books and the trails without leaving campus.
This project is a cooperative effort of Auxiliary Services, the School of Forestry and Wood Products and Undergraduate Student Government.
Undergraduate Student Government also supported improvement of the Memorial Union Building and the Student Development Complex with student fees. Student support this year has funded a much needed swimming pool repair project and several Memorial Union improvements.
Recognition
An editorial in the Detroit Free Press on August 26 pointed out that
Tech had made the top ten list of campuses most likely to be a setting for a
remake of the movie, “The Revenge of the Nerds” in the publication,
“Unofficial, Unbiased, Insiders Guide to the 320 most Interesting Colleges.”
The Free Press indicated that Tech was the only Michigan university to make
the list along with MIT, Cal Tech, Harvard and Princeton. “That puts the
Houghton school in some pretty select nerdy company,” the Free Press concluded.
Perhaps we should consider putting the title, “Nerdiest University in
the Heartland of America!” on our letterhead.
Another publication giving special recognition to Michigan Tech was the internationally prestigious Financial Times in its July 20-21 weekend edition. In an article entitled, “Yoopers Deliver a Culture Shock to American’s Critics,” writer Jurek Martin applauded the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts and the elevation of humanities and fine arts at Michigan Tech. He also had many nice things to say about the very successful Pine Mountain Music Festival. The Financial Times is essentially the British counterpart of the Wall Street Journal and has subscribers throughout the world.
The October issue of Kiplinger Personal Finance magazine included Michigan Tech in the '100 Best Values in Public Colleges.' Michigan Tech, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Michigan State University have consistently been included in Kiplinger's Top 100 since that publication began its ranking about ten years ago, with Michigan Tech once again being ranked ahead of Michigan State.
This week's USNews magazine ranks Michigan Tech as one of the top 50
public universities. It also shows Michigan Tech students having the ninth lowest
debt upon graduation out of 249 national universities. In short, USNews
is saying that Michigan Tech is one of the best and most affordable universities
in America. No other Michigan university is listed among the 25 with lowest
student debt, and Michigan Tech, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and
Michigan State University are the only three Michigan schools in the top 50.
A Higher
Destiny
And so Michigan Tech continues to make good progress. I have offered only a
sampling of the hundreds of points of progress and pride that you and all our
colleagues are causing at Michigan Tech.
Beyond continuing to grow our research, enrollments and outreach, improve employee compensation and facilities, and balance our operating budgets, Michigan Tech has a much higher destiny as one of the world’s top technological universities. Michigan Tech will increasingly become a national university of choice for faculty, students, staff, corporations and research sponsors. Our visibility and reputation will continue to grow. The prestige of Michigan Tech will continue to increase as our faculty and alumni are recognized for leadership and superior performance. The number of outstanding faculty and students applying to Michigan Tech will increase significantly in the years ahead.
While we should analyze how Michigan Tech stacks up against other top universities and learn from best practices at other places, Michigan Tech will be Michigan Tech, not a copy of any other institution. Innovations such as the Student Enterprise approach to undergraduate education will set Michigan Tech apart. I encourage all of us to think outside the envelope that history has proscribed and be willing to take risks along the way to greater success.
Reaching the $140 million goal of the Leaders for Innovation campaign 18 months ahead of schedule is a good indication that our alumni and other friends will support Michigan Tech’s aspirations. We will celebrate that campaign success during the next several weeks.
Again, I appreciate the way we have worked together to deal with the challenging economic conditions facing all of public higher education and Michigan Tech in particular.
I don’t take your loyalty, dedication and hard work for granted. Thank you very much.