The Work of Renewal
Convocation remarks by
Loyola University New Orleans
President
Kevin Wm. Wildes, S.J., Ph.D.
January 4, 2008
Renewal is a way of life in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast at this time. Every aspect of life in the city—housing, education, health care, the justice system, economic structures—is undergoing renewal. And Loyola University New Orleans, as part of the city and the region, is a part of this renewal while, at the same time, being engaged in the hard work of our own renewal.
Our gathering today is a ceremony of renewal. At Loyola, we gather at this convocation to begin a new semester. This gathering is a symbol of the renewal of the university. The renewal of the university is happening because people—particularly faculty and staff—have worked very hard, in the midst of your own difficult circumstances, to help make this recovery happen. Today we honor faculty members for their service to the university. Later this spring we will honor staff members for their years of hard work and service. It is right that we should honor those who have served so long and so well. I am also deeply grateful to everyone for their work, creativity, and ingenuity in helping Loyola face the challenges of the present and the future. Thank you. Without your hard work, creativity, dedication, and patience, we would not be in the strong position we are in.
Today, I would like to address seven areas of importance: admissions, finances, salaries, facilities, quality of life, our searches, and fund raising.
1. Admissions: Undergraduate admissions have been, and remain, my top priority for this year. This fall we have focused on strengthening our application pool. At this moment we are approximately 36 percent ahead in applications compared to this date last year. We are running just shy of the 2005 application numbers, which was our best year historically. In terms of the geographic numbers, we are showing roughly 40 percent of the applicant pool is from LA and 60 percent is from outside of the state. In addition to our traditional first-year applications, we are also ahead in our transfer applications.
Our focus this semester will be getting those applicants we accept to enroll at Loyola. As we move into the yield phase of our admissions process you, the faculty and staff, can assist us in the upcoming months.
- Faculty will be asked to assist with making phone calls to admitted students by major choice and department of interest. The phone campaign will kick off at the end of this month.
- We will invite faculty members to identify top, current students in their departments and majors to work with some of our applicants and encourage them to complete their applications. This helps match current students in specific majors to the chosen majors of the applicants.
- Faculty and staff will be encouraged to draft personalized letters to reach out to incoming students. These communications are intended to talk with students more about student life topics, campus activities, and ways that we promote student centeredness.
- I invite you to continue to support the Each One, Reach One campaign to refer new applicants to the university. Identifying top students who might be a match for Loyola is essential, whether they are a relative, a neighbor, a nephew or niece, grandchild, or someone from your church. Our regular admission deadline is February 15, 2008. Faculty and staff can go to the website at www.loyno.edu/eachonereachone/ to refer a student.
- Faculty and staff will continue to be asked to update department websites with the most recent information. This is essential as we continue to direct admitted students to detailed descriptions and contact information.
- Your continued support of campus visits and President's Open House on Saturday, April 5, 2008, is greatly appreciated. We will communicate with the community about the events of this day and look forward to your assistance in making the students and parents feel welcomed.
These efforts are being coordinated by our Admissions Office under the direction of Lori Zawistowski and they will be in touch with faculty and staff members for assistance.
2. Finances: As you are well aware, our financial health is fundamentally driven by our enrollment. So we know that we face budget shortfalls as we rebuild our enrollment. We are fortunate to have received federal and state aid to help us address our shortfalls. And, we are working with other New Orleans universities to expand the federal loan program which would be of great assistance to us at this time and into the future.
We are also fortunate to have settled the claims on the university’s business interruption insurance. We will use the business interruption settlement to offset our losses as we rebuild our enrollment. The way to Loyola’s future is to invest and grow. And, we can and will use some of our reserves to invest in our facilities as part of our efforts to rebuild our enrollments and better serve our students. I believe, all things being equal, that we will be able to keep the university solvent while we rebuild our enrollment.
We have the opportunity to invest in the university’s future but we will need to move forward with fiscal discipline and responsibility.
3. Facilities: We are moving forward with a long term master plan for the campus. Henry Muñoz, an alum and former member of the Board of Trustees, and his firm are developing the plan. They will be on campus this semester to gather more input from faculty and staff as they develop the plan.
In the meantime, we are investing in our current facilities so we can live in the short term. Work continues on the Danna Student Center. In December, the Senior Common Room was painted and thoroughly cleaned. The old art gallery and information kiosk were taken down. New gallery space, across from the Underground, is being built and is slated to reopen in March. I want to thank University Ministry, LUCAP, and Visual Arts for their understanding and patience in being displaced during the renovation. All of the interior work should be completed by next summer.
This spring we will begin efforts to renew our classrooms. Our classrooms need a range of attention and renovation—from technology upgrades to paint, carpet, lighting, and seating upgrades. I have asked Media Services, Facilities, and Student Records to use the work of the Classroom Enhancement Committee to develop a list of our classrooms and what needs to be done in them. As we move to address specific rooms we will work with the deans and faculty on specific designs for classrooms. We need to begin to address our classroom space as soon as possible. In the meantime, the project to complete the renovation of the chemistry labs has gone out to bid and will go forward.
4. Salaries: In my update letter to the campus in December, I said that the Board reviewed the enrollment and financial outlook for next year, and the projected forecasts for the next few years. As I mentioned, because of the settlement of our business interruption claims, Loyola can remain whole as we rebuild our enrollments. While I want to wait until we have a better picture of our yield from admitted to enrolled students, we will have a salary pool of at least a three-percent increase.
5. Quality of life: Aware, as I am, of the limits we must face on salaries, I am consciously looking for ways to improve the quality of life here for faculty and staff. Today, I am happy to announce two initiatives that I believe will contribute to a better quality of life.
In my remarks at fall convocation I said that we would establish a faculty-staff dining area. I am happy to announce that on Monday, January 7, the Faculty-Staff Dining Room will be available every weekday in the Senior Commons from 11 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. On a regular basis, Loyola Dining Services will issue a calendar informing you of the upcoming menu items and events for the month. Some of these events include guest speakers on health and wellness.
I am also happy to announce that we will begin, immediately, to extend complimentary memberships to the University Sports Complex for all members of the faculty and staff. I will send out an e-mail on Monday with more details on this effort.
6. Searches: As you know, we have a number of searches underway:
Vice President for Finance and Administration:
This search has been launched and is being chaired by Professor Bill Barnett of the College of Business. We are searching nationally as well as locally. We are being assisted by Michael Hindery of Witt/Kieffer who is a former CFO for Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania and an alumnus of Santa Clara University.
Vice President for Enrollment Management:
This search is being chaired by Dr. Cissy Petty. This search has progressed and has a number of good candidates. Phone interviews will be held in mid-January with
on-campus interviews after Mardi Gras. We hope to announce a new VPEM during the spring semester.
College of Social Sciences Dean:
This search is being chaired by Dean Mary Lee Sweat. Airport interviews with the first round candidates for February 11-12th. In mid-March, the Committee will determine the group of finalists. We plan to have campus visits in early April and the Committee should finish its work in mid-April.
College of Humanities and Natural Sciences Dean:
Dean Ed Kvet is chairing this search. This search has a strong pool of applicants and the search committee is currently reviewing the applications. The committee will meet later this month to determine whom they would like to meet at airport interviews that will be conducted in mid-February. The committee hopes to invite the final candidates to campus for interviews in early April.
College of Business Dean:
This search is now completed. The search committee finished its work and we made an offer, which has been accepted by one of the candidates. We are holding off the announcement at the request of the candidate, but we will be able to make the public announcement by the end of January. I want to thank Brian Bromberger, who chaired the search, and all those who served on the committee.
7. Development:
In our fundraising efforts we have seen a marked increase. Alumni giving have increased over 200 percent from last year. Also, support from our parents and their giving has continued to increase. This year we have involved our alumni and alumni chapters in our recruiting and admissions efforts. We also held faculty led events for alumni in Boston and Houston last spring. These were both great successes and we will continue to develop this program of faculty panels and lectures.
In addition to our increases in the Annual Fund, we have also seen an increase in major gifts. What is particularly encouraging is that many of these major gifts have come from alumni. Also, the Monroe Foundation has renewed its support for music scholarships, the Whitehead foundation renewed its support for women’s scholarships, and the Schlieder foundation awarded us a significant grant that will help with the completion of the chemistry labs.
Also, I am happy to announce that Tom and Gayle Benson committed to a gift for the support the Jesuit Social Research Center. The Center, as you recall, is a joint venture between Loyola University and the New Orleans Province of the Society of Jesus. The gift from the Bensons is towards endowment for the center and the total gift was $2 million. And it was given in the name of Fr. Jim Carter, S.J., President Emeritus.
The Context of Our Work
The British philosopher and mathematician Alfred North Whitehead once observed that the obvious is often the most difficult thing to understand – because it is obvious! While I have been addressing life within the university, the context of Loyola University is New Orleans. So the efforts being made to help the city’s renewal are important to the renewal of the university. The College of Business continues to be involved in the reorganization of the District Attorney’s office. The College of Business is also involved in conversations with the city’s Economics Development Office to place student interns in that office this spring. Also, our Small Business Development Center counseled 2289 local businesses (71 percent existing businesses; 29 percent start-ups) during 2007, providing almost 12,000 consulting hours. The College of Humanities and Natural Sciences is coordinating a writing institute; and is working with the city on investigating Chagas disease. The College of Music and Fine Arts continues to assist the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the New Orleans Opera by providing space for rehearsals and performances as well as hosting exhibits. The College of Law continues its participation in rebuilding the city’s justice system, assisting the Road Home Program, and serving citizens through the Law Clinic. The College of Social Sciences has had photojournalism students participate in a photo camp organized by National Geographic. Students in the Donnelly Center for Nonprofit Communications have assisted a host of neighborhood associations and other nonprofits that are attempting to revitalize the city. Our nursing faculty have been involved with the Health Care Access Network – a group of nurses assessing post-Katrina health needs in the Hispanic community. Professor Mike Cowan will continue to lead the Common Good initiative which is being supported by Loyola. Loyola has partnered with the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania to provide internships and opportunities from the program. I will continue to be involved with the Business Council and Greater New Orleans, Inc. And, I continue to serve as chair of the city’s Ethics Review Board. The board in its first year set itself up and hired the city’s first Inspector General. In November, the City Council fully funded the Inspector General and the Ethics Review Board.
Shortly after Katrina, I spoke at length with one of our state’s political leaders. He had a very sobering view of the devastation to the city and the work it would take for a new New Orleans. He compared it to London after World War II. The more I have worked at this renewal, the more I think his analogy was right. But, I also remind myself of what London is like today and think that we have a similar opportunity for the city and the university.
Renewal is work. To achieve a renewed New Orleans and a renewed Loyola University, it will take focus, work, and dedication. The work of renewal will meet with frustration and it will test our patience, good will, and charity. But, I believe, it is work worth doing and, if done well, will lead to a better, more humane city and a stronger, better university.
