The Drake University Board of Trustees held its quarterly meeting during the Relays weekend. You will see in this week’s OnCampus that the board approved the promotion or tenure of several faculty members; awarded endowed professorships to Phillip Chen, Steve Scullen, and Gholam Mirafzal; and named Sally Beisser the Ronald Troyer Research Fellow—congratulations to all!
Several other items were discussed and approved during the meeting, including the approval of the Fiscal Year 2017 budget, with which you should all be familiar. Trustees also gave final approval to move forward with the Drake University Continuous Improvement Plan. This is as much a vote of confidence in the content of the scorecard as it is in the continuous improvement approach to strategic planning at Drake. I look forward to working with the entire campus to fully implement the plan and to foster our growing culture of continuous improvement.
I provided an update on the Information Technology Services re-organization and their progress on several deferred maintenance projects. A few examples of initiatives underway include updating the wireless network in the residence halls, piloting a digital signage solution for campus, standardizing computer renewal and replacement for faculty and staff, and improving technology in classrooms and Sheslow Auditorium. ITS continues to improve its ability to provide reliable, service-oriented, and responsive support to campus, and I’m very pleased with these positive steps forward.
I informed the Board that we have established a schedule for deferred maintenance and capital renewal projects. The $1.7 million the Board authorized in January for this work will be focused on vital infrastructure projects including, among others, end-of-life roof replacement, heating and cooling units, and electrical upgrades.
The Board continued its thoughtful and strategic discussion around tuition pricing—you’ll hear more about this topic in the coming months.
Ben Ullem, dean of the Law School, and Tom Delahunt, vice president for admission and student financial planning, provided updates on 2016–2017 enrollment efforts. The Law School has seen an increase in applications over last year—502 versus 475 received year to date. So far, 80 students have made their first deposit (as of May 3). This good news is a credit to the leadership, faculty, and staff of the Law School—and their partners across campus—for navigating through difficult times.
We continue to face challenges in undergraduate and graduate enrollment. As of May 3, Drake has received 755 tuition deposits from incoming students, down from 781 at this same time last year. While these are lower than anticipated, the Office of Admission along with others on campus are working hard on new strategies to more sharply distinguish Drake in the prospective undergraduate market. We know that a Drake education and the Bulldog experience cannot be found anywhere else, and will continue to share our story and recruit the best and brightest to our University. On the graduate front, many programs are continuing their efforts to best serve the professional market in the region. The redesigned MBA program, which now offers a mix of online and in-person courses, is a positive step forward and I’m confident we will see gains from these changes and each college and school’s dedication to improving the graduate student experience.
Best of luck with the end of the semester.
Marty
