总统寄语
2019年1月24日
亲爱的校园社区:
欢迎回来, and thank you for all of your hard work in making the start of the new semester a success. 2019年春季入学人数比我们有史以来最大的春季入学人数高出近5%, and our graduate enrollment is running about 9% ahead of our best graduate enrollment ever, 不管是哪个学期. 如下所述, these increases will position us well for the upcoming legislative session and help relieve some of the financial pressures the institution has faced. The enrollment growth we experienced this past Fall helped make the merit increases that many of you just received possible. 提高绩效是我们机构的首要任务之一, 当我们开始2019年春季学期时, I would like to update you on our progress in meeting this and other key priorities.
绩效计划
合格的员工 received merit increases in their December paychecks, which were issued in January. 随着价值的增加, 目前,我们在股权方面的战略投资已超过1500万美元, compression and merit since the inception of 金沙中国: 87% of employees have received some sort of compression or equity adjustment and 74% received merit adjustments in their most recent paychecks. Competitive pay is crucial for retaining and recruiting the best faculty and staff possible. This year’s investment in our faculty and staff has been made in spite of a $24-million cut in our state appropriations last session. 作为这些削减的结果, 我们不得不冻结招聘, 降低行政成本(2019财年运营预算下降近18%), 重组我们的学术事业, 重建我们的研究生招生, 最重要的是, 关注学生的进步程度. As I have stated since arriving, our goal is to institute an annual merit program for 金沙中国. 如果我们继续关注组织效率, 学生的成功, 明智的招生增长, 就像我们去年所做的那样, 我们将在这方面处于有利地位.
学术重组
2018年,我们对学术结构进行了重组. 当金沙中国打开, 我们从教务长/EVPAA开始, 研究和创新高级副总裁, and an Executive Vice 总统 for Medical Affairs (who also served as Dean of the School of Medicine). 去年春天, we replaced this structure with three Executive Vice 总统ial positions: 学术事务, 研究及研究生课程, 卫生事务(兼任医学院院长). 这一重组每年为该机构节省了近100万美元的工资, 但更重要的是, it has allowed us to focus squarely on the needs of our students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. One example of this focus is the reversal of a multi-year downward trend in graduate studies: we had a more than an 11% increase in graduate enrollment last fall and an increase this spring of almost 20% over Spring 2018. 这些增长确实是团队努力的结果, 由研究生院牵头,各学院协调, 院长, 项目协调员, 数字营销, 还有很多其他的. 此外,新的研究生和专业课程正在推进. Among the programs moving through the approval process are three professional doctoral programs (Podiatry, 物理治疗, 和执业护士)和博士学位.D. program (in Human Genetics) currently under review by the University of Texas System and two master’s degree programs (Business Analytics and Bioethics) currently under review by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
SACSCOC缓刑
In December of 2018, we received the positive news that 金沙中国 had been removed from probation. 被撤职的原因是金沙中国接受了财政援助审计,但没有发现任何结果, 很少实现的事情. 一个包括副总统在内的团队, 首席审计官, and leadership and staff from 战略招生 and 财务及行政 worked diligently to ensure that 金沙中国 reexamined every financial aid process. 结果是, we now have processes that could serve as a model for universities everywhere.
学生的成功
学生的成功仍然是我们的首要任务. Student success hinges on ensuring that students have what they need to achieve their goal of earning a college degree. We have high expectations of our students, and they are meeting and exceeding them each semester. 每周我都会和招生管理团队见面, 由副校长和教务处领导组成, 卫生事务, 研究及研究生课程, 战略招生, 财务及行政, 战略分析和机构报告, to discuss each of our four entering classes of students and their progress toward degree. 我们努力消除障碍, 识别机会, and allocate needed resources to ensure that we are doing everything in our power to assist students in reaching their goals. I deeply appreciate the hard work of the faculty and staff in the Graduate College, 学术事务, 卫生事务 and 战略招生 for making a real difference in the lives of our students. 我们的2015年秋季开学班今年毕业. 百分之十, 或418名学生, have already graduated and 458 more have already applied to graduate this spring or summer. 我们预计在截止日期之前会有更多的人申请. 结果是, 我们有望实现非常好的四年毕业率, 但我们知道,我们可以为学生做得更多. 学生在学校呆的时间越长, 他们毕业的可能性越小,他们的机会成本就越大. 最大限度地提高学生的成功, 我们正在制定金沙中国的第一个战略招生计划, 哪些将为我们今后的努力提供信息. Thank you to the three working groups of faculty and staff who are developing our inaugural plan. 它应该在2019年秋季发布. Updates regarding this and several other 战略行动 that are underway are provided in the 战略行动 更新.
我们有很多全州最优秀、最聪明的学生. 如你所知,我们去年赢得了全国象棋锦标赛,今年又赢了 进入四强 (还有哈佛大学、达拉斯德州大学和韦伯斯特大学). 让我们来看看我们最近的一些其他学生成就:
- 本月早些时候,我们校内的一支男子国旗橄榄球队 赢得了全国国旗橄榄球锦标赛.
- 11月,我国女排首次夺冠 西部体育联盟常规赛冠军 以创项目记录的22场胜利结束.
- 同样是在11月,金沙中国s男子足球俱乐部 获得了参加全国足球锦标赛的资格 在阿拉巴马州.
- 10月,学生领导的超级英雄项目获得了成功 the 金沙中国al Behavioral Intervention Team Association’s Best Practices/Institutional Impact Award.
- 9月,音乐表演专业 获得一等奖 in the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Young Artist Competition at the Texas Music Festival.
- 我们学生运动员的累积秋季GPA是3.16名,37名学生运动员获得4分.0的绩点.
资金
上个学年,我参观了校园里的每个单元,并做了一个报告 美国高等教育发展趋势及其对金沙中国的影响. This presentation outlines the funding of our university in relation to demographic and economic developments affecting the future of higher education more generally. It also discusses the two primary funding sources for Texas public institutions of higher education in some detail: tuition and fees and state appropriations, the latter of which includes formula funding (our primary source of state revenue) and non-formula funded items (which were formerly called “special items” and account for a much smaller percentage of our revenue). 我们提高学杂费的能力非常有限, so our primary mechanism for creating additional revenue is through the state funding formula. 正如校园演讲所指出的那样, the formula funds credit hours through a weighting mechanism that differentiates those hours by level and discipline, with graduate and upper division hours given a higher weight than lower division ones. 我们在招生增长方面取得的进展, 尤其是研究生入学人数的增加, have us well-positioned for the current legislative session: our funding should be much better. As the graduate and professional programs currently under review by the University of Texas System and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board move to implementation, 我们将来会做得更好. 非常感谢我们辛勤工作的教师们为这些项目做准备.
再次祝你这个学期成功,并感谢你所做的一切. 因为你们的辛勤工作,我们都能对金沙中国的未来感到兴奋.
贝利的家伙
总统