Prez@Catawba - Update from President Brien Lewis
 July 2015
 
Dear Friends,
I am pleased to provide you with this report on recent activities, progress, and challenges at Catawba College. If you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me to obtain additional information.
 
Board of Trustees Actions
 
At their meetings this week the Board of Trustees received a lot of information and had a lot of discussion. The following is a brief recap of the highlights:
1. 2015-16 Budget approved: For more on this please see below.
2. Election of Trustees: The Board approved the following new trustees for four-year terms: Dr. Albert Aymer, Meg Kluttz Dees, and Joe Gorman '74. More information will come in a news release soon.
3. Trustee Emeritus status was conferred on Hamp Shuford, Jr., who has retired from the Board after serving as a Trustee for 55 years.
4. Faculty Emerita status was conferred on Professor Dayna Anderson.
 
Budget and Financial Updates
 
Overall, the College's financial picture has improved substantially in the past couple of years thanks to enrollment growth, sound fiscal management, and budgetary restraint. That said, we still face many of the challenges and pressures faced by so many smaller, tuition-dependent institutions in the higher education landscape today.

While expenditures this past year were generally in line with plans and expectations, revenues were significantly lower. Due to the complex matrix of tuition discounting it is almost inherently impossible to predict with significant accuracy. However, one thing is clear: we are in a very competitive environment. As an example, over the last decade the number of students applying to 7 or more schools has doubled - increasing significantly the competition to matriculate admitted students. The unpredictability of scholarship offers and acceptances means that colleges can have a larger incoming class than the year before but have flat or lower revenue - or have a smaller class but more revenue.

As we finalize plans for the 2015-16 budget, there are key guidelines for us:
- Budget Deficit (including depreciation, which allows for capital expenditures): We have reduced this from over $2.5M a few years ago and we target zero deficit for the 2015-16 budget. Our current projections show a shortfall of about $373K, but we are confident we will close that gap over the summer as figures solidify.
- Unrestricted Gifts: We have reduced reliance on the "unrestricted gifts" line in the budget from $3.6M in 2011-12 to $1.2M this year. Our goal needs to be to reduce this line to zero over time both because of anticipated changes in accounting rules, and so we can be asking for gifts to move us forward, not just to balance the budget! 
- Endowment: This has grown from $48.3 million to $56.8 million since 2012. Keep in mind that many of the funds in the endowment are restricted to specific purposes and that we only draw a certain percentage from it based on the last twelve quarters' results.

At their meeting this week the Trustees approved a 2015-16 budget in keeping with these guidelines and with the charge to achieve a balanced budget by September 15. Key assumptions on the 2015-2016 budget include:
- Overall student enrollment is up based on recent registration data, with a conservative forecast of freshman enrollment;
- Projecting a "discount rate" of 50%;
- Reflecting the tuition increase of 5% approved last fall;
- Employee headcount held at current levels unless explicitly funded by restricted gifts;
- Reflecting $430K in reduced benefits costs;
- Revenue includes $1.2M in unrestricted gifts.

In the fall, I will recommend Trustees approve the following priorities for use of any additional revenues generated above and beyond those currently forecast:
1) First $200,000: reduce "gift line" to $1M;
2) Next $75,000: increase retirement match from 50% to 75% effective 11/1/15;
3) Remainder: restore previous budget cuts/enhance operating budgets.

Our Vice President for Finance and Business, Nelson Murphy, has identified the following financial focus areas for the year ahead:
- Tuition pricing position & discounting;
- Strengthening procurement and cash remittance processes;
- Improving integrity of budget at a departmental level; and
- Implementing a multi-year capital planning process to better address deferred maintenance and IT infrastructure needs.
 
Strategic Plan and Annual Plan
 
Campus Plan
Each year's Annual Plan sets forth specific action items which are intended to be accomplished within an academic year in furtherance of longer term goals and objectives. The end-of-year progress reports for 2014-15 as well as the Annual Plan for 2015-16 will be shared with the campus very soon. These documents will also be posted on the website alongside our other key strategic planning documents at www.catawba.edu/planning.

At the Cabinet's retreat last month, we identified within the many initiatives outlined in the Annual Plan the following top areas of focus for 2015-16:
- Improving and expanding overall Marketing/Branding;
- Determining SEGS format/direction, developing related marketing;
- Enhancing International Programs/Opportunities
- Enhancing Environmental Programs;
- Enhancing Business School;
- Building on the NSSA Partnership/Sports Communication Program;
- Establishing Post-baccalaureate Music Program in Nashville.

Bill Armour, who has previously done some significant consulting work for the College, has joined the team as Assistant to the President for Special Projects and Strategic Initiatives. His initial efforts included working with the Music Department to develop a post-baccalaureate popular music program and working with the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association to enhance and expand the College's partnership opportunities. Bill will also lead or assist with selected projects on marketing and branding that require cross-functional engagement.

Bill is a graduate of Wake Forest University and his extensive background includes sports journalism, special events management, and media/marketing consulting with companies such as Coca-Cola, Nestle Foods, Lowe's and Kellogg's, as well as with NASCAR drivers and major national sporting events. He has an invaluable network of contacts in multiple industries that will serve us well in developing both our NSSA and music projects.
 
 
Comprehensive Campaign
 
Our Catawba: The Forward Path
To date the campaign has received over $41.2M in gifts and commitments - a wonderful demonstration of support for Catawba! Many of these gifts are for specific purposes, are multi-year gifts, or are part of people's estate plans. In other words, we are not sitting on a $41.2M piggy bank to just spend. Nonetheless, many improvements that you are already seeing (or will see soon) including salary increases, facilities enhancements, scholarships, and programs are a direct result of these generous gifts. Please keep an eye out for announcements about specific gifts and their donors - and say thank you to these wonderful supporters when you encounter them.
 
Enrollment Updates
 
Overall, our enrollment numbers are healthy thanks to a relatively small graduating class and larger classes of rising sophomores and juniors. Fall registration numbers for returning students as of June 5 are:
- Total: 982 (vs. 954 in 2014)
- Day: 867 (vs. 822 in 2014)

Here are some of the key indicators regarding the numbers of the incoming class as of June 22 with comparisons to numbers on the same date in prior years:
- Deposited students: 337 (vs. 374 in 2014/368 in 2013/308 in 2012)
- Residential: 265 (vs. 303 in 2014)

Though of course we would all like those numbers to be higher, there are some other key indicators to keep in mind:
- Yield rate: 32.4% (vs. 26.7% in 2014/26.5% in 2013/19.4% in 2012)

This shows we are increasingly effective at communicating with and successfully recruiting prospective students. There are also significant improvements in the academic profile of the incoming class so far:
- SAT average: 1013 (vs. 996 in 2014/990 in 2013)
- GPA average: 3.66 (vs. 3.54 in 2014/3.59 in 2013)

These numbers all bode well for continued improvement in retention rates.
 
Pardon Our Progress...
 
Quick notes on facilities projects you will see more about soon:
-
Solar Panels
Solar and Water Project:
Work continues on many corners of the campus as we implement the largest such undertaking by any higher education institution in the State of North Carolina. We will complete the installations this summer. For more information, visit www.catawba.edu/solar.
-
Gym Campaign
Gym Floor and Bleachers:
Thanks to several generous gifts for much-needed work to improve Goodman Gymnasium, we have replaced the old wood and tartan floors with an all-wood floor and made significant improvements to the seating with all new bleachers, including chairback seats in the lower sections. We are also finalizing installation of new scoreboards, wall mats, and media tables with high quality LED screens for displaying information and sponsor advertising.
-
Gym Campaign
Barger-Zartman Residence Hall:
Thanks to generous support from the Cannon Foundation and the Cannon Trust, we are undertaking significant refurbishments to our oldest residence hall. The extent of the work requires it will be completed in two phases over this summer and next summer.
 
In Conclusion
 
I know once again that there is much good work being done by so many people and there numerous items that are worthy of reporting to you that I am likely overlooking in the interest of keeping this report as concise as possible. Please check your email and the website regularly to keep up with the latest news, events, and opportunities available on campus.

As always, you have my deep appreciation and thanks for all you do for the College.

Yours at Catawba,
Brien Lewis
Brien Lewis

Twitter
@CatawbaPrez



CATAWBA COLLEGE
2300 West Innes Street
Salisbury, NC 28144
1-800-CATAWBA