| November 2015 |
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Dear Friends,
I am pleased to provide you with this report on recent activities, progress, and challenges at Catawba College. As always, I want to be as informative and transparent as possible about both the good news and the tough choices we face - while still being concise. If you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me to obtain additional information. |
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Board of Trustees Actions
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At their meetings during Homecoming the Board of Trustees received a lot of information and had a lot of discussion. The following is a brief recap of the highlights:
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2016-17 Tuition and Fees approved: For more on this please see below. |
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Election of Trustee: The Board approved Gwin Barr to serve for a four-year term beginning in February. Gwin is the Board Chair (and was the driving force behind the creation of) the Rowan County Crosby Scholars. She also serves on the Board of the Salisbury Community Foundation. She graduated from Duke University and lives in Salisbury. More information will come in a news release soon. |
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Memoranda of Understanding: The Board approved new iterations of the existing MOUs with the Catawba Foundation and the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. |
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Hedrick Administration Building Terrace Project and Ballpark/Communications/NSSA Facility Project: The Board endorsed both of these items. More information is provided below. |
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| HEPI (Higher Education Price Index) projections of inflationary costs. This will bring our tuition for 2016-17 to $29,333 and our room fees to $6,187. The meal rate will stay the same at $4,020 for a total of tuition, room and meals of $39,540. |
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| Overall, the College's financial picture has improved substantially in the past few years. That said, we still have many of the challenges and pressures faced by so many smaller, tuition-dependent institutions in the higher education landscape today. Our enrollment overall is not as high as it has been in the past couple of years (more on this below) and, even with some spending reductions in specific areas, we will not have a "balanced" budget this fiscal year when one factors in depreciation. Plans that were already in place to review more efficient purchasing processes and to streamline costs in certain activities are being implemented. We will not be able to take the steps outlined as priorities for use of potential additional revenues (such as further reducing the reliance on our "unrestricted gift line"), as these additional revenues will not be realized. We will still be funding some projects and positions where we have received gifts restricted to those purposes (some examples of this are detailed further below). |
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Overall, our final fall enrollment number is 1275 (vs. 1316 in 2014). Though of course we would all like those numbers to be higher, there are some other key indicators about this year's freshman class to keep in mind:
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Yield rate: 31% (vs. 26% in 2014, 25% in 2013, and 19% 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 this year's freshman class:
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SAT average: 1007 (vs. 985 in 2014, 979 in 2013, and 1000 in 2012) |
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GPA average: 3.66 (vs. 3.53 in 2014, 3.54 in 2013, and 3.43 in 2012) |
These numbers all bode well for continued improvement in retention rates. At the same time, it is incumbent on all of us to work in a focused manner to retain existing students. This can be done by using existing alert systems and making students aware of options whether the concerns they are facing are academic, financial, or social.
The enrollment team has done a thorough review and analysis to shape our approaches in this recruitment cycle and preliminary indicators are encouraging but it is important we all recognize that it is at a very early stage. |
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Strategic Plan and Annual Plan
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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. This document is posted on the website alongside our other key strategic planning documents at
www.catawba.edu/planning. |
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To date the campaign has received over $43 million 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 $43 million 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. |
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Quick notes on facilities projects you are seeing (or will soon see) around the campus:
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Solar and Water Project:
Work is nearing completion on implementing the largest such undertaking by any higher education institution in the State of North Carolina. |
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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, installed new scoreboards and wall mats, and made significant improvements to the seating with all new bleachers, including chairback seats in the lower sections. We are also finalizing installation of media tables with high quality LED screens for displaying information and sponsor advertising. |
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Barger-Zartman Residence Hall:
Thanks to generous support from the Cannon Foundation and the Cannon Trust, we undertook significant refurbishments to our oldest residence hall. The extent of the work
requires it will be completed in two phases so we hope to complete this project in a future summer, depending on successful grant funding. |
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"Heart of Campus:" - Hedrick Terrace and Stanback Plaza Fountain Projects:
The Board of Trustees has endorsed the concept of a terrace and affixed sculpture for the rear of the Hedrick Administration Building as presented in this rendering:
Thanks to a generous gift designated for this purpose received last year, this project is already funded. Work should begin once final architectural and engineering plans are completed. As part of the overall effort to enhance the "heart of campus" we will also undertake restoration of the fountain in the center of Stanback Plaza. |
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Ballpark/Communications/NSSA Facility Project:
The Board of Trustees also endorsed moving forward with planning, fundraising, and required municipal approvals to undertake much needed improvements to the ballpark. They also endorsed a related effort to work with the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association to develop the planned joint facility for their headquarters and hall of fame and our communications programs and to do so in a way that would ultimately connect the two facilities. The natural affinities between the NSSA Hall of Fame and a major athletic facility will be very attractive and cost savings will be realized by developing them together. |
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Looking Backwards - And Forwards
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I remain deeply committed to and very optimistic about Catawba's future. After all, in my 3 and a half years here:
- Our financial picture, while not rosy, has certainly improved - with significantly reduced reliance on the gift line and a reduced and refinanced debt;
- We have a superb team in place, and we have recruited top-notch folks with outstanding experience for key roles in faculty and administration;
- We have made significant strides on new programs such as nursing, sports communications, accounting, worship arts, and a new master's in education;
- We have enhanced and expanded our sustainability commitment including the solar project and many initiatives supported by the Green Revolving Fund;
- We have improved technology capabilities and used them to set the stage for improved communications for development and admissions;
- We have improved athletic facilities including the gym and the softball and soccer fields;
- We have addressed long-standing issues with the electrical vaults system;
- We have revamped and improved our web presence and publications; and
- We have received many third-party verifications of our quality and progress including outstanding results from our SACSCOC accreditation reaffirmation and improved rankings from national publications.
So much has been done - and there is much yet to do. We are facing headwinds of course - that is the nature of higher education (and of most every type of endeavor you can name today). We will continue to explore how these headwinds are impacting the College, and what choices we must make. As always, there will be areas in which we need to invest - and areas where we need to have the discipline to say no. We are all involved in this because we want Catawba to succeed, to thrive.
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There are no doubt numerous items that are worthy of reporting to you that are not included here 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.
There is so much good work being done by so many people at Catawba. I hear compliments about individual faculty, staff, and students constantly both on and off-campus from alumni, community members, and others. They are consistently impressed with the quality of our people and the outstanding results of our work - and so am I.
As always, you have my deep appreciation and thanks for all you do for the College.
Yours at Catawba,
Brien Lewis |
@CatawbaPrez
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CATAWBA COLLEGE
2300 West Innes Street
Salisbury, NC 28144
1-800-CATAWBA
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