State of the University
2006-2007
I am pleased to have this opportunity to address the faculty and to summarize the major accomplishments of this year. This marks the completion of five years in my term as President, and I believe that we all share a sense of pride in the remarkable progress of the University to date. With the support of the Board of Trustees and the assistance of the entire Hofstra community, and in particular with the faculty's strong commitment and dedication to this institution, we have enhanced student selectivity and academic credentials (increasing the average SAT scores of entering freshmen by more than 100 points), added new faculty lines and new academic programs, created an Honors College, invested in new academic buildings and renovated older classroom buildings, and made great strides in enhancing the academic profile and prestige of the University. We have also strengthened University management and instituted strong fiscal controls. We enhanced the University's financial condition by doubling the endowment in five years to more than $200 million today. Further progress is underway as we have begun a capital campaign with a goal of $100 million, with more than $78 million raised to date. Our future has never looked brighter, and I am looking forward to working with you to continue Hofstra's momentum, as we move Hofstra to the next level of recognition both nationally and internationally.
Negotiations With Faculty Bargaining Unit
I am very pleased that an agreement was reached between the University and the Hofstra Chapter of the American Association of University Professors this summer, which was ratified by the faculty and by the Board of Trustees. The bargaining teams for the University and for the faculty worked very hard for more than six months, negotiating, sometimes late at night, to produce the agreement that, I believe, is fair and supportive of the faculty and affordable by the University. I would like to publicly thank both bargaining teams for their dedicated service and professionalism, and for their ability to maintain an atmosphere of mutual civility and respect while at the same time forcefully advocating for their constituencies. The agreement gives us the opportunity to turn our attention to the next five years, and enables us to continue the progress achieved to date.
Admission
Since I assumed the presidency, we have been making significant progress in improving the academic credentials of each entering class. This has been a particular priority of my administration since the academic strength of the student body is so critical to the reputation and prestige of the institution. I am pleased to report that this year the average SAT score of the entering class is at 1169, representing an unprecedented increase of 18 points from last year's average score of 1151. That this increase occurred in a year in which SAT scores nationwide were down, with many colleges reporting a downward trend in the SATs scores of their enrolled students, makes this increase all the more remarkable. Since the fall of 2000, the average SAT score of the entering class has risen 108 points, from 1061 to 1169. In percentage terms, the class entering in the fall of 2000 had an average SAT score slightly above the 50th percentile of all test takers, whereas today it is at approximately the 75th percentile of test takers. Selectivity, or the percentage of students we accept, is at approximately 62 percent, the same as last year, compared to an acceptance rate of 80 percent in the fall of 2000. This year's applications of approximately 13,500 exceeded 2004's 11,500 applications by 2,000, but were down from last year's high of almost 16,000. This was due to a deliberate change in strategy to reduce the widespread use of free applications, which had inflated the application pool last year. This year, our yield improved significantly, to 20.5 percent, up from 18 percent last year.
The average GPA continues to improve, and now stands at 3.26, up slightly from 3.23 last year. The percentage of students in the top 10 percent of their high school classes also is approximately the same as last year, at 23 percent, up from 12 percent in the fall of 2000. Finally, 48 percent of this year's class is from outside of New York state, the same as last year, compared to 31 percent in 2000. The fall 2006 Honors College class is larger than last year's, with 163 students, up from 136 last year, and with an average SAT score of 1316 and average GPA of 3.96.
Moving forward, we understand that continuing to enhance academic credentials will become increasingly difficult as we compete at a very different level than we did five years ago. This year, for example, we admitted very few additional students in the spring/summer in order to protect the extraordinary gains in SAT scores, thus enrolling a smaller class than we had originally forecast. Duplicate deposits also increased dramatically this year nationwide, making it more difficult to use historical data to predict yield. For the 2007-08 academic year, we expect to plan for a less dramatic increase in SAT scores, and for a slightly larger class.
We have reorganized the Admission and Financial Aid offices and appointed a new dean of admission and financial aid, Jessica Eads, from within. We have hired a very experienced admissions consultant, who is helping to shape the overall enrollment strategy and training staff. We have also engaged a financial aid consultant, who is documenting financial aid policy and procedure and training the new director for financial aid. All involved are working to enhance the professionalism of the departments, improve customer service, develop better historical data, and enhance planning and strategy to continue to recruit the very best high school students. Enrollment Management now reports to Senior Vice President for Planning and Administration M. Patricia Adamski to provide additional oversight.
Retention
Retention continues to be a high priority of my administration. The first-year retention rate of the class that entered in fall 2005 is at 76.5 percent, up from 74 percent two years ago, but down slightly from last year's 78 percent. We continue to work at improving the retention rate, and have charged the new Vice President for Student Affairs, Sandra Johnson, to focus her efforts in this area.
The Task Force on the Frst-Year Student Experience and Retention, which I created shortly after assuming the presidency, consists of faculty, deans, student representatives and senior administrators, and continues to meet biweekly to work collaboratively to improve the student experience. This past year's task force recommendations resulted in a new and expanded orientation for first-year students, the creation of a freshman-only residence hall in Netherlands North, and the development of the core of the Netherlands as a Living/Learning Center for all new students. This coming year, the task force will turn its attention to improving student experience beyond the first year, and to enhancing the experience for transfer students.
The expanded orientation program for the class of 2010 began the Thursday before Labor Day and lasted through Labor Day itself. The motivation behind the extended program was to guide the new class and help them to learn the history, traditions, academic programs, community standards and climate of student life at the University. New students returned to campus prior to continuing students, introducing them to the resources of the campus through programs and interactive events and allowing them to connect with each other and with the community from the outset. Families were assisted by student volunteers, supported by the members of our football team, who helped to move all the new students' belongings into the residence halls. The orientation program continued with a new series of dialogues with the deans, a class barbecue and a plethora of activities throughout the Labor Day weekend. For the first time, on Saturday, despite the efforts of hurricane Ernesto, a significant portion of the class ventured out with members of the faculty and administration to a broad array of activities, all centered in New York City. Overall, the new program was a great success and was very well received by the new students and their families.
Labor Day weekend also marked the opening of the Netherlands Living/Learning First-Year Complex, which seeks to strengthen and enhance the feeling of connectedness among the newest members of our community. Within the Netherlands Complex that houses more than 600 students, the "core" building will serve as the hub of activity not only for those residents, but also for all members of the Class of 2010 — residents and commuters. A vast array of programs, activities and events, some involving faculty and alumni, will be a part of our new first-year experience program. To date, students have taken advantage of the expanded dining hours, program nights and late night study area complete with cappuccino in the core building. In addition, more than 400 students participated in a diversity awareness program and a wellness program, as part of our First-Year FOCUS series. The Living/Learning Center, along with our entire residential life program, strives to cultivate an atmosphere conducive to educational pursuits and the development of community within the student body. Funding has been identified to enhance the Living/Learning Center through a complete renovation of the lower-level classrooms and meeting rooms, as well as the dining area and lounge space.
Five-Year Plan
The five-year plan, which was approved by the Board of Trustees last year and which covers the period from 2005 to 2010, continues to guide our academic planning and implementation. The 2006-07 budget included the enhancements outlined for the year in the academic plan (seven new full-time faculty lines, increased scholarships, additional staff for the Center for New Student Support Services and the Parents Office, modest start-up funds for science faculty, general instructional tools and equipment for the School of Communication, library resources, expansion of the First-Year Connections program, and funds for social and academic enrichment activities, and as well as additional computer software and hardware). We are monitoring the University's progress toward meeting the goals of the five-year plan on an ongoing basis.
Academic Initiatives
The continuing dynamism of the academic area greatly facilitates our efforts to enhance the reputation and stature of Hofstra University. New undergraduate majors in areas such as religion and forensic science were introduced. A new M.B.A. in sports and entertainment management began this year. This M.B.A. program, offered in collaboration with the School of Communication, is the only formal degree program of its kind offered in the metropolitan area. Coupled with our close proximity to New York City, a major center of sports, media and entertainment, the program, structured to meet the needs of middle and senior management, offers graduates the opportunity to participate in this exciting and growing field. New graduate offerings were also approved in journalism, physician assistant studies, mental health counseling, rehabilitation counseling, and a number of other areas.
New College has reinvigorated its curriculum by introducing a highly innovative first-year experience and four new B.A. degrees. First-year students at New College follow a block schedule in which they take just one course at a time, for a total of four courses each semester. The program emphasizes study across disciplines combined with experimental learning and public service through internships and study abroad programs. The School for University Studies program has also been thoroughly reviewed and revitalized.
This fall we enrolled the inaugural class of 11 students in Hofstra's Legal Education Accelerated Program (LEAP). This program permits high-achieving students to obtain a B.A. and J.D. in six years. LEAP attracted considerable interest among applicants this year, and we expect the program to continue to grow in the future.
The First-Year Connections program (a first-year program designed to group freshmen in cohorts with small classes and teams of professors to build community and enhance retention) has expanded this year from about 700 students in fall '05 to more than 900 in fall '06. One aim of the FYC program is to help our new students acclimate to New York City. To that end, we have tied FYC clusters and seminars to visits to such cultural institutions around town as The Museum of Television & Radio, American Museum of Natural History, Broadway and off-Broadway shows, BAM, Tenement Museum, The Jewish Museum, New York Historical Society, Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Opera – as well as to institutions on Long Island, such as the Cradle of Aviation Museum, the Islamic Cultural Center, and Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Last year, we created a new distinguished visiting professorship and scholarsin- residence program to permit us to recruit scholars-teachers and other distinguished visitors to come to our campus to teach, lecture, and meet with students and faculty. HCLAS hosted four such visiting scholars: Simi Linton, an expert in disability studies; Fred Siegel, a specialist in New York City politics and faculty member at Cooper Union; Daniel Kurtzer, former U.S. ambassador to Egypt and Israel and visiting professor at Princeton University; and Richard Field, professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Montana. This year's visiting scholars include Dr. Bart Ehrman, James A. Gray Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a recognized scholar of the New Testament and early Christianity; Dr. Bobbi Low, a faculty member at the University of Michigan, whose research interests include the use of evolutionary theory to understand human activities, particularly patterns of resource use; and Gary Shteyngart, a highly regarded Russian-Jewish and American novelist and cultural commentator.
In the spring, the Department of Drama and Dance will host Martha Clarke as special professor of dance. Ms. Clarke, who is known for her visually inspired music theater pieces, has received a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, two grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, and multiple grants from the NEA. Her work has earned her the Drama Desk Award, two Obie Awards, and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award. Her new dance/theater piece, KAOS, based on works by Luigi Pirandello, has just been given the first Tony Randall Foundation Award. Ms. Clarke will spend the entire semester in the department. She will teach choreography classes and choreograph a piece for the Hofstra University Spring Dance Concert.
Finally, after an extensive national search, we have named Salvatore F. Sodano as the new dean for the Zarb School of Business. Dean Sodano is working to enhance the stature and reputation of that school by increasing our ties to the business community, thus bringing new opportunities to our students. Maureen Murphy has been reappointed acting dean of the School of Education and Allied Human Services and continues to enhance the reputation and program offerings of that school. And Ralph Polimeni has assumed the position of vice provost for outcomes assessment and accreditation, and he will need all our cooperation and support to make sure that our learning goals are clear and our outcomes are measurable.
Honors College
Honors College, which enrolled its first class of 90 students in the fall of 2001, as I was beginning my presidency, is now at 690 total students. This year's entering class is composed of 163 extraordinary students, up from 136 in 2005. Last year, Honors College graduated its first class. This year's graduating class of 2006 distinguished itself with graduate school acceptances at institutions such as Columbia, Georgetown and MIT. We are especially proud of 2006 HUHC graduate Nick Fevola, who was awarded a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Fellowship. This represents the second consecutive year in which an HUHC graduate was recognized with this very competitive national award.
Honors College is initiating a junior semester at the University of York in Great Britain. Selected students will spend a winter and spring term at the Heslington campus of the University of York, with time free to explore Europe during the intersession break. The University of York employs a challenging modular curriculum, in which students engage in concentrated study of a limited number of subjects during 10-week terms. Each class includes both small-group seminars and tutorial sessions. The modern campus of the University of York, with new collegiate residences and full facilities, is a short walk from the ancient walled city of York, England's first capital.
The Honors College Service Corps entered its third year with a record number of student volunteers continuing to reach out to Hofstra's larger community. Service Corps volunteers continue to serve at the Interfaith Nutrition Network facilities in Hempstead and are beginning work with students at Hagedorn Little Village School in Seaford.