September 1, 2009
WELCOME TO THE NEW ACADEMIC YEAR!
As I begin this Update, I am walking up the mall from the first women’s volleyball match at the Ryan Center/Sokol Arena. It is a beautiful August evening and the mall is very active with students—new and returning. The sense of community is palpable. We have had a busy summer and I am anxious to share some useful updates with you. While the economy is still an issue across the land and health care reform is the question of the day, we have much to reflect upon and be grateful for as we begin Creighton’s 131st academic year. This also happens to be the beginning of my tenth year as president. Who would have thought?
H1N1 FLU VIRUS
Since last spring, the campus organized resources to prepare for the possible outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus. With the outbreak continuing worldwide and the seasonal flu cycle approaching, it is important that each of us considers taking appropriate measures to protect ourselves from the virus. Please pay close attention to campus announcements regarding the H1N1 flu virus and efforts to administer flu vaccinations. Below are some helpful resources:
www.creighton.edu/emergencypreparedness/
www.pandemicflu.gov/faq/swineflu/04.html
FINANCES
While the national and local economic challenges are far from resolved, there have been some positives over the summer. The stock market has rebounded nicely, helping the endowment recoup some of the losses experienced during the meltdown that started last fall. As indicated below, enrollment numbers for this fall are very solid, removing uncertainty about one significant element of this year’s budget. In addition, improvements submitted as part of last year’s financial enhancement plan effort continue to have a positive impact on our operating budget. I gratefully appreciate your commitment to these efforts and request your continued assistance in identifying ways we can be more efficient with our resources.
PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS
As part of our continuing efforts to improve services, efficiency and sustainability, more internal processes are being moved online. New for this semester was an online tuition remission application process that eliminated paper forms and shortened processing time. The Employee Human Resources/Payroll Self-Service capabilities were recently enhanced, allowing employees to make home address, phone number and similar changes online. The availability of online paystubs also enhances our sustainability efforts, allowing the elimination of printed pay slips later this fall. Another improvement coming this fall will be a new procurement card (P-Card) process, which will include online review and approval of P-Card, eliminating the need for paper invoices and manual routing of documents.
GOOD NEWS ON BENEFITS
As I have often stated, here at Creighton University people are our greatest asset. With that in mind, I am pleased to announce there will be no premium increases on the medical, dental or vision benefit plans for 2010. This is the third year of no rate increase on the medical plan, despite industry trends indicating close to 10 percent annual increases. I congratulate your efforts to achieve this important result. Your continued focus on wellness and prevention and our partnerships with Creighton Medical Associates (CMA), School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, and outside providers like United Healthcare have lead to this achievement.
HISTORICAL ENROLLMENT
As we embark on a new academic year, we enter new enrollment territory. Our record freshman class is the largest in school history. Creighton is home to more than 1,050 freshman students along with over 70 transfers this fall. This is a 7 percent increase over the past year. These are exciting times given the current economic situation we are facing. Our students come from near and far, various socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds, and boast an equally impressive academic profile when compared to recent years. These students are extremely involved and have a passion to lead and serve others. The new class is one of the most diverse and talented ever to enroll. The academic profile of the freshman class places Creighton among the top 5 private universities in the Midwest with undergraduate enrollments of more than 4,000 students. This academic profile also positions Creighton among the top 45 private universities nationally (with over 4,000 undergraduates) and also among the top 8 U.S. Catholic universities and colleges.
These freshmen are not only academically strong, but were very involved in high school and community activities. We are also very proud of the fact that 21 percent are the first generation in their families to attend college, 28 percent are Creighton legacies, meaning their parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents or siblings attended Creighton, and 21 percent are students of color.
Although classes are just beginning, we have every confidence that our retention of returning students will be consistent with recent years. Given the current economic stress many of our families are facing, we find this to be very encouraging. The extra efforts by faculty, staff, and administrators throughout the Creighton community have truly had an impact on our enrollment success!
The projected all-University headcount for the 2009 fall semester is 313 above the enrollment of fall a year ago, an increase of 4.4 percent. The projected enrollment of 7,364 would be a record enrollment surpassing the previous record of 7,051 set in 2008. The beat goes on!
CONGRATULATIONS AND THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU—FACULTY, STAFF AND STUDENTS—WHO HELPED TO SECURE SUCH A STRONG ENROLLMENT ACROSS THE UNIVERSITY!
It is also my pleasure to share that Joe Bezousek has been appointed the Interim Director of Admissions and Patty Suarez will serve as Chair of the Admissions and Scholarship Committee during the 2009-10 academic year. Joe is a 2001 graduate and been a significant contributor to the Admissions team success over the past eight years. Patty is also a graduate of Creighton and has a long history of providing leadership in the Admissions area. With more than 40 years of combined experience, we are well positioned with great leadership in Undergraduate Admissions.
CREIGHTON TOPS U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT RANKINGS AGAIN
For the seventh year in a row, Creighton is the No. 1 Midwest master’s university in U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges.” Especially notable in the 2010 edition is acknowledgment by the broader community for our academic excellence, speaking volumes on the quality of our faculty. Creighton was also No. 1 in the Midwest region as a “best value” university for giving the best return on tuition investment and a top “school to watch” for our innovation and focus on the future and continued improvement. Creighton was also acknowledged in the 2010 Princeton Review as one of the nation’s 371 best colleges and universities.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
The University is in the implementation stage of its 2008-2009 strategic planning process. Integrating campus master planning and fundraising activities with its strategic focusing efforts, we are devising strategies and tactics that will help to achieve our vision of being a national leader in preparing students to enrich and renew society through their professional leadership and committed citizenship. Task forces of faculty, staff, students and alumni will be formed this fall semester to continue the process of clarifying and acting on Creighton’s five strategic commitments. Recognizing that all plans require continual reassessment, the teams will identify balanced scorecard performance metrics to evaluate plan progress and to enable corrections and refocusing actions as needed. The plan is being adapted to address the new challenges created by both national and local economic downturns and intensifying health care delivery and education pressures that were not fully evident when the planning process commenced in 2008.
TECHNOLOGY
The start of this academic year brings great progress on the technology front. The Creighton calendar, our official campus source for publishing events and happenings, has been a great solution for us. Make sure you are checking this and adding your events to this campus wide resource (calendar.creighton.edu).
We have focused on students as we have extended our wireless network to cover Swanson Hall, Gallagher Hall and Kiewit. Creighton was proud to be recognized by Intel Corporation as “one of the best wireless universities,” and we will continue to grow our wireless access across campus this coming year.
We secured a $1.2 million grant last year in support of building a Creighton Portal for our campus. This solution is in the testing phase and is already receiving excellent reviews from our pilot student groups. The portal, my.creighton.edu, will become a personalized one-stop shop for communications, events and access to data and accounts. I encourage you to check it out. You simply log in using your netID and password. Think about how you might use this with your department, committees and teams and give the portal team feedback.
A new HD video editing classroom has been completed on the second floor of the Hitchcock building. The lab uses the latest fiber optic and copper communication technologies to move the massive amounts of high-definition data between workstations and servers. We have also renovated the lower Brandies Hall for the location of our new simulation laboratory supporting our School of Pharmacy and Health Professions.
CONSTRUCTION
City and state projects continue to stir the dust around the edges of campus. Most notably, the city’s sewer separation project, which has been with us for over a year, is now working its way down Cuming Street. The last stretch of this phase of the project has shut down Cuming Street between 24th and 27th streets. In addition to taking Cuming out of service, it has required the relocation of all parking lot access to Burt Street. This, in combination with Burt Street being the city’s designated detour route, has created some real traffic challenges at peak times. We are working with the city to do what’s possible to minimize this disruption; however, the best solution lies in completion of the project, which is expected around Thanksgiving. It can’t come soon enough! Sorry for the congestion!
The release of federal stimulus funds for road projects has re-energized the state’s project to reconstruct the I-480 and North Freeway interchange adjacent to campus. The work will begin in September and will include replacement of bridges over Burt, Cuming and 24th Streets. Over the course of the next year, there will be various barricades, lane closures and street closures to facilitate the construction. More detailed updates will be provided as the work progresses.
The Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center and D.J. Sokol Arena, the newest venue on the Creighton campus, was dedicated on Aug. 28. I am excited for our student-athletes, especially the women who will play here, but also for the entire Creighton community who will benefit from this beautiful venue.
Wayne and Eileen Ryan have been long-time supporters of Creighton University. You will find many Creighton degrees in the Ryan family. They believe strongly in the value of Jesuit education. The Ryans partnered with David and Peggy Sokol and their family as the primary donors of this facility. They understand the importance of partnerships in building and bettering a community. They also understand and cherish the importance of family. David and Peggy Sokol sought to honor the memory of their son, D.J., who died at a young age before he would have been a Creighton student, and who, as a youngster, was an enthusiastic Bluejay fan!
PERSONNEL
Vice President for Research
As previously announced, Dr. Robert Heaney was appointed Vice President for Research this month. Dr. Heaney has taken over responsibility for the research component of our strategic plan, as well as implementing systems designed to help faculty engage in scholarly activity and the University to manage that activity better. Three Jesuit universities with medical schools have such a position. The generation of new knowledge is an integral component of the work of any true university and that research needs cabinet-level representation, just as instruction. This position will be integrated with the reporting of the Vice President for Health Sciences at a later time.
Vice President and General Counsel
Amy Bones has been named Vice President and General Counsel. Amy has served as General Counsel at Creighton since 2007 and joined the Office of the General Counsel in 2002. Amy’s professionalism and expertise in dealing with the legal affairs of the University have been well recognized by her colleagues as well as the executive committee of the University’s board of directors. I am pleased to have another woman on my Cabinet. 
CAMPAIGN UPDATE
When we announced the Willing to Lead campaign in 2005, we set a goal of $350 million. Our benefactors, the alumni and friends of Creighton, answered our call and raised the bar by investing more than $444 million to date, confirming that this campaign is indeed the beginning of a transformational and strategic plan for the future, not a concluding event.
The campaign has pushed the University to grow by every measure — academically, physically and spiritually. In the tradition of our founders, we are pressing on. Our mission is even more critical now, because our nation and world need Creighton students and graduates more than ever to face and solve enormous challenges. Thanks to all of you, faculty and staff, who have supported this campaign.
As we head into the Labor Day weekend, I judge you have bounteous good news about Creighton to share with your family and friends. Like most of higher education, we are cautiously optimistic that the economy will gradually stabilize and, thus, provide the University with a climate to plan from a point of stability. Yet I believe that Creighton begins this new academic year on the most solid footing of any institution in the state of Nebraska. Thanks and have a great beginning to a promising new year!
John P. Schlegel, S.J.
President