To: The University Community
From: Kevin Wm. Wildes, S.J.
Re: University Update
Date: 22 August 2006

As we prepare to begin a new academic year, and in light of all that is happening at the university and in New Orleans, I thought this would be a good time to report to the university community. I want to use this report to the university to 1) review where we are, 2) outline a vision for our future, and 3) address the strategic goals of Pathways.

We have much to be grateful for as we begin a new academic year. While our enrollment is smaller, highly qualified students from all over the nation are enrolling at Loyola. Loyola has been recognized yet again in the U.S. News & World Report ranking of colleges and universities. The university has been listed in The Princeton Review's Best 361 Colleges and the Monroe Library was ranked by the Review as tenth in the "Best College Library" category.

As we begin this new academic year, Loyola University New Orleans is in a very different place than it was a year ago. In spite of all that has happened, I believe that Loyola is reaching a place of stability. I believe the university has great challenges ahead, which also present great opportunities that can strengthen the university.

1) Where we are:

A) Enrollment: Last year, I mentioned on several occasions that we are a tuition dependent institution and significant changes in enrollment have dramatic impacts on the financial health of the university and our ability to support the core mission of teaching and research. This year, I am pleased to announce that we look forward to welcoming 550 first-year students. We will also welcome 106 transfer students and 50 students who are being readmitted. At this writing, we will have 700 new students. It is also important to point out that the quality of the incoming first-year class is very good. The preliminary average SAT score is 1242, the average ACT score is 26, and the average GPA is 3.6. So this is good news. I must remind everyone, however, that we will have to manage the university with care this year since with 700 new students we will have a deficit for the academic year of approximately $1 million.

I am deeply grateful to the Office of Admissions staff for all of their hard work in recruiting our incoming class of 2010. It is an understatement to say that this has been a challenging year for recruiting! However, they have risen to the challenges and done a wonderful job. While we will have fewer students this year than in the past, the difficult steps taken last year in the reduction in our staffing and our reorganization of programs, along with other reduction in costs, have, I believe, put us on the road to stability and to work with a smaller student population. (In prior years, we were structured for an incoming class of 850. And a year ago we welcomed more than 900 first-year students.)

In our immediate future, the recruiting of new students for Loyola will be tied, very much, to the national perception of the city of New Orleans. Overall, our application pool this year was down by 30 percent. The primary drop came in the number of out-of-state students who applied. It is not difficult to figure out that the national perception of the city is a primary factor influencing students and parents. I believe it may take several years, all things working in our favor, to rebuild our application pool. But, I am confident that we are in a position of stability and will be able to move through the years ahead. I believe that we have controlled as many variables as we can so that we can have more control over our future and decide what ought to be our "ideal" size. As the city is rebuilt and we become a more attractive place for students and their families, we can choose how Loyola should grow. To the extent that the reputation of the city recovers, we will be able to position the university and to choose the best size and mix of programs for Loyola.

B) Finances: We completed the 2005–2006 academic year approximately $25 million below our budgeted revenue in our operating budget. We were able to compensate for part of the shortfall through various cost reductions which saved Loyola about $11 million. Consequently, we complete the year with a budget deficit of approximately $14 million.

The operating budget represents our recurrent cost structure. And, as I have noted, we are dependent on our enrollment for much of our operating budget. A downturn in enrollment not only means a loss of operating revenue for one year, but it is a recurring loss of operating revenue for four years.

We have submitted $4.8 million in property and content losses to our insurance carrier. To date, we have received $3 million toward this claim. The remaining $1.8 million represents our insurance deductible and is the university's responsibility. As you know, we have filed a lawsuit in pursuit of our business interruption claim. Our business interruption policy is for a maximum of $15 million. We have submitted claims for approximately $20 million of the $25 million budgeted revenue shortfall that is directly associated with Katrina. Even if we recover the full $15 million, we will have a minimum $5 million shortfall in business interruption. We will use the federal money we have received as we continue to pursue and address these shortfalls.

C) Emergency Preparedness: During Hurricane Katrina, the university followed the disaster plan that had been developed following the back-to-back hurricanes of September 2001. We were able to evacuate all students to safety, thanks to the excellent planning by so many of you. Over the past year, we have taken another look at our plans, and I am pleased with changes that will improve safety, communications, and continuity of essential operations in case of another evacuation.

First, the Hurricane Emergency Planning Team has recommended that I be prepared to order an evacuation when a hurricane of any category level threatens New Orleans. We have contracted with Impact Weather, a service used by a number of businesses and universities in the area, to help us in our decision making.

The Office of Student Affairs assists all resident students in completing a Personal Evacuation Plan electronically so that contact information will be on file. It is each student's responsibility to make plans for leaving New Orleans. We are asking all students to complete a Personal Evacuation Plan (PEP) and file it online through LORA. We will have all resident students complete a PEP before they receive their room keys, and we will be contacting off-campus students to be sure they have completed a PEP.

Recognizing that some students will require our assistance in evacuating, we have reached an agreement with Jesuit High School for buses and drivers to transport them to St. Michael the Archangel High School in Baton Rouge. Across the street is St. Andrew's Methodist Church, whose parishioners have volunteered once again to assist our students in the case of a prolonged evacuation. We are very grateful for their help during Katrina. We accepted St. Michael's invitation because the Red Cross declined to locate a shelter for Loyola students. Student Affairs staff has arranged for food to be provided by Sodexho, and I appreciate their willingness to provide for our students during a disaster.

Information Technology has implemented several improvements that will allow us to maintain contact with each other, even during a power outage. An emergency website will be activated within several hours should our main systems fail and will remain in operation until we bring our full system up at a "hot site." Official university announcements will be posted on this website. Within two days of closing campus, all students will be sent an e-mail message to their address of record reminding them to check this site for current information. I thank the Office of Student Records and the Web Team for working out the logistics for us to be in e-mail contact with students and parents who have their addresses on file.

Information Technology has also established an emergency e-mail service for us in the event that our main e-mail system is unavailable. All faculty and staff will have an e-mail account on this standby system. You will soon be receiving information from Bret Jacobs about how to use disaster recovery e-mail.

I am particularly pleased that so many faculty have developed ways of using Blackboard to remain in contact with students in case instruction cannot continue on campus. While Blackboard is a leading technology that enhances classroom teaching it can be a valuable tool for long distance learning. Because Blackboard will be hosted at an off-campus site, you can be in communication 24X7 from any remote location with your students. Should we be forced to use this alternative instructional system, I'm sure it will be a learning experience! I am particularly pleased that so many faculty have developed ways of using Blackboard to enhance their teaching. Our Blackboard system is now hosted off-campus so that faculty can continue to teach and students can continue to learn in event of an evacuation. I also believe the investment in Blackboard can be a help to teaching in a normal environment. Our new Blackboard system also offers 24X7 support to faculty and students from wherever they are located. You can contact Brad Petitfils at ext. 7132 for more information.

I would like to thank the Human Resources Department for the wonderful job done by a small group of people during last year's evacuation. As a result of our experience last year, we have instituted a mandatory direct deposit policy and will have a link on the emergency web page for faculty and staff to check in and list their contact information. Faculty and staff will be able to update their contact information electronically during the evacuation by completing a simple form available on Loyola's home page.

In terms of our physical plant, diesel capacity has been increased so that we now have a full seven days' capacity for our emergency generators.

In the event of an evacuation, the vice presidents and a core operations team will all be together in Houston where we have made an arrangement for office space and housing. Loyola's 1-800 numbers will be routed to that location, and staff will be ready to answer the questions of students, parents, faculty, and staff. We anticipate having the phone lines operational within a day of evacuating. Questions will also be answered via an e-mail address. All contact information will be posted on our website.

It is my hope that with these improvements in our operational plans, in the case of an extended evacuation of more than three days, staff will be able to reach the students by phone to make certain that their questions are being answered. We learned in Katrina how unsettling it is to be out of touch with each other, and it is my hope that we have found the right ways to address that problem for the future.

2) Vision:

The Context for our Vision:

If a vision is to become real, it must be articulated and imagined within the context of the present. What is the present context for Loyola University? The environment in which Loyola finds itself is an environment of change. The most immediate changes have been those of New Orleans in a post-Katrina environment. They are the challenges of both real problems and national perception. We have been focused on the turbulent times, post-Katrina, confronting the university.

But the context for higher education in the United States is also turbulent. One has only to listen to the debates on Capital Hill, or statehouses, or read the Spellings Commission Report to know that there are many questions about higher education in the minds of the American public and lawmakers. (The report can be found at http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/reports/0809-draft.pdf)

There are questions about cost, quality, and the purpose of higher education. There is a desire to develop and implement standardized accountability for American higher education.

The national context, as I have said, is one that is both supportive of higher education and suspicious of it as well. In the midst of the uncertainty of the national and local contexts for higher education, I think the key to Loyola's future is to focus on mission and quality. The higher education marketplace is filled with an array of institutions in terms of size, focus, and mission.

The context of higher education and Loyola has also changed as our understanding of knowledge has changed. We no longer think of knowledge as something that is fixed and determined waiting to be discovered. Rather we imagine knowledge as dynamic, and we speak of the creation of knowledge. Nor is knowledge easily segmented into the boundaries of disciplines. Today we understand knowledge collaboratively and often speak of knowledge as interdisciplinary. Finally, society no longer thinks of knowledge as something that is simply to be admired. Knowledge is a dynamic part of our national life. We speak of a "knowledge economy," and we expect knowledge to contribute to the well being of men and women.

The Vision:

In light of this context, one key for our ability to thrive in these changing environments is to focus on our mission.1 In the marketplace of ideas and universities, we must be able to say who we are in terms of our mission and show how our mission guides our planning and our strategic goals.

In this context, Loyola University seeks to be a true learning community where all members of the community are learners. Furthermore, Loyola will be a learning community in the Jesuit tradition of education and learning. What does this mean? The Jesuit tradition is committed to the education of the whole person both inside and outside the classroom. This tradition assumes an integrated view of the person and an integrated view of knowledge and learning. It is a tradition that is committed to a view that undergraduate education should touch all aspects of a student's life. This tradition believes that certain fundamental questions can be both liberating and formative in becoming human. The Jesuit tradition is committed to the liberal arts and humanities as an important way in which to challenge students and help them learn and grow as human beings. It is a tradition that is committed to a view that education is not an end in itself but is a means to improving the lives of individuals and to society.2 Finally, it is a tradition that is always committed to questioning, reviewing, and improving itself. Jesuits often use the "magis" as part of their decision making. The magis is a criterion, rooted in the Spiritual Exercises, which leads Jesuits to ask: What leads to the greater good? The question comes from a view that there is always room for improvement, adaptation, and development. That question applies to a university that is a learning community in the Jesuit tradition. This type of learning community will have a restless spirit that will always be seeking ways to improve on all that is being done and asking how can we do it better.

As a university founded in the Jesuit tradition, we are committed to the humanistic education of our students. Again, in a pluralistic society like ours, one will find many different and sometimes conflicting views about what it is to be human and what humanism means. Loyola will continue to be a place where different views of human flourishing can engage in debate and where students can participate in these debates.

As a learning community in the Jesuit tradition, Loyola provides undergraduates with opportunities to learn about the natural world in the sciences, the human world in the humanities, the arts, music, social sciences, and business. They will have the opportunities to be contributors to the development of knowledge as they are guided by faculty members who are teachers, mentors, and creators of knowledge. The Jesuit tradition holds that learning is full time, and students will also have opportunities to learn outside the classroom in their living experiences, curricular experiences, internships, and service experiences. In all of this, they will learn most about themselves and the ethical dimensions of their character.

While Loyola is fundamentally an undergraduate institution, we are also a university that offers selected graduate and professional programs along with education for the adult learner. Our graduate and professional programs are rooted in the Jesuit humanistic tradition with a goal of service to the human community. Students in graduate and professional programs should be able to study in programs that contribute to the well being of society. They will have the opportunity to contribute to the development of their fields as they participate in the creation of new knowledge, and they will be able to explore the ethical dimensions of their professions.

Faculty members in this learning community will have the opportunity and challenge to continue to mature and develop in their own professional research. Loyola will be a learning environment that supports the ongoing research of our faculty. Faculty members will have the opportunity to teach and mentor bright young men and women. And they will have the opportunity to continue to learn about teaching as they seek always to improve teaching methods. Research and development are not restricted to one's specialty, but they apply to one's teaching. As the young men and women who come to study at Loyola change and develop, we will need to change and develop how we teach them. In the spirit of the "magis," we will keep asking how can we do it better and how we can continually improve. We also support the on-going examination of teaching so that our faculty can continually improve their teaching and improve the quality of the student experience.

There will be a continuing commitment to the professional development for staff members and administrators. Programs will foster development and education from outside associations, but Loyola will seek to improve the ways in which staff and professionals can learn from one another.

To foster a sense of identity as a learning community in the Jesuit tradition, Loyola will seek to become a more residential campus in its facilities, which will provide an enriched context for student-faculty interaction. As the only Jesuit university in the southern tier of the United States, Loyola will review opportunities to offer programs in other cities in the region.

Summary:

Loyola University will be a Jesuit university that is committed to the city of New Orleans and will develop a regional presence as well. It will be a learning community in the Jesuit tradition that constantly seeks to improve rigor and quality. Loyola will be a learning community that integrates teaching and research for faculty and students. It will continue to integrate experiential learning, internships, and work with faculty members. Loyola will be a learning community that encourages creativity and experimentation in research, teaching, programs, and the way it organizes itself.

3) Strategic Goals:

The goals of the strategic plan will guide the university for the next five years. We want to achieve them by 2011 in time for our centennial celebration in 2012. The work of the next year will be to collaboratively establish how to implement these goals and establish measures that will help us understand if we have achieved them. We will then use these measures to guide our yearly planning so that we can achieve them in the next five years.

I would like to briefly state the goals and where responsibility will be for development and implementation.

1. Excel in educating students as whole persons.

* Enhance the educational experience for students.
o Revise the Common Curriculum to strengthen undergraduate education in the Jesuit tradition.
o Implement the Quality Enhancement Plan, "Thinking Critically, Acting Justly," with its focus on learning opportunities in post-Katrina New Orleans.
o Increase participation in international education.
o Increase interdisciplinary teaching.
o Innovatively integrate technology into learning activities.
o Place more students in internships.
o Increase participation in the Honors Program.
o Apply to establish a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.
* Improve the quality of residential life.
o Develop a facilities plan for residential life to integrate learning and living.
o Increase the percentage of students living in "affinity" residence halls.
o Integrate the administration of student services to better develop students as whole persons.
* Develop and implement a strategic plan for graduate education.
* Achieve enrollment stability by increasing student satisfaction.

This goal, and the specific areas which constitute it, are clearly the responsibility of the faculty and staff of Student Affairs. It will be the responsibility of the provost and associate provost, deans, and the vice president for Student Affairs to work with faculty and Student Affairs staff to coordinate and achieve the goals in the plan. We will need to establish objectives and measures by which we can evaluate ourselves and our progress over the next five years.

2. Strengthen the Jesuit identity of the university.

Implement integrated mission/identity program for faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

* Promote further engagement with the New Orleans community to address social needs.

"Mission" has a peculiar character. On the one hand, one would hope that it is the responsibility of everyone in the university. On the other hand, mission and identity are clearly presidential responsibilities. After six years of service on the Loyola Board of Trustees and two years as president, I decided that I needed to more carefully examine how we are, organizationally, keeping ourselves mission centered. In the year ahead, I want to review how we are structured in terms of mission: University Ministry, the Jesuit Center, as well as our relationship to Holy Name of Jesus parish, and the New Orleans Province of the Society of Jesus. I am eager to look for ways that build and support a culture of mission and continue to help people grow in a sense of mission so that it permeates the life of the university. In the current national context for higher education "mission" has taken on a new importance.

We will also explore, with the New Orleans Province of the Society of Jesus, the establishment of a center for social analysis and responsibility.

3. Modernize facilities to maximize student and faculty success.

* Develop a comprehensive facilities plan as a basis for assuring high quality learning.
* Explore acquisition of additional space.

This goal is clearly a presidential responsibility in the end. It will entail all areas of the university working together (Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Finance and Administration, and Institutional Advancement). My responsibility is to integrate all aspects in the development and execution of a facilities plan. We will need to develop a plan that not only identifies what needs to be done but creates a timeline and a financial plan for each project.

We need to seriously address questions of facilities for the university. I do not believe there is a single aspect of life at Loyola that does not need to address questions of facilities. The needs range from creating new facilities to renovating and modernizing existing facilities. We particularly need to develop new facilities for the arts, for faculty office space, and for student residences both undergraduate and graduate. (We are too dependent on the off-campus housing market at this time in our history and the history of the city.) One of the goals for the year is to work with the university community to develop a campus plan. We need to examine our current use of space as well as the development of new facilities. Part of that plan is not only about what we should do, but how we finance it and how we fund-raise for it, so we will be able to execute the plan.

A part of facilities planning, for Loyola, involves the acquisition of property. We are in a rare moment in the city's history when there are a number of opportunities for us to expand the footprint of the university. These are opportunities to invest in the long-term future of the university.

4. Support high quality faculty, staff, and administrators.

* Increase participation in professional development activities that enhance the quality of teaching, research, creative activities, and service.
* Implement a comprehensive merit review process for all employees.
* Establish Centers of Excellence that enhance Loyola's reputation.
* Revise governance processes to promote shared decision making in line with new academic structures.

Mary of the elements of this goal will need to be developed by the faculty and staff under the leadership of the Office of the Provost and the deans, along with the Office of Student Affairs and the Division of Finance and Administration. At this point, however, I think it is important to point out that we have already moved to restore support for faculty research, leaves, and scholarship. We will also reinstate the Marquette Fellowships for faculty development. Beyond this year, we will look for ways to increase support for faculty research and professional development.

Also, in light of all that happened last year, I would like to invite the university community to a review of university governance. At the end of last year, I received, and sent on to the Board of Trustees, a document from the University Senate entitled "A Call for Conversation." I think the title is right on target. I will work with the faculty, staff, and student leadership, as well as the Board of Trustees, to develop a process for the review of governance for the entire university. I would like to invite the entire university to participate in this review. This is a goal that will take time, but I believe it is a very important goal for our ability to move forward.

5. Develop stronger ties with the city and the region.

* Assess possibilities for on-site programs in other cities in the South.
* Continue to provide quality support to the city of New Orleans as it rebuilds.

I have repeatedly pointed out, on many occasions, that we are the only Jesuit university in the southern tier of the United States. This is a region of the nation that is changing rapidly. There is an increasing population, a significant economic power. It is also a section of the nation that is seriously religious and has an increasing Catholic population. I believe these changes in the region are an opportunity for Loyola (especially in graduate and professional education).

Let me say a word about this "regional" move. I do not see this as backing away from the aspiration to become a national university. Rather, I think exploiting our regional situation can be a tactic for national recognition. As I study the history and development of nationally known universities, there is a pattern that emerges. They often become nationally known because they are known and connected regionally. I believe development of a Loyola presence in other cities in this region is a tactic in developing a more national reputation. We are exploring the possibilities of offering programs in other cities in the southern tier of the United States. Over the summer, we began conducting market research on opportunities for graduate and professional education.

This is a growing and expanding region of the United States. Increasing our programmatic presence in this region, through both online and real time presence, will be important to our stability and our national reputation.

We are already involved in the city through numerous volunteer and academic programs. We will continue to look for ways to be part of the new life of the city. Professor Michael Cowan, the former director of the Boggs Center, is helping to lead and organize the Common Good initiative in the city. This is an initiative that has helped to organize the non-profit community of the city as a voice in the development of the city. Through the generosity of several donors, we were able to make Professor Cowan available to lead this initiative.

Following from my work on the mayor's Bring New Orleans Back Commission, I continue to be involved in initiatives for better and more effective government as well as efforts for economic development. I continue to serve on the Board of GNO, Inc., the regional economic development organization, and the Business Council. I have also joined the board of a national organization, The Friends of New Orleans, which is working to keep the city's recovery in the national spotlight and national attention on the city's rebuilding.

6. Enhance the effectiveness of development activities.

Since January, and the arrival of Vice President of Institutional Advancement Vicki Frank, we have begun a reorganization of the Division of Institutional Advancement. We are focusing the reorganization, along with our annual and regular fund-raising, on the execution of a capital campaign to support the vision of this plan. We are grateful for the strong support we received this year from alumni and friends. Alumni increased their support by 26 percent even though the number of alumni we were able to solicit was greatly reduced. Total gifts to Loyola from all constituents were increased by 49 percent. We will use this higher level of giving as a first step in building the base for the campaign. The area of fund-raising and external relations will continue to take the lion's share of my time and effort.

These six goals are ambitious. They are also interrelated. They will require integrated planning and execution. I do believe that they will help us improve the quality of our students' education, and they will help facilitate and improve the work of our faculty and staff. And, I believe, they will help us become a nationally recognized university.

Conclusions

Last year, as we faced the complex task of starting classes again on our campus in New Orleans, I often, deliberately, used the language of "resurrection." I used that language not only because of our Catholic heritage but also because the Christian story of the resurrection captures a key concept for moving forward. I used that language as a way to convey several ideas.

If one reads the stories of the resurrection in the Christian scriptures, one will notice several things. The first is that resurrection is not resuscitation. Resuscitation happens in a number of scripture stories ¾ such as the raising of Lazarus by Jesus. Resuscitation happens every day in emergency rooms throughout the world. The "dead" come back to life, and they live as they had before. But in the story of the resurrection, the risen Christ is not the same as He was before. He is transformed and transfigured and brought to His full glory. This is why, in many of the resurrection stories, Christ is not recognized at first by those who were His closest friends. He is transformed and fulfilled in His risen life.

One might better understand this point if one thinks of the experience of someone who has struggled with a problem of addiction. In recovery that person is no longer the same as she/he was before. People in recovery don't want to be what they were before! But the good qualities that were present are able to shine and develop.

I used the language of resurrection because it seemed to me that this is a time when we do not want to resuscitate New Orleans as it was. Rather, we want to build on its strengths and possibilities so that it might become an even better, more humane city. This is also Loyola's moment of resurrection. We are living in the time when we can strengthen our fundamental mission and respond to the needs of a changing environment. This has not been, nor will it be, an easy task. Change is never easy for individuals, let alone for complex institutions like Loyola. Nonetheless, I believe we are at a moment when we can renew the university in fidelity to its mission. In so doing, we have an opportunity to do something great not only for Loyola but for the city, the region, and the nation. Like Robert Frost's rider, we have promises to keep. And, I believe the promise of Loyola is one that needs to become real in our world.

1. Loyola University New Orleans, a Jesuit and Catholic institution of higher education, welcomes students of diverse backgrounds and prepares them to lead meaningful lives with and for others; to pursue truth, wisdom, and virtue; and to work for a more just world. Inspired by Ignatius of Loyola's vision of finding God in all things, the university is grounded in the liberal arts and sciences, while also offering opportunities for professional studies in undergraduate and selected graduate programs. Through teaching, research, creative activities, and service, the faculty, in cooperation with the staff, strives to educate the whole person and to benefit the larger community.

Approved by Loyola University New Orleans Board of Trustees
March 5, 2004
2. See Michael J. Buckley, S.J., The Catholic University as Promise and Project: Reflections in a Jesuit Idiom, (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1998), pp. 61-62; Kevin Wm. Wildes, S.J., "To Seek a Newer World," Inaugural Address 15 October 2004 see: http://www.loyno.edu/presidentsoffice/speeches_whitepaper.