Thank you, Chairman Sidlik. Good afternoon, everyone.

Three weeks ago today, EMU lost a much-loved member of its family when Don Anderson passed away unexpectedly. For nearly six years, Don led our Office of Access Services, but he also was a campus leader in showing others how to live with an open heart and mind. A campus memorial service is planned for Thursday, January 24, at 12:30 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom. Earlier in December, we also lost Theo Hamilton, who served EMU for nearly four decades. In addition to being Eastern’s first African-American administrator, Theo had three degrees from EMU. Don and Theo will be missed deeply and our condolences go to their families.

My report today is divided into four broad sections: Safety and Security, Academic Excellence, Student Achievement, and Outreach and Engagement. These highlights are only a sample of accomplishments that illustrate progress the University is making to become an institution of choice known for educational excellence.

SAFETY AND SECURITY

It is with enthusiasm that we bring to you today our recommendation for the approval of the appointment of our new Executive Director of the Department of Public Safety. Following a national search that resulted in an outstanding pool of over 50 applicants, Mr. Gregory O’Dell was selected and will formally assume this important leadership role on February 7. He currently serves as the Associate Police Chief in Ann Arbor and has had an impressive 28-year law enforcement career. He is an EMU alumnus and also holds a law degree from the University of Toledo. In keeping with the importance of safety and security, the Department of Public Safety is reporting directly to the President’s Office. In addition to the campus-wide safety forums during the fall semester, the Housing office sponsored 38 safety programs, 90 monthly floor meetings with safety messages and 50 passive safety programs in the form of informational bulletin boards. All residence hall students received a copy of the “Staying Safe on Campus” brochure. Ongoing training programs and informational forums will continue during winter semester to inform the campus community about safety practices and to reinforce the importance of vigilance.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

I am proud and grateful for the outstanding work of our faculty, staff and elected officials who together have helped this University receive just over $3.29 million through the federal earmarking process. The first is a $330,000 award from the Department of Labor directed by Lynette Findley, Assistant Vice President for Retention and Student Success, entitled “Helping Displaced Workers Find a Place in Michigan’s New Economy.” Professor Subhas Ghosh, School of Technology Studies, will receive an $800,000 grant from the Department of Defense-Army entitled “Development of Protective Textile Fabric: Creating Self-Decontaminating Surfaces, Phase II.” The Department of Justice will fund $564,000 for a project administered by the EMU Department of Special Education entitled “Comprehensive Wrap Around Social Services for High-Risk Teen Parents and Their Families.” Finally, John Texter, professor and director of the Coatings Research Institute, will receive $1.6 million from the Department of Defense-Air Force for a project entitled “Hybrid Materials for Thermal Management in Thin Films and Bulk Composites.” We are pleased with what we have achieved in Washington this year.

Ethan Lowenstein, an assistant professor in the Department of Teacher Education, has been appointed a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University for the 2008-09 academic year. Dr. Lowenstein will continue his collaboration with Dr. Robert Selman, an internationally renowned scholar in the field of child development and moral education. Drs. Lowenstein and Selman will conduct groundbreaking research on how to conceptualize and measure teacher expertise in the development of student social and civic awareness.

This semester’s “Last Lecture Series” highlights four of EMU’s outstanding professors, speaking as if they were giving their last lectures. The series begins January 30 with Dennis Patrick Grady, a professor of communication and theatre arts. The series also features Pamela Landau, Martin Shichtman and Judy Sturgis Hill.

Eight scholars from Bohai University in Liaoning, China will spend four months observing a number of departments within the College of Arts and Sciences. This is the first cultural exchange project organized by the college. The delegation will bring valuable knowledge to EMU. Our faculty will visit China in the near future for a similar exchange. This project is one of the initiatives to internationalize the campus.

Technology Dean Morell Boone, and Bob Lahidji, director of the School of Engineering Technology, traveled to China in early December to secure a cooperative agreement with the Tianjin Institute of Urban Construction. Initially, the agreement will result in EMU receiving students who will serve as graduate assistants for EMU’s Construction Management Program. Also, “young faculty” members from Tianjin Institute of Urban Construction will come to EMU in the near future through the auspices of a Chinese government funded program.

This semester, Campus Life has partnered with various academic units to host a range of compelling lecture events, including a reading today by authors Lee Abbott and Yannick Murphy, sponsored by the Creative Writing Program’s Bathhouse Reading Series.

Our MLK Day keynote speaker, Jeff Johnson, also known as BET’s “Cousin Jeff,” speaks next Monday on the importance of finding a new social leader in today’s society. An array of special events, performances and educational sessions will take place throughout the day.

The College of Arts and Sciences’ Wikipedia Lecture Series continues with experts in the field discussing “Wikipedia, Citizendium and the Future of Online Collaboration” February 7 and 8, and “The Dangers of Wikipedia” on March 6.

The doctoral program in technology has its first graduate: Dr. Sean Goffnett, who was hooded and honored during Winter Commencement. Dr. Goffnett is an adjunct instructor at Ferris State University.

The Presidential Scholarship Competition began in December 2007 and met its goal of attracting 275 of the best and brightest students and their parents to EMU. A greater focus on the Honors College was part of the event. The finalist pool, which will be interviewed on campus this month, is the most geographically and ethnically diverse in the competition’s history.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Campus Life launched emustudentorgs, a new Web portal to aid in the tracking of and communication with student organizations. This site opens opportunities to support student organizing as an important means for engagement outside the classroom. EMU received 4.5 stars out of 5 on campusclimateindex.org, a web site devoted to ranking LGBT-friendly colleges and universities. Our score matched that of the University of Michigan. No other university in Michigan scored higher. Thirty-five students attended Campus Camp Wellstone, a weekend training workshop focused on mobilizing students, advocacy and activism. The event was coordinated through our Office of Diversity and Community Involvement. This fall, Housing sponsored 64 educational programs with about 25 faculty/staff as presenters on a range of subject areas. A special thanks to Suzanne Marie Zelnik-Geldys, an assistant professor in the School of Health Promotion and Human Performance, for offering several dance programs in three complexes.

The Forensics Team picked up where it left off last year when it finished second in the nation. The team competed in 11 tournaments this fall and finished in the top five in all but one.

Our wrestling team has rolled to a 10-4 overall record and a 2-0 Mid-American Conference mark. Sean Clair (133 pounds) is 22-3 overall and 14-0 in dual meets. He has been twice named “Mid-American Conference Wrestler of the Week.”

The overall GPA for our 90 Housing student staff members this fall was 3.17, with one third of them achieving GPAs of 3.5 or higher. Six earned perfect 4.0 GPAs.

OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT

Residence hall student staff members continue to participate in many community service projects, from Adopt a Family and food and clothing drives to the Residence Hall Association (RHA) annual Human Chess Tournament for Charity. The VISION office received a $30,000 Grant from Michigan Campus Compact to develop a partnership between EMU and Parkridge Community Center on the south side of Ypsilanti. The VISION office also sent 14 students to New Orleans over the holiday break to assist with building homes as part of Alternate Winter Break. Project IMPACT, a mentoring program for Willow Run 10^th-grade girls, conducted its initial kick-off programs at Willow Run involving 60 EMU mentors and Willow Run students.

The Pride Education Coalition has made presentations to more than 200 students in Washtenaw County, various EMU and Washtenaw Community College classrooms and local nonprofit organizations.

Our faculty and staff helped EMU exceed its United Way goal, with a total of $117,223 in gifts and pledges. They also pledged more than $119,000 in EMU’s annual fall Faculty and Staff Campaign, a 20 percent increase over last year. Each year, our faculty and staff donate about $400,000 to the University.

The College of Education recently received a gift of $200,000 from Phil Jenkins, a local philanthropist, to provide scholarships for returning students in the Department of Leadership and Counseling. The scholarships provide tuition support to a cohort of students during a three-to-four year period while they complete their master’s degrees. The college also received a generous gift of $116,000 from William and Delores Brehm to support the Brehm Endowed Scholarships in the Department of Special Education. The Brehms are longtime and avid supporters of the college.

Other notable gifts included a new endowed scholarship of $50,000 in honor of Rich Baird, our Winter Commencement speaker, and a $20,000 gift from the Chrysler Foundation for the Undergraduate Research Symposium.

A successful “Outstanding Mentor” reception was held in December featuring area high school teachers and guidance counselors. The eight honorees were nominated by EMU students because they made significant contributions to the lives of new EMU freshmen.

For the fourth straight year–and, coincidentally, the fourth year of the award program–WEMU has taken the gold for “Best Radio Station–Music” in the Ann Arbor News Readers’ poll.

In conclusion, I hope to see many, if not all of you, next Monday on campus as we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with luncheons, speeches and other events.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my remarks. Thank you.

Donald M. Loppnow
Executive Vice President