Thank you, Chairman Sidlik, and good afternoon.

After 33 wonderful years at EMU serving in many different roles, I am anything but a novice. However, there are still some activities that are new and delivering this report at this time from this chair is one of those moments. I am honored by this opportunity.

As I view our campus at this point in time, I see occurring exactly what we said needed to happen . . . people are Moving Forward Together. Facilitating student learning and development are our strengths as an institution and our faculty and staff are fully committed to this important work.

My remarks today focus on five broad areas: New Beginnings, Safety and Security, Academic Excellence, Outreach and Engagement, and the Plan for the Year.

New Beginnings:

• During the week prior to the beginning of classes, we welcomed 27 new faculty members. This is a distinguished cohort of colleagues joining the ranks of faculty in four of the five academic colleges and the library. These individuals have doctoral degrees from institutions across the country, and from as far as Oxford University in England. I want to take this opportunity to thank Regent Sidlik for participating in the New Faculty Orientation session. The faculty appreciated his presence and message at this session.
• During Labor Day weekend, more than 6,500 people – including moms, dads and other family members – took part in move-in day and our four-day orientation program, kicking off a new school year. I want to publicly thank every faculty person, staff person and alumnus who invested time and energy to make that event memorable and successful. I’d like to also acknowledge and thank Regent Sidlik who gave the welcome to the convocation for new students and their families. I believe this was a very important gesture indicating the strong commitment of our board to students and the learning experience they have at our institution.
• In just a five-hour period, more than 400 volunteers helped nearly 1,000 freshmen move in on the first day of orientation. The volunteers included 250 members of fraternities and sororities; coaches and athletes from eight of our intercollegiate teams; and representatives from 12 student organizations.
• We also welcomed 1,006 international students from 92 countries, including 200 first-time students.
• The Honors College accepted 262 students for the fall semester. Of the current Honors membership of over 900 students, the average EMU GPA is 3.7.
• Although our overall enrollment is down slightly (0.8 percent) to 22,783 students, freshman student enrollment is up 2.6 percent totaling 2,462. Similarly, new graduate students are up 4 percent, thanks in large part to our programs in the College of Business. These increases in new students are very encouraging indicators.
• The Division of Student Affairs’ Department of Diversity and Community Involvement and the VISION office involved 162 volunteers – a new record – at Community Plunge this year. This annual one-day service project is part of orientation programming and helps introduce students to service opportunities in our community.
• The day before classes began, a group of faculty organized a Faculty Assembly entitled “The Future of EMU: What Do We Do Now?” Faculty addressed topics dealing with putting academics first, creating transparency, democratizing governance, and reviving community. Elected faculty leaders, Regent Sidlik and I had an opportunity to reflect and respond. I believe this experience was helpful in better understanding the issues that concern faculty. Again, we appreciate Regent Sidlik’s participation and Regent Stapleton’s attendance at this event.
• During the first week of classes, we launched EMU’s new integrated marketing campaign and brand tagline – “Education First.” We believe these initiatives will help clarify and advance EMU in the minds of our constituents. The tagline and plan have been warmly received and are important to our future growth and success.

Safety and Security:

• The University submitted its response to the Department of Education investigation of Clery Act violations in a comprehensive and timely fashion. We expect to hear about the penalty in several weeks.
• Security on Campus, a national training organization, delivered training to 57 EMU employees on the Clery Act and its implementation. The group included public safety personnel, housing staff, faculty representatives, deans, and senior leadership. Training sessions are planned for all other senior administrators and faculty who serve as mentors for student groups.
• We continue to make progress in implementing the 16-point safety and security plan and intend to become a model for security and safety.

Academic Excellence:

• The College of Education and the education unit, including disciplines from the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Health and Human Services, and Technology, received an “Exemplary” grade from the Michigan Department of Education. Our teacher-preparation program earned 66 out of 70 possible points, making EMU the largest public program to receive this accolade and tying EMU for third place statewide.
• Recent grant awards are indicative of the research and training grant successes of faculty.
• Dr. Yichun Xie, Institute for Geospatial Research & Education (IGRE) and Department of Geology & Geography, and Professor Gerald Lawver, Center for Regional and National Security (CeRNS) and School of Technology Studies, received a National Science Foundation grant for $889,753 to work with high school students from Detroit Public Schools. The project provides hands-on practice using online learning environments, online mentoring and support activities, and face-to-face training workshops to engage the students in learning information technology and geographic information systems skills in an urban community based problem-solving environment.
• A U.S. Department of Education grant in the amount of $287,670 was awarded to Alexander Jeffrey Popko and Thomas Cullen, Department of Foreign Languages and Bilingual Studies for a project that involves collaboration with the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools in teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). The project provides training to increase the ability of teachers to address the language needs of Limited English Proficiency students.
• The Honors College just secured a $1.1 million grant to fund a Ronald McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program. The application was in the top 10% of those reviewed by the Department of Education.
• This semester, we launched our new general education program. It already has won an award for its innovativeness: the 2007 Association for General and Liberal Studies Award for Improving General Education. I cannot overstate how critical the general education program is to our future in terms of providing a distinctive undergraduate experience.
  
• The undergraduate program in Hotel and Restaurant Management recently became the first and only in the state to be granted accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration.
• The College of Technology’s Project Lead the Way conducted its first two summer workshops for middle and high school science, technology and math teachers. The participants represented eight Michigan school districts and school districts from four other states.
• The Bruce T. Halle Library, in collaboration with the College of Education, has finalized a contract to establish a campus-wide subscription allowing students and faculty to incorporate 50,000 video segments from 5,000 videos from Discovery School into student-learning environments.

Outreach and Engagement:

• We recently hosted meetings with local elected officials and community leaders and with educational leaders from area high schools and community colleges. These sessions helped clarify the leadership changes at the University, emphasized priorities as we move forward together and, most importantly, resulted in suggestions for how the University can be more responsive to community interests.
• We continue to host the Eastern Washtenaw Leadership Group. The group was formed to identify opportunities and strategies for revitalizing eastern Washtenaw County. The group is composed of representatives from Washtenaw County, the City of Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township, the Ypsilanti Area Chamber of Commerce, local school districts, Ann Arbor Spark, and other community leaders. The group has three working committees: EMU/Local Schools (chaired by Joe Pollack), Eastern Incubator (chaired by Dave Mielke), and the University/Community Redevelopment Case Studies (chaired by David Clifford). I’d like to recognize the important leadership that Regents Gary Hawks and Roy Wilbanks have provided to the formation of this group.
• Detroit radio station WJR has agreed to be the media sponsor for next spring’s Ethos Week, which begins March 10. Paul W. Smith will broadcast his entire morning show from the College of Business to kick off the week.
• In anticipation of the upcoming comprehensive campaign, the EMU Foundation hosted a development seminar on “Demystifying Development,” specifically tailored to academic leadership. Approximately 50 people including deans, department heads, directors, and other administrators attended the presentation by Dr. Bill Colburn, professor emeritus from the University of Michigan and development consultant.
• Earlier this week, we hosted Dr. Myles Brand, president of the NCAA. This was truly a prestigious event. It marked the first time that the CEO of the NCAA has visited our campus. Dr. Brand discussed the state of the NCAA and current issues in intercollegiate athletics, and participated in a dinner event honoring the student-athletes and coaches from the record setting eight Mid-American Conference championship teams in 2006-07.
• The women’s volleyball team was one of just 55 NCAA Division I programs to receive the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for 2006-07, the third consecutive award for the Eagles.
• The EMU wrestling program was selected for having one of the top 25 recruiting classes in the country for 2007.

Plans for the Year:

Members of the Strategic Operations Council and the Deans met to develop potential goals and strategies for the next year to eighteen months. The plan incorporates primary goals and operational objectives to increase support for and excellence in academics, implement safety and security initiatives, implement multi-year strategies to increase enrollment, increase occupancy in University housing, continue the construction process for the Mark-Jefferson science complex, increase State funding and donations to the EMU Foundation while we continue the silent phase of the comprehensive campaign, increase campus and community attendance at athletic and performing arts events, and embrace a continuous improvement approach to address processes such as budgeting, communications, student support services, and measurement of institutional outcomes. We look forward to presenting the details of the plan to the Board early in October.

The plan includes an ambitious agenda but I am confident that EMU’s outstanding faculty, staff, administration, and alumni will work together to achieve these goals and advance the institution.

Chairman Sidlik, thank you and this concludes my remarks.

Donald M. Loppnow
Executive Vice President