Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon, and welcome as we launch the 2009-2010 academic year, which is also the 100th year in the history of our university.

As you can see, we have a new format this year. As I said in my e-mail to faculty and staff I am changing the format of our “back to school” Convocation. Today and in the future, I will not be the only speaker at these events. Instead, I will invite guest speakers who will also participate in bringing timely messages to faculty and staff at the beginning of each academic year. This year I invited our Provost Dr. Wil Stanton, our Faculty Senate President Dr. Stephen Owen and our Student Government President Matthew Clem to speak.  Next year, I would like to invite a guest speaker from outside the community.

I would like to introduce two new Highlanders to you; Richard Alvarez, CFO and Vice President for Administration and Finance and Jeff Douglas, CCO and Executive Director of University Relations.

Before I go any further, I want to congratulate you for taking Radford to places it has never been before. Last week, as you know, marked the release of the U.S. News & World Report’s 2010 Guide to America’s Best Colleges.

For the sixth straight year, we were named one of the top 20 public master’s universities in the south. Folks, that is a validation of quality that we should never let ourselves take for granted.

But additionally, I see our inclusion in the prestigious “Up-and-Coming” list of college and universities as a spectacular achievement, one that will resonate far and wide throughout the year ahead.

Radford University, James Madison and George Mason, the three Virginia public schools who are included on this list, have all brought pride to the Commonwealth in this exciting new category.

And I’ll tell you something else. This is a “reputational” category. Presidents, provosts and admissions officers are the ones who nominated these colleges and universities… based upon what they hear and see about these institutions and our Radford University. I think that says something very special!

Additionally, in July, we became only the second university in the Commonwealth to be awarded Level II status in the new system of restructuring in higher education in Virginia. This benchmark, created by the 2005 Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act, really boils down to this: it is a certification of quality and efficiency in the areas of information technology and procurement. It is a signal from the Capitol that we are capable of handling additional freedoms from the state in these areas. I want to thank Evelyn Wilson, Danny Kemp, and their colleagues for all they did to bring this distinction to Radford.

These are remarkable achievements! But we have so many other things about which to be excited...

At the end of today’s convocation, we’re going to cut the ribbon and officially re-open Young Hall. In the world of 21st century academic buildings, this really puts us on the map. It is considered one of the most “digital” academic buildings on the east coast. We’re going to learn a little more about that in just a little bit.

We re-opened Heth Hall just a couple of weeks ago. In the heart of our campus, Heth now provides “one-stop shopping” for our students and serves as the much needed nexus of our student affairs operations.

When you add Davis Hall and the Dedmon Center renovations, that’s $33.4 million in campus renovations and improvements that have come on line in just the past year! On top of the grand opening of the $22.5 million Douglas and Beatrice Covington Center for the Visual and Performing Arts that occurred last fall. So we are indeed “On the Move” in the revitalization of our campus infrastructure for academic and student needs.

Add it all up and our university has completed more than $55 million in construction and renovation in just two years.

Next year, our Centennial Year, we’ll have cranes on campus again, when construction gets underway on our state-of the art $44.3 million headquarters for COBE.

We’ve got our new student wellness and fitness center on the horizon…  We are out for bid currently for architectural and engineering services. This facility will be ­­­110,000 sq. ft. and cost $32 million.

And with our sustainability initiatives we are well on the way to becoming one of the “greenest” campuses in the region.

People, we’ve all worked together to achieve these things for our university. More specifically…. for our students!

Their campus experience is being enriched in so many ways…

Thanks to you, our students learn from amazing scholars and dedicated teachers… in a highly-personalized, student-focused, technology-enhanced environment.

All of these things affect something we’re beginning to hear a lot about in higher education these days: diploma equity. We are not only enriching the Radford experience for our students… we are adding value for over 65,000 alumni!

I could offer so many other examples.

And I have no doubt that all of these achievements are a direct reflection of the excellence that you bring to university life every day.

But folks, it’s not all about good news today….

As you know, the recession has devastated our Commonwealth’s economy. Virginia has fared better than most states, but the challenge ahead is substantial. And as you all know, agencies are bracing for more cuts as the Governor addresses another $1.5 billion gap in the second half of the biennium.

Everyone in this room is aware of the fact that our nation remains gripped in the “Great Recession.” This downturn is prolonged, and it is historic.

As traumatic as it is, its effect on higher education has been magnified by 20 years of plummeting state support for higher education… this is a trend you all know well.

Listen to this fact: on a per-Virginia student basis, constant-dollar state funding for higher education has dropped almost 40% in this decade alone.

During the first four years of my administration, we have had to implement budget reduction plans that amount to 35% of our general fund operating budget.

To date, we have coped with $10 million in cuts – without resorting to faculty and staff lay-offs.

The recession has hurt us in other ways as well.

We won’t know the exact details until census, but it appears as though our enrollment is down. Overall, we may drop from about 9200 students to about 9000 students. Though our graduate enrollment is surging, we expect incoming freshman could be down by 300-400 students. Student retention is about even.

What’s behind this? Many different factors are all converging. We know that more than 30% of our students are first generation college students and the majority of these student’s families are the hardest hit by this recession. We know that community college enrollments are soaring…. And we can surmise there has been some dollar-driven drift. A recent newspaper article stated that enrollment at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College has seen a 37-year high in enrollment this year. Jack Lewis, President of New River Community College told me earlier this week that in the last three years, their enrollment has increased by 29%.

We know that out-of-state student enrollments are down at Virginia colleges and universities, so our competitors are accepting more Virginia students….Students that might have headed toward Radford.

We also know that other institutions have dipped into their “wait lists.” Some of the students planning on Radford may have gotten off the wait list and gone to Tech and other schools instead.

We also know we had a transitional year in our admissions office which the Provost will address in his remarks.

The long and short of it is that this year we are going to be facing what will be one of the most difficult budget years we have ever faced.

Right now, we simply don’t know how difficult it will be. What I do know and what I pledge to you today…. is that our leadership team, with assistance and guidance from all of you, will do its absolute best to manage this problem.

This spring the University Planning and Budget Advisory Committee, under the very capable leadership of Dr. Joe Wirgau, did a yeoman’s job of surveying the campus community for suggestions about how to spend any stimulus funding that we might receive and making a list of recommendations for the Cabinet and me to consider.

Our overarching goal is simply this: Position Radford to fulfill its destiny as one of the nation’s leading public comprehensive universities.

I think the environment we face today has been and will continue to be characterized by rapid change and shrinking budgets.

To say that rapid change and shrinking budgets have generated some “institutional angst” may be a huge understatement.

As a university community, I think we’ve struggled with change and we’ve struggled with process. During a time when we needed clarity and unity, we encountered misunderstanding and doubt.

What troubles me most is this: there seems to be this sense… at least on the part of some… that the voice of our faculty has gone unheard… that the spirit of debate that refines the quality of ideas is being threatened….

Maybe some have even wondered if the ideal of shared governance itself…. something fundamental to the heart of a university… is under threat.

Ladies and gentlemen: I am here to tell you plainly that it is not.  You are scholars who have risen to the crest of your academic disciplines. I understand the creativity, the knowledge, the experience and the expertise you bring to university life.

And if there is a sense that it is not valued, then I will do everything in my power to change that sense.

We will make it through these difficult financial times.

But it is going to take all of us working together to get it done.

I think the challenges we face are going to demand the very best out of each and every one of us…

And I think we can deliver…

There is not a single person in this room that does not care dearly about our great university.

And there’s not a single person in this room that wants to see our Centennial Celebration marred by divisiveness.

And there is not a single person in this room --including me – who personally cannot make the changes and adjustments that need to be made in order to build a better Radford.

For my own part, I am embracing a renewed commitment to transparency and openness… better communication about the tough issues we face…with you, our faculty, and with our staff and students.

I will soon begin a sequence of meetings with departments and other groups around campus. I call upon every one of us… deans, professors, students and administrators… to commit ourselves to a spirit of mutual trust and dialogue.

This year is special because in the face of all this adversity we have been given a gift.

We have been given a rallying point… one that binds us together in common purpose: our Centennial Celebration - a year-long celebration of Radford’s 100th anniversary.

Woven throughout our year of celebration will be a way to express our commitment to each other and society: the Centennial Service Challenge.

You know that guy from the ATT commercial? Tom’s shoes? Where they donate a pair of shoes for every pair they sell? He’s coming to campus on Charter Day in March. He’s going to help us kick off our service challenge!

A group of people led by Gary Ellerman and Barbara-lyn Morris has been working very hard to produce a year-long event that’s going to make us all very proud.

I’m not going to say a lot more about this because you’ll be hearing a lot more about it during the weeks and months ahead.

What I am going to say is that it is my deepest hope that today’s convocation will serve as the beginning of our celebration of Radford’s first 100 years of service to this Commonwealth and the beginning of our redirection to pursuing excellence in Radford University’s second 100 years of service.

Let’s resolve to work together to create a Radford that is stronger, more vibrant, more united, and ultimately more successful than ever before.

I believe we can do this… and I’m asking for your help.

I wish you every success in the year ahead, and I thank you for this opportunity to address you.