In
his address to the Metro State community at this morning’s third annual
Welcome Back Celebration, President Stephen Jordan lauded the efforts
of the faculty and staff over the past two years in stabilizing the
institution, and provided updates on several ongoing initiatives.Addressing the early-morning crowd of more than 300 faculty, staff
and trustees who filled the Kenneth King Center, Jordan said, “I am
proud of our accomplishments as a college, but truly you—the faculty,
staff and students—are the core of our successes.”
Interim Provost Linda Curran opened the program with remarks that
cited “our predecessors” at Metro State. “Let’s pause and gain
perspective on how far we have come,” Curran said, and discussed the
creation of the unique tri-institutional Auraria campus, the active
body of more than 60,000 Metro State alumni and the many initiatives
and accomplishments at the College despite the level of funding.
“Preeminence is built on the foundation of passion and planning,”
Curran said. “We’ve always had the passion.”
Curran went on to discuss major challenges facing the College this
year, specifically the pay-for-performance initiative, which she said
“will require an unprecedented level of cooperation” in its
development. She also suggested that a reorganization of the College’s
three-school structure or the realignment of departments might require
discussion.
Jordan prefaced his remarks by telling how, while golfing in Arizona
recently, he “raced a roadrunner” on the golf course. “It won,” he
said. “I think that’s a good sign for the year ahead.”
Jordan cited his 10-year plan toward becoming the preeminent public
urban baccalaureate college in the nation that he laid out upon his
arrival in 2005, with its three phases of stabilization, growth and
investment, and assessment, adding that, “A key indicator of our
completing the stabilization phase successfully was our reaccreditation
by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of
Colleges and Schools.”
Jordan also praised the faculty and staff who are working on the
academic strategic plan, for what he termed “this critical
direction-setting vehicle.” Thanking the Board of Trustees for their
hard work and dedication on behalf of Metro State, Jordan said, “They
have taken extraordinary steps to bring real meaning to shared
governance.”
In discussing his plans for the coming year, in the initial stages
of the College’s “growth and investment” phase, Jordan reviewed several
continuing initiatives. Space planning, including the Auraria Master
Plan with its creation of a Metro State “neighborhood” is paramount,
Jordan said; he noted short-term strategies being employed, such as
working toward HLC approval to offer degree programs online, increasing
“2+2” coordinated degree programs with partner community colleges, and
acquiring trailers for classroom use.
Jordan received the biggest applause of the morning after describing
how, in two years, the College had hired 88 full-time tenured and
tenure-track faculty, a 28 percent increase, and noting that “Since
2004, tenured and tenure-track faculty of color have grown by 58
percent, with African American faculty increasing by 92 percent and
Latino faculty by 64 percent.”
Jordan exhorted faculty members present to “listen to their
colleagues with open minds” on the pay-for-performance initiative. He
also described plans to increase learning communities on campus, and
challenged faculty and staff to work to reduce the freshman dropout
rate by 10 percent in five years.
Saying that the revamped tuition structure appears to be working
toward its goal of encouraging students to stay enrolled, take more
classes and graduate more quickly, Jordan cited an increase in average
credit-hours per student. Jordan described his previously stated goal
of Metro State becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution within the next
decade, saying he was inspired by the fact that 67 members of the
College community had volunteered to serve on the HSI task force.
Jordan cited accomplishments of individual faculty, staff and
students, described the College’s “Where success begins with you”
integrated marketing campaign, and announced the upcoming launch of the
College’s new Web site later this month.
“It’s not only a great day to be a Roadrunner, I say it is the Year of the Roadrunner!” he concluded.
The Welcome Back Celebration also featured the presentation of
Distinguished Service, Faculty Senate Excellence in Teaching and Golden
Key International Honour Society awards, as well as length-of-service
awards and recognition of the seven faculty members who had attained
emeritus status. For a complete listing of the award winners, go to: http://www.mscd.edu/~collcom/artman/publish/welcome_twv5082907.shtml.
To download Jordan’s complete remarks, go to http://www.mscd.edu/~collcom/@metro/@metro_vol5/docs/ 2007WelcomeBack.doc
For more photos from the celebration go to http://www.mscd.edu/~collcom/@metro/@metro_vol5/photos/07welcomeback_slideshow/
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