Changes are being made to alcohol-related fines, possible suspensions or expulsions
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Executive Office of the President | Neil D. Theobald |
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Greetings, Temple colleagues and friends. |
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I hope you’ve had time to relax after our busy academic year. It started with a bang (Temple: 27, Penn State: 10!) and concluded amid both joy (a rousing Commencement with a record 9,341 graduates) and sorrow (the passing of President Emeritus Peter Liacouras).
Sheona and I just returned from a brief getaway of our own, during which I reflected on Temple’s recent accomplishments. Our U.S. News and World Report ranking rose another six notches this year, to 55 among public universities and 115 overall—our best numbers ever. This fall we’ll welcome our most diverse student body ever, of which students of color comprise 34% and international students, 7%.
How lucky we all are, I thought, to be at Temple at this point in its history and witness to so much positive transformation. On our homebound flight, I resolved to review the 2015–2016 school year with you and invite your collaboration in planning 2016–2017 and beyond. I want you to appreciate the true scope of what we are creating together.
Temple is defining a new road to success and fulfillment for talented students of all backgrounds and financial circumstances. We have taken aggressive steps to provide an excellent college education to a diverse student body—and send graduates into the world with minimum debt. We achieve sustainability and relevance by embracing excellence, accessibility and affordability in equal measure.
Think of all we do that delivers on that promise.
- Last year Temple increased aid to students with financial need by 24% ($12.5 million) to $64 million. Our aid to students with financial need is up 85% in three years. Meanwhile, state need-based aid remains flat; federal need-based aid is shrinking.
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The popularity of Fly in 4 exceeds our forecasts. Temple’s first wave of enrollees in the Class of 2018 is on course to save more than $20 million in college costs. Compared to the prior class, that’s 628 more sophomores set to graduate in four years. 94% of the Class of 2019 (i.e., freshmen) signed up for Fly in 4.
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The Temple Option helps drive a more diverse, qualified student body. We’re still among only a handful of institutions of our type that offer this innovative admissions alternative to the SAT. Last year one in five freshmen won admission via the Temple Option; not coincidentally, underrepresented minority freshmen (African American, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islander students) increased 24.5%.
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We’ve held tuition increases since 2013 to an average 2%. Since 2005 the average annual hike at four-year public colleges is 4.3%. A good deal of credit goes to Kevin Clark, who as Temple’s chief operating officer finds savings in our day-to-day administrative operations, and to Ken Kaiser, Temple’s chief financial officer, who is responsible for our new decentralized budget model.
But Temple isn’t compromising on excellence.
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Other universities have been reducing faculty or relying more on adjunct professors, but Temple has hired more than 150 new full-time tenured or tenure-line faculty. 70% of our full-time, non-tenure-track faculty now have multiyear contracts.
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A quality faculty attracts more accomplished high school seniors. Our last freshman class included 38.4% more students with GPAs of at least 3.6.
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Temple is investing $300 million in our new Science Education and Research Center, our new library (the opening of which is fewer than two years away), and other vital projects.
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We’ve revitalized East Park Canoe House, and our new Olympic sports complex at Broad and Master streets will be dedicated on Sunday, Sept. 18.
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26 well-equipped new classrooms in Wachman Hall went online last fall, and we’re about to start work on the new student recreation center west of Pearson and McGonigle Halls.
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Discussions continue with the city of Philadelphia about a proposed retail and stadium complex, which will add four more much-needed lecture halls.
Meanwhile, Temple’s profile as a world-class research institution has never been higher.
- We’re now in the top tier of U.S. research institutions in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education—in the company of Duke, Johns Hopkins, and MIT, to name only a few.
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Temple is on track to win more than $250 million in 2016 research funding —a university record.
However, nothing we do compromises our unwavering commitment to the city of Philadelphia.
- Every day, Temple University Hospital provides care to more than 400 Philadelphians, many of whom are without private health insurance. It will add up to more than $60 million in community support this year. Especially interesting is the new experimental “baby box” program—it supplies all new moms with portable bassinets to try to discourage the co-sleeping that’s associated with infant mortality.
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From job training to free concerts, we now have more than 300 programs serving the community. If you would like a copy of our new community resources guide, email Jazmyn.Burton@temple.edu.
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Temple students put in volunteer hours last year that add up to 86 years of full-time work.
Greater things are ahead in 2016–2017 and beyond, and I invite you to get more involved as Temple continues to reinvent the urban public research university for the 21st century.
Faculty, you’ll continue to be invited to small-group lunches with me. We’ve held more than 100 of these open discussions since I came to Temple, and I find them invaluable. Staff members will also be welcome starting this fall, and I’d like to focus each lunch on a single topic, such as
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admissions and affordability,
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entrepreneurship,
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global initiatives,
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neighborhood relations,
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research service and support needs,
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sexual misconduct,
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student and alumni engagement,
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student and faculty diversity, and
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undergraduate teaching.
Email me with more ideas (theobald@temple.edu) or prioritize the ones mentioned here.
Temple alumni and friends, I’m planning to travel to meet with many of you in the coming months—I want your ideas about Temple’s future. We currently focus on five areas:
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helping talented students from all backgrounds graduate on time with real-world skills and minimal debt
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further improving Temple’s academic productivity and reputation
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expanding our global impact through research and entrepreneurship
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increasing alumni participation and giving to more accurately reflect the Temple pride alumni feel
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creating necessary academic and athletic facilities
I'd love to hear your thoughts on these areas. When I visit your region, we’ll be sure you know ahead of time.
Finally, our Rome campus celebrates its 50th anniversary the week of May 15, 2017, and we’d love to see you there. We’re planning on three days of exclusive art openings, lectures, roundtables and tours. Some of our most beloved faculty will also lead excursions to Umbria (May 18), Emiglia-Romagna, Florence, Naples, Pompeii and Venice (May 19—20). Sheona and I plan to see Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Milan’s fabulous La Scala Opera House, either on our way to Rome (the afternoon of May 14) or on our way home (the evening of May 19). Let me know by Feb. 1 (theobald@temple.edu) if you would like to join us.
I am eagerly looking forward to this fall. We are all in this together: building a world-class learning environment, accelerating academic excellence, achieving unprecedented impact and—not incidentally—reinventing the American Dream for the 21st century.
As you enjoy some time off and we prepare to greet the Class of 2020, take pride in the positive impact you make on Temple. Sometimes our daily efforts may seem individually modest and limited. Collectively, we are changing both Temple and the world.
I deeply appreciate working with you to fulfill the destiny of this vigorous and vital university. Thank you for all you do for us.
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Thank you,
Neil D. Theobald
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Executive Office of the President
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1330 Polett Walk, Sullivan Hall 2nd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19122
215-204-7405
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