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Good morning, everyone. I want to welcome Bob Faaborg as our new Board Faculty Representative. We are delighted to have you with us, Bob.
I want to thank the Board members for attending our Board Appreciation Dinner – the second annual. You will recall that it is held the night before classes begin, and we think it is a wonderful tradition. We appreciate your having been there, and the marvelous students who shared their experiences with you.
As Ed Sullivan would say, the “really big” news is that the University of Cincinnati is making progress on several key indicators. First, on enrollment: We are thrilled to say that we have just welcomed our largest entering class in 16 years, more than 5300 first-time freshmen. The class also broke a record in its number of Cincinnatus Scholars. Nineteen percent of our first year students graduated in the top 10 percent of the class, while another 19 percent are enrolled in our Center for Access and Transition – quality and access together. In addition, our total enrollment is up; final counts will not be released until the very sacred 14th day enrollment count. But as of Sept. 20, we have more than 35,000; the exact number is 35,326 students enrolled, up two and one-half percent over the same time last year.
On the rankings front, our U.S. News and World Report ranking has jumped up 15 slots this year to 145, on its way to the top 100, of which there are 123. I just want to remind you of the math here.
Third, the new results from the National Survey of Student Engagement, which we refer to as the NSSE, show our improvement in all categories over the previous survey conducted two years ago. This is an important measure of student attitudes about the quality of our instruction and our positive climate for learning.
Fourth, The Princeton Review recently named UC one of the Best Midwestern Universities – a first for us. We intend to keep rising on their list.
And fifth, our NSF ranking is No. 22 among public research universities, which is an increase from last year. Of the total public and private universities, we rose from 46th last year to 42nd this year.
I am also pleased to report that a search is under way for our new athletics director to take the place of the irreplaceable Bob Goin. Bob is retiring and Provost Tony Perzigian, former acting athletic director, heads the search committee. We have enlisted the services of the search firm Eastman & Beaudine, and we are committed to finding a leader who will move us forward in our new Big East Conference. Our new athletic director will need to be committed to top quality sports programs that are not only competitive but winning.
And while we are on the subject of sports, I want to congratulate our men’s soccer team, who beat the number one ranked team in the nation, UConn, 2 to zip on Sept. 16. Way to go, Bearcats!
I am very honored to report that UC is the recipient of a $30 million gift, one of UC’s biggest ever contributions. It is from Craig and Frances Lindner and Edyth and Carl Lindner, to create the Craig and Frances Lindner Center of HOPE, Helping Other People Excel. The center, to be built in Mason, will become a center of excellence, providing treatments for a variety of mental disorders.
UC also has learned that we are receiving a $17.4 million award from the National Institutes of Health to lead a five-year international study of stroke treatment.
You may have read that our campus has been ranked as the 17th fattest campus in the nation. This is a reciprocal benefit of being put on The Princeton Review. We think the opening of our new rec center after the first of the year will take off a few pounds. And we know that the balanced cuisine of MarketPointe at Siddall Hall, a national award recipient for our cuisine, will help as well.
UC opened its newest residence hall this fall, a 224-bed housing portion of the campus Recreation Center. The privately owned University Park Apartments on Calhoun and the Stratford Heights housing on Clifton Avenue also have opened their doors this month to a total of 1400 students. The Stratford location also houses our new Valentine House, where students are immersed in the Spanish and French languages 24/7.
Its next-door neighbor is the newly opened Taft Research Center across the street. This new Taft Center takes a long-time shining star at UC and parlays it into national prominence. With the new direction and funding unveiled this month, UC’s Humanities Research Center becomes one of the best funded in the entire nation. We owe our profound thanks to the trustees of the Charles Phelps Taft Memorial Fund and to Dean Karen Gould and Professor Richard Harknett for pursuing this new status.
Also on the construction side, our newest building at Raymond Walters College is now open – the Veterinary Technology Building. At Clermont College we have opened what used to be a sprung structure here on the Uptown Campus as an athletic and wellness center. It is called the Student Activity Center and will be dedicated a week from today.
We are very proud to learn that CCM is one of the two institutions chosen by the Juilliard School of Music to help celebrate its 100th anniversary with the co-commission of a new opera based on the 1993 novel, Miss Lonelyhearts. After its premiere in the spring of 2006 it will move to USC in 2007 and arrive at CCM in 2008.
CCM alum Xian Zhang will make her eagerly awaited conducting debut with the Cincinnati Symphony on September 30. Zhang, newly promoted Associate Conductor of the New York Philharmonic, made her debut earlier this year with the London Symphony Orchestra, resulting in an immediate re-invitation.
DAAP is steering a competitive course by starting the only auto design track at a public university in the country. Only four other schools in the United States, all private, have full programs devoted solely to auto design and are the competitive players in preparing the next generation of car designers.
And last, but definitely not least, this year marks the opening of our centennial celebration of co-operative education. I don’t want to steal Kettil Cedercreutz’s thunder, but we love the editorial in today’s Cincinnati Enquirer. Later you will hear from our associate provost and director of co-op, Kettil Cedercreutz. And later in the meeting you will be asked to take a vote related to this wonderful and groundbreaking program started right here at UC, and now emulated at more than 1,000 institutions worldwide.
We are also celebrating this year the 100th anniversary of our College of Business, and the 100th anniversary of our College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services.
That is a lot.
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