President's Report to Alumni
The last meeting of the Board of Visitors was one of the most important since my becoming president of The Citadel. The BOV approved a campus budget with the lowest tuition increases in a decade and the Strategic Plan that will focus us on those priorities that will take The Citadel to the next level of excellence. And with MG Art Baiden’s term of office ending, the BOV elected a new chairman, COL Doug Snyder.
In my report to the board I reflected on the previous year, which was the most challenging of my presidency. At the same time that we brought on board four new vice presidents, the commandant announced his departure and we had to respond to four separate state appropriation cuts amounting to $3.9 million. I commend the staff for pulling together and making many difficult decisions that have helped the college to move on.
The BOV approved an $87.9 million budget that includes a tuition and fee increase of 3.6 percent for in-state students. Out-of-state students will see a 7.2 percent increase. In-state tuition and fees, which include registration, tuition and college and athletic fees, will increase from $8,428 to $8,735 and from $21,031 to $22,545 for out-of-state cadets.
The in-state increase matches the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI), a measure of the increase in operating costs in higher education. By doing so we comply with federal legislation that tied stimulus funding to restraining in-state tuition increases. We expect to receive $2.1 million in federal stimulus funding in each of the next two years for much needed renovation projects on campus.
Of course, tuition and fees are just one part of the cost of attending college. At The Citadel, we believe it’s important to be transparent and let families know up front what the total, ‘all-in,’ cost will be. This includes other costs associated with attending The Citadel: room, board, books, uniforms, infirmary and laundry use, haircuts and toiletries.
Below are the all-in costs for 2009-10. Freshmen have a higher all-in cost because they must purchase uniforms.
In-State Out-of-State
Freshmen $21,729 $35,539
Upperclassmen $17,663 $31,473
We have cut to the bone at The Citadel, but we are not alone. Colleges and universities across the country are dealing with similar economic realities and are considering profound changes as to how they do business. If The Citadel takes further state appropriation cuts, and that remains a distinct possibility, we, too, must be prepared to make significant changes that will allow us to continue offering the academic and leadership programs our students and their families expect, and in which you the alumni take such great pride.
In the midst of the tremendous fiscal challenges over the last year, we also developed a Strategic Plan, to which the BOV gave final approval at Saturday’s meeting. I have reported to you as the Strategic Plan was developed under the leadership of Provost Sam Hines. He and his staff completed in one year what most colleges take 18 months to two years to accomplish.
The Strategic Plan could not have come at a better time. We are watching every penny and the Strategic Plan will help ensure that we focus our resources on the college’s top priorities, which include enhancing leadership development, diversifying the Corps of Cadets, and expanding the Citadel Graduate College. Now that it has been approved we are working on presenting it in a number of formats, including a special webpage. I will keep you apprised of developments regarding the Strategic Plan.
I reported to the BOV that the new commandant, Col Leo Mercado, Class of 1979, will be coming on board 5 July. He has already selected a new assistant commandant for discipline, Col Chris Moore, Class of 1981.
Our Values and Respect Program is tracking in the right direction, though I believe it is time to move beyond its behavioral emphasis and integrate the progressive leadership development we call The Citadel Experience. Our goal is for cadets in each class to know specifically what is expected of them in terms of the knowledge, skills and experience in their journey toward becoming principled leaders.
Academically, our cadets continue to make impressive progress. Most notably, in four years the average GPA of freshmen has improved from 2.54 to 2.74. And I am very proud of the fact that athletes had a higher GPA than the Corps and that the athletic retention rate is the highest in five years.
We are actively investigating an expansion of the Veterans Program to all vets who were honorably discharged and meet admissions requirements. The GI Bill has been enriched such that we expect a heightened interest from vets in attending The Citadel. This is a great opportunity to offer the advantage of a Citadel education to those who have served our country. Cadets will benefit from the veterans’ maturity and their example.
The BOV also approved a policy change that will allow grandparents who graduated from the Corps to hand diplomas to their grandchildren at graduation, regardless of whether their own children attended The Citadel. In recent years, the BOV has approved virtually every request from a grandfather to hand his grandson or granddaughter a diploma. This policy change affirms what had become standard practice, and will save the BOV and those grandfathers the time of submitting and considering those requests.
The BOV elected a new chairman, COL Doug Snyder. He has distinguished himself by his service as chairman of the BOV finance committee. Col Snyder brings tremendous vision and talent to the chairmanship, and I look forward to working with him.
We must also say farewell to MG Art Baiden who is not only stepping down as chairman but, because his term as alumni representative has ended, he will be leaving the BOV. Alumni can take great pride in Art’s service to The Citadel. I sincerely hope we will continue to see Art and Jean on campus.
As always thanks to all of you for standing behind The Citadel. In these difficult times your support means even more. We could not succeed without you.