Today, Tuesday, March 2, President James Birge gave his first annual State of the University Address where he spoke to over 100 students, staff and faculty in attendance in Pierce Hall, as well as connecting to the five satellite campuses via webcast.
The thirty minute address focused on three key areas: reflection on what’s been going on with the university since taking office, the health of the university, and the university’s future.
Birge noted that he will be holding two to three town meetings a year and declared that the State of the University Address will become an annual occurrence.
Birge then discussed how he plans on visiting all satellite campuses at least twice annually. “We are one university. We need to engage our colleagues from Arizona, Lebanon, Concord, Manchester and Portsmouth,” Birge said. “This leads to ultimate success of the university.”
Mary Farrell, associate dean of the college of professional and graduate studies in Concord, was pleased that the president addressed all the campuses, and his address didn’t just focus on the College at Rindge. “The awareness of the College of Professional and Graduate Studies for those folks centered in Rindge are not always aware [of the other programs],” Farrell said. “So the fact that he was visiting every center was immense. I don’t think we’ve had this attention in the past.”
When moving on to the health of the university Birge focused on retention, enrollment, and overall student satisfaction with Franklin Pierce. The overall enrollment from the fall of 2009 to the spring of 2010 went up 1 percent. Birge said to his peers and colleagues that it’s “important to focus on student success today. We have a six week window to keep our students here next year.”
According to Birge, the reasons some students leave is because they never fully embrace or get embraced by the university. “These are the students we need to reach. We all play a part in the retention of our students,” Birge said.
In his closing statements, Birge addressed the issues that lie ahead by talking about his future plans. He said that there were “four groups critical to creating the campus identity,” with the Retention Committee, Educational Review Board, Pierce Council and the Integrated Marketing Group.
These groups are “conducting qualitative and quantitative research studies, and Birge said that he is “excited about the work occurring” in these four groups.
Ken Irvin, director of residential life, attended the address and felt that it was a step in the right direction for the Franklin Pierce community. “Any time the president has an open discussion helps to understand how things work [and is] crucial to what we do every day,” Irvin said. “We’re only as successful as the students are.”
During his speech Birge embraced the student participation on campus; from the Pierce Media Group, athletic programs, marketing program and performing visual and arts. Birge said attending these events has given him “a deeper appreciation of the university, and quality of campus involvement.”
Nicholas Vitukevich is Managing Editor for the Pierce Arrow and can be contacted at arrowpublisher@gmail.com
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