{"id":76979,"date":"2017-09-16T08:39:04","date_gmt":"2017-09-16T13:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/?p=76979"},"modified":"2017-09-16T08:39:04","modified_gmt":"2017-09-16T13:39:04","slug":"campus-update-president-william-n-laforge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/2017\/09\/campus-update-president-william-n-laforge\/","title":{"rendered":"Campus update from President William N. LaForge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Happy Birthday to the Ol\u2019 School We Love Best!\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s Delta State\u2019s 92<sup>nd<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary!\u00a0\u00a0On September 15, 1925, Delta State Teachers College opened for business.\u00a0\u00a0So, here\u2019s to another great year as we march toward our centennial celebration in 2025!<\/p>\n<p>With a month already under our belt into the new academic year, it is my pleasure to report that we have started the fall semester with a high-spirited campus climate and several points of great news.\u00a0\u00a0There is a distinct \u201cbuzz\u201d of excitement on campus as we begin what promises to be a super year.\u00a0\u00a0From the hustle and bustle around the Union due to the temporary relocation of the dining hall, to new and exciting student activities, to the major construction projects underway on campus, to two season-opening football victories, Delta State is teeming with excitement.\u00a0\u00a0New students are choosing Delta State because they see our momentum, our quality programs, and our fun and welcoming environment.\u00a0\u00a0And, we have the stats and some terrific news to back it up.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Delta State\u2019s fall 2017 enrollment is up 201 students over last year\u2019s numbers, bringing our fall total to 3,789 students.\u00a0\u00a0That represents a 5.66% increase in one year, and our fourth consecutive year of increased enrollment.\u00a0\u00a0It is also the highest percentage increase in enrollment of all eight public universities in the state this year.\u00a0\u00a0In the area of retention, we experienced a 6% increase in the retention of freshmen students over the last year, and a 14.8% increase over the last three years.\u00a0\u00a0Credit and thanks are due to many DSU family members and campus enterprises \u2014 our faculty and staff; our Enrollment Management Office and recruiters; our Student Success and First Year Seminar programs; our \u201cgrowth areas\u201d on campus, including Delta Music Institute, Aviation, Nursing, and Health, Physical Education, and Recreation; our international student program; and, our student life programming that is creating a welcoming and engaging campus environment for our students.<\/li>\n<li>As it turns out, we are great conservationists in addition to being smart budgeteers.\u00a0\u00a0I am pleased to report that we saved a total of $163,724 for the months of May &#8211; August, 2017, as a result of the university\u2019s summer utility savings program.\u00a0\u00a0We had budgeted conservatively and expected savings of $96,000.\u00a0\u00a0We exceeded that goal by $67,724.\u00a0\u00a0These savings, realized mostly from reduced HVAC\/electricity costs, helped us offset the state budget cuts, so that we could avoid laying off any employees or closing any campus programs.\u00a0\u00a0The summer utility savings program was successful because of campus-wide support from faculty, staff, administrators, and students alike, and I extend my thanks to all.\u00a0\u00a0This project was led by our CFO, Mr. Jamie Rutledge, with great advice and assistance by our Facilities Management Director, Mr. Jeff Barkman, and his outstanding staff.\u00a0The program included the closure of some buildings and prudent temperature control in all others, plus the move to a four-day, ten hour per day workweek from mid-May through early August, with key university units remaining open on Fridays.\u00a0\u00a0We intend to continue this energy-saving and cost-saving program next year.\u00a0\u00a0Once again, I thank the Delta State family for helping us conserve and be frugal in these challenging budget times.<\/li>\n<li>This year&#8217;s Delta State University Colloquia Distinguished Speakers Program will feature Dr. Rod Paige, former United States Secretary of Education, on Tuesday, October 10<sup>th<\/sup>in Jobe Auditorium, and Mr. Fred Smith, founder and CEO of FedEx, on Wednesday, March 21<sup>st<\/sup>.\u00a0\u00a0Please plan to attend these lectures, and encourage students to do so as well.<\/li>\n<li>Dr. Temika Simmons has been selected to head the university\u2019s new Local Government Leadership Institute that will help provide guidance to Delta municipal and county leaders on effective methods of governance.\u00a0\u00a0This community outreach program, funded by grants from private foundations, will be headquartered in the Center for Community and Economic Development complex on College Avenue, and will begin operation this fall.\u00a0\u00a0Special thanks to the Hearin Foundation and Casey Family Foundation for their partnership and support.<\/li>\n<li>Senior Finance major, Juwan Burney, a star member of Delta State\u2019s baseball team, and Chair of the Delta State Student- Athlete Advisory Committee,\u00a0has been appointedby the NCAA as a member of the Division II National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representing the Gulf South Conference.\u00a0\u00a0He joins other student-athlete leaders from around the country in providing student representation and perspectives in NCAA decision-making.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I am very grateful to our campus team \u2014 faculty, staff, and administrators \u2014 for your commitment to Delta State, and for making this the best year ever!\u00a0\u00a0Onward and upward!<\/p>\n<p>Very best regards,<\/p>\n<p>Bill LaForge<\/p>\n<p>President<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Happy Birthday to the Ol\u2019 School We Love Best!\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s Delta State\u2019s 92nd\u00a0anniversary!\u00a0\u00a0On September 15, 1925, Delta State Teachers College opened for business.\u00a0\u00a0So, here\u2019s to another great year as we march&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":512,"featured_media":76777,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/512"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76980,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76979\/revisions\/76980"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}