Greetings and welcome to this installment of "From My Notepads."
The fall semester brings excitement across any college campus, but as we move
into the heart of the fall
it's a point of particular excitement here on the campus of East Tennessee State
University.
This coming weekend we've got a great event that is sponsored by Blaine Schubert
and his staff at the fossil site.
It's an event called zombie tag. I hope that you'll join me Saturday morning
as I, in full Zombie paraphernalia, participate in a 5k,
but then also take time to be part of the events that are scheduled through that
afternoon.
It's an opportunity for us to open our campus to the community
to bring attention to the great work of our staff at the fossil site but also
for us to celebrate the fall and a chance to come together
as a family at East Tennessee State University. Another opportunity to come
together
resides in Homecoming, which we celebrate November 1-3.
Homecoming is an opportunity for us to welcome our alumni back to campus,
to learn from their experiences, to share their stories,
and to learn more about the rich history that makes us who we are
at East Tennessee State University. Take time to engage in some of the Homecoming
festivities-
and they are numerous- from our All-Greek reunion, to a comedy show,
a Hall of Fame ceremony for our ROTC program,
and a meet-and-greet with Coach Torbush. We have a Hall of Fame luncheon for The College of Business
and Technology and alumni receptions across the institution as a whole.
Please be a part of our basketball and soccer games that afternoon,
take part in the Homecoming tailgate, and enjoy the musical events that are
scheduled throughout the weekend. But more importantly, take time to reflect on who
we are as a university.
Homecoming is a chance for reflection, Homecoming is a chance to re-engage with our
alumni,
and Homecoming is a chance to celebrate everything that is East Tennessee State
University.
Another element of our Homecoming festivities is Parent Weekend,
an opportunity for parents across the region and across the nation to come to
the campus of East Tennessee State University
and learn more about the place that has become the new home for their students.
I hope that our parents connect with our students in the classroom, and
I hope that our parents connect with our students and the community as a whole
across all the Homecoming festivities. Over the course of the past few months
there have been a great many discussions across this campus related to our enrollment
and revenue situation.
One of the central elements of our ability to grow our enrollment at ETSU
is ensuring that more students are able to learn about
and apply to this institution, that students are able to navigate,
the front porch of the institution which with each passing day
becomes our website. As we look at meeting our enrollment targets
we must examine the many avenues by which we market ourselves.
The front page of any university is its home page. Throughout the past summer,
a team has been working on the redesign of our home page and we're looking to
launch this new page within the upcoming weeks.
I've had the opportunity to view the new design and I'm very pleased with its
look.
Among the new changes within the site is a new section that features stories
about our current students.
We've also improved the navigation system for prospective students
who are interested in applying to ETSU. Again,
I look forward to the launch of the new design for our website, for our website is
part of our regional
efforts to improve our college-going rates and this redesign is central to
Governor Haslam's "Drive to 55"
initiative. I want to take a little bit of time to put
the changes that we're making to the web as well as other changes that are occurring
across campus into a broader context.
Last month, Governor Haslam launched his "Drive to 55" initiative,
a public policy focus on improving post-secondary education attainment rates
in the state of Tennessee. His goal -- which is a big goal --
is that 55 percent of Tennesseans by 2025
will have some form of post-secondary certificate, degree,
or credential. But I want to take that and put it within
a sharper context; a context that we all understand
and a context rooted in our history as an institution
formed in 1911 to improve the educational attainment levels
of our region. Over the course of the past couple of weeks I've had the chance to
visit with high schools
across the region to talk to students, to talk to administrators,
to talk to school counselors not only
about their dreams, their aspirations but some of the challenges that they face
in creating college-going cultures within their high schools.
I want to share four numbers -- four numbers that are extremely powerful.
Of every 100 ninth graders how many graduated from high school
in the state of Tennessee? Seventy one. Of those, how many go on to college? Forty-three.
Of those how many graduate from college? Nineteen.
Our ability to meet the "Drive to 55" agenda, our ability to grow as an
institution
but more importantly our ability to improve the quality of life
across the region and across the state is predicated on initiatives by our faculty
and staff
to move each of those four numbers. So everything, from the work in our TRIO program
led by Ronnie Gross, to efforts to redesign the web page, to our
access to success initiatives,
to our developing efforts to create a home for diversity on campus
through a multicultural center,
are all part of initiatives tied toward that broader policy purpose.
I thank you all for joining me and I want to close with
the following point. Last week I talked at length about our ROTC program.
I hope that each of you as you move through the close of the fall semester
take a moment when you see one of our ROTC students on campus to thank them.
Tell them to keep their heads up, tell them to continue to work, to continue to put in
time in the classroom
and to continue to do the things that they're doing to be successful
in their undergraduate experience. As an institution we're putting forth an
aggressive plan to save our ROTC program,
but the most important thing that you can do to assist us in the efforts this
fall
is take time to thank our students for their work in the classroom
and the sacrifices that they're making in service to our country.
Hope that everyone has a great afternoon. Hope to see you at Homecoming,
and go BUCS!