Administration

Board of Trustees meets; President Spanier's remarks

Remarks by President Graham Spanier
Nov. 5, 2010
 

This morning I have several items to share, but first I want to note that this week Penn State alumna Kelly Ayotte became the U.S. Senator-elect from New Hampshire. Kelly graduated from Penn State in 1990 with a degree in political science and joins a long list of alumni who have served in federal, state and local government.
 
Now on to other news.
 
While we've been enjoying the changing fall colors, some on campus are only focused on a particular color -- green. We are currently engaged in a Strategic Sustainability Process involving campus leaders, external consultants, students and staff. Right now I want to show an excellent short video that illustrates some of our efforts, but before I do allow me to introduce Penn State's director of the Campus Sustainability Office -- Erik Foley. He has been with Penn State for more than a year and has made some great strides in bringing together sustainability projects and people. I'd also like to introduce Penn State Public Broadcasting's Tom Keiter, who served as the writer and director on the video, and Catie Grant, who wore many hats as the producer.
 
Now, I hope you enjoy the video, found at: http://goo.gl/erT5
 
Penn State generally earns high marks in national rankings, but one recent ranking has made Penn State the envy of higher education and is a particular source of pride among our alumni. The ranking I'm referring to comes from The Wall Street Journal survey that named Penn State No. 1 among recruiters. The newspaper asked recruiters to identify the schools "whose bachelor degree graduates were the best-trained and educated, and best able to succeed once hired."
 
Since that story ran in September, I can't tell you how many leaders in higher education and business have remarked on the value of that ranking. Given today's tough economic climate and the challenging job search environment, I'm pleased to share that good news with students, families and of course, prospective employers.
 
Now I’d like to share with you the 30-second television spot we’ll be using to get the word out to millions of viewers in the coming months on ABC, CBS, ESPN and during Big Ten Network programs.  It can be found here: /video/163097/2013/02/09/video-no-title
 
Given our strengths in this area, it's not surprising that Penn State continues to be a top choice among students. Rob Pangborn will give you a full admissions report a little later, but I do want to note a couple of highlights. 
 
This year Penn State has seen record enrollment of almost 96,000 students. We met our enrollment goals across the University, and at University Park alone, we welcomed back 44,000 students. Our incoming class was selected from a record-setting number of applications -- 115,000. Some of the biggest increases, compared to last year, were in graduate applications, which were up 11 percent; Dickinson School of Law applications were up 31 percent, and College of Medicine applications were up 7 percent.
 
We are now focusing on the 2011 admissions cycle and we have already received more than 34,000 undergraduate applications for admission in only two months. Once the students enroll at Penn State, evidence suggests that they are delighted to be here. The results of the 2010 Student Satisfaction Survey recently reported a high level of satisfaction overall. Teaching quality, faculty availability and a sense of belonging at Penn State all received high marks.
 
Penn State students also wish to make a lasting impact on campus through a Senior Class Gift. This week, the Class of 2011 voted to create a plaza that honors Lt. Michael P. Murphy, the only Penn State alumnus to win the Medal of Honor, and all other Penn State veterans. Penn Staters have bravely served in the military, dating back to the Civil War, and the University now has the largest ROTC program of any non-military institution.
 
This class gift is a wonderful tribute to our veterans, and it will be a memorable addition to our campus. 
 
Penn State's research enterprise has had a phenomenal year. According to a recent survey by the National Science Foundation, Penn State rose to ninth place among all of the nation's colleges and universities in total research and development expenditures in science and engineering for fiscal 2008-09.
 
Penn State also placed in the top of the long-awaited National Research Council rankings, which rated the quality of research doctorate programs in the U.S. The report confirmed that Penn State has dozens of outstanding programs that are among the very best in the nation. Among Penn State's highest ranked programs are: anthropology, plant biology, kinesiology, Spanish and nutrition, to name just a few. This type of recognition affirms the exceptional quality of our faculty, and Penn State is very fortunate to have some of the very best teachers and researchers in the world.
 
Take Steve Benkovic for example. An Evan Pugh Professor of chemistry and holder of the Eberly Family Chair in Chemistry at Penn State, Steve was one of 10 researchers named by President Obama to receive the 2010 National Medal of Science, the nation's highest award for lifetime achievement in scientific research. Steve is a Penn State treasure and one of our longest-serving faculty members. He has been with Penn State since 1965, which incidentally is a year before Joe Paterno became head coach.
 
On the other end of the career spectrum is Shaffer Career Development Assistant Professor of Biology Beth Shapiro. I introduced Beth at our meeting last November in recognition of her selection as a MacArthur Fellow. This year she already won a National Geographic Emerging Explorers Award and followed it up with a Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering. The Packard Fellowship of $875,000 will be paid over five years beginning this month. We've very fortunate to count Steve and Beth among our faculty.
 
Moving on to other University news, it has been a celebratory fall on many of our Commonwealth Campuses.
 
Last month we celebrated more than four decades at Penn State Hershey. The capstone of the evening was the premiere of the film, Memories and Milestones, which portrays the history, impact and life-changing work done at Penn State Hershey. Notably this year the Medical Center will see its 20 millionth patient, and at the premiere, we had the pleasure of meeting the hospital's first patient, Nancy Nightwine. We will send you a copy of the Memories and Milestones DVD when it's ready, and I encourage you to watch it. It's excellent.
 
After Hershey, we headed to Penn State DuBois to help them celebrate their 75th anniversary. It was a wonderful event. From DuBois we went to Penn State Lehigh Valley, where they rolled out the blue carpet to celebrate their new location. Hundreds of people turned out for the event, and we marked the occasion with a new historical marker. The Lehigh Valley continues to grow in population and in business and industry, and this campus is ideally situated to expand the opportunities for higher education in the region.
 
At Penn State Fayette, Francis K. Achampong was named chancellor. He had been serving on an interim basis and previously was the director of academic affairs at Penn State Mont Alto. Penn State Harrisburg also named a new chancellor -- Mukund Kulkarni. He had been serving as interim chancellor since July 1 and was formerly the senior associate dean for academic affairs at Penn State Harrisburg.
 
At Penn State Greater Allegheny, Chancellor Curtiss E. Porter has been selected as a recipient of the YWCA's 2010 Racial Justice Award. Dr. Porter will be honored for his efforts to eliminate racism and promote equality.
 
My final campus note comes from Penn State Hazleton, which just won the "Pride of Place"Award from the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce for the extensive beautification efforts on the campus. This is a very nice honor for a beautiful campus.
 
When it comes to record-setting academic performance, Penn State student-athletes continue to graduate well above their peers nationwide, according to statistical information released today by the NCAA.The NCAA's annual study of institutions nationwide revealed that Penn State student-athletes at the University Park campus earned a record Graduation Success Rate of 90 percent compared to a 79 percent average for all Division I institutions. Congratulations to the student-athletes, coaches, academic advisors and support staff members who have made this level of success possible.
 
One stand-out student-athlete is Stefen Wisniewski, and this fall he won one of the most prestigious honors available to collegiate football student-athletes. Stefen was selected as one of 16 National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholar-Athletes from across the NCAA and NAIA divisions. He will receive an $18,000 scholarship for post-graduate studies and he is a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which is presented to the nation's premier college football Scholar-Athlete.
 
The fall intercollegiate athletics season is well under way, and we're looking forward to our winter sports. Our wrestling team has the strongest schedule in years. Penn State will be taking on our perennial rival Lehigh next weekend, Ohio State comes in December and then Iowa is in January. Ticket sales are at an all-time high, and we're looking forward to a great season. Head Coach Cael Sanderson is with us this morning and I'd like to recognize him.
 
I also want to introduce our new women's gymnastics coaches, Jeff and Rachelle Thompson, who joined us this summer. They were formerly at Auburn University, with Jeff named as two-time SEC Coach of the Year. I encourage you to come out to support the team and to welcome Jeff and Rachelle to State College. I'm very pleased they could join us today.
 
To finish, I have two quick items that cover some of our more unconventional athletes. First, we have our Feature Twirler Matt Freeman, twirling fire during a lightning storm. This dramatic photo, which was taken by student photographer Andy Colwell, won a competition to be on the cover of Twirl Magazine. Andy and Matt are also here; and I'd like to recognize them both for their exceptional talents in twirling and photography.
 

Finally…to raise money for THON, 50 members of the Blue Band, led by Dr. Richard Bundy, joined about 4,000 participants to run a 5K. Andy Colwell, who also is a member of the band, did double duty, when he took this photo during the run. The photo can be seen here: http://live.psu.edu/image/28054.

Graham Spanier Credit: Penn State Public Information / Penn StateCreative Commons

The #1 university in your heart is also #1 with corporate recruiters. 

Last Updated November 18, 2010

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