On Wednesday, October 8, at 4:10 p.m. in the SUB Ballroom, President Gamble delivered a State of the Campus address to the campus and public communities. Below is the text of the president's comments.

Today, I preface my comments by acknowledging that I am extremely proud of the faculty, staff and students of Montana State University who work hard each day. The bottom line is that MSU is in great shape, and getting stronger every day. I'll begin by focusing my comments on the long-term vision for our campus.

When I came to MSU three years ago, I established the University Planning and Budget Analysis Committee, which in turn established strategic priorities for recruitment, retention, quality enhancements, academic profile, and an expanded collaboration with the College of Technology-Great Falls. It is critical that we use these guides in assessing our progress and performance. I, therefore, have focused my comments today on these priorities -- what efforts we've made, what has been accomplished and what's on the horizon. I encourage you to consider how you can contribute to these priorities. Surely we will achieve true success only if all faculty and staff embrace these priorities.

Recruitment

These are exciting times at MSU. We have had great success this year with student recruitment. We experienced the largest enrollment ever. The 2003 total headcount is 12,135 (up about 200 from 11,934 in 2002). The 2003 incoming freshmen class headcount reached 2,165 (up from 2,120 last year). We targeted the U.S.'s Northeast and potential students with the ability to pay out-of-state fees. Additionally, Henrietta Mann, nationally recognized Indian scholar who began duties in my office in July, is identifying strategies to ensure that MSU is the university of choice for Native Americans.

Fundraising is a critical component of our recruitment success. Our focus is on both affordability and attracting high-quality students. The MSU Foundation's Putting Students First Campaign raised $14 million. It is the largest fundraising campaign of its kind in school history. We encourage donations of any size to help students succeed at MSU. We are very proud of the generosity of people on this campus. From regular contributions to Montana Shares and United Way, to MSU's annual fund drive, our faculty and staff really contribute. Thank you.

MSU for a Day is a key recruitment program that has been successful, particularly in the Flathead area. This valuable program requires a significant commitment on behalf of our faculty. I appreciate their support of the program.

We know our faculty attracts the best students to MSU, and we are extraordinarily grateful to the entire faculty. Recent national rankings increased our visibility on a national scale. This year we were named Outside Magazine's Fifth Best College Town. We are ePodunk's second place choice among small college towns in America. We are one of Ski Magazine's top ski towns.

Retention

While awareness of our location can't hurt when top-quality students visit campus, we believe it is our academic quality that encourages these students to enroll at MSU. Then, the Becoming Our Best (BOB) program helps retain fine students. This nationally recognized retention program focuses on students of all abilities who historically leave for a variety of reasons. It has included some of our best students, not just those who struggle academically. This program supports the social and academic transitions for 600 freshmen by utilizing more than 150 volunteer mentors.

We are also implementing a new advising council to focus on the quality of advisement. The new Athletic Mentoring Program matches every freshman and transfer athlete with a member of the campus community, resulting in an expanded support network for our student athletes.

In August, more than 430 campus and non-campus volunteers heaved boxes, bedding and beanbag chairs into dorms on Move-in Day. This tradition helps new students understand that the MSU community is here to support their success. We look forward to Parent/Family Weekend, Oct 24-26.

Academic Profile

Our concerted efforts are paying off. We're not just getting bigger; we're getting better. Since 1993, freshmen class averages on ACT scores have increased from 22.8 to 23.3. High school grade point averages have increased from 3.14 to 3.36.

Individual student accomplishments include Katie Conner, a senior from Great Falls, who won a $30,000 Truman Award, the eighth MSU student to do so. Bonnie Kirkpatrick is one of a very few computer science students in the nation to earn a Goldwater award. MSU ranks eighth among all colleges and universities in total number of Goldwater awards nationwide, ahead of Cornell, Stanford and Johns Hopkins Universities. Ryan Johnson, a student-athlete who graduated last year after a successful football career at MSU, was recognized with an NCAA Great VIII award -- the most prestigious student-athlete award in the nation. Additionally, the NASA Graduate Research Program awarded a two-year fellowship worth more than $24,000 to Nathan Seldomridge, a graduate student in engineering.

In addition to individual stars, our graduates in various programs also excel as a class. As announced last week, the 2002 accounting graduating class ranked number one in the nation on the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Exam first-time pass rate. For the fifth time in 21 years, our students ranked first. MSU had an 85.2 percent pass rate, ahead of Wake Forest in second place with 74 percent. The national average is 19 percent. Note that all MSU accounting graduates sit for the exam -- not the case at all universities, who sometimes select only their top students to take the exam.

On the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam, MSU students have a 95 percent pass rate, compared to a 79 percent national pass rate. On the National Licensing Exam for Registered Nurses, MSU students achieved a 96 percent pass rate, compared to an 86 percent national average. And again, all of our graduating seniors sit for these exams, not just a select few.

Quality Enhancements

Beginning in Fall 2004, the incoming freshman will benefit from significant restructuring of the general education core curriculum to improve students' educational experience. The focus is on inquiry, research and how knowledge is created. All freshmen will participate in small-enrollment freshman seminars. Our intent is to get students immediately engaged in the academic community. This emphasizes development of critical-thinking skills, reading skills and oral/written communication skills.

All students in the new core curriculum will have a research/creative activity experience. Students select what they want to explore in greater depth and will be mentored by a faculty member throughout the project. Included in the program is a diversity requirement. All students will take a diversity course, which will focus on human differences and similarities and what that means in terms of how we live and work together.

We are planning a special focus on our summer programs. Summer undergraduate research opportunities are expanding through extramural funding from National Science Foundation grants. Programs such as the Montana Apprenticeship Program (MAP) draw high school students and teachers from reservation communities to campus each summer. Students perform research in biomedical labs on campus. Eighty-four percent of the MAP students attend college -- a much higher percentage than the average college entrance rate of Native Americans. We have also expanded opportunities for high school students to participate in programs such as ArtsLink and NursingLink.

During the past year, the College of Business received a $3 million gift to initiate the Gary K. Bracken Endowment for Excellence in Undergraduate Business Education that will fund a new center for undergraduate business studies. Nine students have already received scholarships. Other benefits include new mentoring programs for undergraduates, enhanced business courses and additional scholarships.

As you may have heard, the Board of Regents recently approved a history Ph.D., our first doctorate program in the humanities at MSU. The advanced degree specializes in the history of science and technology, environmental history and the American West and Montana. The program's first students will enroll Fall 2004.

Exciting advancements in creation of knowledge occur at intersections of traditional disciplines. Our new Liberal Studies degree allows students to take advantage of these new opportunities. Clusters include environmental studies and global studies.

Beginning Fall 2004, the Upper Division Nursing courses will include clinical opportunities for nursing students in Bozeman.

We received a $1.9 million biology grant from Howard Hughes Medical Institute that enhances undergraduate science teaching. We added 11 new biology courses and revised 12 others. This will result in a first-rate undergraduate biology program. Other schools receiving the grant include Harvard, Stanford and Johns Hopkins. Winning the grant is strong recognition of the excellence of MSU's science programs.

The Provost's Office and Office of the Vice President for Research have created a fund called the Professional Development Leave Program to cover expenses for faculty to develop skills that will impact scholarship, teaching and service.

Facilities

Another aspect of enhancing the quality of the educational experience at MSU includes efforts to upgrade facilities. Results include the Renne Library and its recognition as Montana Library of the Year award after a three-year renovation.

Obviously the library is a great place to study, and it is clear many students think so, too.

They also enjoy the newly remodeled bookstore, which has become a wonderful asset to our campus.

We have taken a major step to improve classroom, lab and research space at the new Veterinary Molecular Biology Building. Through a public-private partnership this building addresses our space needs with little or not cost to taxpayers.

The Animal BioScience Building is in the design stage. This multi-million dollar building will allow us to conduct cutting-edge research and become a global leader in agricultural production.

These indeed are exciting times at MSU.

The key question is, what resources have been available to us that allowed us to produce this quality education? The bottom line is that we do more with less. If you compare the Montana University System with those in our peer states, it's evident that we have done an outstanding job of using available resources to provide quality education at significantly lower dollar per student than other states.

We receive less state support than our peers (half of the average), but we're very efficient and keep costs down. We are educating students in Montana for $8,446 per student, compared to an average of our peers over $13,000. As a result, we hold tuition in the mid-range of our peers ($3,996 for a resident student versus the peer average of $3,435).

Much can be attributed to the faculty and their productivity. Take a look at how we compare with other institutions in terms of the quality and productivity of our faculty.

MSU faculty are highly productive; they teach 28 percent more classes than their peers. They do five times the research and three times the service. It is largely because of this productivity that our instructional costs at MSU are lower than similar institutions.

Fiscal responsibility is always important, but in times of limited resources, it is critical that we use our available resources wisely. Good news came when we received a ratings upgrade recently from Moody's Investor Service. Moody's noted that we increased student demand, have solid financial management and diversified revenue streams, adequate levels of reserves, manageable debt and moderate borrowing plans.

Research and service activities of the university support our efforts in almost all of the strategic priorities. We try to ensure that every research dollar does double duty. Because of our emphasis on integrating teaching and research, we know that our climb to $82 million in grants and contracts funding this past year has significantly enhanced the learning opportunities for our undergraduate, as well as graduate students. We believe we're on a trajectory to reach $100 million within the next few years.

Our research success is also a key factor in our ability to recruit top students and top faculty. A $10-million grant from the National Institute of Health provides resources to develop and implement a high-speed telecommunications network for biomedical researchers in six rural states in the West. The new network, called Lariat, will connect researchers in these states to the rest of the nation's research infrastructure. Our researchers will have the same level of connectivity as those at Stanford and MIT. Lariat will level the playing field and move us closer to eliminating the Digital Divide in these states.

Our Department of Veterinary Molecular Biology recently announced a licensing agreement with Ligocyte to develop drugs that prevent infection from potential bio-terrorist agents and to identify compounds that can boost the human immune system. This is a very successful public/private partnership.

Also of note, David Ward of microbiology received a $5 million National Science Foundation microbial research grant. This was a very competitive field, as only six awards were given out of 114 submitted proposals.

Plans are underway to expand the scope of the MSU College of Technology-Great Falls (CoT) programs offered in Bozeman. CoT is in the business of offering tech classes, so it just makes sense for them to offer classes in Bozeman. We have solicited comments on needs and interests in the community. The two-year degree program offerings will be available for start-up Fall 2004. Issues involving staffing, facilities, funding and student services will be addressed this spring.

I hope it's clear how proud I am of what you have accomplished in the last few years. It's very impressive.

I would like to close by taking a few minutes to talk about the impact we have on our community and the state as a whole. The new Web site for the MUS Montana Invests, contains a number of databases that demonstrate the variety of outreach activities and research projects which impact citizens and communities across the state. We are still adding projects and activities but have more than 200 entries at this point. It is a key tool with which we can educate our public about the role we play in economic growth, community development and cultural enrichment. I encourage you to take a look.

I am very proud of the work that the faculty and staff do. If you'd like to contact me, e-mail or call. I want to hear from you.

Thank you.

Geoff Gamble,
President, Montana State University