TESTIMONY OF
DR. JANET DUDLEY-ESHBACH
President of Salisbury University
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the
Committee. For the record, my name is Janet Dudley- Eshbach, and I am
proud to be completing my sixth year as President of Salisbury
University. I am grateful for this opportunity to share what is now
being recognized as one of the more compelling success stories in
American higher education. It is also my privilege to thank each of you
for your steadfast support of Maryland’s colleges and universities and
to respectfully ask for your support of Governor Ehrlich’s proposed
Fiscal Year 2007 budget.
A Maryland University of National Distinction
In recent years, Salisbury University has earned
national acclaim despite receiving a lower level of state funding, per
student, than all but one of our peer institutions. For the ninth
consecutive year, SU has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report
as one of the top 10 public universities of its kind in the northern
U.S. SU was also named one of the “Best 361 Colleges” in the nation by
The Princeton Review and as one of America’s “367 Most Interesting Schools” in Newsweek-Kaplan’s America’s
Hottest Colleges.
Last month, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine
listed Salisbury as one of its “100 Best Values in Public Colleges” for
2006.
These recognitions validate Salisbury University’s
ability to balance our rigorous standards of competitiveness and quality
with a commitment to remain affordable and accessible to deserving
students, and to establish an unprecedented level of institutional
diversity. The following testimony expands upon our success in each of
these vital priority areas.
Competitiveness and Quality
The student body currently enrolled at Salisbury
University is among the most accomplished of any in our institution’s
history. The average SAT score of our 2005 freshman class was 1136—15
points higher than last year and 112 points higher than our State
average. The average high school grade point average for incoming
freshmen was 3.46, and 56 percent of all current SU students graduated
in the top 25 percent of their class. In addition, SU has posted the
highest four-year graduation rates in the University System of Maryland
for 18 consecutive years.
Salisbury University continues to outperform, by
substantial margins, our performance peers in a broad range of
performance benchmarks.
Salisbury University vs. Our Performance Peers
Access and Affordability
The 2004 Maryland State Plan for Postsecondary Higher
Education recognized the challenges presented by rising
tuitions and fees at Maryland’s colleges and universities, and the
concomitant decline in need-based financial aid. The report called upon
Maryland’s institutions to “review their aid programs and to target more
funds to support students, including transfer students, with financial
aid.”
Salisbury University has addressed this challenge with
extraordinary results, in spite of the challenges posed by relatively
low tuition rates and state funding constraints. In Fiscal Year 2001, my
first as President, Salisbury devoted just $133,250 to institutional,
need-based financial aid.
In FY 2006, that amount has risen to $930,000— an increase of 600 percent. This effort
has coincided with the work of the Salisbury University Foundation to
raise scholarship funds through the private sector.
While I am extremely proud of our efforts to make a
Salisbury education a more attainable option for more students than
ever, I remain mindful that we still lag far behind our performance
peers in our delivery of need-based financial aid. With that in mind, we
are very pleased that the Governor’s budget proposal reflects a
commitment to increasing the amount of need-based aid available at
Salisbury University and the entire University System of Maryland (USM)
Diversity
It is my pleasure to report that the student body
enrolled at Salisbury University today is more racially, ethnically and
geographically diverse than any in this institution’s history. Total
minority enrollment in Fall 2005 increased by 4.7 percent over 2004 and,
at nearly 16 percent of the total student population, has nearly doubled
the total of just 10 years ago. A breakdown of these figures confirms
that SU’s efforts to diversify its student population are succeeding
across the board:
-
African-American undergraduate enrollment increased
by nearly four percent above last year and, at 645 students, has
increased by 55 percent in just five years.
-
Latino undergraduate enrollment increased by 10
percent over last year and, at 160 students, has increased by 167
percent in five years.
- Asian-American undergraduate enrollment remained at an all-time
high in 2005 and, at 167 students, has increased by 78 percent in
five years.
-
Salisbury University’s student body now includes
representatives from 30 nations, including the United States.
Over the past decade, as Salisbury University’s
reputation has expanded beyond the Eastern Shore and throughout the
entire State, we have experienced a dramatic increase in the percentage
of students who hail from “the Western Shore.” In 1996, 39 percent of
our total student body came from the Eastern Shore, compared to 38
percent from the rest of the State. In the 2005-06 academic year,
“Western Shore” students comprise 53 percent of our total student
population, and 68 percent of our in-state enrollment. Our growing
reputation as a competitive yet affordable institution, the quality of
our campus experience and convenient access to Maryland’s metropolitan
regions have combined to make Salisbury University a statewide
institution of first choice.
Salisbury University’s rise to national acclaim has
coincided with its emergence as one of the most dependable engines of
Maryland’s knowledge-based economy. Our four professional schools—the
Fulton School of Liberal Arts, the Henson School of Science and
Technology, the Perdue School of Business, and the Seidel School of
Education and Professional Studies—are producing many of our state’s
most sought-after health care professionals, high-tech workers, business
executives and teachers.
Our institution’s emphasis on workforce development,
with an eye to the global marketplace, is evidenced by our most popular
fields of study. Currently, our five largest undergraduate majors are
Business Administration, Elementary Education, Communication Arts,
Nursing and Biology. We are proud of our institution’s ability to
respond to the needs of the knowledge-based economy, albeit mindful of
the budgetary and physical challenges that have accompanied this
success.
For example, enrollment in Salisbury’s Nursing
Department expanded to 428 in Fall 2005—an 87 percent increase since
2000. This is a reflection of an acute demand within the health care
industry for Bachelor of Science (B.S.)-level nurses.
The magnitude of our nursing enrollment growth, combined
with the labor and capital-intensive nature of the program and the
rising costs of clinical placement, has placed extraordinary pressure
upon our operating budget. I commend the attention that you have given
this important health care issue in recent years and am grateful that
Governor Ehrlich’s proposed operating budget addresses this critical
need.
However, we are not relying solely upon State support to
address key priorities. As I have pointed out to this Committee in past
years, all four of Salisbury’s schools are privately
endowed—a relative rarity for institutions like ours.
Consistent with the guidance of the Governor, the General Assembly and
the Board of Regents, we have become more aggressive—and more
innovative—in identifying opportunities for public-private partnerships.
For example, Salisbury has joined forces with Peninsula Regional Medical
Center (PRMC), our region’s largest hospital, to expand the pool of
future medical professionals. PRMC has agreed to contribute $20,000 a
year for three years toward the salary of a respiratory therapy
instructor.
Salisbury University’s Business, Economic and Community
Outreach Network (BEACON) provides our region’s private sector leaders
with information—such as consumer trends, demographic data and sector
forecasts—that helps guide long-term business decisions. Two BEACON
programs of note have proven extremely valuable in meeting the needs of
our region’s diversifying economy. The Gray-Shore initiative was
established to educate service providers and local governments about the
Shore’s growing aging population and to help them prepare for the effect
of this demographic trend on our economy, workforce and service needs.
Bienvenidos a Delmarva, a coalition of over 70 service providers, helps
provide our region’s growing immigrant population with the support
services, community relationships and legal resources needed to secure
stable, good-paying jobs.
Along with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, the
University of Maryland College Park and Old Dominion University, SU has
entered a collaborative relationship with the Mid-Atlantic Institute for
Space Technology (MIST), a public-private partnership working to harness
and promote the economic potential of space-related industries. Finally,
a recent BEACON study concluded that Salisbury contributes over $350
million annually to the Eastern Shore’s economy and generates the
equivalent of 3,000 local jobs.
A Center of Cultural and Civic Vibrancy
It is now widely accepted that a region’s cultural
vitality is also an important determinant of its economic health. In
this respect, Salisbury University performs an indispensable service by
providing the Eastern Shore with a vibrant center of fine arts, civic
discourse and intercollegiate sports.
The Salisbury Symphony Orchestra, comprised of both
students and community members, is currently celebrating its 20th year
of memorable performances. The Bobbi Biron Theatre Program at Salisbury
University serves a dual role as an academic theatre to SU students and
a regional theatre for Eastern Shore audiences, and currently stages
three mainstage productions, two studio productions and one studio
production each season.
The Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History
and Culture memorializes the Eastern Shore’s extraordinary past by
collecting and preserving archival materials. Our Ward Museum of
Wildfowl Art boasts the world’s most comprehensive collection of
wildfowl carving, and offers an innovative range of education programs
for K-12 students that promote wildlife protection and ecological
awareness.
Since its 1999 inception, the Institute for Public
Affairs and Civic Engagement (PACE) has provided students with a vehicle
for meaningful involvement in politics, government and community life.
For example, the Institute’s Presidential Citizen Scholar Program
provides students with both the classroom and practical experience
that helps them become effective public servants.
PACE also serves our region as a non-partisan “public
square” for ideas and debate. The Institute’s Paul S. Sarbanes Lecture
Series has attracted leaders of national renown to Salisbury University,
including Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar,
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Representative and civil
rights leader John Lewis. The survey research performed at PACE provides
the public with an important window into public sentiment, and does much
to inform the thinking of our region’s decision makers.
Meanwhile, our NCAA athletic programs continue to be a
great source of university and civic pride. In an era where
“three-peats” at any level are an increasingly difficult accomplishment,
our women’s field hockey and men’s lacrosse teams have each captured
three consecutive NCAA Division III titles. Our baseball team is also in
the midst of an extraordinary run of success, logging five consecutive
NCAA tournament appearances, four 30-win seasons and two trips to the
Division III World Series in the first half of this decade. Finally, our
football team completed a successful 7-3 season in 2005 by defeating our
friends from Frostburg State for the Regents Cup and hosting the ECAC
Southeast Bowl.
Salisbury’s Future: Innovation, Accountability, Results
While the faculty, staff and administration of Salisbury
University can look with justifiable pride upon our record of
accomplishment, I want to assure this committee that we do not intend to
rest on our laurels. We are continuing to explore ways in which we can
improve the quality of the learning experience for our students, prepare
our graduates even more effectively for the knowledge-based workforce,
and manage our public and private resources even more responsibly.
One innovative learning approach that we are strongly
considering, as part of the second phase of the USM’s Effectiveness and
Efficiency (E&E) Project, is a “course-based curriculum.” This model,
now used at many prestigious private colleges and universities, uses
courses instead of credit hours as the basic measure of academic
content. While our current credit-based curriculum requires at least 40
courses of three credits apiece for a degree, students in a
course-based curriculum would take 32-35 courses to satisfy major and
graduation requirements.
While we have not yet made a final decision, we do
believe that there are compelling arguments in favor of this curriculum
model. The reduction in the number of courses, coupled with an increased
emphasis on coursework performed outside of the classroom, would ease
the demand for classroom use and make it easier for Salisbury to
accommodate enrollment growth. The additional time for each course would
allow faculty to present course material in greater depth and foster
greater interaction between instructors and students, particularly
majors. These outcomes would help increase retention and graduation
rates and are consistent with Salisbury University’s intimate, engaged
learning culture.
While continuing to pursue even higher benchmarks for
competitiveness and diversity, Salisbury has increased its transfer
enrollment by 25 percent since 2001. We recently announced a program to
provide a limited number of institutional scholarships to Maryland
community college graduates with a high level of achievement. We have
recently entered into several articulation agreements with community
colleges across the State, which ensure that credits earned in a
particular department at the community college will be fully accepted at
Salisbury University. This reciprocity eliminates one of the biggest
hurdles facing transfer students attempting to earn their bachelor’s
degrees in four years. Our success in remaining affordable through
increased financial aid opportunities and reasonable limits on tuition
growth also will ensure that Salisbury remains an attractive option for
transfer students.
Finally, we hope to have the resources in the coming
years to establish a greater presence in Maryland’s distance learning
centers. Salisbury University, along with the University of Maryland
Eastern Shore and Washington College, currently offers upper-division
courses at the Eastern Shore Higher Education Center, located at
Chesapeake College in Wye Mills. Programs such as these are
indispensable to students in regions that are not served by four-year
institutions, and save many students money by eliminating a long commute
or the need for housing.
The Fiscal Year 2007 Budget: A New Day for Salisbury
University
The Fiscal Year 2007 higher education budget proposed by
Governor Ehrlich is essential to our ability to manage the growth of the
years ahead, remain accessible to deserving students and maintain our
nationally-recognized standards of quality. If approved by the General
Assembly, the Governor’s budget will elevate Salisbury’s annual State
funding from $27.5 million in 2006 to $31.7 million in 2007. While we
will continue to trail most of our performance peers and USM
counterparts in funding per full-time equivalent student, this funding
support will enable us to meet the expectations established by the Board
of Regents, the Governor and the legislature.
Much of this new funding will be dedicated to mandatory
expenses such as energy and employee health care, both of which have
increased dramatically in recent years. This budget would allow
Salisbury to accept 323 new students in the 2006-07 academic year, in
accordance with our designation by the Board of Regents as an enrollment
growth institution. The reasonable limits on tuition increases and the
new investment in need-based financial aid will help Salisbury
University remain an affordable option for deserving students. This
operating budget will also allow us to hire additional faculty and
provide more competitive salaries for our current faculty—both of which
are needed if we are to accommodate enrollment growth while maintaining
current class sizes and intimate, interactive learning environments.
Through responsible fiscal stewardship, extraordinary
support from private donors and an institutional dedication to the
principles of affordability, quality and diversity, Salisbury University
has earned national acclaim despite receiving lower levels of state
support than our national peers. We believe this budget proposal
represents an acknowledgment of our record of success, and a vote of
confidence in our ability to sustain this momentum. The funds contained
in this budget will enable us to accommodate growth, keep our
institution affordable and accessible, and give us the resources to make
an even greater contribution to Maryland’s knowledge-based economy. It
is essential to our future success, and I respectfully ask for your
support.
Thank you for this opportunity to testify and for your
consideration.
RESPONSES TO LEGISLATIVE ANALYST OVERVIEW QUESTIONS
The President should comment on what practices will be
used to increase retention for all students.Salisbury University’s overall second-year retention rate currently
ranks a close second among our 11 performance peer institutions, and, as
noted in the analysis, our minority retention rates are also on the
rise. We recognize that continued progress in this area is vital to
Salisbury’s success.
We have numerous initiatives underway that will further improve
retention rates. We are committed to preserving a high standard of
academic quality by filling core faculty positions as they are vacated
and by planning to further reduce our dependence on part-time and
adjunct faculty. In addition, we are committed to reinvesting in key
student services, many of which sustained staff reductions when our
general fund appropriation was drastically reduced in 2002. While
Salisbury University does not offer remedial services, last November we
opened a new University Writing Center that provides students with the
professional and peer tutelage that enables them to refine their writing
skills.
Salisbury University is also one of only 24 institutions in the
nation currently participating in the Foundations of Excellence task force. This initiative is designed to use improvements to the
student orientation process and in freshman classes to facilitate a more
seamless transition from high school to college. The Foundations of
Excellence model has improved retention rates on other campuses, and
we expect to see similar results on Salisbury’s campus over time.
The President should comment on the low percentage of
African-American and minority students enrolled. The President should
also comment on what plans SU has in the future to increase
African-American and minority student enrollment at SU.
Salisbury University’s minority enrollment is at an all-time high and
continuing to grow. As mentioned in my testimony, we have increased
African-American undergraduate enrollment by 55 percent in the past five
years. During that time, we have increased Asian-American undergraduate
enrollment by 78 percent and Latino undergraduate enrollment by 167
percent. Total minority enrollment in Fall 2005 increased to nearly 16
percent of our overall student population—nearly doubling the total of
just 10 years ago.
To continue our progress, Salisbury University has established a
series of strategic relationships with high schools across the state and
region, focusing specifically on college preparation programs for
minority students. Through programs such as College Bound in
Baltimore City and Prince George’s County, Upward Bound in
several Eastern Shore counties and
DC Cap in the District of Columbia, potential applicants travel
to Salisbury by bus to experience campus life, attend “mock classes”
taught by real faculty and meet with current minority students. These
successful programs increase the visibility of our campus and reinforce
the idea that a Salisbury University education is an attainable goal.
Minority students who have the potential to succeed at the
post-secondary level frequently face two obstacles. First, many students
from low-income households and school districts are unaware of higher
education opportunities that are available, and of the preparation
needed in order to take advantage of them. The second obstacle is
inadequate preparation in science and mathematics—which, of course, is a
well-documented subject of national concern.
One of our most innovative programs addresses both of these
challenges. Supported by MHEC grants, Salisbury University has partnered
with the Somerset County Public Schools’ Gaining Early Awareness and
Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) to help Somerset’s
minority students prepare for college-level work and to help parents and
students become more aware of the broad range of higher education
opportunities that are attainable.
This program began in 2000 with about 200 seventh-grade students.
Over the years, SU has provided this cohort of students with campus
visits, tutoring and mentoring services, and exercises in mathematics,
writing, reading and laboratory sciences. This original group of
students will graduate from Somerset County high schools in 2006, and we
are confident that they will be far better prepared to succeed at the
next level. While Salisbury University will certainly be the first
choice for some of these students, they will emerge with the tools to
succeed at the college or university of their choice.
We look forward to building upon the success of these programs while
identifying new, innovative strategies to grow minority student
enrollment.
The President should comment on how SU will accommodate
an additional 323 students given current space limitations. The
President should also discuss how the additional general funds will be
spent.
While space limitations remain a constant challenge on
Salisbury’s campus, we have the capability to accommodate enrollment
growth next year through both innovative space management and an ongoing
increase in off-campus coursework. Last year the University began using
a software program,
Ad-Astra, a program that facilitates maximum use of
classroom and laboratory space.
A greater percentage of Salisbury University coursework
is now being conducted away from our main campus, and we expect that
trend to continue next year and beyond. This is due to the enhanced
course offerings that are available at Professional Development Sites
(PDS) and at distance learning facilities like the Eastern Shore Higher
Education Center at Chesapeake College. In addition, more of our
students are now taking advantage of online course offerings, internship
experiences and opportunities to study abroad. This allows the
University to maximize its enrollment potential and achieve operational
efficiencies. The University intends to accommodate short-term parking
demand by leasing space near campus, while moving forward with plans for
construction of our first parking garage in 2008.
Salisbury University’s long-term physical capacity will
be significantly enhanced by the construction of two new buildings. Our
new Teacher Education and Technology Center (TETC), a three-story,
165,000 square foot facility, will house our Seidel School of Education
and Professional Studies and some departments of the Fulton School of
Liberal Arts. Construction is scheduled to begin this fall, with
completion slated for 2009. Planning is also underway for a new building
that will replace and expand the facilities currently supporting the
Franklin Perdue School of Business and its instructional, research and
public service programs.
The majority of the additional general funds that
Salisbury University expects to receive—$2.2 million—will be used for
mandatory costs such as energy, employee health care, facilities renewal
and financial aid.
Our $1.8 million enrollment growth allocation will
enable us to hire additional faculty and staff to accommodate the
increase in our student population. Another $200,000 will be used to
leverage private support through our capital campaign.
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