President Nowaczyk and Vice Presidents Deliver 2019 State of the University Address

Frostburg State University (FSU) President Ronald Nowaczyk ushered in a new semester at FSU on Thursday, Sept. 5, by delivering the annual State of the University address to FSU faculty, staff, and students. The President, as well as FSU’s Vice Presidents, gave updates on projects undertaken in the past year while also introducing plans to better FSU going forward.

President Nowaczyk began by recapping progress from the past year. He remarked on another year of high graduation rate for the undergraduate college, new buildings being erected on campus, and the hiring of faculty and staff. Nowaczyk closed his opening remarks by saying that his administration has made the “recognition that people are the most important part of this university.”

Next, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Liz Throop spoke on the state of academic affairs at FSU. The Provost mentioned several promotions within the faculty, with five members of the faculty being granted tenure and promotion to Associate Professor and six being promoted to full Professor. In addition to promotions, the Provost announced the new Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dr. Kim Hixson. She announced the search for a Dean of the College of Education and discussed some changes to academic programs around campus including the creation of a new Climate Science minor and the suspension of the Bachelors in Athletic Training.

Jeffrey Graham, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs, spoke on how to engage and retain students at Frostburg State. He outlined five priorities the Office of Student Affairs is working towards. First, he touched on career readiness, including internships, cooperations, and student teaching statistics. He said, “one of the things we really want to focus on is making sure we have a career-ready student at the end of their educational opportunities.” His next priority was residential facilities,  mentioning the renovation of Annapolis Hall and the increasing amount of funds to be allocated to facilities. Furthermore, Graham discussed the upcoming renovations to Westminster and Frederick Hall, as well as the new hall currently being built near Chesapeake Dining Hall. He also touched on increasing student activities, student retention and engagement, and a new partnership featuring FSU’s CAPS office with Western Maryland Health System to address mental health needs on campus.

Arlene Cash, Vice President for Enrollment Management, began by showing the audience the 2019 enrollment statistics. Transfer enrollment is down; however, overall disenrollment is down, for the fifth straight year. Cash took time to praise the incoming freshman class who have higher GPAs and SAT scores than in previous years. To combat enrollment issues, Cash laid out some initiatives that enrollment management will be working on. She plans to increase outreach to first-year students by recruiting in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well as bringing more students to campus through Open Houses. She also announced the anticipated hiring of four student success coaches to work with first-year students to make sure they have the tools to succeed at FSU. Cash finished her portion of the address by laying out findings from a survey from students who enrolled at FSU and who decided against enrolling at FSU about the factors that influenced their decision to come to FSU or not.

John Short, Vice President for University Advancement and Executive Director for the FSU Foundation, initiated his talk about the role of alumni for current students at FSU and how his office can keep alumni engaged. Short reported on the role alumni can play in recruiting, fundraising, and student support. In regards to fundraising, he displayed increases in fundraising numbers yearly, as well as increases to the endowment fund. Despite low enrollment numbers, more financial support has been given to FSU students. Short also mentioned a long-term campaign to increase funds to culminate on the 125th anniversary of the university.

President Nowaczyk quickly summarized the Vice President for Regional Development and Engagement, Al Delia’s, presentation as Delia could not be present. Nowaczyk mentioned Delia’s plan to bring people together by working as an “honest broker” as well as working as a “catalyst” to foster ideas in the community.

Leon Wyden, Vice President for Administration and Finance, set forth several goals in the realm of finance that FSU has met per the University System of Maryland’s policies. Wyden also spoke on the commitment his office has made to “catch up” on deferred maintenance around campus. Also, Wyden spoke on the increase of enrollment in graduate programs at Frostburg State. He explained that the move from Division III athletics to Division II will mean that athletic rosters will grow. With that in mind, Wyden expressed that there will be an emphasis on developing and growing FSU’s women’s sports. Wyden also referenced the new Education and Health Science building coming to campus, saying that designs for the building are roughly fifty percent finished.

President Nowaczyk gave his closing remarks to conclude the State of the University address. He referred to increasing marketing tactics to help grow enrollment, as well as continued focus on resources and spending money on projects that will help grow Frostburg State. Nowaczyk expressed a genuine interest to increase what FSU has to offer students and to make Frostburg State a place where people want to be. He said, “affordability is not the thing we can keep hanging our hats on.”