The end of a very productive semester

As the fall semester comes to an end with commencement this Saturday, we should take time to reflect upon this very busy and productive semester. It was a time of reaffirmation for the University of Northern Iowa: a reaffirmation of the high-quality educational programs and, more importantly, the talented teacher-scholars on our faculty, the dedicated staff, and the motivated and excellent students. The reaffirmation came through the Higher Learning Commission review team who gave UNI its highest possible recommendation of reaccreditation for another 10 years. The reaffirmation also is coming through the very successful $150-million Imagine the Impact campaign. The national campaign kickoff event was held in October, where it was announced that alumni and friends of UNI have already committed more than $109 million. The university received the two largest commitments in its history in the past five months to be used for scholarships and academic programming.

The fall semester was also a time of setting the course for the university over the next five years as the Board of Regents approved our new strategic plan. The plan is built on the values long-held by university community members, and also elevates the sights of the university. The spring semester will focus on the implementation of the new strategic plan and the development of the budget for the next academic year. The financial situation remains a challenging one—both for the state and the university. As we develop the budget, we will seek input and we will keep the campus community informed as the process moves along.

Despite the challenges, as we graduate more than 900 students at commencement on Dec. 18, we are reminded that at the University of Northern Iowa we remain committed to providing our students the highest-quality education and focused on continuously improving our programs to ensure we are preparing our students to be successful in the constantly changing 21st century. I thank each of you at UNI for your part in making this a very successful semester and for your tireless efforts and commitments to this goal. We have much to be proud of and excited about as we head into the new year!

December, 2010