April 2015 Board of Visitors Update

Dear Madison Community,

I'd like to share with you some of the information that senior leadership presented to the Board of Visitors today as well as news from that meeting.  Chief among this news are the achievements of our exceptional faculty, staff, students and donors. 

• Theatre and Dance majors
• Madison Collaborative
• Successful national searches
• Faculty and staff compensation
• Tuition and fees
• Transformative gift for SHSRM
• Recognitions and awards
• Athletics accomplishments
• May Commencement plans

Theatre and Dance majors

Today the Board of Visitors approved an upgrade of three concentrations into individual majors in the School of Theatre and Dance.  Dance, Musical Theatre and Theatre will each become majors with a bachelor of arts degree. The change was prompted by the re-accreditation process with the National Association of Schools of Dance and National Association of Schools of Theatres. The proposed majors involve no additional curricular changes, and no additional resources are required for the upgrade.

Madison Collaborative

We are gaining traction across campus as we near the completion of Year 2 of our Quality Enhancement Plan. The Madison Collaborative: Ethical Reasoning in Action includes a focus on ethics across our academic and student affairs programs.

Every component in the Division of Student Affairs is incorporating the 8 Key Questions into its programming.

In Academic Affairs, more faculty members are using the 8 Key Questions strategy in their instruction -- in courses in general education and in the majors. I look forward to even greater faculty involvement and adoption as we make ethical reasoning a top priority. JMU faculty members have made numerous presentations to national professional groups on this topic.

Under the newly established Madison Collaborative Educators program, students teach students ethical reasoning skills.

Finally, this spring we are piloting The Madison Collaborative Interactive, an online learning activity that builds upon the ideas learned during "It's Complicated" (the Orientation program that introduces all incoming first-year students to the 8 Key Questions).

Three successful national searches

I am pleased to announce that we have concluded three successful important national searches in Academic Affairs.

Dr. Adam Murray will be joining us as the new dean of Libraries and Educational Technologies. Dr. Murray currently serves as dean of University Libraries at Murray State University.

Dr. Jie Chen will be the Dean of the Graduate School. Dr. Chen is coming to us from the University of Idaho, where he serves as the dean of the College of Graduate Studies.

Dr. Bradley Newcomer will be joining us as the director of the Honors Program as we seek to take the next step to develop a full Honors College within JMU. He is coming to us from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he serves as the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Honors and Research and Professor and Director of the B.S. in Biomedical Science Program.

Faculty and staff compensation

Our continuing efforts to provide competitive compensation for our faculty and staff have been successful this year. We are pleased to be able to provide a bonus to all eligible full-time classified, wage, and A&P faculty employees this year. We are working hard to provide competitive salaries and benefits to all employees.

Earlier this academic year, we were able to provide a salary increase for our instructional faculty, and we want to acknowledge and thank the Faculty Senate for their resolution of appreciation for our continuing efforts on this front.

Our people are our most important resource and the key to the quality of the experience we provide, which is why we have made this a priority. The state budget plan for this coming year currently includes salary increases for faculty and staff. I want to thank Vice Presidents King and Benson for their tireless leadership in managing the budget carefully.

Tuition and fees

During their recent meeting, the Board of Visitors considered tuition and fees for the 2015 - 2016 academic year. As you are probably aware, only 29 percent of JMU's budget comes from general funds provided by the Commonwealth of Virginia. While we are grateful for this state support, that leaves tuition and fees as the primary source of revenue to cover the costs of fulfilling the university's mission.

A number of factors will affect the university's budget next year. The increased costs of medical insurance and retirement benefits, faculty and staff compensation increases approved by the state (for which JMU provides the majority of the funding), costs associated with operating new facilities, new faculty positions needed to maintain our 16:1 student-faculty ratio in light of enrollment growth, and the continuing impact of state budget cuts from this past year all place demands on the university's budget. The university continues to work hard to improve efficiency in all aspects of operations and to focus on key strategic priorities in order to control expenses. Given all of these factors, the Board of Visitors voted to increase undergraduate tuition and fees for the 2015 - 2016 academic year by a modest amount overall so as to maintain our focus on access and affordability. This increase was necessitated by the need to cover mandatory budget reductions, cost of continuance and other mandatory costs required by the Commonwealth. The university's budget for the next academic year will also include increases in financial aid to help families who are working hard to cover these costs. For more detail on 2015 - 2016 tuition and fees, please visit the Board of Visitors' summary of discussions and actions.

JMU continues to be one of the Commonwealth's and the nation's best values in higher education. Of the 15 public, four-year institutions of higher education in Virginia, JMU's total in-state costs rank 11th while our out-of-state costs rank 10th. We strive hard to provide a world-class education at a reasonable price. We understand that families make a lot of sacrifices to support their students in higher education, and we will continue to do everything we can to ensure that students of all backgrounds can afford to attend JMU. I am grateful to the Board of Visitors and all of the faculty, staff and administrators who help make this possible each year.

Transformative gift for SHSRM

I am delighted to announce a transformative gift of more than $3 million from California Pizza Kitchen CEO and alumnus G.J. ('84) and Heather Hart to name the School of Hospitality, Sport and Recreation Management in the College of Business. We made the formal announcement earlier this month at the Annual Stewardship Luncheon, where we celebrate our donors and the impact of their giving on JMU. The Harts appeared on video from California, where 10 of our students and school director Michael O'Fallon were participating in CPK's annual operators conference for the seventh year. G.J., a Shenandoah Valley native, and Heather want to continue the tradition of excellence in the College of Business and to ensure its leadership in higher education. Theirs is the first naming gift for a school at JMU and hopefully the first of many to come that will have a profound and unending impact on thousands of JMU students. Please read the story and watch the video to learn more about this exciting gift and their philosophy of giving back.

Recognitions and Awards

JMU faculty, students and staff continue to engage in the world around them and to gain national attention for their outstanding work. Listed below are just a few of the recent recognitions earned by members of our community.Please join me in congratulating all of our award recipients for their phenomenal work. I am extremely proud of our JMU community and all of the tremendous effort, intelligence and drive that these awards reflect.

Fulbrights in the Honors Program
History and Spanish major, James Brady ('15), was awarded an English Teaching Assistantship in Mexico. International Affairs major, Adam White ('14) was awarded an English Teaching Assistantship in South Korea. A third Fulbright went to JMU, alum Patrick McCauley ('10), who majored in physics and minored in creative writing, astronomy, and mathematics. He was awarded a research grant in Australia where he will begin a Ph.D. as part of the Space Physics Group at the University of Sydney. His research will focus on solar physics.

Achievements in the sciences
Amanda Crandall ('17) has been accepted into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ernest F. Hollings scholarship program--a national award that will give her two years of tuition and an internship at NOAA next summer. Physics professor Kevin Giovanetti received the 2015 Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Technology at the 26th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning, recognizing his work on robotics with NOVA Labs in Reston.

The Debate Team continues its streak
The Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) named the JMU Debate team as the top public debate team in the nation for the sixth time in nine years. Lindsey Shook, Assistant Director of Debate, received the Galentine Award for top female debate coach in the nation.

In addition, two debaters, Jacob Bosley and Ellie Miller, were named to the All-American team. Eight were named National Debate Scholars: Jackson Hendrix, Jacob Bosley, Luke Montiero, Rachel Keith, Matt Mueller, Nick Lepp, Ellie Miller and Samantha Perez.

Finally, I was honored and humbled that CEDA selected me as the recipient of the Public Advocate of the Year Award. The award is given to an individual who has made a positive contribution to public discourse on matters of social importance. Past recipients include U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala. From my perspective, the award is truly a reflection of our entire university's commitment to civic engagement and civil discourse.

Nursing program achieves national ranking
For the first time in the program's history, U.S. News and World Report ranked the Graduate Nursing program on the Best Nursing School list for graduate programs. Our program was ranked #122 out of more than 500 U.S. programs on the list. This achievement is especially noteworthy because JMU was ranked against all types of institutions, including research-intensive universities and academic health sciences centers.

Outstanding student learning
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) presented JMU with the Award for Outstanding Institutional Practice in Student Learning. This award recognizes JMU as a national leader in preparing students and is an undeniable sign that we are working hard to deliver on the points of our strategic plan.

Big Brothers Big Sisters award
And last but not least, Big Brothers Big Sisters of James Madison University was selected to receive the 2015 Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Award in the Outstanding Educational Institution category. A team from JMU and Big Brothers Big Sisters will receive the award at the Governor's Mansion on April 30.

Athletics Accomplishments

Women take CAA basketball title
Women's basketball captured the regular-season CAA title and conference tournament for the second consecutive year. This is the sixth consecutive season in which they've won at least 25 games. JMU also took three of the top CAA postseason awards: junior guard Precious Hall ('16) was named Player of the Year; senior center Lauren Okafor ('14), was named Women's Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year; and Coach Kenny Brooks ('92) was named Coach of the Year.

Men share regular season basketball title
Men's basketball earned a share of the CAA regular-season title. This is the first time since the 1999-2000 season that the Dukes finished the regular season in at least a tie for first place.

Softball and lacrosse ranked in Top 25
The women’s softball team was ranked in the Top 25 of both major softball polls for the first time in program history, and the women’s lacrosse team is currently ranked #16 in the nation.

More spring sports
Other spring sports are under way including Women's and Men's Golf, Men's and Women's Tennis, Baseball, and Women's Outdoor Track and Field. I encourage you to attend the games and support our Dukes.

May Commencement plans

I can hardly believe that we are approaching the end of another academic year. JMU alumna Lindsay Czarniak ('00), co-anchor for ESPN SportsCenter at 6 p.m., will be our main graduation speaker. We've modified our schedule of May commencement plans as noted below to allow for expansion of our ceremonies and to ease traffic pressures.

• 7 p.m. Thursday, May 7: Graduate School ceremony

• 3 p.m. Friday, May 8: Main university ceremony in Bridgeforth Stadium

• 7 p.m. Friday, May 8: College of Business Ceremony in Bridgeforth Stadium

• 9 a.m. Saturday, May 9: All other college ceremonies

In closing, let me wish good health and success for upcoming finals and good luck on future endeavors to our almost-graduated students!

Jonathan R. Alger
President