Greetings Fellow Faculty Emeriti Association Members,

I'm in hopes that this newsletter finds you in good health, enjoying the fall weather and cheering on the Dukes.

As the relatively new President of the Faculty Emeriti Association, I am having a great time and that's in thanks to my many colleagues who I'm working with and who are supporting the wide range of activities among the FEA members. I also appreciate the new ideas how we can improve as an organization, as we strive to meet the needs of our retired faculty members aged early 60s to over 100.

At our kickoff picnic in mid-August we hosted over 100 FEA members and guests, and concluded the afternoon with a tour of the newly renovated Carrier Library, which is an amazing place. We also recognized the many FEA members who have come before us and who helped to create the FEA organization back in 2001, since we are celebrating our 25th year in existence. Both Martha Caldwell and Dick Whitman got this group organized and we are pleased to support their legacy. In addition, there are 7 former FEA Presidents who have led the way: Jerry Coulter, Cameron Nickels, Nancy O’Hare, Rex Fuller, Violet Allain, Shelia Moorman, & Kay Knickrehm. I am grateful for their leadership, advice and wisdom that I received from them. Moving forward, we are fortunate to have excellent leaders within the FEA and I'm appreciative for each and every one of them.

We held a reception for JMU President Jim Schmidt in late September at the Forbes Center and had nearly 100 FEA members and friends in attendance. President Jim (as he likes to be called) was generous with his time and provided many complimentary comments about the FEA members, such as "you built this university and your impact is still being felt, especially in the recruitment of faculty.”

He shared with us some of his vision for JMU and indicated that the growth of the University would be around 1-2% per year for the next few years. He is in hopes of increasing the number of students who will be living on campus, as he believes that is a very important factor in students feeling close to JMU. Currently, only 28% of our undergraduate students live in residence halls.

While he was very pleased that JMU is now ranked number 67 nationally by US News and World Report among public universities (up 12 spots from last year), he was delighted to share with us that we are now ranked—out of 1700 institutions—number 22 nationally as the "Best Undergraduate Teaching" university across the country. We are grateful for the time he shared with us.

With regard to the impact that JMU as an anchor institution is making locally, get this: The latest economic impact report from 2025 found that JMU generated nearly $600 million in economic impact in the Harrisonburg area, with student spending making up a significant portion of that amount. Students contribute about $200 million dollars in spending and that’s not tuition and housing—that’s restaurants, groceries, housing and food. That spending has a ripple effect as those dollars move through the local economy, supporting salaries and increasing the area’s tax base. In addition, from student spending alone, it’s estimated that about 1,200 additional jobs in the area are created. Plus, the university gets about 300,000 visitors annually who are not local to the area to help that impact.

In addition, JMU’s impact is not limited to dollars. JMU has documented more than 60,000 hours of community service and participation by students with local and regional community organizations. Those experiences can create a longer-term connection to the area. Many of our students are drawn back to the Shenandoah Valley after graduation because of their local experiences. That's a very impressive statistic about our students that you don't read on the front pages.

I am also pleased to report that the Faculty Emeriti Association is tackling some new ideas, as evidenced by the Mentoring Program and Oral History Project. We are in hopes to match up FEA members with current students to help them through their time at JMU, as well as record FEA members and capture their memories and history of their time at JMU. Thanks to Diane Foucar-Szocki and Sherry King for their leadership on these projects. More on that to come.

I'd like to close by thanking 3 people in the School of Professional and Continuting Education where the Faculty Emeriti Association is "housed" within JMU. Dr. Nick Swartz is the Dean of the School, along with Dr. Sarah MacDonald who is the Associate Dean, as well as Kristina Oates who is the Operations Support Assistant, and provides constant help of the FEA efforts. Thanks to all 3 for everything you do for the Faculty Emeriti Association and for JMU.

I hope you will enjoy the remainder of the Fall weather, have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends, and partake in the many seasonal holiday activities around Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Have a great 2027!

Steve

Steve Smith, President
JMU Faculty Emeriti Association