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Dear Colleagues, Students, Trustees and Alumni:
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Three years ago, a five-year Gannon University Strategic Plan was approved by the Board of Trustees. With the assistance of a representative group of faculty and staff, as well as a Trustee and an alumnus, and with input from you, the seven goals that the members of the Strategic Planning Prioritizing Committee identified during the 2001-2002 academic year have served as our foundation and guide. At the mid-point of the original five-year Strategic Plan, I am pleased that we have already met and exceeded several of the goals outlined in the Plan. During the 2004-2005 academic year, a task force that included many of the original Strategic Plan Committee members met several times and made minor adjustments to a few of the original objectives; however, no changes were made to the seven goals.
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Some of the accomplishments thus far include: advancing from 58th to 37th in the U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2006” edition among “Master’s-Universities” in the northern sector of the country; ranking in the top ten of U.S. News & World Report’s “Great Schools, Great Prices” category; attaining Middle States Reaccreditation in July 2003; establishing Gannon’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning as a result of a five-year $1.824 million Title III grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the largest grant in Gannon’s history; and, the publishing of an updated version of On Catholic Identity, a document that focuses on the five key traits of our Mission: Respect, Service, Community, Sacramentality, and Dialogue between Faith and Reason.
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Our third strategic goal has focused on increasing our alumni involvement and other revenue from external sources. To date, solicitation of six-and-seven-figure leadership gifts and increased participation among Trustee giving has resulted in $11,618,296 in total commitments to The Power To Transform Campaign, which represents 38 percent of the $30 million campaign goal. The market value of Gannon’s endowment also increased by 5 percent since last year.
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The University also continues to promote service-learning and volunteer service of students, faculty and staff. Last year, our students contributed more than 26,000 service hours. Finally, as a result of this year’s incoming class of 622 freshmen, which is the largest class since 1993, we are making steady progress on increasing our enrollment. Moreover, our first-to-second year retention rate is now 83.72%--almost ten points higher than the national average.
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While we have been very successful thus far in the implementation of the University’s Strategic Plan, there is still much work to be done. Based on our progress thus far, we will be able to achieve the majority of the objectives of the first five years of this Plan and we are already beginning the process to develop the next five-year Strategic Plan. Thank you for all that you have done to promote Gannon’s Mission, and its student-centered commitment as a premier Catholic and Diocesan University. Our strategic planning process is working and, with your continued contributions, we will move Gannon even further as an outstanding institution of higher education.
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Sincerely,
Antoine M. Garibaldi, Ph.D.
President
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