Town Hall Meeting Update, Feb. 23, 2006

At the February 23, 2006, Town Hall meeting with faculty, staff and students, President Stockhausen highlighted the following University activities and updates:

Events

After 50 years of service to UDM, Fr. Herman Muller, S.J., has been permanently assigned to the Jesuit health care center at Columbiere in Clarkson. Thanks to the Athletics Department for celebrating the Fr. Muller Day in honor of UDM's number one sports fan at the men's basketball game on Feb. 18. We are also planning a University reception and send-off for Fr. Muller on Thursday, April 6 at 3:30 p.m. in the Student Center President's Dining Room. Please plan to attend.

Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., the superior-general of the Jesuits in Rome will be visiting Detroit in October. The Detroit Province and UDM will co-sponsor two events during Fr. Kolvenbach's visit: he will speak at Gesu Church on Friday night, Oct. 6 and say mass at Sts. Peter and Paul Church at noon on Saturday, Oct. 7. More details will be available as the dates get closer. All are welcome for both events and the receptions that will follow each.

Enrollment

Term II headcount surpassed the previous year for the second year in a row. We were also up in credit hours and up about 200 full-time students from last year. Early registration for summer is running about even in headcount, but up in full-time. Freshman applications, admits, and deposits for next fall are all running ahead of last year when we brought in the second largest freshman class since consolidation. Retention of regularly admitted undergraduates is in line with previous years,

Capital Projects

We have employed Hines, a real estate and construction consultant, to conduct the detailed programming, design, and analysis of all our proposed projects, and they are close to completing their assignment. We have also contracted with Alfred Kahn and Associates to develop a master plan for the McNichols Campus to update the previous work of UDM's Highest and Best Use Committee.

The Board of Trustees continues its information review process related to campus facility decisions. We are currently exploring several options for the Dental School, including the extension of its lease agreement on the Outer Drive Campus. The Board is also reviewing cost implications for projects on the McNichols and Riverfront campuses as part of the overall capital projects plan. We hope to have more details available on campus priorities by late spring.

University Commons and NorthStar Neighborhood Development

Families have begun moving into the new housing units south of the McNichols Campus. Site work is progressing well on the Titan Pointe condominium project on the north side of Puritan.

UDM's Identity

As I visit with alumni and friends at receptions and visits around the country, I find that in addition to giving them news about UDM, I am inviting them to think of UDM as the University of the Future. By that I mean that three fundamental commitments that are part of our identity—Catholic, urban, and comprehensive—position us almost uniquely to be the educator for the 21st century.

Our Catholic, Mercy, and Jesuit heritage provides our students with a base in values and ethics that are necessary not only for everyday life but for addressing the issues we as a nation and world will face. Our urban Detroit commitment gives us a diverse student body that mirrors the work force of the future. For our students learning how to negotiate their way within a racially, ethnically, and religiously diverse world such as exists at UDM is an essential and valuable skill not only for themselves, but for the world they will inherit. Finally, our comprehensiveness makes possible not only inter- and multi-disciplinary programs, but it also provides students with a multiplicity of perspectives that will be necessary to address the complex issues of our day. Taken together, these three commitments situate us to educate our students not only for their individual futures, but also for a common future.