the rocket
Friday September 14, 2018 • Volume 102, Issue Number 1 • An Independent, Student-Run Newspaper
www.theonlinerocket.com
President Behre delivers first State of the University Address
PARIS MALONE/THE ROCKET
University President Dr. William Behre addressed SRU for the first time on Thursday.
By Eric Davies Editor-In-Chief
President William Behre delivered his inaugural State of the University Address to an audience of faculty, students and staff in the Smith Student Center Ballroom this Thursday. Behre reviewed the financial status of the university as well as informed stakeholders on enrollment, new scholarships and outlined some of his administration's goals moving forward. "By most measures, Slippery Rock University is doing extraordinarily well," Behre said. He went on to talk about Slippery Rock's less then one percent drop in enrollment, comparing it to the double-digit losses of other PASSHE schools. In an
interview after the address, Behre commented on the lower enrollment rate, saying that he would only be concerned should it develop into a trend. "We are down off of record years," Behre said, "So occasionally you will get a little regression to a median. I think what we need to do, and what folks are doing... is really parsing it out and figuring out what programs we missed our mark in and why." Behre also explained that he does not think the feature of the university lies in continued growth. "I think it's a mistake to look for growth every year because if you continue to grow you stop to be who you are," Behre said. "What I would rather do is figure out how do we keep the students we have and how do we right-size Slippery Rock."
Behre explained that Slippery Rock's retention rate in the low 80s is nationally a very good number, but still leaves room for our improvement. "That's still 20 percent of our students that aren't coming back," Behre said. Later in the address, Behre announced that the university is financially solid. With the education and general budget, the university's primary budget, ended the 2017-2018 fiscal year with a surplus of $691,000. This was made possible by increasing enrollment, a three-and-a-half percent tuition and fee increase, and a four percent increase in state appropriations. Behre also said that this year's budget is balanced, by implementing a 2.99 percent tuition and fees increase and receiving an additional $1.1 million in state appropriations to make up for the decreased enrollment and keep up with rising costs. "We are collectively working hard to balance all these factors in order to maintain our position of financial strength and stability," Behre said. One of the main talking points by used by Behre during the interview process last semester was the importance of alumni fundraising. Behre continued to stress this and laid out a goal of having 10 percent of alumni involved in donating by the year 2024. "It will be a great way to celebrate the 135 anniversary of this institution to get our alumni back and engaged," Behre said. Later Behre commented that the goal of 10 percent was not random. "[In] recent data I saw the top PASSHE school was at 10 percent," Behre said. "We do think it's a good reach goal to say 'we want to be with the best' and now we have to figure out how to do it." Behre highlighted the need for this additional funding due to the decreasing funding from the Board of Governors. According to Behre, under this year's funding formula SRU received a million dollars less then expected. "This was unfortunate but not unexpected," Behre said. SEE BEHRE PAGE A-4
SGA focuses on community connections, sustainability By Hannah Shumsky Assistant News Editor
As the Student Government Association (SGA) executive board members take office for the year, SGA President Dallas Kline reflects on the meaning of her election campaign’s slogan, OneSRU. Not only is Kline new to her position, but there are several senators and executive board members who are new to their positions, including Kennedy Moore, who has not served on senate before becoming vice president of diversity and inclusion. “For us, as an internal organization, we’re trying to work together as one as a new cohesive unit,” Kline said. As vice president of diversity and inclusion, which is a new executive board position this year, Moore oversees the social justice committee. In order to create connections with staff, faculty and administration, Moore is currently meeting with Corinne Gibson of the Office for Inclusive Excellence, Noora Alie of the Office for Global Engagement, Natalie Burick of the Office of Disability Services and Jodi Solito of the Women’s Center and Pride Center. “It’s going to really be about establishing those connections to make sure that underrepresented students have a voice and that their issues and concerns are being met not only one time, but throughout their whole entire process here at SRU,” Moore said. According to Logan Tupper, vice president of finance, his committee is focusing on the conference grant, which sets aside $2,500 per semester to reimburse registration fees for students attending conferences. Additionally, Tupper plans on giving presentations to various organizations on campus to discuss the process to receive funding. “I want to reach out to as many clubs and organizations as possible to make sure they are informed on the finance policy so they know what we can fund and what we can’t,” Tupper said. In terms of sustainability, the executive board is investigating various changes and new projects. Some of these changes, however, will not take place until after the spring semester. One of these changes includes
PARIS MALONE/THE ROCKET
Dallas Kline, SGA president, and Logan Tupper, vice president of finance, visit the Secondary Education/Foundations of Education (SEFE) Club table at the Clubs and Organizations fair on Sept. 4.
a possible restructuring of the senate. While SRU’s SGA is organized largely based on residence, many other student governments have a different structure. “The way our senate is structured right now is very different than a lot of other SGAs, and that brings up the question of, ‘Is it as functional as it can be?’,” Tupper said. “That’s why we’re looking into possibly restructuring.” The executive board is researching different type of schools and their student government structure. The two most popular structures SEE SGA PAGE A-3
APSUF President Grab Your Umbrellas Interim Head Praises Univ. Leaders First-Year Students Soccer Coach Dr. Ben Shaevitz offers his highest praises for students and administration. Page A-2
Start off your college career strong and make the most of your experience at SRU. Page B-1
SRU alum Kevin Wilhelm has taken over as interim coach of the men's soccer team. Page C-3
Greek Life Community Service Fraternities and Sororities raise thousands for respective philanthropies. Page D-2