This is a historic year for Seton Hall, and I am honored to send out the traditional early-semester “welcome” message from the Office of the President, even as classes are under way and our student body has settled in. As you well know, I am serving for the next year as interim president, which I view as a major opportunity for us to continue to move this institution forward academically and strategically.

In this spirit, I wish to report on many activities and developments that have brought us to this moment in the life of our 154-year-old Catholic University. Already, this year has begun with a number of milestones of growth and achievement.
  As I have shared, 1,322 first-year students have joined our University community, an 18% increase over last year and the largest Seton Hall undergraduate class in 30 years. They are a highly qualified group, whose average two-part SAT is 33 points higher than last year. We tip our collective hat to Associate Provost and Dean of Enrollment Services Dr. Tracy Gottlieb for her team’s tremendous efforts in recruiting the Class of 2014. Critical in this effort were faculty and staff who reached out to candidates with personal messages and strong encouragement to make our University their top choice.

The institution had hoped for more transfer students this year and were somewhat disappointed by the final yield, and we must monitor carefully the mid-year and year-end retention numbers.

The serious financial crisis has made the last two years an extremely challenging time for all of higher education, including Seton Hall University. Nonetheless, we continue to move cautiously forward because of the dedication of our faculty, administrators and staff to our important mission, and most of all, to our students.

All of our schools, colleges and administrative divisions have taken strides forward over the past few months, and I am pleased to highlight just some of the progress we have made as a community of teaching and learning.

Initiatives and Achievements

We are proud that the Stillman School of Business has been ranked 56th nationally in BusinessWeek’s Best Undergraduate Business Schools and 8th in the country by employers and among private universities in terms of return on investment.

Seton Hall has been well-served by developing a solid strategy to strengthen our academic programs and reputation and to improve the University’s competitive position among the nation’s top universities. “From Strength to Strength” the University’s draft strategic plan, to which so many members of the Seton Hall family contributed, will be formally presented to the Board of Regents at an upcoming meeting. The plan is intended to provide a clear road map on how to strengthen the University, including deepening our Catholic identity, over the next several years. As you know, we have already begun to implement many of the components of the strategic plan, and we hope to continue to do so during this academic year.

The College of Arts and Sciences has consolidated its departments from 20 to 13. The consolidation will allow the reallocation of resources to focus on its great academic strengths in the current academic year and moving forward.

A number of the strategic plan’s proposed Centers of Excellence have already been strengthened by reallocating existing dollars, and we are strengthening our student body through selective marketing and realigning our financial aid to support our strategic goals. We are enhancing our Catholic identity by investing in a number of new initiatives, including a freshman scholarship program.

We also continue to strengthen our academic reputation among our peers. This is evidenced by the impressive number of Fulbright and other external scholarships/awards received by our students and faculty. This past year also saw the Stillman School maintain its AACSB-International accreditation and the accounting program receive initial accreditation.

The College of Education and Human Services was reaccredited by NCATE. Other schools across campus, including Health and Medical Sciences and the College of Nursing have maintained their accreditation or achieved initial accreditation for programs.

The Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology is celebrating its sesquicentennial with the publication of the history of the seminary, written by Monsignor Robert J. Wister. This archdiocesan seminary is one of the oldest and largest such institution in the United States. Other events commemorating this milestone will be announced as the year progresses.

Recently, the School of Law hosted the third national People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference with nationally and internationally recognized speakers, furthering our commitment to fostering a diverse community of teaching and learning.

A key goal for us this academic year is to strengthen Seton Hall’s financial base. This will be accomplished through keeping a tight rein on expenses while growing our revenues. To this end we will take the steps needed to ensure enrollment stability and growth, increase our retention and graduation rates, and develop other revenue sources. A strong financial base will allow us to take the steps needed to recruit, retain, and develop our key resource – our people.

Despite recent challenges, Seton Hall continues to achieve. We have raised $12.7 million during Fiscal Year 2010, a slight increase over the previous year. Wise stewardship of our resources is another key component of the proposed strategic planning that we will wish to focus on in the coming year.

People

We welcome 23 new professors to our faculty whom we officially greeted at our annual faculty convocation. They join a distinguished group of scholars who are the backbone of Seton Hall University.

Seton Hall has been awarded an impressive number of national and international scholarships, the most in our history. We have four 2010 Fulbright Scholars: John Papaspanos, who graduated in May from the John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations, will study in Greece, as will Stephanie Aigner, also of the Whitehead School. Grace Chung, another Whitehead graduate is headed for Indonesia, and Kaitey Shelden, a graduate student in the School of Theology will go to Slovakia.

Lisa Didow, from the College of Education and Human Services represents Seton Hall as a 2010 Udall Scholar; Alyssa Alfano, Leah Kolman, Ousman Laast-Maiga, and Rachel Rosenstrock, all of the Whitehead School, and Laura Gruca, of the College of Arts and Sciences are 2010 Critical Language Scholars; and Ivan Vilela of the Whitehead School is a Pickering Scholar.

We have several new leadership appointments. Monsignor Anthony Ziccardi has been appointed vice president for mission and ministry and serves on the president’s executive cabinet. Dr. Joan Guetti is serving as interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Joyce Strawser is currently the acting dean of the Stillman School of Business. Professor Kathleen Boozang has begun a one-year appointment as interim vice provost.

From our Priest Community, Monsignor Thomas Nydegger has been appointed associate vice president for Student Affairs, effective November 1, and Father Stanley Gomes is our new director of Campus Ministry. Father Robert Suszko has been appointed vice rector and business manager of the Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology, effective November 1.

The new director of Student Health Services is Mary Beth Costello. Sara Doell joined us as the first head coach of the new women’s golf program, and, as you no doubt already know, Kevin Willard has joined us as coach of the men’s Pirate basketball team, and Anne Donovan will coach the women’s basketball squad.

Environment

Student Affairs received a grant from the State Division of Alcohol Beverage Control to produce a sobriety-themed concert called “Lollanobooza.” The event, co-sponsored by Seton Hall’s nationally acclaimed radio station, WSOU, took place September 16.

Several technology upgrades will improve efficiency and service in parking, public safety and campus ID. Cabrini Hall has received a facelift; bathrooms have been renovated and the building painted. New lounge furniture has been purchased for several student lounge areas in residence halls and in the University Center.

We will follow through on the six strategic goals we have established to advance the principles of local and global environmental stewardship and sustainability. The University reestablished the recycling program in the residence halls through an educational program and focused efforts on improving its environmental report card grade.

Operating within limited budget constraints, Facilities Engineering focused forward and worked on projects that were necessary to support the infrastructure of the campus and improve student life and the academic environment. The University contracted with Huron Consulting Group to perform a campus-wide operational and workforce analysis and comparison of Seton Hall against peer institutions to identify best practices and long-term cost reductions.

Emergency preparedness and training programs will continue to be more robust as we implement the programs supported by a $536,000 grant from the Department of Education. Weekend programming of student activities will expand this coming year as will programs supporting student leadership development.

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Last week, Board of Regents Chairman Kurt Borowsky stepped down after serving with distinction as a member of our board since 1993 and chair since 2003. On behalf of the community I expressed sincere thanks to Mr. Borowsky, and I am grateful that John J. Schimpf, vice chair of the board, will be acting as the chair until a new chair is elected.

As a special note and reminder: This coming Saturday, September 25 is the first of three Service on Saturdays opportunities for all members of our community. I urge you not to miss this one, or future SOS days later during this semester.

As interim president, I can confidently assert that our University can and will achieve the significant goals we have set for ourselves in recruiting and retaining quality students and outstanding faculty, managing our financial health in difficult times, strengthening the national reputation of Seton Hall and becoming the preeminent Catholic University.

You have my special prayers of gratitude and my good wishes.

A. Gabriel Esteban