Good morning. I trust all is going well at this busy time of the quarter for you. Can you believe we have just about finished Winter Quarter? Wow, what a year we have had, so many terrific things going on all across campus, so many wonderful accomplishments among all of you. You are the greatest students in the world, you know.

We just finished our winter meeting of the Board of Trustees. This is the time of year we bring forward our budget for the next year for approval by the board. A lot of work goes into the preparation of this budget, and as usual, I am reporting to you the way our budget has shaped up. I do so this year especially with all of the economic pressures swirling around us.

By the way, I want to thank the Student Budget Committee for their hard work wrapping their heads around the budget and providing such helpful insight.

As I reported to the board last week, there are three ways we felt we needed to focus our budget this year. First, we know we have to meet our enrollment goals. That is the key that determines how we set tuition and how we fund financial aid and how we meet our salaries. It is most certainly the key as well to our mission. Our work is all about students, and that is our focus in these challenging times.

Second, we know, in this time of uncertainty, we need strong reserves, and so we have built layers of reserve to ensure steady operations into next year, even given the uncertainties.

Finally, we need to ensure the quality of our programs, and we have sought in every way to enhance rather than diminish our programs and offerings. I hope you know the high quality education you are receiving, clearly one of the finest Christian universities in the country.

We focused on a historically low tuition increase, set now for undergraduates at 3.75 percent, and a significant increase in financial aid to address this current economic moment. I trust you will consult with your financial aid counselor if you have questions about your financial circumstances.

In order to keep our costs down for our students, this has meant no salary increases for the faculty and staff next year. Because over the years, I have tried to put such an emphasis on making our salaries competitive, I hate to have to announce this; yet it comes with a pledge that we will return to our strong commitment to compensation as soon as we are able. We also presented a budget with $1.6 million in budget reductions, and that has not been easy, especially when we are focused on maintaining our quality. I will have much more to say about these cuts later this month. I want to make sure everyone understands why and how these reductions have been made. By the way, we have provided another link to the breakdown of the resources and expenses (PDF) in the 2009–10 Budget. I hope this is helpful.

In all of this, I want to encourage you that we are keeping the pressure on our planning for the future. Our 2014 Blueprint, and the strategic plan called Sharpening Our Competitive Edge, continue to guide us, though it is clear that some of this must be placed in pause mode because of the economy. We are making every effort to sustain our strong momentum as we move into the future.

By the way, we now have the green light and the funds raised to continue the design/development stage of planning for the University Center, a significant new complex for lower campus that will include a gathering place for chapel and a performance hall, new state-of-the-art classrooms, a home for the Center for Scholarship & Faculty Development, and new space for the arts on campus.

Finally, I asked a number of faculty, staff, and students to come and engage with our trustees last week, and I was just stunned with the amount of good work and accomplishments going on all over this campus by such good people. From our women’s national soccer championship, to the smashing success of our students at the Triple Door (leading the way to define how we do church music), to the creation and vision for our new graduate program in theology, to the first-time ever grand crystal award for the publication of etc magazine (out of 784 entries), to the stunning new work of our scientists in the learning of science and undergraduate research in science, to the maturing of our work on reconciliation through the Perkins Center, captured so compellingly in the latest issue of Response — and on and on. There is so much to report. So much we must celebrate.

Truly we are in the midst of being and becoming a premier, national Christian university. What a picture of the great value of an SPU education. I hope you regard your time here as a remarkable investment in your future, becoming equipped to change the world for good.

For such a time as this, our message and our work are making a huge difference to bring hope into the world we serve. Don’t you agree?

I wanted you to know these things as soon as possible. May God go with you through the rest of the term and on into spring. I look forward to our days and months and years ahead.