April 22, 2008

With spring playing peekaboo with us, we know it is on its way, as is the campus landscaping. In the meantime, we have work to do.  The following is intended to brief you on recent happenings, so you can tell the Creighton story across the community.

ENROLLMENT:
As we anticipate the fall 2008 class, we are on schedule across all programs to reach our budget targets.  I want to thank all of you who have been so helpful with the undergraduate Accepted Students Days, as well as all of you who work with our professional programs in welcoming new students.  It is truly a team effort.

SERVICE:
While I wrote you earlier, I am deeply grateful for the Creighton community’s response to the “Project Homeless Connect.”  Some 600 volunteers (381 from Creighton) greeted and served 300 homeless people from the greater Omaha community.  It was an extraordinary expression of our solidarity with the needy in our community.  As Mayor Fahey noted: “This day at Creighton was the single most important event to address homelessness in Omaha.”  So be it.  Thank you.

On the following morning, I challenged some 450 Creighton undergraduates to serve the community in their annual day of Hunger Clean-up.  Again, thank you all for your generosity and for living the Creighton mission.

WERNER INSTITUTE NEWS:
The School of Law's Dispute Resolution program -- thanks to the newly created Werner Institute -- is now ranked 12th in the nation out of nearly 200 A.B.A. approved law schools.  The rapid rise of this program to national prominence is a good illustration of what can be done when we leverage our academic vision to make a compelling case to our benefactors about the potential for moving Creighton forward and doing good.

BEST PLACES TO WORK:
Last year, I made a commitment to the University to be among the best workplaces in Omaha.  As a result of the 2007 "Best Places to Work" survey responses and feedback received in subsequent employee focus groups, action teams have been organized to address two areas identified for improvement: communication and valuing of employees.  Jeff Branstetter of Human Resources is coordinating the initiative, with the communication action team led by Kim Manning and Deborah Daley and the valuing of employees action team led by Kathy Custard and Bill Hill.  The action teams represent every area of the University and will regularly report the strategies and progress designed to help make Creighton a preferred place to work.

RETIREMENT PLAN PROJECT:
The University's retirement plan project is progressing well. A committee of elected and appointed University representatives has made significant progress in meeting new retirement plan regulatory requirements, enhancing plan design and defining a core investment fund line up. Campus town hall meetings will be held in late April and early May to share progress.

CONSTRUCTION:
The city’s combined sewer separation project is already noticeably impacting life on the east side of campus.  To give you an idea of the magnitude of this project, the work currently being done along Webster and Burt Streets is actually just in preparation for the real project, which will get under way in a few short weeks and create much larger impacts that are expected to last through November.  The work planned for 2008 will shut down Webster Street from 16th to 20th Streets, then 20th Street from Webster to Cuming Streets for various periods of the year.  Suffice it to say, it will be tough getting around that part of campus throughout the project.  We will continue to work with the city to minimize the impact on campus wherever possible and pass along updates and work schedules as we get them. The next phase of the sewer project is presently scheduled to move to Cuming Street from 20th to 27th during most of 2009.

The state continues bridge replacements related to its I-480/Highway 75 interchange reconstruction project.  This work will continue for several years, with periodic impacts to travel on 24th, Burt and Cuming Streets.  Information will be passed along as it is provided to us.

The California Street Pedestrian Mall received the 2007 Merit Award for Design in recognition of outstanding professional achievement from the American Society of Landscape Architects – kudos to the Facilities Management team.

HARPER CENTER:
The Harper Center project progresses quickly each day as the July occupancy date approaches. Several suites in the building are done and ready for final inspection.  Exterior brick and roof work will be nearly completed in three weeks. The long awaited roof spire for the southwest corner of the building will be arriving in early May. The voice/data and technology piece of the infrastructure has a targeted completion of mid-May so the Certificate of Occupancy can be awarded by the city. The landscaping, California Mall and Webster Street Mall portions of the project are ramping up and should be substantially completed when occupancy commences in July.

HEALTH SCIENCES:
The following highlights I would offer up relate to the RWJ Grant entitled Jesuit Dental School Collaborative.  Dr. Frank Ayers and Ms. Kelly Gould represented Creighton's School of Dentistry at the RWJ Pipeline meeting in Dallas, Texas, in conjunction with the American Dental Education Association's Annual Session.  Dr. Howard Bailit, one of the principal forces behind and architects of the Pipeline grants, advised us that because of the exceptionally low numbers of Native American students in dentistry, "... success for our grant will probably come one student at a time."  As awardees, we are working diligently to achieve success with the grant.  Dr. Ayers reports that we have two Native American students who have committed to the Post-Bac program for this summer - one full year ahead of schedule.  Dr. Ayers also noted that he will be attending the Society of American Indian Dentists (SAID) and that we have been selected as the host institution for the 20th anniversary meeting in 2011. 

A Creighton University faculty team, comprised of Nursing and SPAHP faculty, was accepted for the Undergraduate Curriculum Development Institute titled “The Educated Citizen and Public Health.”  The institute is co-sponsored by the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research and the American Association of Colleges and Universities.  Creighton’s team will join with others to develop “Coherent undergraduate curricula in public health, including core courses, electives, and experiential learning opportunities.  Such coherent curricula may take the form of majors, minors, certificate programs, etc.”

Dr. Barbara Braden will be honored in June for her “ongoing contribution to wound care around the world” at the World Union of Wound Healing Societies 2008 Congress in Toronto.  In quoting from the letter about Dr. Braden and her work, it reads: “You are part of a highly esteemed group of healthcare professionals who have contributed significantly in our field of study. Your work has resulted in improvements in wound management and patient outcomes.”  Also, Dr. Braden will receive the Nebraska Physical Therapy Association’s 2008 "Friend of Physical Therapy" award at its annual meeting in North Platte on Saturday, April 5.

IT/DATA CENTER:
Great work continues as we expand and build out the Creighton University main Data Center.  This newly renovated location will include a main power generator, faster networking speeds, proper cooling and air handling and greater amount of physical security.  All of this work is being done to better protect and secure our student, medical, patient, and research data.  I want to thank the women and men of our Information Technology team who are leading this effort.  Data and information security is critical to all that we do, and we must continue the work of eliminating department-held servers and large data storage devices.  As we complete the renovations by the end of May, I have asked my Vice President of Information Technology to begin the process of bringing all Creighton systems, servers and data storage devices into this newly renovated location. 

UNIVERSITY RELATIONS:
Two weeks ago, an important constituency gathered on our campus for the annual Creighton Society Mass and Brunch. The members of this premier donor recognition club, the Edward and Mary Lucretia Creighton Society, are our steadfast partners in helping Creighton University make a difference in the lives of our students. With their support, we are better able to follow in the footsteps of Jesuit founder St. Ignatius of Loyola and seek to “do more for the glory of God.”

Hats off to our students who are involved in our phonathon. These students call upon Creighton alumni and ask them to give generously to their alma mater. This past week, the phonathon students broke all previous records with more than $1.2 million in pledges – and they still have several weeks of calling left in the semester!

SPECIAL GIFT:
I want to personally commend Gary Gorby, M.D., Associate Professor of Medical Microbiology and Immunology in our School of Medicine, for his most generous gift to a friend.  Dr. Gorby recently donated nearly half of his liver to Joann Schaefer, M.D., Nebraska’s Chief Medical Officer, who needed a liver transplant to save her life. The surgery was a success and both doctors are doing well.

Thank you for all you do to make Creighton the institution it is. Graduation is soon upon us.  I know the vast majority of the 2008 graduates—from all schools and programs—are grateful to you.  As faculty and staff, you were their friends, advisors, and confidants. Thank you for living the Creighton credo of being an institution in the service of our students.

Enjoy spring!

John P. Schlegel, S.J.
President