Fall 2024 State of TXST Address

Welcome, and thank you for being here.   

Many thanks to the Bobcat Marching Band for their performance. It is the first of many we will enjoy this morning from our talented students.  I am excited to be here with you at this special moment in TXST’s 125-year history.   

You may notice there is a different energy for this year’s State of TXST. We’re here to celebrate our past, our present, and our future - and most importantly, to celebrate you.  Every day you work to tend to the minds, spirits, and futures of our students. You are the heart and soul of all we do.   

In 1899, the founders of TXST began with 11 empty acres and a dream to teach Texans to be teachers.  During the construction of Old Main, the foundation kept sinking every time they poured the concrete. They eventually discovered that the concrete was flowing into a cavern below.  The problem was eventually resolved, and the foundation ended up even stronger than originally planned.   

Like Old Main itself, that story has become a symbol of the steadfast, deep foundation we continue to build upon today. Today, we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, poised to take TXST to new heights.   

Our TXST story is rooted in service, in resilience, in the belief of the value of education, and in the power of dreaming big.  Now, 125 years later, we are all part of that story. It is now our turn to be legacy makers – leaders who never give up and always find a way. Let’s embrace the boundless potential ahead. Let’s move forward with passion and purpose.   

I’m reminded just now of my first moment on campus as your president, when at 12:01AM on July 1, 2022, I found this message written on a window of Lampasas Hall.  Just as it did then, that message continues to inspire me. In fact, three days ago, I shared the sentiment with our incoming freshmen. I told them that this entire campus is filled with faculty and staff members who work tirelessly to ensure that our students not just survive but thrive.  

And now I share the same message with you because YOU belong here as well. This is YOUR university. In the days and years ahead, you will shape the futures of our students and guide the direction of your university. My job (and that of our cabinet and senior leadership) is to make sure that you have everything that YOU need to thrive. 

You just heard from our alumnus President Lyndon Baines Johnson. When he signed the landmark Higher Education Act of 1965 on our campus, he said: 

“Here the seeds were planted from which grew my firm conviction that for the individual, education is the path to achievement and fulfillment;  for the nation, it is a path to a society that is not only free but civilized;   and for the world, it is the path to peace — for it is education that places reason over force.”  

His words describe us well as TXST now seeks to serve not just the individuals who come to San Marcos, but those throughout the state (including Round Rock), across the nation, and around the world. Just as our founders and those who came after them were building the university of today, we are now building the university of tomorrow today. I think that is pretty darn exciting, and I am grateful to be serving alongside you.    

So, let’s spend a little time today reflecting on your achievements, before diving in on some of the things you all are working on for the future. 

Back in 2021, you all created a position profile for the next president. Included in the document was a set of opportunities you hoped we could accomplish together, and I have used those bullet points as a framework for developing my vision for where Texas State can go. And go, we must, because we cannot depend on the status quo to serve the world that is changing around us. 

Those opportunities inspired our Hopes & Aspirations High vision for TXST’s future and the basis of our 2023-2029 strategic plan.  

Our Hopes & Aspirations High plan is composed of five pillars – to borrow from the foundation metaphor I invoked earlier. They are organizing principles that will guide us as we transform: 

• our world through the creation of new knowledge.   
• the lives of our students by expanding access to high quality, affordable higher education.  

They also represent our commitment to you, the driving force behind this transformation. I hope that you share my goal of making TXST the best place to work, not just in Texas, but in the country.  Working together, we will unleash the tremendous potential of this university, of each other, and of our students.   

Let me show you how.  

Shortly after I arrived at TXST, I established the Commission on Student Success, because I know the life changing experience that earning a four-year degree can have for a person. My passion is to ensure that all capable students understand the value of what we are doing here, that they find a way to get here, and that they graduate from here in a timely manner, prepared to change the world they will soon enter.  

Student success begins with enrollment, which is why we have paid so much attention to it these past two years.  

Let’s be clear about why enrollment matters. To me, these aren’t just numbers – they reflect thousands of individual stories of students who now have access to a life-changing four-year degree. I never want to lose sight of the fact that that has always been our mission. 

But strong enrollment numbers ALSO represent increased revenue, which allows us to:  

• Not raise tuition for the second year in a row.  
• Invest in you by providing competitive wages, improved benefits, and the resources you need to be successful.  
• Invest in our infrastructure (maintaining older facilities and building new ones).   

Strong enrollment numbers will help us to achieve so many of the goals that you set in Hopes & Aspirations High.  

Unfortunately, enrollment the fall before I arrived was faltering, down in Fall 2021 by nearly 1,000 students from its peak of 38,808 students in 2016, a decrease of 2.4%. While other schools were increasing enrollment, TXST was declining (if only slightly). 

We increased by about 300 students in Fall 2022 (less than1%), but I felt we needed to jumpstart our enrollment strategy (especially as we needed new resources to support our Run to R1 efforts). That new strategy led to the development of three new divisions: TXST Global, TXST Research, and TXST Round Rock. I am excited to see the impact that those three divisions have already made on our enrollment, and their future plans for the San Marcos and Round Rock campuses, graduate programs, online offerings, and regional and international initiatives.  

During my first fall, campus leaders helped to set ambitious enrollment goals for Fall 2024: 8,000 freshmen, 40,000 students, and 500,000 credit hours. While the numbers won’t be official until September 12, I am pleased to announce that we hit all three targets. Let’s look at some of the numbers! Remember that the numbers are not official until September 12.  

One thing we know to be true is that students want to be at TXST – we are the most applied to schools in the world among Texas high school seniors applying through Apply Texas – that’s more than 50,000 this year!   

As of 5 AM, we currently have 8,182 freshmen (a 3.5% increase over last year at this time. This represents a 24% increase from Fall 2021 (about 1,500 freshmen)!  

More good news. As of this morning, our TOTAL enrollment currently stands at 40,721. This exceeds the record that we set in 2016 by almost 2,000 students (a 5% increase). That enrollment translates into 511,775 credit hours, a 5.3% increase over last year.  

If you take a deep dive into our preliminary Fall 2024 enrollment total, you see we stand to reach all-time highs, not only in the number of First-Time In College Students, but also in the enrollment of:   

• Undergraduate Students: 36,546 (+4.2%) 
• New Doctoral Students: 139 (+24.1%)  
• Continuing Doctoral Students: 462 (+10.5%) 
• Round Rock Campus Students:  2,380 (+19.6%) 
• International Students: 1,494 (55%) 

We are hitting these highs because of you, because of your collaborative efforts, your ingenuity and creativity, and your love and care for our students and for TXST.   

Getting more students here is a start, but retaining them after their freshman year is even more important. While it is great to aim for the largest freshman class today, our top priority must be on creating the largest graduating class four years from now. 

I am proud to announce that your work this year has led us to the highest freshman retention rate in TXST history (81.1%) (with a couple weeks to go)! That falls on the heels of our record fall-to-spring persistence of 93.3% this January.  

But it’s not just freshmen. Nearly 1,000 more undergraduates are returning this fall compared to last year. You all are helping us keep the promise we made when we admitted these students.  

This is what student success looks like and why it is a pillar in our vision for the future of TXST. And that success does not just fall in one division – it really is an all-hands on deck kind of thing that we should all take pride in collectively! 

Everyone in this arena – no matter their job title – goes the extra mile every day to create an environment where our Bobcats can excel.  Indeed, it takes all of us. Thank you all for doing your part so well.  

Just a couple of weeks ago, many of us were in this very space celebrating commencement. I know you share my joy in watching each one of those 8,324 “stories” walk across the stage.  

A vital part of our focus this last year has been creating more ways for people to earn a TXST degree than ever before. While many want to come to our beautiful San Marcos campus, others are time and/or place bound, so we must meet them where they are (or abdicate that responsibility to others).  

These new enrollment pathways may be new for TXST, but they are not new to higher education. Large and well-respected R1 universities have been expanding their reach through online programs, regional partnerships, international opportunities, and other innovative methods for years. 

What we’re doing at TXST is not far-fetched, but IS necessary to reach more people, serve more people, and educate more people. That, of course, is our highest calling.    

Let me share just a few of the things we are doing right now – today – to build the university of tomorrow and for the next 125 years. 

Julie Lessiter was named Vice President for the Round Rock Campus a little over a year ago, and I am blown away by the progress that she and her team have made toward our goal of increasing Round Rock enrollment to 10,000 students.  

With the Austin MSA projected to reach 3 million by 2030, and 4.5 million by 2045, we see unprecedented opportunity for the Round Rock Campus to host much of TXST’s future growth. TXST Round Rock is poised to become the third largest college campus in the Austin MSA.   

With the addition of ten new degree programs in Round Rock this fall (and plans for many more in the future), we are working towards students being able to complete their entire degree there. And on Monday, we will welcome our first ever freshman class! This will greatly reduce the costs of a four-year degree for students from that area.   

With all the other work Julie and her team are doing, Round Rock enrollment (as you saw earlier) is currently at a record high this fall. That, along with our projected growth, has made it necessary to break ground on our fourth academic building there this year. We plan to have Esperanza Hall open by 2026.   

This year, we completed partnerships with Austin Community College and Collin College (with more colleges in the pipeline). These agreements will allow transfer students to complete a TXST degree in San Marcos, in Round Rock, or in their community (with classes being taught by TXST faculty on the community college campuses). 

I am excited that we currently have 200 students enrolled in the Bats to Cats program through ACC. 

One of the most ambitious ways we are meeting students where they are is the addition of 41 online TXST degrees scheduled to launch in Fall 2024 and Spring 2025. By summer 2025, we expect online enrollment to approach 1,500 students.   

While we remain committed to serving Texans, we want to grow our global impact and raise awareness of TXST as an international brand. Our goal is to bring the world to TXST and to take TXST to the world! 

Our initial efforts you started in Summer 2022 have fueled record growth in international enrollment. This fall, for example, we are on track to have nearly 1,500 international students, a 200% increase from where we were 10 years ago and a 55% jump over last year!   

On September 4th, we will sign an agreement for our first international campus located in Queretaro, Mexico.  

The satellite campus will be operated and maintained by the private third-party group called Elisia Education Hub which will provide the space and faculty members.   

While we have yet to determine what degrees we will offer there, our faculty will provide oversight for the TXST curricula, while the program costs will be borne by our partner. In exchange, TXST will receive a percentage of the tuition revenue for each student enrolled in our programs. The only cost to us is periodic travel to Queretaro and some administrative time.  

The TSUS Board of Regents approved this revenue agreement of up to $10 million over 10 years. That revenue we generate there will be re-invested in our campuses back here in Texas. 

This is just the beginning. We are working with established universities in Italy, Spain, Scotland, Japan, and India to offer degree programs on their campuses on a smaller basis.  

I want to show off one of our newest programs -- a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Science in Aviation Sciences beginning this fall.   

Through this partnership, the private company Coast Flight Training will provide pilot training at the San Marcos Regional Airport.   

While we had planned for five students this fall, we already have 28 students enrolled, with more on a waiting list. 

This opens an entirely new lucrative career path for our students to become commercial pilots, and it helps address the pilot shortage the aviation industry faces. It also symbolizes our efforts to create degree programs that align with workforce needs.  

I am thrilled to report that we are no longer just running, but rather sprinting toward R1.   

Thanks to your efforts, we are on track to meet our goal to achieve R1 status by 2027.   

We have been focused on two metrics: $50M per year in research expenditures and awarding 70 doctoral degrees per year for three straight years.   

But the impact here is greater than these numbers.   

Our faculty members are creating knowledge and solutions with their research and our students are learning valuable skills in the process.  

Bottom line: We are investing in growing our research enterprise to ensure students are immersed in rich research environments so that they are better prepared for successful careers and lives. Furthermore, we are investing in our faculty researchers so that they can answer the calls of Texans, of Americans and the world to solve some of the toughest challenges faced by society.  

As you can see, we have FAR surpassed the required $50 million mark.   

In the last decade, research expenditures have more than tripled, breaking $140 million last year and trending toward $160 million for FY2024.  

This proves what I have always believed, that TXST is already a national research university doing the work of an R1.  

The reason we are not already an R1 university is because of the relatively small number of PhD programs and graduates. Based on the recommendations of your Run to R1 Commission, our investment in doctoral programs is already paying off. For the Carnegie 2024 reporting period, TXST awarded 71 doctoral degrees, which is a 31% increase from last year.  

Our growth in the number of doctoral students is following suit. In the last three years, the number of new doctoral students has increased 43% with a record high of about 140 anticipated for Fall 2024.  

As part of our commitment to reaching R1 and to academic excellence, we submitted 11 doctoral degree program proposals to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board last summer.  

Many of you here today are responsible for getting those proposals across the finish line.   

To say it was challenging work is an understatement. Please know your dedication will have a lasting impact on TXST.  

Today, I can report that seven of those 11 proposals have already been approved, and two more will be reviewed for approval during the Coordinating Board’s October meeting.   

The remaining two proposals are currently in the review process. When all 11 proposals are approved, we will offer a total of 24 doctoral degree programs.    

And we are not done yet! Just for reference, from 2021 to 2023, the other universities in the Texas University Fund awarded an average of 291 PhDs (at UNT), 388 (at the University of Houston), and 422 (at Texas Tech), while we averaged 48. So, I have asked Provost Aswath, for example, to explore creating our first Humanities PhD program, and we will seek proposals from the faculty for other doctoral programs too.  

Speaking of TUF, its passage last year was one of the greatest game-changers in the history of TXST research. TUF is a $4 billion permanent endowment that ensures sustainable research funding for four universities, including TXST.   

The purpose of TUF is to invest in universities that are well positioned to be elevated into Top 50 status among the nation’s public universities. To date, TXST has received about $22.5 million in TUF money to support our research enterprise and elevate our educational experience. We are currently receiving a half-share (split with UNT), but our goal is to continue the work that it takes to qualify for a full share, should that become a possibility in the future  

As we grow and expand in our academic offerings, enrollment, and other initiatives, one thing remains non–negotiable – the quality of our academic experience.   

We are committed to working with our faculty and staff to protect and increase the value of a TXST degree. We want to continue seeing TXST at the top of national and academic rankings, making our degrees even more valuable.   

Let’s look at some of the most recent awards.   

It was hard to choose only 6 for this slide.  But this shows how your work is elevating TXST’s national reputation, which is important in a competitive environment.  

I’d like to highlight that we were recently named as one of the Top 25 Drama Schools in the world. TXST’s musical theatre program currently ranks among the top five in the country, and I have approved their plans to become America’s number one theatre program. Why not Texas State?! I also learned this week that the Texas Veterans Commission has awarded TXST with the Gold Veterans Education Excellence Recognition, or VEERA, award.  It is an honor to serve our veterans and their families.  

Another way we are advancing excellence is through our fundraising efforts.  

We are nearing the end of our Next is Now Capital Campaign which will officially close out on August 31.  

While we are still counting and taking contributions to the campaign, I can tell you we will surpass the $250 million goal by at least 10%. This is yet another record set for TXST.  

The largest amount raised during the campaign was invested in my top priority - student scholarships (with almost $200 million raised), followed by academics, athletics, and buildings.  

This success, especially in the last year, represents the commitment of our Advancement team and the generous Bobcat spirit.  

The accomplishments I have shared today have one thing in common: YOU.  

I want you to know that I see and deeply appreciate the work you do to support and educate our students, whether that is in the classroom or behind the scenes. Just last night, I heard of a student who is returning to TXST to earn his undergrad degree after 40 years of being away from the classroom. He is understandably nervous, and asked for the phone number of his advisor in case he got lost. The advisor said, “I think that he felt like we would hang up and he'd never be able to find me again if he needed help.” Stories like that pull at your heartstrings, but also show how important each of you are in the success of our students. Your efforts, passion, and expertise drive us forward.  

In the past two years, with guidance from the Staff Council and Faculty Senate, our budget office has made significant progress to improve total compensation for staff and faculty members and to increase the number of employees. 

In that time, we have invested $29 million in salaries,  

And have created 142 new faculty positions,  

And 222 new staff positions.  

As of last year, every full-time employee now makes at LEAST $30,000. 

As with our PhD programs, we are not done yet! While these are great strides, please know that my commitment to making TXST an even better employer of choice will continue.   

We also added this program last year, which has saved our employees $100,000!  

It has been such a success that we have increased the dependent tuition discount from 25% to 50%.  

Here is a very high-level look at some of our largest areas of infrastructure investment.    

• 173 construction projects totaling over $450 million,  
• $25M in federal grant funding for our bus system,  
• Technology upgrades, and  
• Four new buildings underway or planned.  

Athletics often serves as the university’s front porch. Our successes in athletics, particularly in football, have helped showcase our university on the national stage and have allowed me to amplify the story of TXST.   

We have become part of the national conversation with football’s success last year. I have every reason to believe this success will continue to draw positive attention to TXST. For the first time in FBS history, we are predicted by many to win our conference, and perhaps qualify for the College Football Playoffs. This national attention goes beyond football.   

Our athletics program had a stellar year with many notable achievements.  

We won the Sun Belt Conference Bubas Commissioner’s Cup awarded to the best Athletics department in the SBC.  

TXST entered into a partnership agreement with University Federal Credit Union to rename the football stadium as UFCU Stadium. This is a15-year, $23 million partnership, the largest corporate sponsorship in the SBC, and the largest single gift in TXST history.  

We played in and won our first-ever FBS bowl game in front of a crowd of 26,542 – the largest crowd SMU’s Ford Stadium had for a game all year. The game also drew the highest-rated TV audience in the bowl game’s history, with a record 2.8 million viewers, surpassing all other sporting events that day.   

Our Softball team finished the year with a 47-15 record, the best over Coach Ricci Woodard’s 23 years as head coach. They ended on a high note with the program's first NCAA Championship Sunday appearance since 2003.  

We won conference championships in Women’s Golf and in Women’s Outdoor Track and Field.   

 And, our Volleyball team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.  

As we bring my comments to a close, I invite you to do a little time travel exercise with me.   

On September 9, 1903, some 300 students and 17 faculty members gathered in Old Main to begin the first academic year in our university’s history.  

Think about what they were feeling and thinking. Did they imagine what we would become?   

Could they foresee that in 125 years TXST would grow to more than 40,000 students living and learning across two campuses and 200 buildings with the support of more than 4,300 faculty and staff members?  

We are right now where they were then – standing at the edge of the next 125 years for TXST.  

What will we do?  

Let’s continue to forge new paths to make a life-changing TXST degree a reality for more people.  

Let’s invest in a learning environment that values discovery, growth, and service.  

Let’s expand our impact to make Texas and the world better.   

Let’s seize this moment together to continue to build the legacy of tomorrow.  

Our future truly does start now.  

Thank you.