President’s Outlook
Are you HAPPY at Herzing?
According to the recent online campus satisfaction survey where over 900 of you participated, 94.4% of you are indeed happy with us. That is quite a remarkable statistic. I suspect that the same could not be said about surveys on our economy and Wall Street, political leaders, or even the selection of movies at the local cinema.
Yea for us! And thank you for your support and confidence.
Now let me talk about how we are going to make the university, your university, better. You march forward from one academically successful term ending to another term beginning, and so will we move forward with efforts to make our university a better school.
We are focusing our efforts in three primary areas: academic breadth and quality, enhanced student services, and support of student fiscal accountability.
Academic breadth and quality involves rolling out new programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. I can’t talk about details yet... but we are strengthening all five core mission areas of the university as well as expanding our graduate offerings. We have also increased resources for both new instructors and students that include expansion of the online library, piloting of a new tutoring center, and a variety of courses for faculty development. We’re getting better to better serve you!
Enhanced services also include our staff expansion in registration, financial services, student services, and admissions to better respond promptly to your requests. We are developing staff training modules on a variety of key performance areas and continue to encourage new employees to take an online course so they better understand your experiences.
Our efforts in student fiscal accountability are designed to support you in earning your degree with the minimal debt possible. In addition to reviewing our expenses carefully, the university’s new Financial Responsibility Grant is just one more way we are stepping up to find ways to help you, help yourself. The philosophy of taking on more debt than needed has had much to do with our country's state of economic woes. Don’t fall into that trap in your own life! While we may not be able to follow Benjamin Franklin's advice of “Neither a Borrower or Lender be” since many of us need assistance to pay for our education (I did!), perhaps
we can commit to borrowing only what we need to earn our education.
In conclusion, I am honored to work for an institution that cares as much as Herzing does for students. While we cannot be all things to all people, we do strive to do our best to meet your needs, encourage you to challenge your own preconceived limitations and expectations, and do our part to help you move forward with your educational and professional dreams.
The rest is up to you. Study. Work hard. Stay focused. And live your dream.
Dr. Todd Rickel
President,
Herzing University Online