A message from the president

Davenport has a history of providing students the tools and skills required to rise to the top of the talent pool in their profession. Why? Because that is our focus at this university. We are committed to being great stewards of the investment our students make in their education. That’s why we continue to expand the Davenport University Employment Guarantee.

In December, Davenport added cyber defense as its sixth degree with an employment guarantee. We first offered the employment guarantee in 2014 with accounting and since that time, we have added network management, computer information systems, computer science and nursing.

With cybersecurity becoming a growing concern for our nation, the career opportunities in this fi eld are growing at an astounding rate. As a result, we anticipate nearly 500,000 jobs will be open in the next year. What’s more — there aren’t enough qualifi ed candidates to fi ll these positions. With the launch of the cyber defense guarantee, we hope to inspire more students to enter this growing field and find the opportunity to earn an incredible career. Davenport University is taking a stand. A stand that guarantees its students a career.

We’ve had more than 1,100 students graduate who were eligible for one of our employment guarantees. And in the fi ve years since we fi rst off ered the program, we haven’t had one student need to take advantage of its benefi ts. More than 70% of students who participated in the guaranteed programs were eligible for the benefi ts. That means that more than half

of all students met all of the best-practice requirements of the employment guarantee. This is a measure of success for our university and our students in which I fi nd great pride. The academic and career success of our students is at the center of the work we do at Davenport. The employment guarantee offers peace of mind to our students that the investment they are making in their education will pay off . When they earn their diploma, they can be confi dent that they will walk into a market where they will have opportunities to earn an incredible living and a rewarding career. In this issue, we plan to highlight the university’s most important asset — the people we serve. I hope you enjoy seeing the “People of Davenport University,” featured in this issue. Each of these current students and alumni are the very picture of our mission come to life — changing the trajectory of their lives by earning a quality education and ultimately a successful career. I look forward to including all of you in our plans for the future — it’s through your continued support that our students’ career dreams are realized. Sincerely,

Richard J. Pappas, Ed.D. President

Nate Couturier