ReportPresident’s 2021
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CONTENTSOFTABLE 2 | LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Strategic vision has always been a part of the Forester story 4 | HU AT A GLANCE 2020-2021 was an exceptional year 5 | ENROLLMENT A closer look at the fall 2021 numbers 6 | COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT An open interview with Dr. Emberton 7 | THE IMPACT OF GENEROSITY As always, the Forester Family showed up in amazing ways 8 | LIGHTS, CAMERA…CAPSTONE HU launches new film production capstone with a feature film 10 | HU ARIZONA WELCOMES DOCTORAL COHORT January 2021 marked a new milestone for HU Arizona 10 | FAIRCHILD NAMED FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR Dr. Mark Fairchild will conduct further research in Turkey 11 | HEARTBEAT OF HEALTHCARE Nursing students impact the community 12 | THE USDA IMPACT The transformation of the PLEX will begin as early as spring 2022 14 | THE HUB REIMAGINED Foresters gather in spaces designed for community 16 | FINANCIAL UPDATE A closer look at revenue and expenses
Letter from the President
The institution now known as Huntington University began with a fearless, strategic vision for a plot of land, a mission to educate future generations, and a God who does great things for His people: “The founding of Huntington College has been called a work of divine providence. In 1896, the General Board of Education of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ laid plans to open a new institution of higher learning. Before these plans were made known, an unsolicited proposal was received from the Huntington Land Association. Three entrepreneurs (among them a United Brethren minister) proposed a strategic partnership: the Land Association would donate a three-story brick building, additional campus grounds, and operational cash. In return, the Church would equip and operate a school, and sell lots in the surrounding neighborhood.”
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Students, faculty, and staff can now enjoy all 20,000+ square feet of reimagined space dedicated to Forester Family fellowship. Each of these developments in the last year came out of our strategic vision as a University. Strategic vision, however, depends in part on the legacy of the past. Without an awareness of where we have been, our strategy for moving forward falls flat. As we look back on the strategic vision that has informed where we are now and where we are going, we see evidence of God’s incredible faithfulness. His presence in the legacy of Huntington University for 124 years in turn inspires us to remain viable, faithful, and relevant for the next generation of Foresters.
These words, written for the University’s 75th anniversary in 1972, are a testament to the legacy we are still honoring today with new initiatives.
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124 years after we first opened our doors to students for the first day of class, the fearless, strategic vision that became Huntington University is alive and well and being recast to keep “Christ, scholarship, and service” relevant for the next generation of Foresters. The 2020-2021 academic year provided a fantastic opportunity to operationalize that vision. In a year full of worldwide challenges, we did our best in true Forester fashion to overcome and even grow in spite of those challenges. We celebrated the largest enrollment ever in Forester history, with 1,402 students choosing to study in a diverse offering of programs such as occupational therapy, business, nursing, agriculture, film, and over 60 others — each building off an academic core centering on a liberal arts tradition. In fact, as a response to the needs of the market and to address workforce shortages in occupational therapy, leadership, and agriculture, we added new programs and developed certificates to offer Foresters the most useful and marketable skills relevant to their areas of interest. We also completed high-impact capital projects in 2020-2021. The largest example of this with arguably the greatest impact for our home campus was the renovation of the Huntington Union Building, or the HUB, as it’s lovingly called.
Dr.Sincerely,Sherilyn R. Emberton
HU at a Glance
GRAPHENROLLMENT
Watson Received Outstanding Achievement Award
University Hosted UB Conference Day
Recipients of this year’s alumni awards included Paul Hirschy, Distinguished Alumni Citation; Brandon Schall, Alumnus of the Year; and Zachary Keller and Kayla Lane, Graduate of the Last Decade Honorees.
Huntington University hosted an afternoon of events on July 16 as part of the 2021 US National Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA. The conference takes place every other year at locations around the world. After eight years, the 2021 US National Conference returned to Fort Wayne and the Grand Wayne Convention Center July 14-17. Each night of the conference featured a message from one of the UB denominational directors, including Dr. Sherilyn Emberton, who serves as the denominational director of higher education, on Friday night. Huntington University is the denominational college of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA. 4
Susanne Watson, director of undergraduate admissions, was recognized with the North American Coalition for Christian Admissions Professionals’ (NACCAP’s) Outstanding Achievement Award in 2021. This award honors those who work diligently to advance the cause of Christian higher education and demonstrate a commitment to growing their institution.
Fall 2021 Alumni Award Recipients
A total of 1,363 students attended Huntington University in fall 2021. Though down slightly from last year’s record enrollment, this number is still up overall when taking into account the last five years of data. Total undergraduate enrollment at HU Arizona is up over 8%. Additionally, graduate enrollment numbers are up 4%. For more enrollment details, see page 5.
2021 Enrollment Announced
GRAPHENROLLMENT 1363 Total Enrollment Fall 2021 Huntington University OnlineHuntington University Arizona Graduate 910 244 157 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2016201520142013 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 52 1402 Total Enrollment Fall 2020 923 244 14590 1393 Total Enrollment Fall 2019 931 258 12975 1321 Total Enrollment Fall 2017 913 242 8779 1300 Total Enrollment Fall 2016 898 299 8518 1355 Total Enrollment Fall 2018 933 254 9672 20010050150 201620152014 2017 2018 2019 2020 302535 2301901500170210 First-Time Freshmen 196 218 224 206 224 223 Undergraduate Students from Ethnic Minorities (United States) Undergraduate Students hail from U.S. States31 Enrollment 5
Emberton: The key challenges for all these great organizations include understanding changing demographics, making sure there is margin to accomplish the mission, and talent to do the work ahead.
An open interview between HU Director of Communication Lynette Fager and Dr. Emberton
Emberton: As a leader in these organizations, I am privileged to meet many talented people and entities that can walk along the mission of Huntington University. Our faculty, staff, and students also benefit from these relationships and are able to serve and participate in affinity groups associated with them.
Community Engagement
Fager: How do the relationships built through your service benefit you and the University?
Fager: What are the key challenges facing these boards?
Dr. Sherilyn Emberton’s strong sense of vision, community, and relationship have led her to serve on numerous boards, including the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), where she currently serves as secretary; the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU); and Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership (NEIRP), where she currently serves as board chair.
Emberton: Serving on NAICU allows me direct interaction with national government officials and thought leaders who can significantly impact the progress we are making as we sustain our colleges and universities. Service on the CCCU board is a labor of love in support of all our faith-based institutions. The advocacy work done by them is essential for the future of Christian higher education. As a major employer of our county and an institution that annually graduates extremely talented and highly skilled students, we remain a key link in retaining and attracting talent to our region. Serving as chair of the NEIRP acknowledges Huntington University’s role in regional economic development.
Fager: What are the most inspiring opportunities for these organizations?
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Emberton: For NAICU and the CCCU, national pressures from a newly formed federal administration and a divided Congress create a difficult path for developing legacy supporters for private colleges. The advocacy work is tedious but paramount in keeping the important work done by our colleges at the forefront of decision-makers. Regionally, we are making progress in population growth and business attraction, which directly impacts Huntington University by bringing more prospective students to our region and more jobs for our graduates to fill.
The bottom line is that leaders serve where they can and in roles that promote good works. The best role I am privileged to serve in is the role of president at Huntington University!
Fager: Why does serving on boards, specifically the NAICU, CCCU, and NEIRP boards, matter to you?
F R OM J UN E 1 , 20 20 - M A Y 3 1 , 2 0 2 1 T H E IM P A C T O F G ENE R OS I T Y 50ATSUPPORTERSAGLANCE MERILLAT SOCIETY MEMBERS Gif t s of $2 5 0 ,0 0 0 o r m o r e (life t i m e giving ) 77 1897 SOCIETY MEMBERS Gifts of $100,000-$249,999 (lifetime giving) 109 MILTON WRIGHT FELLOWSHIP MEMBERS Gifts of $50,000-$99,999 (lifetime giving) FORESTERPACESETTER158SOCIETYMEMBERSGiftsof$1,000ormoretoForesterFund170LEGACYSOCIETYMEMBERSIndicatedaplannedgifttoHU190EVERGREENSOCIETYMEMBERSEstablishedanendowedscholarship 1,370 FORESTER FUND DONORS 2 , 30 9 I N D I VI D U A L G IFT S O F $ 1-$10 0 TO T A L IN $115,102G F A ITH F U L N E SS • F UNDR AI SIN G Baker Society Members (Individuals who gave for 30 years or more) E N D O WM E NT S WHERE GIFTS GO WHERE GIFTS COME FROM 220 TOTAL NUMBER OF EN D O W ME NT S $35 , 652 , 029 To t a l M a r k e t V a lu e o f E nd o w m e nt s Students 78% Other Facilities8% 12% Where Needed Most 2% Foundations 43.7% A lu m ni 15 7 % F r i e nds 11.4 % C hu rc hes 6.1 % E s t a t es 5.0 % Businesses 7.5% Ot he r 10.6 %
Lights, Camera…Capstone HU launches new film production capstone with a feature film
Although both Clark and Webb have experience in corporate media, music videos, and independent feature films, this movie will be the first feature film they have directed and produced together. The project involves other film professionals as well, including some familiar faces. “We are excited to bring to Huntington a handful of film professionals from around the country, many of them HU alums, to mentor our students on this large-scale film project,” said Clark, who also serves as dean of the School of the Arts. Glenn Frank, with its themes of community and redemption, is an ideal first project for the capstone. “As filmmakers, our students work in community every day, and this capstone program provides an amazing opportunity to collaborate — co-labor — and grow alongside professionals in the industry,” said Webb. “What better way to understand the power of this story of a community coming together than to BE a community coming together to not only entertain but make us and others better.”
Film production students at Huntington University now have the opportunity to round out their college education with a unique, immersive film-making capstone. By leveraging faculty’s personal and professional relationships and experiences, HU has built something into the film program that no other college like it is doing: feature-length movies.
Students will see out the entire production process of the film, from table reads, casting, preproduction, and filming to postproduction and distribution. Their names will also appear in the credits, cementing their connections to industry professionals. To learn more about Huntington University’s film program, visit huntington.edu/Film. You can also explore HU’s new Film Certificate at huntington.edu/Create 9
Huntington University and Kinema Pictures, LLC, a local production company started by HU’s own Dr. Lance Clark and Professor Matt Webb, partnered in 2021 to film promotional footage for an upcoming feature film entitled Glenn Frank. The first feature film project coming out of HU’s digital media arts program, Glenn Frank will launch the new film production capstone, which will culminate in a large film project every year.
Fairchild Named Fulbright Scholar
The White Coat Ceremony signifies students’ commitment to deliver the best care to their patients with compassion and empathy. HU’s occupational therapy program
Huntington University’s Arizona location welcomed its first cohort of Doctoral Program in Occupational Therapy (OTD program) students on January 22, 2021, with a White Coat Ceremony. This event was a joint experience for HU’s Fort Wayne OTD cohort and the inaugural HU Arizona doctoral program cohort. The HU Arizona OTD cohort included 10 students.
Huntington University’s OTD program was one of the first of its kind in the country, and HU’s occupational therapy assistant program is the first bachelor’s-level program in the country. Occupational therapy was the first doctoral program offered at Huntington University and has been graduating impressive cohorts of students since May 2017.
HU Arizona Welcomes Doctoral Cohort
equips students for professional service, promoting the development of skills in leadership, advanced practice, and research while encouraging growth in faith.
Dr. Mark Fairchild, professor of Bible and religion, was selected as a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar for the 2021-2022 year to conduct research in Turkey. He will be involved in excavations at an underwater basilica in Iznik (ancient Nicea). Nicea is the site of Christianity’s first ecumenical council, known as the First Council of Nicea. Preliminary evidence suggests that the submerged basilica was the place where over three hundred leaders of the early church met with the emperor Constantine, culminating in the confessional statement known as the Nicene Creed. Fairchild will collaborate with Mustafa Śahin of Uludag University (Turkey), and Julia De Sigoyer from the Université Grenoble Alpes (France). Fairchild published a report on the discovery of the basilica in the Biblical Archaeology Review in 2018. Fairchild earned his PhD in New Testament studies from Drew University. He also completed PhD coursework at Union Theological Seminary (New York) and Princeton Theological Seminary. He has twice received research grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and he is currently the program director for the Ephesus Meeting, an academic conference at the ancient site of Ephesus in Turkey. He annually travels to Turkey, Greece, and Israel for research and to conduct study tours.
The Department of Nursing at Huntington University has always placed a strong emphasis on clinical learning. From patient simulation rooms in Dowden Science Hall to clinical rotations in local hospitals, HU nursing students are used to encountering real-life scenarios that challenge them to put what they have learned to work.
• Students actively cared for patients in the acute care setting
Heartbeat of Healthcare
Nursing students impact the community in the middle of a pandemic
In 2020, however, nursing students encountered a real-world experience they likely did not anticipate: an international pandemic. Students were soon learning firsthand the importance of flexibility in nursing practice. But as they collaborated with members of the community, advocated for public health, and assisted with care and prevention, they were also able to see firsthand the incredible importance of nursing as a serviceoriented career. The impact the Department of Nursing has had on the campus community and the greater Huntington County community during the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult to truly measure, but here is a quick list:
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• Students worked with the Huntington County Community School Corporation to identify the effects of remote learning and social isolation and potential mental health issues in school-age students and develop programming to promote positive mental health
• HU students and faculty, including two nursing students and one nursing faculty member, represented HU in Interfaith Youth Core’s (IYFC’s) Faith in the Vaccine program to increase vaccine education and resources for peers and community members
• Faculty and students conducted on-campus COVID-19 testing and worked at the campus vaccination clinic
• Faculty and students administered vaccines in the community in conjunction with the Huntington County Health Department
“I think the growth of our athletic programs and success of our student-athletes necessitates the expansion of the PLEX,” said Herb Schumm, the chairman of the Board. USDA Impact
With plans to break ground on this project in spring 2022, HU’s leadership worked diligently to secure financing through the USDA, which would provide funding with a 35-year repayment period at an interest rate approximately 50% lower than current market rates. In 2021, HU was approved for a $12.3 million loan from the USDA. The beneficial terms of the USDA loan positions the University to build repayments into the operations budget in future years without reducing resources for other programs. Originally part of the Step Forward Comprehensive Campaign, the transformation of the PLEX became a popular area of engagement for donors and friends. This created the space for HU to rethink the scope of the PLEX project, expanding it from its original $4.6 million investment to a significantly larger investment that will impact the entire campus community.
HU athletics has experienced a 32% increase in student athletes in the past decade.
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“Through extended conversations with University athletic staff and students, alumni, and community members, it became clear the importance of this project to many of our constituents. This will be the largest campus expansion project since the completion of Dowden Science Hall in 2005,” said Dr. Sherilyn Emberton. “The Forester athletic program has grown to nearly 300 student-athletes and competes in 18 NAIA programs. The expansion of the existing health and wellness facility meets current as well as anticipates future needs for students at Huntington University at the Huntington, Indiana, location.”
The transformation of the PLEX will begin as early as spring 2022
Merillat PLEX - Athletic Complex Addition and Renovation
The Huntington University Board of Trustees has approved a $13.1 million project that will transform the Merillat Complex & Fieldhouse (PLEX) into a best-inclass athletics complex by adding a third performance gym, updating Platt Arena, creating new training and wellness spaces, and recreating the lobby footprint.
The
Huntington UniversityExterior
Merillat PLEX - Athletic Complex Addition and Renovation Huntington University©2021 MMulti-purpose Event Gym Merillat PLEX - Athletic Complex Addition and Renovation Huntington University©2021 EExterior
Reimagined HUB: The Vision Comes to Life 14
Construction on the much-anticipated Huntington Union Building reimagination began in April 2020 and took approximately eight months to complete. Despite the extraordinary circumstances of an international pandemic, the project finished on schedule, and the HUB, as employees and students call it, opened for all to enjoy at the start of the spring semester 2021.
The reimagined HUB is a total of 21,020 square feet in its entirety. A new back patio, facing Lake Sno-Tip, is 53 feet by 25 feet, not including the expanded circular fire pit; added together, the back patio area is around 1,400 square feet of usable space. The new sidewalk that skirts the east side of the HUB and leads to the patio is 8 feet wide and roughly 125 feet long. For the HUB project, the University raised approximately $2 million with the help of financial partners. Foresters were thrilled to be back in the heart of campus where they could (safely) gather in spaces designed for community, take in the exceptional view of Lake Sno-Tip, and enjoy expanded food service opportunities. With the arrival of spring, new outdoor seating also became popular. Inside and out, the reimagined HUB is spectacular.
FINANCIAL UPDATE REVENUE 2020-2021 2019-2020 Tuition & Fees 29,532,022 29,037,940 Auxiliary Enterprises 5,221,791 4,820,586 Private Gifts & Grants 3,760,716 3,722,459 Government Grants, including those for Student Aid 8,104,434 2,852,636 Investment Income 645,086 642,896 Other Revenue 319,914 468,478 EXPENSES 2020-2021 2019-2020 Instruction 11,025,165 10,846,453 Academic Support 2,254,458 2,147,792 Student Services 5,099,491 4,977,898 Institutional Support 5,931,057 5,631,371 Physical Plant & Depreciation 6,516,519 6,135,493 Auxiliary Enterprises 3,277,803 3,111,987 Student Aid 12,029,168 11,475,478 ENDOWMENT MARKET VALUE: (AS OF 6/30) ENDOWMENT PER UNDERGRADUATE FTE MKT. VALUE UG FTE MV/FTE 2014 23,262,118 933 24,933 2015 25,085,542 917 27,356 2016 25,374,579 875 29,000 2017 27,118,556 852 31,829 2018 28,491,710 845 33,718 2019 29,782,222 840 35,455 2020 29,337,778 824 35,604 2021 35,652,024 843 42,292 LONG-TERM DEBT BALANCE DEBT SERVICE REVENUE % OF REV. DEBT % OF REV. 2014 712,221 34,248,144 2.1% 9,220,649 26.9% 2015 715,132 35,708,996 2.0% 9,058,174 25.4% 2016 708,703 36,790,683 1.9% 8,821,197 24.0% 2017 775,757 35,783,709 2.2% 11,132,172 31.1% 2018 1,094,104 34,283,297 3.2% 10,696,569 31.2% 2019 1,110,156 35,730,781 3.1% 10,025,108 28.1% 2020 1,112,068 36,756,910 3.0% 9,343,903 25.4% 2021 1,128,864 42,443,941 2.7% 11,519,133 27.1% 16
To download a copy of Faith Forward 2022, visit huntington.edu/FaithForward2022. PILLAR I: Strengthening the HuntingtonExperienceUniversity PILLAR II: Enhancing a Culture ExcellenceAcademicof PILLAR III: SustainingSignificanceSpiritualandFaithfulService PILLAR IV: EnrollmentPromotingGrowth,StrategicPrograms,andVisibility PILLAR V: Increasing Student Economic Value and Institutional Viability FAITH FORWARD 2022
huntington.edu/StepForward Take a step with us… a step of faith. huntington.edu/StepForward