<p>[Fall</a> Meeting - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://president.ua.edu/fsremarks101211.html]Fall”>http://president.ua.edu/fsremarks101211.html)</p>
<p>Worthwhile reading. Thanks for sharing.</p>
<p>Interesting points:</p>
<p>1) More than 1,600 freshmen had a 4.0 or higher grade point average in high school. … we had 182 National Merit Scholars join us this fall.</p>
<p>2) Last Thursday evening, we attended a recruiting reception at Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta, the fifth year Coca-Cola has hosted that reception. The first year, there may have been 50 or 60 students and parents there. This year’s reception …had more than 800 high school students and parents in attendance. The week before, in Denver, Col., we had to delay the start of the reception for about 10 minutes to bring in extra chairs for the more than 240 high school seniors and parents… The week before that, we visited four major cities in Tennessee, and I had the opportunity to speak to record crowds in both Nashville and Knoxville. </p>
<p>3) Dean Shane Sharpe and …the Honors College …enrolled more than 1,500 freshmen this fall who averaged in the top 3 percent nationally on the ACT test and, for the first time, had an average high school grade point average of 4.0. </p>
<p>4) College of Engineering. Under the leadership of Dean Chuck Karr, we have become one of the most rapidly growing engineering colleges in the country. If you look at the academic profile of the students who are being added to our College of Engineering, it would be difficult to believe that there is a college or a university engineering program anywhere in the country that is adding students of superior quality.</p>
<p>5) Science and Engineering will be moving into its third new building of the four-building science and engineering quad. In approximately two years, we will occupy the fourth building in the SEC complex, giving us more than 900,000 square feet of state-of-the-art classroom and laboratory space.</p>
<p>6) We remain one of the most financially strong universities in the country. Our balance sheet is extremely strong, and our income statement is equally strong. Fitch, one of the three credit rating agencies, recently increased our credit rating in this market from AA to AA+. (this is good news for those who worry about such things. Someone recently posted and mistakenly thought that the school might be having financial troubles.)</p>
<p>Other points of interest:</p>
<p>1) We have added more than 240 full-time faculty in the last five years. . . .The University of Alabama’s ability to recruit aggressively is adding outstanding colleagues to our faculty. Our Provost, Judy Bonner, working with the deans, will have $3.9 million to invest in the continued growth of our faculty this year.</p>
<p>2) We have added more than 200 staff members in the past year, to ensure that we have the staff we need to support our students and our faculty, and to maintain our facilities and grounds.</p>
<p>These numbers are of special note during this time when many universities across the country are downsizing their faculty and staff, cutting course sections and hiring only adjuncts due to reduced budgets. It is a great thing to be able to hire full time faculty in tough economic times!</p>
<p>There are problems at UA, to be sure, but overall the outlook is looking excellent.</p>
<p>^ and what are some of those problems?</p>
<p>I think feeno means that every school has issues (many schools share the same issues), but thankfully, at Bama, the pros outweigh the cons. As he says, the outlook is excellent.</p>
<p>Typical problems are: parking issues, new construction going on, roads being re-worked, dining halls busy during peak meal hours, favorite residence halls fill up first, old dorms needing to be torn down, etc, etc. </p>
<p>My kids have never had problems getting the classes that they’ve needed.</p>
<p>There are no perfect schools.</p>
<p>Alabama has actually been remarkably proactive in addressing the sorts of issues that tend to be the sources of student complaints at any university or college large or small. Availability of housing: A new dorm is going up now and the second phase adding even more housing will begin as soon as the Rose Towers is vacated. The strategic plan includes even more new housing. Congestion of facilities: The recently unveiled strategic plan reveals that the University will soon begin the construction of an additional rec center, more parking, improved arts facilities and a larger, new dining hall. Class availability: As Dr. Witt mentions in his address, Alabama’s financial position has allowed it to be one of the few Universities in the country to add faculty and staff during these difficult economic times, which helps with the availability of classes and class sizes and ensures that students are able to graduate on time.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1245332-master-plan-updated-bryce-repurposing.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1245332-master-plan-updated-bryce-repurposing.html</a> for more info about how the acquisition of the Bryce Campus, 250 acres adjacent to UA will help alleviate some of the problems.</p>
<p>Can’t wait to see the campus next week! This great thread needed a bump-</p>
<p>We attended the recruitment reception at the Coca-Cola headquarters and it was a wonderful event and reflected very well on the UA. Coca-Cola was a gracious host, and Dr. Witt was both informative and endearing.</p>
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<p>Update on UA System fund: [UA</a> System fund nears $977 million in value | TuscaloosaNews.com](<a href=“http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20120518/NEWS/120519746]UA”>http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20120518/NEWS/120519746)</p>