Our “in-the-trench” outreach efforts from our faculty and staff care teams kept students enrolled. The contributions of countless caring hearts stocked our Tiger food pantry and supplemented the student emergency fund. All across campus, I continue to see an ethic of care that is distinctively FHSU.

All areas of campus have had to adjust operations to open and operate the campus in as safe and effective a manner as possible. From our facilities staff to our students, faculty and emergency team, we have worked collectively to mitigate the risk of transmission of the coronavirus in the classroom. Our own campus proactive steps – including social distancing, hand hygiene, use of face coverings, monitoring our personal health and making the thoughtful decision to stay home if we feel unwell –have been embraced. We have also carefully monitored our capacity to isolate and quarantine on-campus students. As a result, our campus remains open.

Our online graduate education programs saw enrollment growth with an increase of 90 students this fall. Online graduate education has increased nine of the last 10 years.

The Kelly Center provided a record-breaking 4,084 personal counseling sessions last year, in addition to services in the following areas: alcohol and drug counseling services, student accessibility issues through learning disability testing and accommodations and academic counseling and peer tutoring. This year, they are on schedule to set a new record of wrap-around support services. A grant is expanding the Kelly Center’s reach to assist students enrolled in online classes and Zoom sessions.

I am deeply appreciative of our Teaching Innovation and Learning Technologies staff, who continue to support both faculty and students with cutting-edge, engaging learning technologies. They have been working tirelessly, supporting Tigers throughout the United States and across the world – including making sure that students in China could access all of their class materials through their cell phones and creating tutorial videos in Mandarin to ensure students’ success.

The Higher Learning Commission approved a new master’s degree in athletic training. This is essential, as the industry standard now requires a master’s degree for entry-level professionals. We also launched online bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in social work. Both programs exceeded their first-year enrollment goals this fall, as did our expanding computer science program.

We have teams of colleagues working on new cybersecurity initiatives and studying future possibilities of how artificial intelligence can help drive student success.

COVID couldn’t stop students and parents from seeing the value of our Academy of Mathematics and Science. This early entry college program offers an unparalleled academic experience for gifted and