{"id":42270,"date":"2016-09-08T10:18:59","date_gmt":"2016-09-08T14:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=42270"},"modified":"2016-09-08T10:22:10","modified_gmt":"2016-09-08T14:22:10","slug":"president-hopkins-says-wright-state-must-continue-to-push-for-excellence-as-landscape-of-higher-education-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2016\/09\/08\/president-hopkins-says-wright-state-must-continue-to-push-for-excellence-as-landscape-of-higher-education-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"President Hopkins says Wright State must continue to push for excellence as landscape of higher education changes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Wright<\/a>

Wright State President David R. Hopkins discussed the State of the University and honors faculty for excellent work during the annual University Convocation. (Photo by Will Jones)<\/p><\/div>\n

Wright State has accomplished much in the past decade, but must position itself differently and not rest on its laurels to succeed in the increasingly competitive environment of higher education, President David R. Hopkins said in his annual State of the University address.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot shy away from our relentless pursuit to continue to build a university more relevant to the needs of 21st century Ohio,\u201d said Hopkins. \u201cWe must continue to be entrepreneurial and innovative in everything we do. We must find even more effective ways for our students to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hopkins addressed students, faculty and staff in the Student Union Apollo Room on Sept. 7 during the University Convocation, which marks the beginning of fall semester.<\/p>\n

He recapped the achievements at Wright State over the past decade.<\/p>\n

Since 2007, enrollment has increased by about 8 percent, a record number of high school valedictorians and salutatorians enrolled at Wright State last fall, and more than 30,000 students \u2014 38 percent of whom were first-generation college students \u2014 earned their degrees over the past decade, Hopkins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re about inclusion. We\u2019re about affordability. We\u2019re about providing a quality experience,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd most importantly we\u2019re about quality outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hopkins said the university has invested in Centers of Excellence, built the Student Success Center<\/a> and the Neuroscience Engineering Collaboration Building<\/a>, expanded and modernized the Creative Arts Center and cut the ribbon on the Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And since 2007, the university has brought in more than $700 million in research grant and contract awards, the largest amount in the school\u2019s history, he said. It also began launching annual regional summits to attract community leaders and map out the region\u2019s economic future. And it gave birth to the Dayton Regional STEM School.<\/p>\n

Hopkins also said the university has diversified its revenue stream to tackle its financial challenges. For example, he said, the Rise. Shine. fundraising campaign<\/a> has attracted $160 million in private donations, pledges and in-kind gifts from 30,000 donors so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking together these last 10 years we have a lot to be proud of,\u201d said Hopkins, who was named president in 2007 and plans to retire at the end of June 2017<\/a>. \u201cTogether we have navigated and continue to navigate an unprecedented variety of challenges in this very increasingly competitive higher education environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he said the university\u2019s transformation is not complete.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot sit still and go backwards in the 21st century of higher education,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

During the University Convocation, select faculty members were recognized for their excellent work in the classroom and in the community. Read about the 2016 Faculty Awards for Excellence recipients >><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wright State President David R. Hopkins discusses the State of the University and honors faculty for excellent work during the annual University Convocation. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":42268,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,729,711,725,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-around-campus","category-faculty-staff","category-home-news-sidebar","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42270"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42276,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42270\/revisions\/42276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}