Dear colleagues,<\/p>\n
As this academic year comes to a close, I would like to highlight the challenges we have overcome thanks to the hard work of our team and community. We can celebrate a flurry of accomplishments across our institution\u2014from major research advancements to the highest ever GPA among our\u00a0athletes<\/a>. Our campus community continues to grow, with Northern Arizona University recording its highest ever total\u00a0enrollment<\/a>\u00a0last fall, including a new record for our Flagstaff campus.<\/p>\n We are seeing a range of improvements in Flagstaff: the\u00a0student fields<\/a>\u00a0on south campus are very popular while the newly opened\u00a0Extended Campuses building<\/a>\u00a0was awarded a LEED system \u201cGold\u201d rating\u2014the fourth NAU building to earn this distinguished award. The\u00a0Princeton Review<\/a>\u00a0now calls NAU \u201ca green building superstar.\u201d<\/p>\n In Prescott Valley, we have begun an exciting new venture that Gov. Jan Brewer called \u201cvisionary\u201d and an \u201cexample for the state and nation.\u201d\u00a0NAU-Yavapai<\/a>\u00a0is the first tangible outcome of the Arizona Board of Regents\u2019 call to revise the current university system architecture and offer students lower-cost options to obtaining baccalaureate degrees.<\/p>\n With your continued efforts, quick and careful budgeting, and some difficult decisions, our university remains in a relatively good position for the remainder of this fiscal year. Good management and stewardship of public funds plus the investment from federal stimulus dollars has allowed us to survive a $30 million payment rollover that is owed to the university but not expected until October. This comes on top of budget cuts and no state assistance for our increased student population.<\/p>\n There is still some uncertainty related to the FY11 budget, and our planning has begun in earnest for FY2012. Some individuals are calling FY12 \u201cThe Cliff\u201d\u2014the year when federal stimulus funds are no longer available and the state\u2019s budget has yet to recover.<\/p>\n