{"id":45206,"date":"2016-09-23T11:19:38","date_gmt":"2016-09-23T18:19:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stage.headlessnauedu-b6hgdzckfdgxgzhe.westus-01.azurewebsites.net\/?p=45206"},"modified":"2016-09-23T14:05:32","modified_gmt":"2016-09-23T21:05:32","slug":"president-cheng-presents-abor-possibilities-every-direction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/president-cheng-presents-abor-possibilities-every-direction\/","title":{"rendered":"President Cheng presents to ABOR on \u201cPossibilities in Every Direction\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAt Northern Arizona University, we see possibilities in every direction,\u201d President Rita Cheng<\/strong> told the Arizona Board of Regents during Friday\u2019s annual Operational and Financial Review.<\/p>\n

During her presentation<\/a>, the president highlighted the university\u2019s many accomplishments over the last year, thanking the members of the campus community, Flagstaff and board for their contributions. A recording of her presentation will be available online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cNorthern Arizona University has notable accomplishments and even bigger goals. We have unique services that attract the best and the brightest, and discoveries that have\u2014and will continue to\u2014change the world around us,\u201d Cheng said.<\/p>\n

The president also shared an update on this year\u2019s record-breaking enrollment growth, and how incoming students are increasingly diverse and reflective of the many faces of Arizona. She noted that NAU is leading the way in educating students from every corner of Arizona.<\/p>\n

She stressed the importance of economic development, and provided insights into changes in the NAU organizational infrastructure that allow for more efficient operations that lead to stronger service and even more valuable connections to students.<\/p>\n

She further congratulated everyone on the successful completion of the university\u2019s first comprehensive campaign, which raised more than $103 million in philanthropic support for student support and critical priorities.<\/p>\n

Strong relationships with Native American partners are vital to NAU, and the president pointed to NAU\u2019s distinction as the university of choice for students from 122 Native American nations. \u201cStatus quo is not enough\u2013we seek to be the nation\u2019s leading university serving Native Americans,\u201d Cheng offered.<\/p>\n

While NAU has long been known as a leader in research areas important to this region, President Cheng highlighted NAU\u2019s changes toward a more dynamic research agenda.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than ever, NAU is committed to expanding the boundaries of knowledge to improve lives,\u201d Cheng stated. NAU is investing in world-renowned research faculty, moving the university\u2019s ongoing discoveries into a higher level of attention, recognition and potential.<\/p>\n

Cheng shared information on how the university is working to meet workforce development needs in a changing economy. The university launched the new School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Security and is planning to evolve the Honors Program into an Honors College next year. There are also plans to launch several new degree programs through Personalized Learning, the university\u2019s online subscription program that has gained national attention as a premier competency-based learning model focused on student needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese accomplishments demonstrate our commitment to our students, our community and each other. They show that we welcome every challenge that moves the needle on the dial of knowledge,\u201d noted Cheng.<\/p>\n

She also recognized NAU as an economic engine with broad impact that extends beyond the Flagstaff campus. She referenced NAU\u2019s efforts in healthcare as one example.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndependent living after injuries make jobs in physical and occupational therapy in high demand, and NAU is the only public university in Arizona educating professionals in these increasingly important fields,\u201d Cheng said.<\/p>\n

While there are challenges ahead, President Cheng encouraged collaboration and partnership to support a \u201csmart growth\u201d strategy that supports enrollment goals around the state. She further reinforced the need to maintain the Pledge program to ensure consistent tuition rates, and stressed the important need for investments in infrastructure and space.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough we diligently continue to be as efficient as possible and stretch to meet our goals, our list of needs extends beyond our resources. Partnerships are more critical than ever, and we continue to build new and existing cooperation. But basic infrastructure and foundational issues must be addressed,\u201d Cheng told the Regents.<\/p>\n

Cheng closed her presentation by reminding the board that NAU is agile, strong and ready to adapt as the university comes of age at a critical time in the history of American higher education experience. \u201cThere are possibilities in every direction, and exciting opportunities for our future,\u201d Cheng said. \u201cWe will pursue them with the optimism of our potential and the wisdom of past experience.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAt Northern Arizona University, we see possibilities in every direction,\u201d President Rita Cheng told the Arizona Board of Regents during Friday\u2019s annual Operational and Financial Review. During her presentation, the president highlighted the university\u2019s many accomplishments over the last year, thanking the members of the campus community, Flagstaff and board for their contributions. A recording…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":45214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}