It has been said that “luck is where preparation meets opportunity.” I believe a great university is where opportunity greets preparation. We are in the business of shaping minds and values at Troy University. Our first duty is to provide the opportunity for our well-prepared students to learn and grow.
      Opportunity takes many forms at Troy University: The opportunity to learn from excellent, dedicated teachers, the opportunity to join a student organization and learn about leadership and the opportunity to practice the skills that are valued in polite society. But there’s much more.
      Troy University is expanding its opportunities for students by placing greater emphasis on study-abroad programs. According to Dr. Allan Goodman of the Institute of International Education, only one percent of U.S. college students study abroad each year. But recent trends are encouraging. Dr. Goodman writes in USA Today: “Study-abroad enrollments have more than doubled in the past decade, and American students are headed not just to traditional destinations such as Europe, but also increasingly to emerging economies such as China, India, Brazil and Argentina.”
      If we are to prepare our students for the “global economy” which awaits them, we must provide the opportunity to study abroad. Corporate recruiters indicate that students with international experience on their resumes are more competitive in the job market. Consequently, we have charged our deans to provide at least five study-abroad opportunities in each of our five academic colleges by 2010. In addition, our Office of International Programs now has a coordinator for study-abroad programs to assist students who want to go abroad.
      Currently, study-abroad offerings at TROY take two forms— those open to any interested student and those opportunities that are offered to a limited number based on academic performance. Here are just a few examples of current and future study-abroad opportunities at TROY:

• Each spring, students in our risk management and insurance program spend several weeks at Lloyd’s of London, the most famous name in the insurance business.
• Art students have the opportunity to take a photographic safari to Kenya and Rwanda and others have traveled to Halmstad University in Sweden to work with students there on a multi-media project involving web design.
• Our students in French and Spanish classes travel each year to France and Central America to immerse themselves in the language and culture of other nations.
• Our theatre, art and journalism students visit London attending plays, touring
  media sites and visiting landmarks.
• This summer, our students will have the opportunity to spend several weeks in the People’s Republic of China, and we are looking at providing several study opportunities in other Asian countries.

      What are the benefits of studying abroad? One of our students from Coffee County wrote a poignant testimonial after she returned from her Lloyd’s of London trip, a portion of which I have excerpted here: “London is on the opposite side of the earth, but for a young woman from Jack, Alabama, it might as well have been three planets away. It was a feeling like no other to be treated as a professional, and that is the respect that the people at Lloyd’s gave me and my classmates. The things that I have learned from this adventure could never be taught to students from a textbook.” Please encourage your student to consider studying abroad as part of his or her college experience.
      Troy University’s internationalization efforts received a boost in October, as we became the only university in Alabama chosen to house a Confucius Institute, designed to promote the understanding of Chinese language, history and culture to the students we teach and the communities we serve. We were especially pleased that Gov. Bob Riley joined us in China in October for the announcement. Governor Riley has said he believes that Chinese will become as important as Spanish for Alabamians to learn.
      We already offer courses in Mandarin Chinese and these will be expanded during the Institute’s first year of operation. In addition, our graduate program in International Economic Development will begin accepting students, and we plan to hire a director of Asian studies and a professor of Asian economic development. This is an important step for TROY and our state. China and the United States have much to learn from each other. With this knowledge will come understanding and with understanding will come appreciation.
      Many of the opportunities we provide our students come in the form of new academic programs. On October 4, we announced the receipt of a $250,000 grant from the Alabama State Department of Education to implement a bachelor’s degree program aimed at increasing the number of certified interpreters for the deaf. I am proud that TROY’s College of Education will offer the state’s first bachelor’s degree with a major in interpreting. In time we expect to expand our capacity by establishing a Center on Deafness at the Troy Campus.
    This new program gets to the heart of what a great university should stand for—finding a need and filling it. The shortage of qualified interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing is reaching crisis proportions in Alabama. Add to this shortage the decision by the National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) to require the bachelor’s degree in order to gain national certification and licensure by 2012. Troy University may be worldwide in nature, but our service begins at home. That includes meeting needs that improve the education and quality of life for all our citizens.
      I am also pleased to report that for the third consecutive year, Troy University has been named among the top colleges in the southeastern United States by the Princeton Review. We are listed among 146 schools receiving the “Best in the Southeast” designation, as rated by student opinions on 654 college and university campuses in the region. In addition, our distance learning programs were cited for quality and value by GetEducated.com, an organization that ranks, rates and compares distance- learning degrees nationwide and helps protect consumers against online degree fraud and diploma mills.
      Such rankings take into account the high quality of TROY’s academic programs while also recognizing our stewardship and commitment to affordability. The national average annual tuition for public universities is $5,351 and $19,292 for private universities. By contrast, students at Troy University pay just $4,264 annually. This compares favorably with the average tuition of $4,578 charged by public universities in Alabama.
    We are making tremendous progress in another area, namely creating a model program to serve first-year students. This summer, we appointed Eleanor Lee to the position of Dean of First-Year Studies and she is getting off to an outstanding start. We have created a student success center, bringing a wide variety of services, including counseling, tutorial services and career services, under one roof. This has made it easy for our new students to seek help as they begin their TROY careers.
      Of course, the fall semester is also a busy time for our Trojan athletic teams. This fall has been filled with excitement for TROY fans. Our football team gained a measure of national recognition with a 41-23 win over Big 12 Conference power Oklahoma State before a national television audience on ESPN2. A highlight of our volleyball team’s season was winning the championship of the Winthrop Invitational Tournament. Our soccer team has earned big wins over Arkansas State and Alabama State and is on track to post its best record in several seasons. Our Trojan Rodeo squad is getting off to a fast start in the Ozark Region, as our women’s team is looking to make a return trip to the College National Finals Rodeo. Our men’s team showed it has the potential to go far this season by winning the annual Troy Rodeo competition, beating some of the top teams in the Ozark Region in the process.
      I began this letter talking about opportunity. I should point out that the college experience not only provides your student the opportunity to make a good living, but to make a good life as well. A study entitled “Education Pays: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society” makes a compelling case that higher education is not only a private investment but a public good. Using data from the Department of Education and the Census Bureau coupled with surveys by other higher education groups, the study shows that America’s college graduates are more engaged citizens who make healthier decisions than those who don’t earn a diploma. Here are just some of the findings:

• Civic responsibility—According to data from the 2004 presidential election,
  college graduates in every age category cast ballots at a higher rate than those who did not earn diplomas.
• Volunteerism—Forty-three percent of those surveyed with at least a bachelor’s
  degree said they volunteered in 2006 for a median of 55 hours. Fewer than 20 percent of high school graduates reported volunteering and the median
  for them was 52 hours.
• Health—College graduates reported being more active, as 60 percent in the 25-35 age range said they exercised vigorously at least once a week, compared to 31 percent of high school graduates who said the same.
• Earning potential—The report says the gap between the earning potential of college graduates and high school graduates grows each year. The expected typical lifetime earning power of a four-year college graduate is $800,000 more than the expected earnings of a high school graduate.

      I will close with one more word about opportunity—the opportunity to support Troy University and its students by purchasing a Troy University license plate. The gift of $50 is tax-deductible, and $48 goes to our Trojan Pride Scholarship Fund. If you buy the tag for your student’s vehicle, we also waive the $25 campus parking fee—and many students have taken advantage of this opportunity! In 2006, we increased tag sales 30 percent over 2005. During 2007 tag sales are up 35 percent over the same period last year. The combination of the tax deduction plus the savings on the parking fee equals an investment in scholarships and a display of Trojan Pride!

      Please accept my best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!

Sincerely,

Jack Hawkins, Jr., Ph.D.
Chancellor