USD Magazine Summer 2009

USD MAGAZINE 6 AROUND  THE PARK hey say it’s always darkest before the dawn. Then again, maybe pie-in-the- sky proclamations like that are at least partly to blame for this global economic mess. Let’s get specific: Despite its best intentions, USD is not immune to the effects of an unsettling economy. “The biggest impact has been the decline in the fair market value of our investments,” says Provost Julie Sullivan (pictured), who has been named executive vice president,

UNCERTAIN T IMES Top pr ior i t i es? Reta ining s tudent s , employees and hope [ r e s i l i e n c e ] by Ryan T. Blystone T

effective July 1. Those invest- ments, through March 2009, have fallen sharply: down 29 percent since the beginning of the fiscal year. But they also say there’s strength in numbers. And the tale that some of the numbers tell is far from dire. The university is looking at a record-setting 10,957 applicants clamoring for the 1,100 spots in the Fall 2009 freshman class, almost a 10-1 ratio. Demand for graduate pro- grams remains steady. Student

attrition is minimal. Undergradu- ate alumni donors have increased over last year. To date, USD has no employee layoffs. While the university’s endow- ment earnings — less than 5 per- cent of the $300 million operat- ing budget — have taken some hits, Sullivan points out that USD’s conservative investment strategy has softened the impact. “We’d like our endowment to be bigger, but at this point of our stage of development we’re not as dependent on it. We’re a rela-

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