YOUNGSTOWN — Amid a series of long-term difficulties that Youngstown State University and many other four-year colleges face, the university is forging ahead in building individual and collaborative successes on many fronts, its president said.

“We have to be aware of the challenges in front of us. We’ve got to utilize everything in the tool bag,” YSU President Jim Tressel said in his final State of the University presentation Wednesday in the Williamson College of Business Administration.

Among the items in the toolbox are collaborative efforts regarding advisement and recruitment, which have streamlined and simplified the application process for graduates and undergraduates to receive financial aid and acceptance packages. The advisement piece is a platform to make readily available mentoring and other pressing student needs, Tressel explained.

Also, the retention rate for first-year students increased from 64 percent a few years ago to 80 percent, which also bodes well for YSU’s revenue stream, he noted.

“Enrollment is the primary driver of our revenue,” Tressel said.

Another significant area of growth was in YSU’s Honors College, which jumped from about 300 students eight years ago to an estimated 1,280 today, he noted.

Success and growth also have been seen in the new Excellence Training Center, which has partnered with America Makes, the Youngstown Business Incubator and other entities to build a stronger, more viable advanced manufacturing workforce to meet the needs of businesses such as Ultium Cells in Lordstown. About $600,000 in scholarships has been given for those in the ETC, Tressel added.

A study of more than a year has sought to address what needs to be done about Kilcawley Center, part of which was built in 1964 and added to in 1971. The building should be replaced largely because it’s outdated, Tressel said. What’s needed is a new student center “that meets the needs of today’s students, not the 1970s,” he added.

Another campus improvement was to the Watson Team Center, set to house nine engineering teams and provide added space for students to work with one another on various projects, Tressel said.

The university also saw success in being awarded a Collegiate Purple Star Award to support students with military backgrounds, along with having received a five-star rating in Changing Campus Culture, an effort that’s in partnership with the Ohio Department of Education to address sexual violence. In addition, YSU earned a perfect four-star rating for adhering to the state’s open meetings law, Tressel continued.

YSU continues to be proactive regarding community engagement, as it tries to attract more students from beyond the Mahoning Valley, including international students. In those efforts, YSU has ranked at the top of Ohio’s 14 state universities, he noted.

In addition, four key efforts are being developed to respond to online threats such as ransomware. Among them are reducing threats caused by stolen passwords and usernames, as well as enforcing YSU’s “acceptable use” policy via having all faculty, staff, administrators and contractors migrate to a protected email system for conducting university business, Tressel explained. The latter should be ready by May 2023, he added.

An additional success was Penguin Pass, which is, in essence, a visual checklist for students to more readily see what they need to graduate, he continued.

Among the faculty highlights were Kristin Bruns, who received a grant to re-engage students in the field of wellness; Amy Weaver, who was the first Patricia M. Sweeney Professor in Nursing honoree; and Nancy Landgraff, the second James P. Tressel Endowed Chair in Leadership recipient.

Tressel also cited a study related to forecasted growth in students expected to attend a four-year university between 2012 and 2029. Even though YSU is in a demographic region that is expected to see up to a 15 percent decrease. plans are in place to counteract that possibility via more stepped-up recruitment, marketing and online efforts, he said.

Tressel, who became university president in 2014, is stepping down in February 2023. Nevertheless, he plans to remain active in university affairs, he has said.

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